Translator: Nox

Chapter 2

~Chapter 02~

It was truly a beautiful friendship.

Harriet gritted her teeth. A hollow laugh escaped her at the exasperatingly familiar situation, even as anger surged within her.

‘Even an old man on his deathbed would be fine. Please, if someone would just take me away from this monster, I’d marry them right now. Please, someone propose to me.’

Harriet prayed fervently.

Though desperate, a corner of her heart held little hope. God hadn’t answered her prayers once since she was twelve.

So when a man who had nothing to do with her approached, she was so shocked that she froze in place.

It was understandable.

“Lady Harriet Listerwell?”

“Y-Yes? Oh, yes! I… I am Harriet Listerwell….”

The man confirmed her name with a smile devoid of any emotion.

“I’d like my possession back.”

He pointed to the brooch with his long, firm fingers, asserting his ownership.

‘Oh my God!’

The man standing before her was none other than the host of this ball and the hero of the war, Duke Cedric Kailas.

‘Why is the duke talking to me?’

Harriet’s face flushed with sudden excitement.

But Cedric said nothing more, simply staring at her intently. Harriet suddenly realized his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

‘Something’s off.’

She knew something was wrong, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what. Or more precisely, there were so many things wrong that she didn’t know where to begin.

It was clear Cedric hadn’t pinned the brooch on her. Until the lights went out, he’d been talking with the Empress, and he’d just come from where the Empress had been standing.

‘Besides, he’s not in a position to play romantic pranks like this.’

That was Cedric Kailas’s situation.

At just twenty-five, he had succeeded to the dukedom after his father, Rowan Kailas, fell in the war against Kifren.

As a staunch ally of the imperial family, he had the duty to uphold the ducal house, just as his ancestors had. And his wife was a position that required careful selection based on numerous conditions.

‘Then who pinned this brooch on me? And where did it come from in the first place?’

Was it someone’s malicious prank?

As her instincts detected danger, Harriet’s lips went dry.

She couldn’t just stand there staring blankly at Cedric. She had to resolve this somehow.

“I-I’ll give it back.”

She decided to return the brooch first. But in her panic, her fingers fumbled repeatedly as she tried to unfasten the pin.

“What is this? It doesn’t look like the duke gave it to her.”

“Of course not! Why would the duke give a brooch to a woman like that?”

“Did she steal it? And then wore it on purpose?”

“Who knows what she was thinking? Anyway, Harriet Listerwell’s caused another incident.”

The murmurs of the crowd pierced Harriet’s ears.

Cold sweat trickled down her back.

‘Why won’t it come off?’

Duke Kailas’s brooch? She swore she’d never even thought of possessing such a thing. Why must she face this misunderstanding over something she hadn’t wanted?

She wanted to rip it off and hurl it away right then.

Perhaps that desire showed on her face.

“Wait. Forcing it like that will damage the brooch. Let me help.”

Despite the brooch being pinned near her chest—an awkward spot for assistance—Cedric approached her closely, determined solely to retrieve it. Harriet was so tense she couldn’t even breathe.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—Cedric removed the brooch effortlessly. As a result, Harriet’s struggles looked as if she’d been deliberately stalling for time.

“Th-Thank you.”

She offered thanks without knowing what she was grateful for, but he didn’t respond.

Unable to bear the ensuing silence, Harriet cautiously lifted her head, then swallowed dryly. Cedric’s face, which had drawn near to unpin the brooch, was right in front of her nose.

His ruby-like russet eyes were beautiful, but the contempt and anger in them made her too intimidated to admire their beauty.

“Who should I discuss this matter with, Lady Harriet?”

“Wh-What do you… mean….”

“Why my late father’s keepsake was pinned to the chest of a lady I’ve never met, and how I should handle the insult I’ve just suffered—that’s what I mean.”

With every word Cedric spoke, the temperature around them seemed to drop further.

