Chapter 90
“……Y-You…… how……!”
The Grand Duchess, who had been smiling as if she were the victor while saying, Why, Your Grace? Have you found out?, suddenly turned deathly pale.
As if she were seeing something unreal, her hands trembled.
“And judging by how you’re wondering how I’m here…… it seems the moment the culprit is revealed has come.”
“H-heh…… heh…….”
At that moment, Rohen ran toward me.
“Are you crazy?”
Furious, Rohen hurriedly looked me over from head to toe.
“Ah…… no. Well, that is.”
“We promised you wouldn’t do dangerous things on your own. Then why—why did you do it!”
“First…… you can scold me later. Shouldn’t we finish this first?”
“Ha. Seriously…….”
Lari, who had been glued to the Grand Duke’s side, had come over to me at some point as well. Unlike Rohen, Lari clung to my arm without saying anything.
She just kept shedding tears.
“I’m sorry, Lari. Were you worried?”
“Unni…… I thought something bad happened…….”
“Don’t cry.”
I hugged Lari tightly and comforted her. Before I knew it, Rohen also slipped into the arm I had wrapped around her.
Because of that, I ended up awkwardly patting both children.
“I’m sorry for making you worry. I didn’t expect this to happen either.”
“If you disappear without saying anything again…….”
“We’ll break your ankle if we have to and keep you by our side. So you can never…… go anywhere again.”
“Mm…….”
Kids, could you not say things like that? You’re the kind who actually would do it, so it’s a little scary.
While that was happening, the Grand Duke approached me.
“Aisha. Are you alright?”
His expression was surprisingly gentle. As if he had truly been worried about me, concern and relief were clearly visible on his face.
“Yes…….”
His worry felt even stranger. It was natural for the children to worry, but the Grand Duke worrying…… honestly, I hadn’t expected that. To him, I thought I was just an orphan girl, or at most a child the twins cared about.
If not that, I had assumed he might use me to keep the Grand Duchess in check, or as a way to provoke her……
“Were you worried about me?”
“Of course.”
“Ah…….”
Why? Why were you worried about me? Were we the kind of people who worried about each other? That question arose in my mind. Why had he worried about me? Did he truly value me more than I thought?
“I’m glad…… you’re safe.”
It was the same expression he wore when looking at the twins. That made my chest feel strangely ticklish. In this life—Aisha’s life—the only one who had ever looked at me that way was the High Priestess.
“Yes…….”
“If it were up to me, I would return immediately and check on you properly, but for now, I cannot.”
Rex had also approached us at some point. Lari and Rohen examined him all over. Perhaps because he always stayed by my side, the children seemed to have grown somewhat fond of Rex as well.
“Rex, are you okay?”
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, Young Master. Young Lady. Thank you for your concern.”
Rex smiled brightly to reassure them.
I didn’t seem injured anywhere, but Rex was different. Perhaps he had been handled roughly—his body, especially his bound arms and the corner of his mouth, showed faint traces of blood.
“Rex and Aisha are the same.”
“The same.”
“You both just say you’re fine.”
“I truly am fine. Thanks to Lady Aisha.”
Meanwhile, the Grand Duke, after checking on us, walked toward the Grand Duchess.
“Grand Duchess. It seems you wanted to drive me into a corner—what a pity. Once again, Aisha has resolved things splendidly.”
“…….”
“And judging by the fact that you asked how Aisha got here, just as she said, it seems you already knew she was there.”
No matter how much she racked her brain, no good idea seemed to come to her; the Grand Duchess merely picked at her fingernails.
“Go on. Speak. An excuse, an explanation—anything. Shouldn’t you say something?”
“…….”
“Why? You were so confident when you were cornering me. Have you suddenly lost the ability to speak?”
The Grand Duke, a whole head taller than her, looked unusually intimidating. The Grand Duchess—always confident, always trying to talk her way through any situation—took hesitant steps backward.
“Well…… that is…….”
“Yes. That is what?”
“Th-that’s right! Th-that child was hiding to make a fool of me!”
Among countless options, admitting something might have been the fastest way. She could have claimed she resented being wronged and had locked me up briefly out of spite.
Though if she had said that, questions would have arisen about framing the Grand Duke.
