Chapter 25
25
I looked at the owner of the hand.
Eden Aquillium.
“Are you alright?”
“Ah, yes… Thank you.”
I hadn’t expected Eden to catch me, so I looked up at him with a dazed expression.
Come to think of it.
‘Someone keeps catching me these days.’
I felt strangely like I had unintentionally become a frail person.
“I apologize. I heard that ‘Anna Lever’ was quite beautiful, so I mistook you for her.”
Huh?
I was speechless and just stared blankly at him.
Well, yeah.
‘What am I supposed to say here!’
You have an eye for beauty? That could happen? Apologize?
Anything I said would sound strange.
I subtly checked Anna’s reaction.
Anna was staring back and forth between Eden and me with wide eyes and an incredulous expression.
‘I guess so.’
Anna’s beauty had been quite famous since our Academy days.
And Anna herself was very proud of her looks.
‘It’s annoying, but I admit Anna is pretty.’
Anna, who had lived her life never doubting her appearance, had suddenly heard someone say to her face that I was prettier and that’s why he mistook me for her.
Her high pride must have been shattered to pieces.
But the person who said that was Eden Aquillium. She couldn’t explode in anger as she usually would.
“Ha, haha. Holy Knight, you must be mistaken. How could Livia be me…”
“That’s right. I have committed a great rudeness. Please forgive me.”
As Eden bowed to me, I quickly waved my hand.
“No, it’s okay.”
“Then.”
Eden, after letting go of me, turned to Anna.
Anna’s face, which had been full of displeasure, flushed red.
She didn’t forget to give me a look full of triumph.
Eden asked politely.
“I will confirm again. Are you Anna Lever, the daughter of Count Grenn Lever?”
“Yes, that’s right. I am Anna Lever.”
Anna’s heart was pounding as she answered.
Although she had been furious when he mistook Livia for her.
‘He must have been too nervous to make a mistake with me in front of him, so it can’t be helped.’
And Anna looked at Eden with rapturous eyes.
Eden Aquillium, seen up close, was even more beautiful than Anna had imagined.
And his voice was perfect too.
If Cadienne was like a concentrated, high-end wine, Eden was like a light champagne.
‘This kind of man is looking for me…’
At Anna’s answer, Eden nodded.
“I see. I’ve found you.”
Anna’s eyes glazed over at his sweet voice, as if he were proposing.
Reflexively, Anna checked Livia’s reaction.
‘Hmph, you might have been arrogant for a moment, but this is the difference between you and me.’
Anna couldn’t help but smile at the feeling of relief.
Look at that dumb expression!
She must be dying of envy.
‘Take this opportunity to know your place, Livia Plington.’
“Would you extend both hands?”
Anna was startled by Eden’s request.
Asking her to extend her hands.
‘Is he perhaps going to give me a ring?’
But in the world of nobles, a man giving a woman a ring was the same as proposing.
‘So fast…’
She was surprised that things were progressing faster than she had expected, but that only captivated Anna even more.
Before extending her hands, Anna checked Cadienne’s reaction.
She had given up on him, but she still had lingering feelings.
But Cadienne didn’t even bat an eye at Eden’s proposal.
Rather, his gaze had been fixed on Livia from the beginning.
She was angry that he wasn’t interested in her, and she was even angrier that the person he was interested in was Livia.
‘You’ll regret letting me go!’
“Okay!”
Anna immediately extended both hands to Eden.
She didn’t think deeply about whether she needed to extend both hands to put on a ring.
Her beautiful hands, which had never been dirtied with water, reached out to Eden.
Soon, he would put a ring on her ring finger.
But the situation that followed was a little different from Anna’s expectations.
Clang.
‘Huh?’
A cold, heavy piece of metal bound Anna’s wrist.
‘Uh oh?’
White handcuffs.
It was a Temple tool used to escort criminals.
‘Why is this on my hand…’
“Anna Lever, you must come with us to the Temple as a person of interest in the attempted poisoning of His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Wh-wh-what are you talking about!”
