Chapter 59

Released:

“Velia, what’s going on? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

Brandy who had taken Velia aside asked with a puzzled expression.

“Ah… I’m sorry, Brandy. The thing is, I heard that Mancy likes Theo, so I just wanted to support her… but I think I ended up making everyone uncomfortable.”

Of course, Velia didn’t have any malicious intent in making Theo uncomfortable.

Since she herself had a good relationship with Brandy and was in the middle of a budding romance with him, she simply thought it would be nice for kind and good-natured Mancy to also form a sweet and mature relationship with someone like Theo.

“Once we go back, I think it’d be best if you apologized to Theo and Mancy.”

“Yes…”

Velia responded dejectedly but then continued.

“But don’t you think Mancy and Theo actually look good together?”

Brandy who was caught off guard by the sudden remark unknowingly nodded his head in agreement.

“Oh, well, they do look good together… wait, no! This isn’t the time for us to be saying things like that…”

“…Who looks good with whom?”

“Go ahead. Say it again.”

Out of nowhere, a familiar voice rang out from the spot where only Velia and Brandy had been talking.

And it wasn’t just any voice; it was one filled with jealousy, anger, and a mix of other negative emotions.

“Ah… Y-Your Holiness the Saintess, Your Highness the Crown Princess…!”

Brandy was the first to notice.

Startled, he quickly stepped back a pace.

“Wha…. when did you get here…!”

Velia who belatedly realized the two had appeared was also taken aback and instinctively hid behind Brandy.

“Oh, your little conversation was just so interesting. Why don’t you say it again for us?”

“Indeed. I’d really like to hear more, so could you repeat it one more time?”

Estelle and Iris’s eyes blazed as if they were ready to spit fire at any moment.

Naturally, seeing the two of them like that, there was no way they could bring themselves to repeat what they had been talking about earlier.

“Hic!”

Velia hiccupped, then started bowing her head deeply, and Brandy wasn’t much different as he stood frozen in place.

I shouldn’t have agreed to that back then…!

He thought that if he hadn’t, the two might not have misunderstood quite as much.

Though to be fair, it wasn’t really a misunderstanding to begin with.

“So you’re saying Sir Theo and Mancy look good together… I wonder if Mancy feels the same way?”

“N-No, not at all! Mancy doesn’t think that way at all…! We just meant that they looked good together in a purely platonic sense, nothing more…!”

While Velia could do nothing but hiccup and fail to form proper sentences, Brandy desperately tried to salvage the situation.

“I understand your perspective, Brandy. In that case, why don’t we hear Velia’s thoughts next? Do you think she’s capable of talking right now?”

Brandy tried to answer for both himself and Velia, but Iris immediately redirected the conversation to Velia as soon as he finished speaking.

After all, Velia and Brandy weren’t married, dating, or anything like that.

In other words, it was unreasonable to treat them as if they were one and the same.

“Ah, uh, hic! S-Sorry…!”

“If you could hold your breath or do something to stop those hiccups, then maybe we could have a proper conversation.”

At Estelle’s words, Velia took a deep breath of “Haaaap” and somehow managed to stop hiccupping. Her face, however, had gone pale as she finally spoke.

“I-I’ve stopped.”

Thinking about it now, Velia felt like she finally understood why Mancy had tried so hard not to show any interest in Theo, despite clearly being interested in him.

It was because the crown princess and the saintess were standing right there, larger than life.

In Theo’s presence, the two always seemed so gentle and soft-spoken, and Velia realized she had been foolishly mistaken.

She had assumed it might be possible to compete with them.

Someone like Mancy could probably stand on equal footing with those two, couldn’t she?

“So, Brandy says he simply likes the image of the two of them together and that there’s nothing more to it. But what about you, Velia? I could’ve sworn I heard you say they look good together.”

Iris’s eyes became extremely sharp.

It was a look she had never shown in front of Theo.

Iris, who always wore a relaxed and kind expression in his presence, wasn’t actually as gentle as she seemed.

While she loved her people and constantly thought about their well-being, she was not the kind of person whose kindness or leniency could be exploited.

At the Academy, she spent most of her time with Theo, and she had made a conscious effort to be considerate of others, thinking of herself as simply Iris and not the crown princess.

Because of this, some people had even started to say that Crown Princess Iris was much too soft and kind compared to the current Emperor. But that judgment was based only on a small part of who she was.

