Chapter 21
Through the crowd bowing to greet me, the Crown Prince appeared.
From the heroine’s perspective, it might’ve been romantic, but from the villainess’s point of view, it was unfortunately the worst.
“Greetings to the Star of Calenia.”
“Spare me the formalities. Is it not enough to cause trouble around you, that you must now personally torment me?”
He didn’t even bother to assess the situation—just picked a fight straight away.
That cat of his must’ve learned its nasty temper from him.
“N-no, Your Highness.”
“Marianne. Step back.”
The Crown Prince pulled Marianne behind him, shielding her as though hiding her from Eloise.
Marianne lowered her shoulders and fell silent.
“There’s a physician well-versed in selective mutism. Shall I introduce you, Marianne?”
“You insult Lady Ronsbleu. Watch your words, Duchess.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize the adoption process had already been finalized. His Highness must love his sweetheart so dearly that even the law—”
“Lady Montclair!”
Eloise’s noble phrasing only stoked the Crown Prince’s temper, making him shout loudly.
The cats’ quarrel had spilled into a fight between their masters, becoming a spectacle for the nobles.
Eloise held me tightly in her arms.
“My hearing is perfectly fine, Your Highness. Unlike hers.”
“Your arrogance is insufferable. It’s laughable, seeing you suppress Marianne’s gifts with your ducal authority out of jealousy.”
On his usually expressionless face flickered a hollow smirk.
Even I found his words absurd—how much worse must it be for the one accused?
When Eloise didn’t protest, the Crown Prince drew his own conclusion and pressed on.
“No doubt you’ve been tormenting Marianne like a rat, all over that cat.”
“How dare you call it ‘that cat.’”
“Arno… Your Highness.”
Marianne, trembling behind him, gently grasped his arm.
He ignored her plea and bore down on Eloise even harder.
Framing someone baselessly—it was enough to make a person, no, even a cat, furious.
“Oh, right, that’s the cat Marcel gave you. Then it outranks you, doesn’t it? Since I bestowed it.”
“It doesn’t matter who gave it—Your Highness’s cat struck Lisette first.”
“And what difference is that from the way you use force?”
Eloise sighed softly and stroked me again and again, as if trying to calm herself.
Watching it only made me angrier.
Was this really the male lead I knew? Then again, early on, he was always an ill-mannered brat.
Readers even dropped the story back then because of him.
“Marianne. Say what I told you, in your own words.”
“With such coldness, who could dare speak? Perhaps even mana froze under the Duchess’s frigid demeanor.”
That bastard had stacked up more karma. I had kept my mouth shut for the mood, but that jab was intolerable.
Why keep prodding at someone’s wound? Rage boiled in me, blood rushing backward.
My heart pounded furiously. At last, my temper exploded, and a curse burst from my lips.
“You bastard!”
The Crown Prince’s brows twisted upward, and even Marianne, hiding behind him, turned to look at me.
Eloise’s hand froze. The garden fell silent, as though cold water had been poured over us.
What… what just happened? Did my thoughts slip out? Why—why now of all times, and why in human speech, not meowing?
“M-mrrrow.”
I belatedly let out a meow, but the damage was done.
The shock of speaking human was secondary to my dread of cleaning this up. Insulting royalty was a grave crime.
I’d tried to avoid going down with the villainess, only to jump headlong into the flames myself.
“His Highness’s words were rather harsh.”
“Did that cat just… talk?”
“Aren’t you shielding Marianne too much? The fiancée is the Duchess.”
“Could it be… a beastkin?”
The murmurs spread, voices sounding distant and broken.
Is there anyone who can save this ruined feline life? Please… sob.
Just then, Eloise stroked me again, patting gently.
“It was I who spoke, Your Highness.”
No, Eloise, that’s not it. This isn’t like breaking a vase. This is on a whole different scale.
Even the voice was different! I buried my face in her chest and sniffled.
One by one, the nobles fell silent again. Even the Crown Prince looked dumbfounded.
It was the Empress, quietly observing all along, who broke the silence.