A person of interest in the attempted poisoning of His Majesty the Emperor!
It was something she had never heard of.
Anna shouted in a pale face, but Eden didn’t bat an eye and continued calmly.
“We have discovered circumstances in which your father, Count Grenn Lever, smuggled Akaban Poisonous Herb and attempted to assassinate His Majesty.”
“That can’t be… That can’t be true! You must be mistaken!”
“Are you saying you know nothing about this?”
“Yes! Not only do I not know, but it doesn’t make sense! There’s no way my father would have smuggled something so terrible as a poisonous herb! Something must be wrong!”
It was at that moment that Anna was shouting with a flushed face.
Knock knock.
A heavy knock cut through the excited room.
Everyone’s eyes turned to the door.
Winston said urgently.
“Who is it? I told you not to approach this place!”
Then a calm answer came from beyond the door.
“It’s Chelsea.”
“Chelsea?”
Winston made a puzzled expression at the unexpected person.
Soon Winston’s expression turned cold.
“Later—”
“Let her in.”
But Winston didn’t finish his sentence.
It was because of Cadienne’s voice, which suddenly cut in.
Winston turned around with a surprised face, but soon opened the door without questioning.
Indeed, there was a reason why Cadienne kept her by his side.
Chelsea came inside.
The moment she came in, Chelsea, who had made eye contact with me for a brief moment, bowed her head in front of Winston and said.
“I apologize for suddenly visiting. I felt that there was something suspicious that I needed to tell you.”
“It must be worth breaking my order not to approach.”
“Yes.”
Thanks to Chelsea’s sudden appearance, the atmosphere, which had been very high, was somewhat relieved.
To be exact, it froze coldly.
I pretended not to, but glanced at Anna.
Anna, who had turned pale like a dead person, was trembling excessively as she looked at Chelsea.
A moment later, Chelsea held out a small pouch.
“Anna Lever gave this to me.”
“What?”
Winston stared at the pouch with wide eyes. Chelsea calmly continued.
“She also told me to secretly hide this pouch in Flingtern Teacher’s room and not say anything. But I felt that there was something suspicious, so I brought it here myself. Perhaps…”
Chelsea trailed off and looked at Anna.
Anna, who was biting her lower lip, was glaring at Chelsea with a venomous look.
“She seems to have lied because she didn’t know that I was Flingtern Teacher’s personal maid.”
“No!!”
Anna shouted as soon as Chelsea finished speaking.
“I don’t know anything about it!! I don’t know anything about that pouch!”
“Then we can check the contents of this pouch.”
Anna’s head turned sharply towards me.
I didn’t take my eyes off Anna and said.
“Then we can find out who the real owner of this pouch is.”
“Livia Plington, you…!”
Anna glared at me with eyes full of resentment, as if she would kill me.
I calmly met those eyes.
It was then.
“Interesting.”
There was only one person who could speak in such a calm tone in this situation.
I slowly turned my head.
‘Cadienne Mercedes…’
He was staring directly at me.
Not just now, but from the moment he stepped into this room, he had never taken his eyes off me.
With Cadienne acting like that, Anna’s escape route had completely disappeared.
“I will check it myself.”
Winston opened the pouch and took out the contents.
Inside was just dried leaves.
Winston, who had looked at it this way and that and even smelled it, turned his head with a slightly embarrassed expression.
“…Master, to my eyes, it just looks like ordinary dried tea leaves. I couldn’t find anything particularly strange.”
“See! I told you I didn’t know anything about it!”
The moment Anna shouted with a much brighter expression.
“Knight.”
At my call, Eden’s gaze turned this way.
Looking into his clear blue eyes, I said calmly.
“I would like the Knight to check again.”
“…This is an internal matter of the Duke’s residence. Is there any point in me checking?”
That was a very valid point.
But…
“Yes.”
I answered without hesitation.
“You will be able to find what you are looking for.”
Eden’s expression wavered for a moment at my words.
Soon, he thought hard and turned to Cadienne and asked.
“May I intervene, Duke?”
