Mistaken for a Wicked Woman!

Could I, an aspiring knight, really beat an experienced one?

I was told that I would only have to last 10 minutes, but I wanted to beat them badly.

“I wonder who my opponent could be…”

As I laid back and relaxed, exhaustion slowly crept up on me.

With a small yawn, I closed my heavy eyelids, that’s when I heard a voice as innocent as a nightingale.

“Iris.”

I opened my eyes immediately.

“Your Highness?”

The pretty, familiar voice pulled me back from sleep.

I jerked upright immediately, and the crown prince was already there standing in front of me, with a smile.

“How did you know I was here?”

“I have a way of knowing.”

I asked in surprise, and the crown prince smiled meaningfully.

He plopped down beside me before I could say anything.

“I heard you were first in all of your tests this morning.”

“I was just Lucky, I suppose,” I said.

“But it’s not luck, it’s skill.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

“If you keep praising me like that, I might get cocky.”

“You can get cocky.”

The crown prince said as if she didn’t need to be told twice.

The actual results were good, but when he said that, I don’t know why but it somehow felt affectionate.

“What is that on your hand?”

I pressed my lips, which kept trying to twitch upward, and noticed the small basket he was holding.

“This?”

To my question, he suddenly set the picnic basket down on the rock.

He lifted the lid and was immediately hit with a savory, aromatic smell.

It contained croissants and egg sandwiches, fruit salad, and a bottle of milk tea.

They looked appetizing.

His expression immediately turned serious.

“You’ll need to eat well if you’re going to take your test this afternoon.”

The crown prince smiled and handed me a sandwich.

I reflexively took the sandwich and was about to put it back down when he spoke in a stern voice.

“You mustn’t starve yourself.”

“But I might feel bloated later.”

“I was planning to starve myself during the duel, just in case I felt weak or sick.”

I stammered out my reasons on why I should not eat, but the crown prince was adamant.

He shook his head.

Then he said,

“What if you have an upset stomach? You must be exhausted from taking the tests all morning, so eat at least a little.”

“… Then I’ll just take a bite.”

I gave up.

The crown prince’s urgency finally got me to surrender.

I drew the sandwich closer to my mouth, then stared at it.

An aroma so delicious that my saliva couldn’t help but pool inside, soon wafted into my nose.

I couldn’t hold myself back anymore and finally took a bite.

“Delicious!”

It was said that bread that looks good is also good to eat.

The sandwich, which not only looked good but also smelled delicious melted inside my mouth.

Was it made by the Imperial Palace chef?

This place is really good.

A moment ago, I thought I didn’t have much of an appetite, but I guess I was wrong.

My stomach, which had been quiet, rumbled as something soft and sweet finally entered my mouth.

“Does it taste good?”

I nodded vigorously as I scarfed down the sandwich.

One of the best things about being in the capital was the access to delicious food.

The food I ate when I was still on my estate was already delicious for me, that was probably because I was simply striving to survive.

So the nights spent eating at the Marquis’s estate was probably more of a gourmet feast for me.

My body was definitely doing well, if not my mind.

“Eat this, too.”

The crown prince smiled and took out the croissant with strawberry jam on top.

As I gobbled up the croissant he offered, my mind soon wandered to other things.

“Is this okay?”

“Hmm? What?”

I then asked, “If people see us doing this they might make a fuss about it.”

“Is that so?”

The crown prince, who had been smiling gleefully, now had a blank expression on his face.

The drooping corners of his eyes made him look like a neglected puppy, and my heart tingled a little.

“No. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.It’s not that— It’s just… they already made a huge fuss after they discovered that you were my Cavalier. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.So I think it would be better to be careful beforehand.”read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

The day after the Countess Olette’s visit, the newspapers in the capital started to write articles about me and the crown prince.

I expected it, but their reaction was still overwhelming.

‘People are busy talking about you whenever they see you.’

Sophie said that everywhere she went, we were being talked about.

All the rumors surrounding us, good and bad, were spreading around quickly.

The imperial family simply ignored them and said it was the crown prince’s private life.

The Bright family also locked the gates to the estate.

The few reporters who did come to the marquis’ residence curiously, were promptly thrown out by the Duke of Bright.

The Marquis was not amused as well.

He sternly warned the companies to which the newspapers, and reporters belong to that this better not happen again or else—.

『Young Viscountess Sabrina’s Cavalier Turns Out to be the Crown Prince!』

『The Cinderella of the Empire, Young Viscountess Sabrina is the future Crown Princess?』

The only thing the uninformed journalist could do was to write a story about us.

Newspaper stories are more like delusions and fiction than actual articles, to be honest.

As the Duke of Bright had said, journalists were truly gifted at producing garbage.

No wonder Young Lady Bright was so broken.

“A crown princess? They’re ridiculous!”

“Why?”

