Chapter 70
“Wow… That Peter fellow is really good at acting…”
Liriana marveled as she watched the video orb in the tea room’s storage room.
Peter, who had been the head servant of the Herbient family for many years, performed his role with remarkable skill.
Even Blaine, who had written the lines, couldn’t take his eyes off Peter’s acting.
It seemed his claim of having once dreamed of being a stage actor was true.
Marisol would never betray Princess Angelina.
Put another way, to avoid betraying Angelina, Marisol would do anything.
Strength can sometimes be a weakness.
Blaine decided to take advantage of that.
No matter how capable Angelina was, she couldn’t make everyone her ally.
Blaine had thoroughly investigated the people Angelina had brought to the capital, Lepia. Among them, the head servant named Peter caught his eye.
Peter’s daughter had once worked as a maid in the Herbient household but was accused of theft, beaten, and eventually weakened to death.
The girl had a singing talent as great as Angelina’s, called a genius, and was pure and cheerful.
After Peter revealed everything to Blaine, Blaine promised a huge reward if he would participate in this play.
Peter laughed as if his lungs were filled with air, tears glistening in his eyes as he said,
“Marisol… I knew that girl would do that…”
Wiping his tears with his sleeve, Peter spoke with burning eyes.
Peter willingly agreed to join the play.
“Then… what should I do?”
“…Confess to the royal family and cooperate fully with the investigation. Make it clear that this has nothing to do with the princess. If your confession is delayed any further, who knows what the witness might say.”
Marisol nodded vigorously at Peter’s words.
“I understand… but could you tell me who the witness is?”
As Peter said, confessing before the witness gives a statement would cause the least harm to Angelina.
Marisol seemed ready to confess immediately.
Yet something kept gnawing at her mind.
Who could the witness be?
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t guess.
Before placing the sapphire hairpin into Liriana’s bag, she had carefully checked the surroundings several times…
Could it be a royal maid? Or one of the ladies-in-waiting?
Marisol pressed Peter.
“Well…?”
Peter didn’t know how to respond.
According to the script Blaine wrote, if Marisol asked about the witness, she was supposed to be scolded for focusing on the wrong thing.
But now that Marisol had agreed to confess, it felt strange not to mention the witness at all.
“Is it a royal maid? Or a lady-in-waiting? Who is it?”
“Th-That is…”
Marisol tried recalling that day, but she couldn’t remember anyone seeing her put the sapphire hairpin into Liriana’s bag.
She needed to know who had seen it, or she wouldn’t be able to let it go.
“Please tell me. Otherwise, I won’t confess.”
Suddenly avoiding eye contact, Peter’s anxious expression made Marisol sense something was wrong.
As her rational judgment returned, it turned into certainty.
“…Are you really the one sent by Princess Angelina?”
Peter still didn’t answer.
Marisol’s suspicion grew stronger.
“Peter! Answer me immediately!”
Creaaak— The storage room door opened.
Blaine, coming out from the storage room, answered Marisol’s question.
“That’s right, there was never any witness. Princess Angelina didn’t know anything about this either.”
Marisol hurriedly turned around.
She saw a man she had never met before, and next to him was Liriana. Only then did she realize it was a trap.
“You dare deceive me!! How can a human commit such petty and cowardly acts?!”
“I would like to return those words exactly to you, Lady Marisol.”
“…W-What do you mean?”
“Well, I suppose I could return them.”
Blaine approached the table and took out the video orb he had hidden in the vase. The small orb showed Marisol’s face.
[Lady Marisol, someone saw you put the sapphire hairpin in Liriana’s bag.]
[Th-That’s impossible… I checked many times. No one was there!]
“T-This is fabricated evidence! Evidence created through a trap or illegally can’t be used in court, right?”
“You seem to know a bit about the law, but this orb won’t be shown in court—it’ll spread through society. That’s much more entertaining.”
“I-I see…”
Indeed, spreading it in high society rather than a courtroom would result in an even more horrifying outcome.
Rumors would breed rumors, and soon no one would know what was true or false.
Marisol and her family would be completely ruined.
And it would tarnish the impeccable reputation of Princess Angelina, which she feared the most.
Marisol’s face turned pale.
“Confess. This is your last chance.”
“….”
“If you do, I’ll make sure your family and the princess suffer no harm.”
“Who are you to stop rumors?!”
Marisol shouted at Blaine as if ready to attack him.
His arrogance, claiming he could protect her after cornering her like this, made her furious.
“I am Blaine Diark, representative of Fly Communications. I have connections with the press and the royal family—you can trust me.”
“….”
Blaine, the FM representative.
No one in the empire would be unaware of the world’s wealthiest man.
On the way here, barely twenty minutes from the royal palace, she had seen multiple FM logos.
He could surely keep his promise.
Marisol’s rapid breathing began to calm.
“…I have one last request.”
“What is it?”
“Give me just one day. I need time to prepare to part from the princess…”
Blaine glanced at Liriana, as it wasn’t solely his decision.
Though she wanted her stepmother to leave the awful underground prison quickly…
If Marisol was pushed further now, who knew how she’d react.
Yet, in another sense, Marisol’s loyalty to the princess until the very end was admirable.
Liriana hesitated, then nodded, and Blaine said to Marisol:
“…Then I’ll give you time until tomorrow afternoon.”
Marisol didn’t reply but picked up her bag from the chair.
Before leaving the tea room, she faced Liriana behind Blaine.
Liriana, watching the video orb, had wanted to scold Marisol dozens of times.
“What did I do wrong?”
Although they hadn’t been close while working together as maids, Liriana had shared a few private laughs with Marisol.
Were all those moments fake?
As if reading Liriana’s thoughts, Marisol smiled faintly.
“Sorry, but I don’t feel the least bit sorry for you.”
“…W-What did you say?”
“Excessive greed must be punished. I’m just doing what the lazy gods couldn’t.”
Marisol calmly stepped out the door as if nothing had happened.
When Blaine tried to scold Liriana for Marisol’s harsh words, Liriana held his sleeve and shook her head.
She was simply grateful that Marisol revealed her true nature until the end.
Now, Liriana didn’t feel any remorse toward Marisol.
Helene stretched widely.
After three days, the fresh air outside felt incredibly refreshing.
Her stiff body, caused by lack of proper sleep, relaxed as she stretched and looked at the sky.
Bright sunlight and crisp air.
She never imagined she’d feel such happiness from these two things she had always taken for granted.
“Stepmother… you’ve really worked hard…”
Liriana approached and draped the cashmere shawl she had prepared over Helene’s shoulders.
“Liriana, thank you so much…”
“Say that to the godfather, not me.”
Ahead, Blaine leaned casually against the wall.
