About Your Pride and My Prejudice

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“What’s this?”

It was a box that could contain something like a ring. The moment I carefully opened the box, Mrs. Hugh added.

“The ring was tailored to commemorate the silver wedding of Viscount Günter and Viscountess Josephine.”

“Ah….”

A pair of elegant, old-fashioned rings with pale blue diamonds studded with diamonds that are not in fashion these days. I was lost for a moment.

“You know… Neither of them wore this ring.”

“Well, why are you giving this to me? Did my great-aunt tell you to leave it for me?”

“Exactly, no.”

I stuck out my upper body from the carriage and stiffened.

“Then why…”

“When she was in bed a few days before she died, she told me to give it to her daughter if she came.”

“What? But her daughter has already…….”

“Her mind for the last few days was not clear.”

A strand of white hair that flowed down from the head maid’s well-groomed curls swayed softly in the cold wind.

“But Miss Collins was the only young woman who had a relationship with the Viscountess. So she probably thought of Miss Collins and said it.”

“…….”

Helen Günter, daughter of my great-aunt, who passed away at an early age. She said she was a friend of Rose Beckwith’s, the mother of my lover.So Helen must have met her loving friend and dear mother by now.

Great-aunt told me that she was worried that someday when she went to heaven neither her husband nor her daughter would recognize her….… I hope they can be happy mother and daughter together there.

In the one and only distant world where eternity is real.

“This is just my opinion.”

“What kind….”

“If Miss Collins could use it as a token when you one day had a loved one, wouldn’t the Viscountess in Heaven be delighted?”

I silently peered into the two jewels that gleamed like the water of the Dove Lake, or the eyes of a person, and carefully closed the lid of the box.

I still don’t know if Alan and I can even get married. I’m still not sure whether I can fully understand him, and so will he.

Perhaps he will not marry and live his life as a free businessman. He seems to be more suited to that side.

But if there comes a day when I can’t stand it, the day when I can’t live without being his wife even if I die soon.

What if I asked him to marry me with this ring?

Laughing faintly at myself for having such a vain thought, I answered like the wind in the lake.

“Yes.”

* * *

Obviously, I had come to watch the wedding of Viola and Jacob, but I couldn’t remember where their house was. If it wasn’t for the kindness of the villagers, I would probably have been searching for Brickhouse Street until sunset.

I was so moved when I finally knocked on the door of the green gate house where Mr. Piccom’s young landlord, Mr. Brickhouse, and a small woman from the capital, lived.

“Oh, my God.”

Lady Brickhouse, who opened the door, paused for about three seconds. Then she shouted my name as if the magic had been lifted

“Melissa!”

The expression and voice I imagined greeted me.

Even hugged my neck and jumped.

“……Don’t run, Viola.”

At first glance, I was worried about her stomach, which was quite full, and when I said an anxious voice, Viola smiled innocently with her greenish-brown eyes shining.

“It’s cold, Mel. Let’s go in.”

How much I’ve missed this frizzy hair and cute golden eyebrows. Suddenly, I felt as if I had gone back in time. There was no difference between her and me.

My only best friend will be a mother soon. It’s just surprising.

We were seated opposite each other in the cozy living room. Hanging a shawl next to thick tapestries embroidered with coniferous forest and hut paintings seems to have warmed the cozy space.

“I knew it.”

Even after becoming Mrs. Brickhouse, Viola, whose habit of wrinkling her nose while talking seriously has not changed at all, she clattered down the tea cup.

“That you didn’t study abroad, Mel. Do you know you’re as good as missing?”

“Emmm….”

Well, that was quite expected. After hearing from the royal family that her daughter did not show up at the academy until the end of the semester, my mother went to find my only best friend.

—Is Melissa bothering you here?

And even what my mother said to Viola was so unexpected that I laughed helplessly.

“So.”

Viola slowly raised her eyebrows and stared at me. Now she was waiting for my story. About where I was and what I was doing when I left the kingdom half a year ago to study abroad.

She scrutinized the shawl hanging on the wall and the Spencer jacket, lined with soft sable fur, and then looked back at me. There are no colorful patterns or decorations, but they were definitely expensive luxury goods. Melissa Collins is wearing something that gives a clear sense of incongruity.

