“That’s what your mother said.” Rashid’s sword, glimmering ominously, touched Rebecca’s hand. He slowly turned his head towards her, holding the red gemstone ring on the tip of the sword. “Is this it?”
At first glance, his indifferent gaze didn’t change. However, she didn’t miss the intriguing laughter hidden within it. As she approached him like that, the hallway outside the room bustled with guests. They couldn’t bring themselves to step inside, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t see what was happening inside.
“There really was a diamond ring. A genuine diamond ring!”
“Oh my goodness!” Someone sighed, and someone else tried to hide an amused smile. Still, there was someone else whose reaction she was most curious about. “So, how does His Highness perceive this situation?”
“It’s unbelievable!”
“……”
“How? How is this possible?” Rania, who concealed her anger, similar to her younger sister but even more intense, approached her. In response to her gesture indicating that she wanted to personally verify the ring with her own eyes, Rashid handed her the sword. He then handed her the ring with an expression that seemed to know something yet appeared nonchalant.
“You surely don’t claim to be unaware of our late mother’s heirloom, do you?”
“Why is it here?”
“Well, that’s what I’m asking.”
They had a similar conversation in the Winter Palace, but this time the roles had completely reversed. There was no need to pretend to be arrogant. Just by looking directly at her, it seemed like this woman was on the verge of losing her mind, and that was enough. “Is there a problem? It’s just left in the same place Rebecca mentioned.”
“That cunning woman! Catherine!” From the moment Rashid raised the ring with his sword, Rebecca’s voice had been getting louder, unable to regain her composure. Anyway, things weren’t going to be easy. Rashid couldn’t even move a muscle, but as soon as he saw her, his whole body seemed to boil with anger.
“I never did such a thing! I don’t know why that is here—— Ah, what is this!”
Rebecca, who was frantically searching for something to grab, suddenly approached the window. She gasped while looking at the slightly open window, and eventually, she bit her lip.
“The door is open! I’m sure I locked this window!”
“Rebecca.”
“You know it too, right, sister? I always keep the window closed! I always lock it because I don’t want to hear those brats’ cries!” Rebecca unconsciously grabbed Lania’s arm and shook her. But since Lania was already out of her mind, there was no response, and her anger turned back to Catherine. “Catherine, it’s you! I don’t know what tricks you pulled this time, but I won’t fall for it! It’s all because of you!”
“Do you have any evidence?”
What?”
“Your ring is here, and I just arrived. I even remember that you entered this room first.”
“……”
“Do you have any evidence that I did it?”
She slightly lowered her head and asked the same question again. Before a startled Rebecca could become aggressive again, she firmly stated it. “If you keep acting like this, it will only make your sister look worse. Are you okay with that?”
“Yaaaah!”
“Don’t scream. Let’s at least maintain some dignity within the house.”
“……”
The tension between the sisters, there’s nothing she couldn’t handle. It would be even better if she could appear less shaken in this situation. “Listen Well, Rebecca. Despite you causing trouble in the Winter Palace, I tried to understand how much you despised and hated me as your stepmother, the governess that I am. I even thought I could bear false accusations from you. But now that you’ve gone so far as to bring it to His Majesty, tarnishing the reputation your father built in the northern region with your own hands, we can’t just let it slide.”
“W-What are you talking about?! You are an insignificant——”
“That’s right. I’m the insignificant one you hate so much.”
“……”
“That means I have the authority to hold you responsible for what happened today.”
‘If you understood that, shut your mouth.’
After carefully enunciating each word, she straightened her back and raised her head. However, the other party was a stubborn one who wouldn’t listen to her words, so she firmly asserted my authority once again.
“If His Majesty permits——-”
“Do as you please.”
“……”
She waited, and Rashid’s cold permission finally came. Even without looking back, she could imagine the expression with which he was looking down at her. “I don’t care about your household affairs. Whether you kill someone who wrongly accused you or not, it’s up to you.”
“Your Majesty.”
“To think that such a trivial matter would bring me all the way here.”
“……”
“Catherine if you don’t deliver an appropriate punishment to her, it will be considered an insult to my authority by the entire Evendell Duchy.” Murmurs grew louder among the nobles who had been observing the situation. Insulting imperial authority was the gravest offense that could destroy a noble family.
“Oh.” Rebecca, who realized the gravity of the situation, couldn’t scream anymore. Her vacant gaze, as she looked around, swallowed her saliva only when she met the cold gazes beyond the door.
“Oh, no. I just…”
“……”
“It’s not what it seems. I didn’t mean to do all of this——”
*CRACK*
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