Chapter 52

"Deep down, you didn't really want to harass me, did you?"

In response to Cordelia's question,

"…!!"

Femina was taken aback, her breath catching in her throat.

"What…!! How could you say something like that?! Why would you say such a thing?!"

"It's because Princess Femina's harassment was half-hearted."

"Half-hearted?"

"…To be honest, I've had quite a few opportunities to be harassed by others."

Most of the time, it was due to her sister Priscilla.

The repercussions of Priscilla's free-spirited and selfish behavior often fell on Cordelia.

"Backbiting was a given. Sometimes my belongings would be hidden, or I would be attacked directly."

As a result, Cordelia had no choice but to become tough and resilient.

Even though she tried her best to defend herself, she wouldn't know where she'd be without Leonhardt's help.

"Compared to the harassment I've experienced, what Princess Femina did was half-hearted. It didn't feel good, but if you really wanted to hurt me, there were better ways to do it."

Is that not true, she asked.

Femina bit her lip, visibly shaken.

"The harassment was half-hearted because you didn't really mean it, right?"

"It's not true. I just found you annoying and hated you…"

"Femina, you don't need to lie anymore."

When Leonhardt called out to her, Femina's shoulders trembled.

"What are you saying, even you? I hate Cordelia for taking you away from me—"

"I feel bad for not paying you enough attention lately and making you feel lonely. But it's strange to take out your frustration on Cordelia just because you're lonely."

"Brother…"

"I believed you to be a kind person, Femina."

"…"

Femina's words faltered as Leonhardt stroked her head.

She seemed to be holding back, trying to suppress her tears, and looked down.

"But I did harass Cordelia…!!"

"You're right. You should apologize to Cordelia, but first, we need to get to the bottom of things. It's not good to keep secrets, and I believe you understand that, Femina."

Leonhardt spoke in a gentle, admonishing tone.

Tears streamed down Femina's eyes at the sound of his kind voice.

"I… I didn't want Brother to hate me…"

Femina's voice broke as she sobbed, large tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I knew how happy Brother looked when he talked about Cordelia, and how much he cared for her. But I also heard what Mother was saying…"

Her confession came in broken sentences.

But it was enough for Cordelia.

"Femina's behavior didn't seem to come from a genuine desire to harass me."

Leonhardt had investigated and discovered that Daria and her family were plotting to get rid of Cordelia.

(And it wasn't just Prince Leonhardt who realized Daria's intentions.)

Femina likely found out about her mother Daria's plan to harm Cordelia.

"Mother was going to do something terrible to Cordelia. I knew it was wrong and that it would make Brother sad, but I…!!"

Femina's words faltered as she sobbed, her eyes tightly shut, like a child afraid of being scolded.

(Princess Femina, though young, is still royalty. She understood that if she reported her mother's plan, her mother would be in trouble.)

That's why she struggled and decided to harass Cordelia.

"…Princess Femina, you wanted to protect Daria and didn't want to get your hands dirty. So you decided to harass me yourself, hoping that if I couldn't handle it, I would step down from my position as Prince Leonhardt's fiancée, right?"

"…Yes. If you were in Mother's way, I would try to pull you down from your position as Brother's fiancée."

I'm sorry, she said.

Femina apologized in a small but clear voice.

(…Princess Femina isn't inherently bad. In fact…)

Cordelia gently reached out to Femina's hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Please relax your grip. If you hold on so tightly, your nails will dig in and draw blood."

"…"

Despite the warning, Femina's fist didn't loosen. She seemed overwhelmed by her emotions and couldn't control her body.

Cordelia gently pried Femina's fingers from her palm and held her hand instead.

"Look, this is what happens to your hand…"

"It's fine. See?"

There was no blood on Cordelia's palm because Femina had relaxed her grip and avoided digging her nails in.

"I think Princess Femina is a kind person."

"That's not true…"

"It is. Even now, you adjusted your grip to avoid hurting my hand, didn't you?"

Cordelia held Femina's warm hand with affection.

"Princess Femina had the option to pretend she didn't know about Daria's plan and do nothing. But you didn't, because you couldn't stand to see me harmed by Daria, right?"

"…I just thought Mother's plan was going too far."

This shows Femina's inherent goodness.

Though her method was clumsy, she tried to protect Cordelia, who was practically a stranger to her.

"Not everyone can think and act like Princess Femina."

"Why are you comforting me? I've harassed you so much, and I kidnapped Nini—"

"Femina, stop."

Interrupting Femina's tearful voice,

Daria, who had been silent, finally spoke.

"There's no need to lie anymore."