As I was muttering in disbelief, I heard an aggrieved voice beside me.

I turned around and saw the crown prince looking at me with a pouty face.

“Don’t you want to be the crown princess?”

“Ah, no way.. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.Stop joking.”read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

I laughed and clapped my hands, and he tilted his head to the side.

Heat coursed through his emerald hair.

“Iris.”

A sullen voice like withered grass slipped between the lips that looked like ripe peaches.

His face was so serious, and seemed devoid of laughter.

“Do you hate me?”

The question left me momentarily speechless.

‘Look, we don’t do this. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.This is unfair!’read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

“It’s not that I don’t like you, it’s just that I don’t want to be the crown princess.”

“Why?”

“I’m the future Viscountess of Sabrina, and I need a normal husband to succeed the family title, and that won’t be possible if I become the Crown Princess.”

His expression looked puzzled.

“Hmm.”

The crown prince’s jaw clenched and his eyes lowered as he moved the future plans he’d been keeping to himself.

He looked thoughtful for a moment, then looked up with a look that said he had an answer.

“So all I need to do is to be a normal son-in-law?”

“Ah?”

A strange sound came out of my mouth in disbelief.

“If the crown prince of the empire said he would want to inherit the title of a Viscount in my family, wouldn’t the nobles rise up?”

“Then I can quit being the crown prince.”

“I’m sure the Empress would welcome your decision with open arms.”

Being a crown prince is not a position you can say no to.

The way he said it so casually made me feel confused.

“So, if I give up the position of the crown prince, will you accept me?”

“What?”

The crown prince asked once again.

His voice was as serious as it had been before.

“That’s…”

I’m embarrassed, very embarrassed.

I stuttered, unable to answer right away.

I couldn’t tell if he was joking or serious.

“I mean, it’s…”

I didn’t know what to say as the crown prince waited silently for an answer, so I just looked around in panic.

His golden eyes were too serious to pass off as a joke.

As I stood there stunned, I suddenly heard a small chuckle.

“Your Highness..?”

I called out to him with a dumbfounded look on my face.

“You were joking??”

“It’s just a prank.”

“No, you scared me!”

My voice rose involuntarily.

My heart was racing, so I pressed my hand to my chest, and he murmured in a low, almost inaudible.

“Don’t worry. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.There’s still plenty of time….”read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

“What?”

“Hmm? Nothing.”

The crown prince shook his head casually and held out a tall bottle of milk tea.

“Drink.*

“Thank you…”

The atmosphere became ambiguous, and my hand fiddled with the bottle before saying something.

“Oh, right. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.Sylph chased the reporters away.”read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

“I know.”

He squinted his eyes at me as I turned away, then smiled and let it go.

“How do you know?”

“Because another spirit told me.”

“Are there any other spirits here right now besides Sylph?”

“Spirits are nature itself. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.They are everywhere. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.In the grass, in the wind, in the water… They exist in many forms.”read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

Long, straight fingers stroked the wildflowers that fluttered by the rocks.

“They’re just invisible to us.”

“But I can see them, can’t I? I’m an elementalist after all.”

Indeed.

“What do spirits look like?”

“They all look different.”

“I wonder…”

I fiddled with the necklace that held Sylph, wishing I could see it for myself.

“Do you want to see it?”

“Of course I want to see it! Oh How nice and cute our Sylph would be!”

I nodded enthusiastically.

“Hmph, then…”

I watched the figure of the crown prince stretch out his hand and tap the spirit stone around my neck.

The gem glowed blue and a soft breeze flowed out from the necklace.

“You can’t see it, but how about this?”

The crown prince bent down and picked up a leaf as it rolled across the ground.

Then he threw it into the air.

“Huh?”

My eyes widened at the sight before me.

The leaf that left his hand didn’t fall to the ground, but floated in the air in a circle.

“S–Sylph?”

I called out to Sylph in a muffled voice, and the leaf spun around once as if to answer.

Swishh.

As if responding to Sylph’s movement, the thick bushes around us shook with a clear sound.

“Is that really you?”

I asked half-heartedly, and this time the leaf bobbed up and down as if nodding.

‘Oh my God, it’s so cute!’

I stomped my foot in irresistible cuteness, and the leaf came closer and closer.

I cautiously reached out my hand, and my fingertips touched the leaf.

“Ahhh.”

I laughed softly as the leaf tickled my fingers and the back of my hand.

“It tickles.”

Sylph seemed amused by my reaction.

The wiggling leaf moved from my fingers to my wrist, up my arm, to my shoulder.

“Sylph, what’s wrong?”

Just as the leaf was about to touch my chin, a white hand appeared out of nowhere.

“No.”

The crown prince said in a steady voice, blocking Sylph’s approach. read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.The leaf whirled in protest.read only at salmonlatte . com. This annoying watermark is not there.

But he didn’t bat an eye.

“I won’t say it twice.”