Banished Villainess

36 : The Start of the Fall

Leddorio’s footsteps led him towards the sacred church. It has already been determined that Prince Keith will be the crown prince instead. For Leddorio, that was tantamount to calling him an incompetent heir. If problems didn’t arise, he would have been the next king as the oldest son, with his father and younger brother acknowledging it. However, Leddorio still couldn’t believe how the seat was taken from him just by losing his fiancee. Not to mention, the annulled fiancee in question, was a lady banished for harming the true saintess. It made the prince feel like the one getting punished for what happened was him instead.

 (At any rate, I need to talk with Momo… But damn you, Darck. As I thought, you were still much like your sister in the end.)

As he cursed Darck within his inner thoughts, he was searching for Momo within the church grounds. Soon enough, he found Momo in the dining hall eating her lunch on her own. Although the surrounding men of faith were bothered by the sudden intrusion of the prince, Leddorio didn’t mind it as he placed both his hands on the table.

“W-What happened, Sir Benny? Were you able to get permission to lessen my morning duties?”

“Well, no… I didn’t come here for that today. To tell you the truth,  I am in a considerably disadvantageous position in the succession of the crown due to not having a fiancee.”

“Huh!?”

In actuality, the 2nd prince had already been designated as the heir, but the Leddorio decided to omit that for now. Besides, the prince thought that once he gets engaged to Momo, he will be able to overturn that decision. After all, the thickening of miasma recently had become unusual. The only way to purify all of them would require similar feats to the legen, and the royal palace wouldn’t be able to ignore the man who was able to capture the heart of a Saintess capable of such feats.

The sound of metal to ceramic clashing was heard as Momo put placed her spoon down and began tidying up her plate. The lady was able to deduce that this is not the kind of conversation she can have while eating. After sorting out her food, she came back with baked cookies and tea for the prince.

“Would you please tell me what happened, sir?”

“Of course, thank you… I explained to you about the need to have you adopted by the House Sereknight to have sufficient peerage, didn’t I? That agreement was also made so that the responsibility for her crimes will fall to Chloe alone. However, Darck had betrayed us. The bastard was never intent on accepting you as his sister in the first place.”

“Huh, Sir Darck did that!?”



The lady was shocked by the sudden revelation of Darck’s betrayal. However, Leddorio had already been aware that the young heir to the dukedom was planning to annul his engagement. Darck only did the same thing as the prince and Sei, and Leddorio acknowledged that he must annul his engagement with his fiancee becayse he was in love with another woman. However, the prince failed to realize just how much damage its ripple would cause to his succession right.
 

“That man still sees you as a woman. Would you truly be fine with having such your brother?”

“D-Did Sir Darck said so, sir?”

“No, but that’s exactly why he annulled his engagement to the lady of House Whyte, didn’t he?”

“…..”

Momo’s head hanged low, not saying anything. Leddorio doesn’t know whether the feelings behind her wavering eyes were out of her disappointment for Darck, or delight in realizing the extent of his love for her. Either way, the adoption of the House Sereknight is no longer possible as far as the prince is concerned. He needed to find a new house that would adopt her, but finding the right one would take a lot of time.

The prince was about to probe the extent of the lady’s feelings towards Darck but before he did, Momo changed the topic.
 

“Speaking of House Sereknight, what has Lady Chloe been up to recently?”