Chapter 170
Bridget had brought Monica to the most prestigious private tea room in Serendia Academy.
Since a full set of tableware was already arranged on the tea table, Bridget must have prepared the room beforehand... In other words, she had no intention of letting Monica escape.
A maid serving Bridget was waiting inside, but after pouring tea into two cups, she left without saying another word. Now they were alone.
"Have some tea first. It's Flowrindia's first flush."
"Um, what is this 'secret of His Highness' that Bridget-sama wants to know? What do you want me to help you with?"
When Monica got straight to the point, Bridget took a sip of tea and sighed.
"Starting with the main subject without any preamble is the sort of thing boorish gentlemen prefer. How uncouth."
Saying that, Bridget turned her gaze toward the flowers arranged in a vase. Monica followed her gaze.
They were yellow roses. With petals as delicate as lace, roses like those could not have been easy to obtain this season.
Over the past six months, Monica had learned that even a single flower arrangement could put the tea party's host's taste and wealth to the test.
"Admire the flowers and tea set as befits a tea party, and indulge me in conversation while enjoying your tea."
"..."
Monica was poor at roundabout phrasing and feeling one another out, and wanted Bridget to get to the point, but Bridget seemed to have something on her mind.
When Monica silently took a sip of tea, Bridget smiled faintly and began to speak.
"What do you think of His Highness Felix?"
"...Huh?"
The abrupt question drew a dumbfounded sound from Monica.
Until recently, Monica would have answered, "I think his face and body have an amazing golden ratio."
But now Monica had too many thoughts about Felix to put them into words properly.
"...Honestly, I'm not really sure."
On the surface, Felix was a capable prince who was friendly and well-liked by everyone.
But everyone who knew about him knew that he was the Duke of Clockford's puppet.
Monica also knew that he had secretly gone out at night under the name "Aik," and that he was a huge fan of the Silent Witch.
...He had far too many sides for Monica to tell which one was the real him.
At Monica's vague answer, Bridget murmured a brief "I see" and lowered her gaze to the cup in her hands.
"If you had said he was a perfect prince—good at his studies and sports, popular, skilled with words, and adept at capturing people's hearts—I would have ended this conversation here and never asked for your cooperation."
"...Huh?"
When Monica stared at Bridget blankly, Bridget closed her eyes once, then slowly opened them.
"Sickly, a crybaby, poor at studying and sports, below average at everything he did. Above all, painfully shy and terrible at speaking in front of people."
Monica tensed, wondering if Bridget might be describing her.
"...That is the Felix I know."
For a moment, Monica couldn't understand the meaning of those words.
Felix below average at everything? Bad at speaking in public?
As Monica struggled to conceal her confusion, Bridget began to speak, gazing slightly into the distance.
"I first met His Highness when I was seven. My first impression was simply, 'How utterly unreliable and pathetic.' He could barely manage a greeting. He couldn't even meet my eyes. He would immediately look down and fidget."
The more Monica listened, the more Bridget's story sounded like one about her.
It was hard to believe she was talking about Felix.
"He worked harder than anyone at his studies and physical training. Even so, he could not reach an ordinary standard, and he would sniffle and cry, saying, 'I'm sorry I can't live up to expectations, even though I'm royalty.' He was truly timid, cowardly, and hopelessly uncool... and yet... he was kinder than anyone."
As Bridget spoke those final words, her perfect beauty softened with the faintest hint of sadness.
One look at her face made it easy to imagine what feelings she had held for Felix.
"Everyone thought he would never be able to become king. I thought so too. Even so... if I were to spend my life with someone, I wanted it to be him."
"He was my first love," she murmured, her voice tinged with loneliness.
Monica was left speechless by the sight of the always-perfect young lady baring her emotions.
Moreover, Monica, who could not understand romantic feelings, did not even know what she should say to her.
"...I used to look forward to the days I could see His Highness. But ten years ago, His Highness came down with a serious illness... and more than a year passed without our seeing each other."
According to Bridget, Felix had been a frail boy in his childhood. Apparently, he was sickly and would come down with a fever whenever the seasons changed.
That was why Bridget was terribly worried when she heard Felix had contracted a serious illness.
She was not even allowed to visit him, and spent more than a year in anxious uncertainty...
"When His Highness had finally made a full recovery and I went to see him... he had become a different person entirely."
＊ ＊ ＊
Felix had always been a boy who shyly lowered his head whenever he faced Bridget.
Yet when the boy she met again placed a kiss on the back of Bridget's hand in one fluid motion, he said:
'It's been a while. I'm glad to see you, Bridget. You've become much more beautiful than you were a year ago.'
Most girls would have had their hearts flutter if their first love had said something like that to them.
But Bridget felt an overwhelmingly powerful sense of wrongness instead.
