Chapter 78
“As I mentioned earlier, I am in a position where I receive various forms of help from His Highness, Crown Prince Anasis. That’s why I am well aware of His Highness’s abilities. I just happened to forget for a moment out of surprise earlier.”
Leila met the eyes of Crown Prince Anasis, who was staring at her intently.
“Is that right, Your Highness?”
“…Yes. Leila knows my abilities. I told her myself.”
At his words, the Empress pulled back her chin and glanced around, as if trying to figure out who the real culprit was.
“It’s ironic that I’m accused of using poison.”
“You drank the poison yourself just to get the Crown Prince’s attention, didn’t you!”
“Sister, what possible advantage would that give me?”
“It’s obvious. Since you’re engaged to Sonnet, are you suddenly interested in another man? Someone more charming, more handsome, of higher status!”
At Cybelle’s words, the other noblewomen looked at Leila, wondering if that might actually be true.
Everyone knew the rumors about Leila. It was gossip that spread through the social circle like bones being picked apart.
A young lady who had a habit of intercepting other women’s men, getting engaged, and then repeatedly being broken off with—that was Leila. Her absence from social gatherings, citing illness as an excuse, only fueled these rumors further.
“I swear on my family, Leila would never do such a thing.”
At that moment, Princess Weimar stepped forward. Recalling all that Leila had done for her, her hands trembled with resentment toward Cybelle—but she didn’t realize that her own emotions were being stirred beyond control.
“I… it’s embarrassing to say here, but I’ve received Leila’s help.”
Princess Weimar’s words flowed freely, as if squeezed from her mouth, yet she didn’t find it strange. On the contrary, it felt as if a weight had lifted from her chest.
“The truth is… I’ve admired His Highness for a long time!”
The nobles, surprised by her courage, fell silent.
“I even asked Leila to help me! I… I asked her to help me get closer to His Highness!”
At that, Empress Ramiela couldn’t help but smile.
If the Pendleton Dukes of her own family, and even the Weimar Dukes, were to join forces, they would form a strong alliance that could help make her son the Emperor.
“But how could Leila know anything or orchestrate such a thing?”
“Princess.”
“Come here, Leila. Don’t look so intimidated.”
When Leila shivered as if she were the wronged one, Princess Weimar took her hand and spoke.
“Miss Cybelle is truly excessive. How can sisters… instead of protecting each other, accuse one another of something like this!”
Cybelle was momentarily flustered but continued.
“Leila has seduced every man I was acquainted with. Some even became engaged to her. Then, when it became inconvenient, she pretended to be ill.”
Leila calmly responded.
“Sister, I was genuinely ill. And I see now that in your eyes, my illness looked like pretending. Understood.”
Leila lowered her eyebrows in a pitiful expression and continued.
“And as for the culprit behind this incident… I believe it’s Baron Jeren.”
At Leila’s words, all eyes turned toward Baron Jeren.
“W-what! That’s not true!”
“Your Majesty, Baron Jeren is our family’s aide. Additionally, his family operates a flower farm.”
“So he would have extensive knowledge about flowers.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Leila, still holding Princess Weimar’s hand, shivered as if frightened while speaking.
“And I noticed that Baron Jeren…”
Leila closed her eyes tightly, maintaining the appearance of fear, and continued.
“…behaved oddly when pouring tea into Your Majesty’s cup.”
Leila glanced at the teapot again. The handle had two buttons on it, which immediately reminded her of her previous life—before her stepmother had tricked her with a similar device.
“Look, see? I drank it, and I’m fine.”
“But the medicine is really strange, Father!”
“Again with this. Carmen drank it fine—what’s the problem, then?”
Recalling that incident, Leila couldn’t help but chuckle at her own past self, wondering why she had clung so desperately to family affection back then.
“This is difficult to understand. Please explain in detail, young lady.”
Leila walked slowly forward in response to the Empress, then grabbed the teapot from the table.
“Did anyone see me touch this teapot today?”
Cybelle, momentarily intimidated, couldn’t answer.
“This teapot has two buttons. Pressing one dispenses regular tea, but the other… will release a poisonous belladonna tea.”
“My word.”
Leila handed the teapot to the Empress, who, concealing her delight, examined it.
“Palace attendants?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The Empress gestured, and the attendant handed her a spare silver needle. She opened the teapot lid with a smile.
“It’s indeed divided into two.”
She then poked the needle into the side with more tea. The silver needle began to corrode as expected.
“Miss Leila’s observations are correct.”
“But… that alone doesn’t prove Baron Jeren is the culprit, does it?”
Leila quickly responded to Cybelle.
“This matter has nothing to do with the Aber family. It’s just that my foolish sister tried to cover for someone she knew.”
“….”
“Please, do not punish my family.”
Leila bowed to the Empress. Crown Prince Anasis then looked at his mother and said,
“You can trust Leila, Mother.”
“Your Majesty, I swear on my daughter’s position. Leila would never attempt to poison Your Majesty, nor would she orchestrate such a thing herself.”
“I can also swear, on the honor of the Rutenberg family.”
Leila thought it strange as she saw William speak with a similar expression to Rainier. The red glow in his eyes seemed to shift the mood of the people around him, turning suspicion into favor.
“Leila also saved my mother.”
At Crown Prince Anasis’s words, the Empress finally smiled.
“How could I punish the young lady? She saved me and acted swiftly. It was also an opportunity to show Anasis’s ingenuity.”
Yet the Empress cast a cold glare at Baron Jeren.
“Why did you say such things?”
“Ah, I-I…”
“And Miss Cybelle Aber. Why were you trying to blame your sister?”
At the Empress’s words, Princess Weimar triumphantly spoke.
“All of Miss Cybelle’s claims contained a mix of truth and lies.”
“What do you mean, Princess?”
The Empress looked at Leila in surprise, wondering why this remarkable princess was so eager to speak on someone else’s behalf.
“All the rumors about Leila stealing Miss Cybelle’s men were completely false.”
“Princess…”
“Leila, stay calm. Everything will be fine.”
The princess reassured Leila.
“Before becoming close to Leila, I investigated the truth. It turned out that all the ‘truths’ were twisted versions of events, swapped by Miss Cybelle.”
“P-Princess!”
As Cybelle panicked, the princess spoke even louder.
“Recently, Viscount Hugo Ronald visited my family! And he was rude to me. That’s when I revealed everything.”
“My goodness.”
“How can sisters…”
“They weren’t even biological sisters, were they?”
“Oh, come to think of it, Miss Cybelle Aber was of commoner origin, wasn’t she?”
“Yes, if she was a commoner…”
“Commoners shouldn’t be like this.”
“She clearly envied the nobility without knowing her place.”
The murmurs around them grew louder. Leila glanced at Rainier, disguised as William, and saw the red aura in his eyes stir the crowd.
When he looked at Leila, he held a finger to his lips, silently signaling her to stay quiet.
“Miss Cybelle was the one jealous of Leila who fabricated all those false rumors! And even claimed that Leila committed inappropriate acts with her fiancés!”
Leila looked at Princess Weimar as the princess spoke.
This time, the princess’s eyes also glowed red—but only Leila seemed to notice.
“Mother, I support the princess’s words. The Weimar princess would not speak up at just any time. She is wiser than anyone else.”
Crown Prince Anasis recalled his mother’s words and supported Princess Weimar. The Empress, hiding her admiration for Leila’s skill and decisiveness, said:
“Considering Miss Leila, the Aber family will not be punished… however.”
With a gesture from the Empress, the other knights began rounding up all the attendants present at the tea party.
“We will need to hear the servants’ testimony as well.”
