Banished Villainess

chapter 17 : Chaco Brown

It hasn’t been long since he had last taken a step into the academy grounds but the prince was already feeling nostalgic. The memories of the dazzling days he had spent was overlapping with the mundane ones.

He went to the staff room of the academy to inquire about a student name Chaco Brown. He was told that the commoner lady is in the newspaper club, and that he will surely meet her there after class. Certainly, the prince would feel guilty to interrupt their class or break times so he decided to wait.

Because he judged that it will be too conspicuous having a graduate like him loiter around the premises, he decided to kill time at the royal lounge of the academy instead. Finally visiting the newspaper club after class, he saw a lady with a pair of amber eyes and chocolate hair, sporting the same hairstyle as Chloe’s disguise within the crowd of members inside.

“You must be Chaco Brown, are you not?”

“I am, highness. May I ask what business does his highness have here?”

Although Leddorio was helped by the newspaper club during Chloe’s condemnation. All the students related to that had already graduated together with him. Presently, the head of the same class was the lady called Chaco Brown.

“It’s a little private.. There are several things I need to tell you but… not here.”

“Then let us go somewhere else, highness.”

Trying to find a place with no prying ears just lead them back towards the royal lounge. The entire place used to be reserved only to them during their academy days and he can still remember the tea times he exchanged with Momo here. Unfortunately though, due to the interference of Sei and the others, they are almost never left alone together.
 

“I heard that you were Momo’s classmate.”

“Yes, that is true. Although Miss Momo was on temporary leave now, we have been classmates before then.”

“…Just classmates? Not friends?”

“Did Miss Momo told his highness so?”

He jumped straight to the subject of Momo but she felt considerably distant. Chaco brown only answered his question with another one and he felt that there were something more to her response. He ended up suspecting that perhaps, Chaco actually hates Momo, unrelated to the interference of his former fiancée.

“Momo was ostracized. She had consulted me in the past about how all her attempts of socializing are ignored, as well as how her personal belongings are either stolen or ruined by others. The main perpetrator to such vile acts is my former fiancée, Chloe.”

“So that was how his highness got the engagement annulled and banished her ladyship away from the capital.”

Her manner of drinking may be considerably rougher in comparison to other aristocrats, but the facial expression of the commoner lady named Chaco had never changed the entire time. There was neither sympathy for Momo, nor disdain for Chloe. All she did thus far was to state what had happened.

“Are you aware of the fact that Chloe is using your name and posing as a commoner?”

“Huh!?”

The prince saw Chaco’s facial expression changing for the very first time as her eyes widened in surprise. After the prince told her how it had been relayed by his spy who is currently attached to the lady, as well as asking about her knowledge over the matter, she reverted back to her reserved state.

“I believe it would not be that strange for her to know about me because my name is often written in the newspaper as a reporter, highness.”

“I apologize if I ended up offending you but, I am thinking that Chloe may have had a hand in your estrangement with Momo.”

“You are overthinking it, highness. Momo and I were never that close in the first place.”

The prince do not know whether he had truly ended up offending her or not but he noticed the narrowing of her eyes. He initially thought that the lady hated the idea of having associated with Chloe, but on the contrary, it was due to being called Momo’s friend.

“However, Momo had told me that you’ve told her a lot of things and how she had been in your care for a while.”

“Oh, that was true in the beginning. We have gotten a well and talked about a lot of things, and she kept asking about all about all of my special information, but after quite some time she just stopped talking to me anymore.”

“Did you have a quarrel which lead to that?”

“She had not really told me of anything she had been displeased about. But if I were to read her gestures, I would say that it was because she had no use of me anymore.”

The prince could not comprehend what Chaco was talking about. At any rate, she had no qualms about Chloe using her name due to its commonality. On the contrary, she feels honored even. The prince tried to tell her to get along with Momo again but..

“If his highness orders it then I shall comply, but I feel like it would be an unnecessary consideration from Miss Momo’s perspective.”

With Chaco bowing her head to the prince before leaving, the prince was left alone in the lounge with dissatisfied.