“I suppose I should’ve fallen into the water instead of clinging to Lady Bullin. Then at least I wouldn’t be getting accused like this.”
“Lady Burkell.”
His brow furrowed in displeasure at my words. I spoke again, without batting an eye.
“I don’t need the Second Prince’s trust. It’s not like he was planning to believe me anyway. But I’m sure there’s someone who will.”
With that, I turned to Rose. She had found it odd that Lady Coleman was being kind to me—so surely, she would believe my words.
But before Rose could say anything, another voice cut in from behind.
“I was wondering what all the chatter was about. So this is what you were discussing?”
I turned around—and there stood the First Prince.
“Brother?”
The Second Prince’s eyes widened at the sight of him. The other ladies looked equally flustered by the unexpected appearance. I was no different.
‘What’s the First Prince doing here?’
His sharp crimson gaze locked onto me. He had told me before that if he ever had business with me, he’d come find me himself. Maybe he had learned I was at the palace and made the trip on his own.
‘Still… I can’t say I’m thrilled…’
But his gaze quickly shifted to the Second Prince.
“Must be nothing better to do than publicly corner a noble lady.”
“This doesn’t concern you, Brother.”
“She said she didn’t do it. Why can’t you believe her?”
“We’re talking about ‘Lady Burkell’, not just anyone. My lover was involved—how am I supposed to believe her?”
“She doesn’t seem to have any affection left for you.”
The First Prince sneered as he spoke. The direction of the conversation was taking a turn I hadn’t expected.
‘Is he… defending me right now?’
But the Second Prince clearly believed I was using his brother to provoke him. He remained unmoved.
“If you’re trying to defend Lady Burkell, it’s a wasted effort.”
“I don’t take sides without reason. I saw it happen.”
‘Saw it?’
I stared at the First Prince, eyes wide.
“You probably didn’t see it, but I was standing somewhere with a clear view.”
He turned and pointed at Lady Coleman. Her face visibly stiffened.
“She was the one who pushed your lover. Then she tripped and fell by herself when the boat shook.”
The scoffing tone did nothing to change the truth of what he said. Even the Second Prince couldn’t ignore his brother’s testimony.
“Are you serious?”
“I’m just stating what I saw. You seem unaware, but Lady Burkell and I are far from being on good terms.”
He grinned at me.
‘That’s right… we’re more like predator and prey.’
I managed a strained smile in return. Then Rose’s voice rang out.
“I don’t believe Lady Burkell was lying, either.”
She spoke with calm deliberation.
“Before we boarded the boat, I saw how Lady Coleman was acting overly friendly with her. I thought it was odd. She’s never liked Lady Burkell.”
“Something happened?”
The First Prince asked what I had been wondering.
“Lady Coleman was once caught speaking ill of Lady Burkell behind her back.”
“Really?”
Several ladies gasped in surprise. Apparently, most of them hadn’t heard about it.
“I saw it during a ball, when I stepped out for a break. Lady Burkell was confronting Lady Coleman, asking if she thought no one would find out.”
Rose then glanced sideways at Lady Coleman.
“And… I think Lady Coleman may have once had feelings for the Second Prince. That probably made Lady Burkell even more upset.”
‘Wait… Lady Coleman liked the Second Prince too?’
The fact that we had even clashed over him made Rose’s earlier suspicion much more understandable.
“Why did you do it?”
The Second Prince frowned and looked at Lady Coleman. She couldn’t answer. Her silence was telling.
“……”
“Cat got your tongue?”
When she failed to respond, the First Prince drew his sword. The shrill gasps of the ladies filled the air as he pointed the blade at Lady Coleman.
‘Good heavens.’
The peaceful lakeside atmosphere instantly froze.
“You still refuse to speak?”
His voice and expression were almost lethargic, but Lady Coleman’s face went pale.
Of course it did. Anyone would react that way when confronted by the First Prince like that. The sword wasn’t within striking range, but the tip clearly pointed at her.
“Y-Your Highness…”
“Answer me. Why did you lie?”
“…Because I hate Lady Burkell.”
She must have realized there was no way out. At last, she confessed.
“Lately, I’ve been hearing people say good things about her.”
She was probably referring to the incident at the Count of Burtz’s estate.
“After one accidental good deed, people are acting like she’s a saint. And we’re talking about ‘Lady Bullin’, of all people. You think she helped her out of genuine goodwill? Where would her wretched temper have gone?”
So that was it? She hated me so much she wanted to drag my name back down?
The sheer malice left me stunned. I’d been shocked many times in this world, but this was on another level.
‘My reputation’s already in ruins anyway!’
Frustrated, I turned to her.