Whatever it was, there had never been a best choice.
Only the worst, the second worst, and another second worst.
And the Grand Duchess chose the worst path available.
To deny everything when all the evidence existed.
Well, there was never going to be a perfect choice anyway.
“You were hiding……?”
“Look at her now. She came out as if she’d been waiting for the moment I pushed you to the end.”
“Ah, I see. So at first I secretly hid the child to trouble you, and now the child herself tried to make a fool of you?”
“That’s right.”
Perhaps thinking this would work, the Grand Duchess appeared far more relaxed than before.
“Otherwise, why would she appear at such timing?”
“…….”
The Grand Duke let out incredulous chuckles as he looked at her.
“You’re not going to believe the words of a mere eight-year-old child and a lowborn knight, are you? Shouldn’t you listen to me—the noble one, the Grand Duchess?”
“What does status have to do with this? Do you truly think your words are credible in this situation?”
“Those of low status tend to live with lies on their lips.”
“You must be quite afraid. Aisha and Rex haven’t even spoken yet, and you’re already preemptively calling them liars.”
“Driving them? Me? Honestly. That’s absurd.”
As if she had latched onto a single path—or as if it were the only road available—the Grand Duchess continued trying to push us into a corner.
If she insisted it was all lies, there really wasn’t much to say.
No—there was something.
I felt something in my pocket. The seed I had meant to feed Rex but hadn’t managed to.
Then I should make her grow more arrogant and slip up.
I silently looked at her.
“So speak, Aisha. What are you going to say now? Are you just standing there because you have nothing to say? Even a lie is fine, so hurry and speak.”
As if waiting for me to talk, she kept pressing me.
But I said nothing.
Instead, the Grand Duke spoke first.
“Come to think of it, someone said they saw Rex taking the child outside earlier, didn’t they?”
It was the knight who had intervened between the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess earlier when we were still far away—the one who claimed he had seen Rex leaving hours ago. The Grand Duke turned his gaze toward him.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Bring him.”
“Ah…… yes…….”
The knight who had delivered that news hesitated, then ran off somewhere.
Was he lying? Was the guard lying? Or both?
I silently watched him disappear into the distance.
“Why can’t you say anything, Aisha?”
“I’ll speak after that person arrives.”
“Ah. You’re planning to lie after assessing the situation. Fine. Whatever you say will be a lie anyway.”
“Yes, yes. Think whatever you like. I haven’t lied at all.”
“Look at the way she speaks to me—the Grand Duchess. This is why those of low status are—!”
She trembled with rage as she glared at me.
“You know something? They say the one who talks the most is usually the culprit.”
“What?”
“To ease their anxiety, they often just keep saying anything. That’s what it said in a book. So I think it’d be best if Your Grace stayed quiet too. If you keep talking…… everyone might start suspecting you as the culprit. Without even giving you a chance to explain.”
I smiled brightly at her.
For a moment, the Grand Duke let out a small laugh. He even turned his head away, biting his lips as if not wanting her to notice he was smiling.
“Th-that really……!”
“Ahem. Then you should remain quiet as well, Grand Duchess. Just as Aisha said—it would be unfortunate if you were branded the culprit without even a chance to explain.”
“She’s insulting me right now, and that’s all you have to say?!”
“Insult? That seems like quite an exaggeration. To make such a fuss over the words of an eight-year-old child. Tsk.”
“H… ha. How…… how can you not take my side?”
“In this situation, I cannot find even the slightest reason to do so.”
The Grand Duke crossed his arms and looked at her. The Grand Duchess, who had been glaring at me, seemed to realize that saying more here would not help at all. She merely trembled in anger.
Yes. She needed time to think.
That way, she’d make more verbal mistakes later.
She had to fall into the illusion that she was winning—that her excuse was working.
After some time passed—
The knight returned, dragging a guard with him.
“Bring him forward!”
“I-I mean, what is this about? Why are you dragging me here like this?”
The guard, who looked somewhat simple and honest, arrived looking like he was about to cry. Without hesitation, the knight forced him to kneel on the ground.
“This is the man.”
“Pardon? Me? What did I do……?!”
Sensing the ominous atmosphere, the guard trembled uncontrollably.