The boy standing before her was undeniably Felix Arc Ridill. Though he had grown taller in the more than a year since she had last seen him, there was no way she could mistake his face.
And yet Bridget was overcome by such a terrible sense of wrongness and unease that she even felt nauseated.
—Who are you?
Such words flashed through her mind. But this was the Duke of Clockford's residence. Besides, no matter how close they were, he was royalty. There was no way such an impudent remark could be forgiven.
Bridget ignored the feeling of wrongness and continued treating Felix as she always had.
When she met Felix again, he had become capable of handling both studies and sports with ease.
He could effortlessly lead a woman in the dance he had once been so poor at, and his manners and skills as an escort were perfect.
His bearing was dignified, and everyone agreed that he was a prince fit to become the next king.
And yet Bridget could not accept Felix.
—No. No, no, no. He isn't my prince!
His appearance, inherited from his mother, had always been strikingly beautiful, so the ladies of high society quickly became infatuated with him.
Felix showered the noblewomen surrounding him with sweet smiles and flowery compliments.
On top of that, Felix made his diplomatic debut in his early teens, and people began to take notice of him.
It was around this time that the nobles of the kingdom began dividing into factions supporting the First Prince and the Second Prince.
＊ ＊ ＊
"The prince I knew was an incredibly shy and withdrawn, helpless boy who couldn't even hold a proper conversation with a girl."
Bridget's description of the "prince he used to be" hardly sounded complimentary.
And yet, as Bridget spoke of the old Felix, her voice held the slightest lift, like a girl talking about the person she loved.
But then Bridget's tone suddenly dropped.
"...Before I knew it, he had become that frivolous, flighty man who spews such empty, utterly hollow poetry while stone-cold sober... Do you have any idea how much I have had to endure getting goosebumps every time I hear those saccharine compliments?"
The delicate folding fan in Bridget's hand creaked ominously. Terrifying.
Monica cautiously ventured to interrupt.
"Um, er... then this 'secret of His Highness' that Bridget-sama wants to know..."
"I believe that the man currently serving as student council president at this academy and calling himself Felix Arc Ridill is a body double."
From the way Bridget stated it so bluntly, Monica realized why she had been unable to consult anyone about this.
There was no way she could accuse Felix of being an impostor in public. It was the kind of statement that could get her executed for lèse-majesté.
Bridget said in a low voice to the trembling Monica:
"I want to meet the real His Highness."
The notion that the Felix currently at the academy was an impostor was utterly preposterous. No one would believe such a claim even if she made it.
But Monica knew that Felix had a hidden side—something he was concealing.
More than anything, Monica had always felt something was off about the fact that although he had a middle name derived from the Earth Spirit King, his strongest affinity was water.
(...Was he a body double?)
Monica could not simply laugh it off as an absurd story.
Aik's words in the entertainment district flashed through Monica's mind.
—I have to become king.
What had he really meant by those words? If Aik was a body double... what had he been feeling when he said them?
Clutching her pounding heart through her clothes, Monica spoke in a hoarse voice.
"...If he is a body double... where do you think the real His Highness is?"
"I believe the real His Highness is still secretly recuperating at the Duke of Clockford's residence because of his frail health."
The Duke of Clockford's residence. That was the mansion Monica was scheduled to infiltrate in a month.
If the real Second Prince truly was at the Duke of Clockford's residence... if Bridget's words were true, what would happen to Aik when the truth was exposed?
"...Bridget-sama, if the man we know as His Highness is an impostor... do you want to make that public?"
"If that happened, His Highness's reputation would hit rock bottom."
Just as Bridget said, Felix Arc Ridill would lose his standing in high society.
In the worst case, he and Aik might both be charged with deceiving members of the royal family.
Bridget seemed to understand that as well.
"I don't want to make the truth public and denounce him... I just want to see my prince."
Monica asked herself:
What should she do... and what did she want to do?
Exposing Aik's secret would surely not be in his best interest. He would not want Monica to learn the truth.
(...Even so, I want to know.)
The reason he sometimes wore a lonely, resigned expression despite laughing so happily when he called her his companion for late-night outings.
(...I want to know him.)
This was surely the first time she had ever felt this way about someone.
And the first time she had taken a step forward of her own accord.
"Bridget-sama, I..."
Just as Monica opened her mouth, someone knocked on the tea room door, and she heard Bridget's maid call out in a flustered voice.
"My lady, I am terribly sorry. His Highness Felix is... ah—"
Before the maid could finish speaking, the door opened.
A rush of cold air from the hallway swept into the tea room, lowering the room's temperature slightly.
"Hello, you two. Would you mind letting me join your tea party?"
Standing there was the beautiful, smiling man at the center of the entire affair.
It was Felix Arc Ridill.