“You asked Lady Bullin earlier if she knew how to swim, didn’t you? And when she said no, you still pushed her.”
Someone let out a sharp breath. It must have sounded unbelievable. It was.
“You have no right to call me cruel. Just because you hate me doesn’t mean you can go around hurting innocent people.”
“Lady Bullin. Is that true?”
“Yes, Your Highness…”
The Second Prince, aghast, looked to Lady Bullin for confirmation.
“Now you know who the real liar was, don’t you?”
Killian returned his sword to its sheath and turned to the Second Prince, his tone biting.
“So now you’re willing to believe your lover’s word. But when Lady Burkell said the same, you didn’t believe her at all.”
“That’s…”
The Second Prince’s face flushed red. He looked as though he’d been caught completely off guard. Watching him, the First Prince turned to me.
“Actually, I needed to speak with you anyway. This works out. Why don’t you come with me?”
“…Me?”
“Yes. Laura, you don’t mind if I borrow her, do you?”
“Ah, n-not at all!”
The princess replied in a daze.
‘Excuse me—what about my opinion?’
Not that it mattered. The moment the princess gave her consent, the First Prince turned and began walking. I had little choice but to follow.
‘Not that there’s much of a gathering left now anyway…’
He led me to a garden within the palace. When he stopped, I got the sense this was where the conversation would happen.
Despite saying he had something to tell me, he didn’t say a word. Just stared off into the distance, as though watching the horizon.
‘What kind of talk is this going to be…?’
The silence was awkward. After glancing at him a few times, I finally broke it.
“Um… thank you for helping me back there.”
I wanted to express my gratitude. If not for him, I would’ve been framed without a way to defend myself.
“If it weren’t for you, Prince Killian, I would’ve been completely trapped.”
“No need to thank me. I just said what I saw.”
He responded like it was no big deal.
“You nearly got ruined thanks to idiots who only listen to one side of a story. I knew your reputation was bad, but not this bad.”
Did he just straight-up say it’s a mess?
I pouted, but held back from replying. The First Prince wasn’t someone I could speak to freely.
I thought maybe I should just stretch this out as long as possible. All his conversations with me tended to be difficult.
‘Yeah… might as well play the pitiful angle and buy time.’
“I didn’t even know anything had happened with Lady Coleman. I don’t remember it.”
“Don’t remember? Ah, that’s right. Your memory’s not intact.”
“Yes. Since she was acting friendly, I thought she genuinely liked me.”
“If someone is kind to you without reason, that’s exactly when you should be suspicious.”
He gave me a puzzled look, as if it didn’t make sense.
“Well… I suppose that’s how you ended up falling for my trick too. You thought I was some pitiful prince clinging to a duke’s influence?”
‘Says the man who lied with a straight face.’
I bit my tongue and replied mildly.
“I didn’t have anyone close. I just wanted to try building some connections. That’s why I came to the princess’s gathering. So I didn’t think to be cautious.”
I already knew plenty of people hated me.
Some whispered and stared when I passed. Others, like Lady Bankey, tried to provoke me outright.
“I thought someone finally recognized that I’d changed.”
But the only person who approached was the one who wanted to frame me—Lady Coleman.
“I was too naïve. My relationship with my family’s still strained, so of course a total stranger wouldn’t treat me kindly for no reason…”
As I spoke, a bitter feeling crept in. I didn’t even need to act pitiful—I was pitiful.
‘How does stuff like this even happen…?’
Life in this world really didn’t go easy on anyone.
The First Prince remained silent.
‘Was I too honest?’
I might’ve let too much slip in my attempt to stall for time. I glanced over nervously, and then he finally spoke.
“At least I’m better off than you.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’ve got trustworthy subordinates. Having allies puts me ahead of you, doesn’t it?”
“……”
Was he mocking me? I stared at him, baffled, as he grinned.
“You don’t need to be close with a bunch of people. Just find one person you can really trust—that’s enough.”
“I don’t even have that one person yet…”
“You will. It’s bound to happen eventually. You won’t go your whole life without making one real connection.”
“…Right. I hope not.”
Because I didn’t want to live like that. That would be far too lonely.
“Given how easily everyone believed that fool Andreas… you’ll have to work very hard.”
His expression was hard to read—somewhere between mockery and pity. With that, he turned around.
I blinked.
‘He’s leaving?’
He didn’t tell me to follow. Just walked away without looking back.
‘Just like that?’
I stared at him, stunned. After calling me aside, I’d expected something heavy—but he hadn’t asked a single tense question.
All that anticipation felt pointless. If he only meant to say this much, why bother creating such an intense atmosphere?
“…What a strange person.”
He really was odd. I murmured to myself as I watched him go.
