Banished Villainess

92 : Dedication of a Fiancée

Turning the time back a little; after having confirmed that Momo and Leddorio had already flown away riding the sacred bird, Yello turned towards Darck and spoke.

‘Darck, I remember that you were given a mythical beast by your fiancee just like me, were you not?’

‘H-How did his highness…  Uhm, yes, compared to other places within the country, Whitey frontier has a higher chance of giving birth to such creatures due to the effects of miasma compared to other places. The ‘Pegasus that Shiela showed me was one of such creatures. However, I will only have that creature after our marriage, so for now, I can only take it for a ride whenever I visit here.’

‘You borrow it in advance then. It will become yours sooner or later anyway, and we really need it right now.’

‘Huh!?’

Darck raised his voice in protest but hurriedly stopped himself by covering his mouth.

‘Wouldn’t that be severely shameless of me to do, sir? I already almost annulled my engagement with her due to my own childishness.’

‘Oh… Looks like you have the flexibility to contemplate your actions now.’

(Saying that, but shrewdly taking the Pegasus away alone was the kind of man, the Darck I’ve heard about though.)

Yello’s eyes narrowing with cynicism made Darck falter. Although he wanted time to prepare himself, unfortunately, they are out of it now. That’s when the two of them heard a whine of a horse.

Turning towards the source, he saw a lady pulling the reigns of a white horse with wings on its back. Standing next to the Pegasus, her hair, eyes, and the color of her skin don’t lose to it, an alluring lady of pure white.

She looked very much like the queen and could be said to be Keith and Leddorio’s older sister, although they were cousins.

‘Shiela!’

‘Sir Darck, it may be improper of me but I heard your conversation earlier. Feel free to borrow ‘Byakuya’ any time you want.’

‘H-However…’

Shiela had become such a stunning beauty that one would easily forget her previous plumpy physique. She was almost a completely different person but Darck didn’t look to be much surprised. Rather, his surprise was the fact that Shiela didn’t reproach him for shamelessness, and merely lent the mythical creature to him like it was the most obvious thing to do.

But as if having read the young man’s thoughts, Shiela inclined her head to the side and gave out a pleasant giggle.

‘Please do not misunderstand, sir. I am merely lending you Byakuya to help make sure that you will be able to save your sister.’

‘For Chloe?’

‘Didn’t we talked about this before, sir?’

Yello compared her face to that of the queen’s. Only a limited number of people know Shiela’s real appearance. Not even Leddorio, nor his most beloved Fiancee, who seems to know everything, knew about it.  But even though he was surprised seeing how much Shiela closely resembled his mother during her youth, Keith had vaguely that she was fooling the surrounding’s eyes. He was able to observe how the flow of the magical power wrapping her entire body looked unnaturally distorted.

‘Shiela, were you done?’

‘Yes, highness. I was found out.’

Shiela giggled and sent a side glance to Darck, whose body stiffened as though he was petrified. His cousin, who always looked nonchalant to him, somehow looked indescribably scary. Although it made him concerned about what’s to come, that’s something to think about once all the pressing issues are fixed and all the dust has settled.

Prince Keith ordered Darck to go to the Nansonia region and catch up to Chloe’s carriage.

‘Shiela, I’m sorry for troubling you… I will repay this debt someday.’

‘Don’t be so reserved, sir. I hope the fortune smiles on your journey.’

Darck straddled on the back of Byakuya. After caressing the pegasus’ wing. Shiela stepped back and stared right at him. Darck was about to open his mouth seemingly about to say something, but he kept it shut and galloped towards the direction that the sacred bird had flown to.

‘Did something like… happened between you, a little before? Good grief, Shiela would be such a waste on Darck.’

‘Fufu… now, now, highness. We adults should just strictly guide him so that Sir Darck would never dare to think of committing any foolishness ever again. We’ll make him such a splendid gentleman that no person would ever call him a waste.’

Huh? Keith turned his eyes towards Shiela but the lady was in her usual gentle smile. It reminded him of something; a smile characteristic of royalty whenever they perfectly hide their true feelings.

(Darck… looks like your rough days are just about to start.)