Banished Villainess

66 : Chloe's Secret

‘What do you mean!? Chloe will perform as my substitute at the advent festival as Chaco? What is this about!?‘

Momo, who looked as though all the strands of hair in her body stood up in bewilderment, turned her attention towards the 2nd prince and came close to grab him. Keith, who smoothly evaded her sudden approach, answered her question, although indifferently.

‘You heard it. Because the Saintess is busying herself in the dungeon, the sinner will have to come to pray at the Advent Festival in her place. I don’t see any problems with that, though?‘

‘There are, and loads of them! In the first place, you’re having her perform under the pretense of the false name she used? Wouldn’t that be a deception to the populace?‘

Leddorio protests in agreement with Leddorio, which at a perfect timing, overlapped with Chloe’s own protests.

“Highness Yello, I am a sinner. I already secretly came back to the capital, if I perform the rites as falsely as Lady Chaco, I—“

“Just call me Chaco. Aren’t we close friends?”

“But I’m…huh?”

As Chloe noticed Chaco using a much more frank tone, she stared at the lady, puzzled. After stopping Shin who was about to call Chloe out on her impertinence, Chloe gave a bewildered glance towards the 2nd prince.

In response, Keith took out two pages of royal documents from his pocket. The first page was the same document he had expressed earlier denoting Chloe’s participation in the festival while assuming Chaco Brown’s identity, but the second one was—

‘What—!?’

This time, it was Leddorio’s turn to rise from his seat. A sinner being given permission to use a false name is already unprecedented, but they had even completely shun the 1st prince out of the issue and arbitrarily decreed it without his knowledge. Furthermore, according to the 2nd prince, the document had already passed through the directive of the king’s office. Leddorio pressed closer to his younger brother but he only received a nonchalant reply in return.

“After all, somebody, had put on a pressure to ensure that a lady will not be able to do anything under her own name. So we had to come before the prime minister, who had to make a special exception. Do you understand what I’m getting at? We had to clean up after someone’s unnecessary interference that he made just to satisfy his stupid revenge.”

“Stupid revenge, you say?”

Even as the two brothers aggressively argue against each other to her side, Momo maintained her focus on the mirror.  But as the reflection starts to show the two ladies driving the other two young men outside for Chloe to change her clothes, Momo turned towards the arguing brothers and yelled.

‘Sir Benny and Sir Keith! I can’t hear the conversation well so please be silent!’

‘Mo…Momo? What’s the matter?’

‘…I don’t recall giving you permission to call me Keith, though?’

After closing the door behind them, Chloe and Chaco resumed their conversation. Shin placed the magical brooch near the gap of the door to help it receive the contents of their conversation well, but parts of it remained incomprehensible.

“Lady–, is it really alright for you to through such extent just for my sake? Also, I remember you calling me ______ earlier”

“Yup, at first I was kinda surprised when I heard about you from _______, it just didn’t make sense to me. I mean ____ suddenly became odd and used my name. But when I finally talked to you and when you called me _____, I finally understood.  You are not the ____ that I knew. But when you think about it _____ ______, _____ after all.”

“Will you still forgive me, Chaco?”

“There’s none for me to forgive, you know. That would be unreasonable. Besides, I don’t think _____ thought of me as ______ anyway. My ______ with ______ is as good as over. So from my perspective, ________ is just someone giving her all to make the most of her desperate situation… It’s you we’re talking about after all.”

Even after raising the volume, the prince could hear the crucial parts of their conversation as nothing but vocal scribbles. As he frustratingly try to strain his ears to eavesdrop on their conversation once more, he heard Momo suddenly whispering—,

“I knew it… Chloe is a ______”

* ° * ° * ° * ° * ° * ° * ° * ° * ° * ° * ° * °

Author : can u guess the  “_________” ?