“This brooch holds such great significance that it’s hard to dismiss it as a thoughtless prank by a young lady.” Cedric added.

Harriet stood there with her mouth agape, forgetting her manners. His words were clearly in the imperial tongue, yet she couldn’t comprehend them.

“Your Grace! There’s… there’s some misunderstanding…!” she stammered.

“Why do the guilty love the word ‘misunderstanding’ so much? Do they think I’ll let it slide if they say it?” Cedric’s smile was smooth and elegant, but goosebumps prickled Harriet’s arms at the sight.

“No, no! It really is a misunderstanding! When the lights came back on, it was just there on my dress!” Harriet protested with all her might, but Cedric’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.

Instead, whispers began among the onlookers.

“She must have pinned it on herself.”

“Desperate for attention, but using Duke Kailas’s brooch? Unbelievable.”

“That’s just how she is.”

The clucking of tongues, scornful gazes, furrowed brows. Harriet had endured such reactions countless times, but today they felt suffocatingly worse.

“No! It’s not true!” Harriet cried out to the people around her.

At that moment, her uncle, Viscount John Listerwell, came rushing over, panting.

“Your Grace!” John shouted.

“Ah, the responsible party has arrived.” Cedric said.

Harriet looked at her uncle with a desperate expression. Please help me! Please, I really don’t know anything!

But the words from John’s mouth were utterly different from what she’d hoped.

“I’m truly ashamed! It’s my failure to properly discipline my niece.”

“So it seems.” Cedric’s voice was calm and restrained, but no one doubted his anger.

It was only natural, upon reflection. A victory celebration for a war in which he’d lost his father couldn’t possibly be enjoyable for him. Losing his father’s keepsake in such a setting was horrific enough, but to top it off, the notoriously troublesome Harriet Listerwell had been wearing it as if it were a gift from the duke himself, signaling personal interest.

John bowed repeatedly, sweat beading on his brow, while Bella, who had appeared out of nowhere, trembled as she pleaded for mercy.

“Your Grace, please have pity on Harriet and forgive her. She must have picked up the brooch by chance and pinned it on because she wanted some attention. She’s never had anything so precious before….”

With every word from Bella, the color drained further from Harriet’s face.

“Bella! You saw it earlier too! I thought the person who pinned it did it by mistake…!” Harriet tried to explain, believing Bella and her friends—who had been with her—would vouch for her innocence. But her attempt was blocked by John.

“Shut your mouth, Harriet! How dare you raise your voice in front of the duke!” John scolded her with a face full of fury. And he had every reason to be angry.

Tonight’s ball was essentially the stage for his son Aston’s debut into society. This commotion had soured relations between the family and an important guest, so he couldn’t be pleased.

Harriet tried once more to explain, but before she could speak, tears burst forth, and her lips trembled uncontrollably. She knew crying in front of everyone was humiliating, but she couldn’t hold back.

“It’s not true! I-I absolutely, sniffl, did not, hic, steal the duke’s brooch!” Her sobbing voice was pathetic, but no one felt sympathy for her.

“As expected from the ‘Scandal Maker.’”

“Her face isn’t even that great, yet she throws herself at men all the time.”

“Poor Viscount Listerwell. Taking in his late brother’s daughter out of duty, and suffering this humiliation because of her.”

The ballroom was packed with people, but Harriet felt like she was alone on an isolated island.

She had no one on her side. No one would listen to her words.

The more she tried to defend herself, the more foolish she seemed. She thought she was used to this, but the despair in the imperial ballroom felt far greater than usual.

‘Making one person look like a fool is so easy.’ A bitter laugh escaped her.

Still, there was one thing she wanted to say clearly to Cedric. She knew he wouldn’t believe her, but she couldn’t bear not to say it.

Harriet swallowed her tears and spoke to Cedric slowly, enunciating each word.

“I did not steal your brooch, Your Grace. I never wanted it in the first place.”