“Have you been with Mr. Miller?”

“Ah….”

Now, from where do I have to start? I opened my mouth with a slight dizziness.

“Tobias is in Sourne. He had an accident in the Principality and went back to his hometown. I don’t contact him anymore, but I still want him to be happy.”

“What? An accident? What happened….”

Viola shook her eyelashes. My answer seemed quite confusing.

“Then who is looking after you? You don’t know anyone in the Principality. She said you didn’t even register at the academy…….”

“……That person is.”

I whispered quietly, hoping that Viola with the baby in her womb wouldn’t be too surprised.

“It’s Alan Leopold. I’ve been living with him at his house.”

“Melissa, that’s…….”

Viola was no longer able to speak. Her eyes were so wide that they couldn’t get any bigger. As if I was crazy or joking.

Such a reaction would not be unreasonable. Because she is the only person who has watched all of my last unrequited love.

It was even more so considering Alan’s position in the Kingdom of Sourne. I had already gotten used to falling asleep in the same bed and waking up with him, so I just forgot about it for a while.

I decided not to tell Viola about the incident at the old mansion underground prison. It’s not a bad intention…… The fact that Alan genuinely thought that giving me a first-hand experience of prison would be beneficial to my creation would surprise Viola.

Even after we confirmed each other’s feelings, I occasionally found bizarre corners in him. In short, there were times when I felt like he didn’t have some emotions that everyone should have.….

From what I have observed he is seldom impressed and his empathy is markedly weak. I’m still surprised when he shows his willingness to control everything as he pleases.

A lot would have been different if he had had a happy and ordinary childhood, and I can’t help but feel lonely when I think about it, but there are times when Alan feels so far away.

Nevertheless, I love him deeply and sincerely think that I want to cover for the deficiency. He also embraced all my emptiness.

……But it’s impossible to ask Viola to understand.

In the end, I started with Alan’s help when I almost got a rough ride on the ship to the Principality. Because this is true.

And to my surprise, Alan also said that he’s always watched me, and that there were ups and downs in recognizing and acknowledging that it was love for me, but we eventually confirmed each other’s feelings and became lovers.

Viola’s fine nose was creased once again.

“But I don’t think you should give up studying abroad.….”

As a close friend who always cheered me up and encouraged me, Viola didn’t question Alan Leopold’s love affair with me.

However, she seemed to be suspicious of him in all possible directions.

“Did he force you?”

“Viola.”

“Wait. Lunoa is famous for being free-spirited. I heard they have affairs there”

“What affair. Alan has no wife.”

“Ha, Melissa. I mean……!”

Perhaps my calm response was frustrating, but Viola gulped down the half-cold tea and continued,

“Will the noble Lord Alan we know be the same in the Principality? There is no family or royal family to look around anymore. Even if he reveals his beastlike nature, who will stop it?”

“B-beast?”

“It was weird though. He is a man of high spirits, but he has never had a scandal.”

……It is true that he is a man of great spirits. That is absolutely certain.

But I decided to listen to her in silence. The only way to calm down the gluttonous Viola is to let her say everything she wants to say.

“It’s not because you’re not good enough for him, Mel. If the person who was so indifferent and hurting you suddenly became your lover, how could you be serious? He’s trying to enjoy a little bit of deviance while he’s away from the kingdom.”

“No, it’s not, viola.”

“I’m worried because you’re so soft and innocent! Come to think of it, there were rumors that Sir Alan had a lover.”

“That person—”

“There is nothing strange about meeting women secretly like that…….”

It’s getting increasingly difficult. If I left it like this, I thought a ridiculous scenario would be completed.

“Viola, she’s Alan’s…… I mean, she’s like a distant relative. We even met in person.”

……And in many ways, Monica Elwood was a great person. Well, anyway.

“You don’t have to doubt Alan’s true feelings. I can’t tell you everything, but would you believe that he even cried for fear of me leaving?”

“What? That Sir Alan?”

Viola scoffed as if she was getting hyper.

“Ha, he even acted in tears?”

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