“Are you not going to answer?”

If someone met Iris in an official setting, they would see a sharp and commanding demeanor that would silence anyone who had called her soft or gentle.

And now, Iris was just as sharp and imposing as she would be in a formal setting.

“S-S-Sorry… I-I’m sorry… That’s not what I… I didn’t mean…”

“If that’s not what you meant, then I’m curious….what did you mean? Would you care to explain?”

At that moment, Velia felt the mental pressure crushing her. She thought it might be better to just faint and lose consciousness altogether.

“Ah, Estelle? Iris? When did you get here?”

Salvation arrived.

“Ah, Sir Theo! We heard that you were here, so we came to find you!”

“Me too! I finished my business with Iris, so I came along as well!”

Theo, who had noticed Estelle and Iris, walked over to them with Mancy in tow.

Iris, as if she had never worn a sharp expression, now greeted him with a soft smile. Estelle too had erased any traces of annoyance from her face and wore only an expression of delight.

As if the events of moments ago had been nothing but a dream, Velia’s legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor.

“Are you all right?”

It was Iris, standing right beside Velia, who helped her up.

“When you speak so carelessly in the future, make sure you’re prepared to take responsibility for your words.”

Iris whispered just loudly enough for Velia to hear before gently dusting off her knees with a concerned expression.

These people are terrifying.

Brandy, who had been silently observing the entire exchange, concluded that getting involved with them in the wrong way would be disastrous.

I need to make sure Velia is careful too.

For the time being, Theo’s presence ensured that nothing drastic would happen, but if Iris or Estelle ever made up their minds to act on their intentions, there was no telling what they might do.

“Estelle, Iris! Come over here! I was so disappointed that you left earlier because you were busy!”

Mancy greeted Estelle and Iris with a very friendly smile, as usual.

“Ah, yes.”

Estelle replied halfheartedly.

“I was disappointed as well.”

Iris unexpectedly agreed with Mancy’s words.

“Really? Then why don’t we all go to a café and chat for a while? Oh, how about we have a little ladies-only time? We can let the men spend time with each other while we enjoy ourselves!”

In truth, Estelle and Iris had come to see Theo, but they figured that spending time together as women, as Mancy suggested, wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

“Hmm, then shall we do that?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

“What? Wait, are Brandy and I being excluded?”

Theo asked with a flustered face. But Estelle, Iris, and Mancy all simply nodded and smiled in response.

“Ugh, Brandy. It seems we’re being kicked out.”

“Oh, um… Would it be okay if we took Velia with us, just in case…?”

“Oh my! Velia’s a woman, isn’t she? Since this is a ladies-only conversation, of course Velia has to join us!”

Estelle replied with a completely innocent expression.

“That’s right, Brandy. Let the ladies have their chat, and we can go have a drink together, just the two of us.”

“Ah… well… yes, understood.”

At this point in the conversation, there was nothing more Brandy could do.

He tried his best to take Velia with him, but in the end, he had no choice but to turn around and walk away with Theo.

“I came to spend time with Sir Theo, but this turned into an unexpected situation, didn’t it?”

Estelle remarked as if she found the whole thing amusing.

“Oh, did I interrupt the three of you spending time together?”

Mancy suddenly asked in surprise, but Iris shook her head.

“Not at all. I was planning to have a separate conversation with you anyway, so this worked out well.”

No one—not Mancy, not Estelle—had any idea what Iris was thinking.

For now, the four of them moved to a café located within the Academy.

The café had an open space, like most ordinary cafés, but it also had room-style spaces designed for serious conversations or study sessions.

“We’d like a private room, please.”

Iris said naturally. She chose the private room option without hesitation.

“Understood. Please follow me this way.”

The master responded. Normally, using a private room required a reservation, but there wasn’t a single person in the Academy who didn’t recognize the face of the imperial crown princess.

Naturally, the master led them to an empty private room without question.

“Alright then, let’s place our orders first and talk afterward. Today, it’s on me, so feel free to drink whatever you like.”

Iris spoke with her usual kind smile.

One response to “Chapter 59”

  1. Miyash Avatar
    Miyash

    I know i came here for yandere tag and the yandere symptom still kinda light. I expect Iris gonna use her connection to stalk Theo but based on few chapter ago i guess not. And it seem the just threaten them and not hurt people that like Theo

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *