“Will you not congratulate me?”
Cecil’s lips twitched.
“C-Congratulations.”
Claire smiled faintly at the forced congratulation.
She brightened the hall as she received congratulations from the nobles in the Diamond Hall.
“Lady Lennox became the May Fairy just as Your Highness wished.”
“Wasn’t it the natural result? Then, shall we begin the main event now?”
Smiling knowingly, Liliana approached Estevan.
“Your Highness, you may begin.”
He nodded with an interested expression.
Rising from his seat, Estevan stood at the center of the seats of honor.
“By His Majesty the Emperor’s will, there is something I must reveal to the distinguished guests.”
At his declaration, the nobles stopped their conversations and focused on him.
Estevan pointed at Cecil with his index finger.
“Lady Valentier standing there committed an act she should never have done.”
“What do you mean…?”
Consort Isabella was greatly flustered.
Count Valentier and Cecil turned pale.
When Estevan held out his hand, his aide Leon brought him the recording orb.
When the recording orb was played, a shocking scene appeared.
“My goodness…!”
“How could she do such a thing…?”
The footage showed the assistant chef from Cecil’s station sprinkling powder onto Claire’s ingredients.
“F-Father…”
Cecil clutched Count Valentier’s arm with a frightened face.
Count Valentier shut his eyes tightly.
Consort Isabella gripped the armrest and glared at Estevan as if she wanted to kill him.
“Lady Valentier attempted to serve food laced with drugs to the distinguished guests visiting the Empire. On behalf of His Majesty the Emperor, I apologize to the guests here.”
The guests stared coldly at Cecil.
“Th-That is not true. I did not do it. The assistant chef did it.”
“R-Right. That was something the assistant chef did on his own.”
Following Cecil, even Count Valentier shifted the blame onto the assistant chef.
Estevan smiled deeply.
“Then let us call the assistant chef here and hear it directly.”
He looked at Leon.
“Bring him.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
After a while, the Imperial guards brought in the assistant chef.
The assistant chef looked at Estevan with a face full of fear.
“Speak with your own mouth. Was what you did in that recording something you did on your own?”
Count Valentier shouted at him.
“If you don’t want to die, you had better answer properly!”
“Eek.”
Estevan reassured the assistant chef.
“It’s alright. Tell the truth.”
The assistant chef shut his eyes tightly and pointed at Cecil with his index finger.
“I said I did not want to do it, but the young lady there threatened that she would not let me go if I refused, I was too afraid… so I did as I was told. I committed a crime deserving death.”
The assistant chef prostrated himself flat on the floor.
“Please spare me. I do not want to die.”
As the terrified assistant chef pleaded while shedding tears and snot, the nobles looked at him with pity.
“Silence! How dare you wag your tongue carelessly!”
The assistant chef’s shoulders flinched.
“That recording is false. As proof, the distinguished guests are all standing here unharmed, are they not?”
Estevan lifted the corners of his lips.
“The Princess Consort-to-be discovered the assistant chef’s misconduct and took action, which is why the guests are safe.”
He looked at Liliana.
She spoke with a deliberately regretful expression.
“As the person hosting the competition, I believed no cheating should occur, so I did not leave the kitchen and observed the cooking. And I saw the suspicious actions of Lady Valentier’s assistant chef.”
Liliana clutched her trembling chest and continued while leaning on Estevan.
“So, for the sake of fairness, I had my maid give new ingredients to Lady Lennox, allowing the competition to proceed safely.”
“My, the Princess Consort must have worked very hard.”
Consort Diena approached and patted Liliana’s shoulder, then looked toward Consort Isabella.
“That such an irreverent act occurred in a sacred competition is deeply regrettable. If I feel this way, the distinguished guests must feel even more so.”
Consort Diena looked at Estevan.
“First Prince, please announce His Majesty’s will.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Estevan looked at Count Valentier and his daughter and spoke.
“Since the evidence and testimony are clear, severe punishment will be carried out according to His Majesty the Emperor’s will. Take them away.”
When the Imperial guards seized them, Count Valentier and Cecil pleaded with Consort Isabella.
“Your Highness, please spare us.”
“Please save us, Your Highness!”
“How could I defy His Majesty the Emperor’s will? And to commit cheating in a sacred competition… You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Pushing them away, Consort Isabella left her seat.
“Your Highness!”
“Your Highness!”
Count Valentier and his daughter cried out desperately, but Consort Isabella didn’t even pretend to hear them.
Cecil looked at Prince Mikael as if grasping at straws.
“Please help me, Your Highness. This is unfair.”
Mikael looked at Cecil with a cold face.
“Unfair?”
“Yes, it is unfair. This is a false accusation.”
He approached and growled lowly.
“You dare trouble the Princess Consort?”
Mikael looked at Liliana, who was in Estevan’s arms with a sorrowful expression, and his eyes twisted.
“The evidence and testimony are clear. And yet you still deny it…”
“No, Your Highness. I really…”
“Enough. Accept your punishment.”
Cecil collapsed to the floor in despair.
In the end, Count Valentier and his daughter were dragged away by the knights. As they were dragged out, they faced the harsh expressions of the distinguished guests.
“I will not let this go.”
Princess Helena of the Sabotea Duchy snapped.
“You dared try to serve me drugged food?!”
Crown Prince Jonas of the Paemonte Duchy also grew angry.
“I will not let this pass either.”
Prince Ricardo of the Magic Kingdom Baharus also glared at the pair with a cold face.
The foreign ministers of the three countries also wore expressions of deep regret.
“They say you cannot trust anyone, but to think Count Valentier would do such a thing.”
“Even so, how could he do something like that to distinguished guests…?”
“Exactly. I only feel sorry for Lady Lennox.”
Claire approached Liliana.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Claire had been watching to see whether Liliana would reveal the truth or bury it.
But all those worries were unnecessary.
Because Prince Estevan had revealed the truth in front of everyone.
‘She really did meet His Majesty the Emperor.’
Liliana had said she would meet the Emperor and expose the cheating. And the result was now right before her eyes.
Rather than her personal grievance, Claire believed Cecil and Count Valentier, who had sullied the competition for their own selfish desires, shouldn’t be forgiven.
Watching Cecil and Count Valentier being dragged away by the Imperial knights, Claire thought it was self-inflicted.
And she felt grateful to Liliana for revealing everything.
“You do not need to thank me. I only did what I had to do. And today is your day, so enjoy it to the fullest.”
Claire felt her chest tighten as she looked at Liliana speaking with a bright smile like an angel.
Liliana looked at Estevan.
“Your Highness, please wrap things up.”
Estevan nodded and apologized for causing concern on such a good day because of an unpleasant incident.
Then he instructed the orchestra to begin playing music.
As the music echoed through the Diamond Hall, the nobles began enjoying the banquet.
And the undeniable star of the banquet was Claire.
At that moment, Mikael approached Liliana.
“Princess Consort, are you alright?”
“Thanks to your concern, I am fine.”
“You have done a great deed.”
“No, it is simply something I had to do as the one in charge.”
Mikael apologized.
“I am sorry. I should have kept Count Valentier and his daughter in check…”
“It is not Your Highness’s fault, so please do not blame yourself.”
At her angel-like words, his heart stirred once again.
“Excuse me, but I should rest for a bit. Your Highness, may I ask for your help?”
When Liliana looked at Estevan with a pitiful expression, Estevan let out a quiet sigh and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“That would be best.”
“Prince Mikael, I will see you again later.”
“Yes, please rest well.”
Leaning her head on Estevan’s shoulder, Liliana left the Diamond Hall.
Watching the two of them, Mikael clenched his teeth tightly.
After leaving the Diamond Hall, the two walked down the corridor.
Everyone was busy enjoying the festival, so there were no passing maids or attendants in sight.
“How about we stop the act now?”
Liliana lifted her head from Estevan’s shoulder and winked one eye.
“How was my acting?”
“It was very obnoxious.”
“Was it that bad?”
When she made a gloomy face, he flicked her forehead with his index finger.
“Ouch.”
“I told you to stop acting.”
“Tch.”
Pouting her lips, Liliana hooked her arm through Estevan’s arm.
