"Lady Roberts, I heard that you started training for the position of Crown princess, but... " The girl paused for a bit before smiling with disdain and continuing. "It seems that you don't need it."
If the words were taken at face value, they would mean that Lady Roberts was already very familiar with what was needed to be a Crown Princess. However, what was meant was 'You're not going to be the Crown Princess anyway so why care?'.
Lady Roberts looked at her with fake arrogance. "Whether I need the training or not, it is not for you to decide!"
I kind of got why she acted like a villainess now. Ah, noble ladies are so scary. The best way to deal with them for Miss Roberts might be to not care about them. But... I could help.
I smiled. "My, Miss Roberts, calm down. She only means to say that you are already so elegant and knowledgeable that you wouldn't need the training." I turned to the girl and smiled condescendingly with narrowed eyes. "She couldn't mean to say that you don't suit the position, right? She wouldn't say that the great Emperor chose the wrong girl for his son. That would be doubting The Sun (the Emperor is referred to as 'The Sun' here), wouldn't it? And to say that in the presence of the Duchess, his beloved sister... She wouldn't commit such blasphemy, would she?"
The girl turned pale. "N-no! I didn't mean it that way! I truly meant that Lady Roberts was great and didn't need training! I truly!" She turns to the Duchess. "I never thought that Lady Roberts was unsuitable for his Highness, Duchess! Please believe me!"
Duchess Analena is a smart woman. Of course, she understood the double meaning in the girl's words. She smiled. "Of course you didn't mean that. Aster is a playful child, don't mind her words. Lady Roberts is truly a wonderful lady. We all know that, don't we? Don't scare the young lady, Aster."
"Yes, Aunty." I smiled like a good child.
The Duchess stopped them all from bad-mouthing Miss Roberts and also freed me from taking the blame of soiling the girl's name for committing blasphemy against the Sun, in one move. Truly a smart woman. Also, calling me by my name and showing that I was close to her meant to tell the ladies that she wouldn't blame me even if I committed a wrong. I followed in her footsteps and showed that I was close enough to her to call her 'Aunty'.
All the ladies veered off of speaking about Miss Roberts and now started to talk about me. 'It was a sacrifice for a friend. Even though I hate being the center of attention if it was for my friend, I wouldn't mind as much.'
"I couldn't help but notice that the Duchess and Lady Saravelle are close. If you don't mind, would you tell us how you became so close?" One of them asked.
'Ugh!' I mentally hold my head in my arm. Of course, on the outside, I was smiling.
"It was a complete coincidence that I met Aunty when I went out to town. I greeted her when I noticed her and the Duchess was kind enough to let me accompany her for a meal. We soon realized that our tastes were similar and that we got along well. Later, she told me to call her Aunty. That's how we became close. It wasn't anything special." I said.
Of course, I skipped a lot of details. The Duchess actually came to 'Der Rosengarten' herself and recognized me even in my disguise. I accompanied her for a meal as 'Edmund' and she told me that she always wanted a 'daughter' like me. Imagine my surprise when she said told me to call her 'Aunty'.
"I always wanted a daughter like Aster. That's why I told her to call me Aunty. We exchange letters when we can't meet." The Duchess continued.
'Please change the topic, someone.' I thought. 'Please... I will die if you talk about me anymore... Ah, I really am dying... My waist hurts... I'm going to make Madam Lila go bankrupt for trying to have me killed. Ugh, it hurts way too much. Didn't I wrap the wound securely?'
I looked down at my waist to see a tiny amount of blood seeping through my dress. 'Shit!'