“Arno, my son—I didn’t think you would corner my future daughter-in-law like this.”
With a smile, the Empress approached, leisurely fanning herself.
Elegant, yet menacing somehow.
“Truly, love is a strange magic, isn’t it, Marianne?”
“Your Majesty the Empress.”
“My son was always so rational, always mindful of cause and effect. Or so I thought.”
She gazed at Marianne with eyes full of fondness.
If not for this situation, one might believe she cherished the girl.
The Empress ignored my slip entirely, instead pointing out the faults of the Crown Prince and Marianne.
“Mother.”
“Arno, dear. Eloise only said she would hold you accountable for Lisette being hurt. That’s all.”
“…We’ve caused trouble.”
“Not at all. From here, let us enjoy our time together. Everyone, return to your seats.”
The Crown Prince’s mood softened slightly. With just a few words, the Empress awkwardly restarted the tea party.
The nobles, mindful of her gaze, exchanged scattered small talk.
Because she turned a blind eye, my crime disappeared as if it had never happened. Ah, power.
Meanwhile, Raoul, who had been apart, approached.
“Sister, are… you alright? I mean the cat.”
“…Thankfully, it’s not a serious injury.”
“Our house will formally lodge a complaint with Count Ronsbleu. Even if His Highness granted it, the owner is Lady Ronsbleu. Adoption means responsibility lies with the Count.”
Raoul, as the young duke, said this boldly while staring down the Crown Prince.
As if he hadn’t heard the word “bastard” at all—shameless.
From behind the Crown Prince, Marianne stepped forward.
“I… I’ll take responsibility.”
“You, Lady Ronsbleu? My sister once made a mistake with Lady Crimson and gifted her a villa as an apology. What will you offer in return?”
“I… I…”
“I will compensate. What does the young duke wish for?”
The Crown Prince butted in again. Marianne surely had her own will, but he always crushed it like this.
In the end, she would live with no will of her own, just a puppet of Arno.
No wonder the original story carried the tag of “tragedy.”
“Shouldn’t it be my sister who receives it, not I, Your Highness?”
I hadn’t even hoped for compensation, especially after cursing at him.
A leaking bucket at home, but solid outside? Unexpected.
Eloise glanced at Raoul once, then glared at the Crown Prince.
“Your Highness, if you wish to be a true ruler, listen fully to your people and grasp the situation.”
With irritation etched on his face, the Crown Prince ran his hand through his hair.
His green eyes, fixed on me, were ominous.
“Then tell me—how should I punish a cat guilty of insulting the royal family?”
So much for the Empress covering it up; he just had to bring it up again.
“I spoke. Punish me instead.”
“…If the Duchess insists, then let’s say there will be no punishment and no compensation either.”
“Very well.”
Eloise answered quickly, as if that was what she wanted all along.
As though her words about wanting him to be a true ruler were empty.
Still, I was relieved. At least my curse was wiped clean.
“…Duchess, you’d better be careful. Unless you want to start a war with the Beast Kingdom.”
His words implied suspicion—that Eloise might be enslaving beastkin.
In the past, Calenian nobles had kidnapped beastkin and enslaved them.
That led to war between the two nations, now in an uneasy truce.
In the original story, the Beast Kingdom’s crown prince kidnapped the heroine, breaking the truce and reigniting the war.
“She’s no beastkin, so don’t worry, brother.”
At last, the long-awaited former butler appeared.
“His Second Highness!”
As Marcel arrived at the tea party, girls gasped all around.
Compared to the Crown Prince, who toyed with his mistress while betrothed, the Second Prince was far better.
Honestly, his looks were in no way inferior. Just different in style.
“Oh, Lisette. Still a troublemaker, I see.”
“Marcel. Can you take responsibility for what you said earlier?”
“Well, Etienne confirmed it, so yes. I’ll take responsibility.”
With a playful smile, Marcel tickled the crown of my head with his finger.
But knowing the Crown Prince’s true intent, I couldn’t just let it go. Finally, I opened my mouth.
Though I wasn’t sure if I could speak clearly this time either.
