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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: The Forged Note Exposed
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Masera remembered Cynthia's round handwriting from the itinerary she had written during their honeymoon.
'Cute handwriting.'
He would never admit, even on his deathbed, that he had thought that at the time.
Anyway, the angular letters on the note were different from Cynthia's usual script.
"Handwriting..."
Helen muttered.
Were the two of them so intimate that they could distinguish something like that? According to the watcher, they barely even consummated their marriage.
'Even so, there's no way anyone would recognize it as my handwriting.'
She had put tremendous care into writing her letters and invitations up until now, making them elegant and neat.
At that moment, Masera pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and showed it.
"This is my wife's handwriting."
One of the officers read aloud the text that was written very densely on the paper.
"...Central nucleolus, Pohovinga Glacier, harmonica, cadmium, mu-mu-mi? Is it a code?"
"We played word chain as a bet, and this is proof that I won."
Masera answered confidently.
It was the paper from the word chain game they had played on the way from the residence to the villa.
Judging by the marks where the pen nib had burst on the cadmium and mu-mu-mi parts, there had clearly been a serious conflict there. What on earth had they bet?
"Didn't she alter it on purpose?"
Valeria, still unable to shake her suspicions, pressed him, but the investigator answered in her place.
"No matter how much you alter it, your unique handwriting habits remain. There's a saying that you can't hide your habits."
"How would you know that?"
The investigator introduced himself with a serious face.
"I am a doctor of linguistics and graphology, and currently the Intelligence Bureau's 'handwriting authentication expert.'"
'Why is an authority in this field here of all places?'
Helen, feeling disconcerted, lifted her teacup to wet her throat.
Since the host of this social event was a high-ranking military official, experts from various fields happened to be gathered in one place.
Masera neatly folded the word chain paper as if it were something precious and tucked it back into his pocket, then gave the investigator a look.
The investigator, understanding his intent, continued.
"The discovered note contains two people's handwriting. The ink density and pen thickness are subtly different. The second sentence appears to have been written later."
Helen blinked, immediately grasping the meaning.
'The "Let's run away together" wasn't written by me, so maybe this is a chance to slip out.'
Just then, she felt someone tapping her shoulder and turned around, her eyes widening.
"Sis."
Cynthia, who had appeared at her seat before she knew it, pulled out an envelope that looked like an invitation.
'...!'
Helen’s face turned pale as she realized what it was.
It was the ducal family invitation that Cynthia had gotten from Helen in the past. Dalia had been contacted and brought it quickly.
"You wrote this for me before we got married. The handwriting on the note looks similar. Care to explain?"
Helen's everyday handwriting was blatantly exposed in the casually written invitation.
It bore a striking resemblance to the handwriting on the note Masera held.
"...You!"
Helen grimaced but quickly managed her expression upon feeling the surrounding gazes. It was already too late.
The people who had seen the invitation were looking at Helen with shocked eyes.
Even Valeria was staring at her with eyes demanding an explanation.
Helen clenched her fist until her knuckles turned white.
Even if she claimed from the start that it was a scheme by the kidnappers, it would be just as problematic. If the Intelligence Bureau stepped in to investigate, her involvement would come to light.
'For now, buy time, silence them with power and money, and destroy the evidence.'
Helen, resolved to change the subject immediately, spoke up.
"Cynthia, then how about you write a sentence I dictate in refined language? To be thorough, we need to check multiple letters."
There was no way Cynthia, a former maid, could use refined language.
'Everyone will start doubting Cynthia, who lacks a noble's education.'
"Sure."
Helen scoffed inwardly at Cynthia's confident response.
Refined language was something that required education from a young age and was by no means something one could master after just a few months.
Helen said with a smile.
"Write one of the famous passages from Tolstoy's book."
'I'll make her reveal her true colors and humiliate her.'
Cynthia wouldn't even know a foreign author, and there was no translated version in refined language anyway.
At the end of Helen's sneering gaze, Cynthia was seen gripping a fountain pen and writing something down.
Soon, she held up the paper with the round handwriting.
「Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.」
*Quote: Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
'What in the world... She translated it naturally into refined language?'
Helen wore a dazed expression.
"...You said you were bad at refined language?"
"When did I say that?"
Cynthia retorted confidently.
The handwriting expert investigator approached and examined Cynthia's writing.
"This definitely isn't the princess's handwriting. The strokes are different."
He then compared the note and Helen's invitation, speaking with a face full of conviction.
"The first sentence on the note matches the duchess's handwriting."
The banquet hall fell silent in an instant. The murmurs of the people split into two opinions.
"So the duchess and the prince had that kind of relationship, and they framed the youngest princess to cover it up?"
"It might be to check Crown Prince Karos, the eldest son. We need to think about who benefits."
Helen ground her teeth as she caught the gist of the whispers. All that was left now was authority.
"What would I, the duchess, gain from scheming something so childish? This is quite unpleasant."
As she crossed her arms and frowned, the murmuring people glanced at her and shut their mouths.
Cynthia looked at the people with a worried face.
"This seems like slander from the radicals trying to drive a wedge between our family. So..."
Cynthia continued earnestly.
"Could you collect the note, the invitation, and even the writing I just did in front of everyone as evidence and take it to the Intelligence Bureau? I want them to investigate to the end and uncover the truth to clear my sister's name."
'That cunning little wretch!'
Helen shot Cynthia a furious glare.
* * *
While Karos was preparing to return to his house in the capital, Helen came to visit.
"Bro, did Dad ever give Cynthia separate education?"
Could she have been hidden as a maid all this time while receiving secret education? Otherwise, today's events made no sense.
"Why are you asking me?"
Karos asked as he adjusted his loosened tie.
"You're the one who doted on her especially when she was little, even taking beatings from Dad for it."
Karos tilted his head as if lost in thought upon hearing her words.
"She must learn quickly. She's not the dim-witted type."
"It's not just that level."
As he toyed with his platinum-blond hair, he turned cold eyes toward her.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"What?"
"Are you telling me to keep quiet? That you're the one spreading unseemly rumors linking me and Cynthia."
As Helen narrowed her eyes, Karos continued.
"Lena, you always obsess over being the one and only special one. Come to think of it, the servant who delivered the note to me faintly smelled of your perfume."
Helen used a one-of-a-kind perfume custom-made by a perfumer.
For that scent to come from someone else meant they were close to her. For example, her personal maid.
"Fine, say I ordered it. So what?"
Helen added with a laugh in her voice.
"It's not wrong, is it?"
Karos looked at her quietly.
Helen covered her mouth and giggled, then immediately dropped the smile and retorted in a cold tone.
"Running into the prime minister's daughter while you were with Cynthia in the woods—was that really a coincidence?"
Valeria happening to witness the two embracing as she passed by.
The timing was too perfect for mere coincidence.
Suddenly, he recalled his boyhood days—every time he secretly did something for Cynthia, his father would find out and beat him.
It was something even Cynthia didn't know about, so how did Helen know he had been whipped?
Finally realizing the full story, he let out a hollow laugh and rubbed his forehead.
"No wonder."
My scheming little sister snitched on everything just to be the only one getting special treatment from Father.
'We're not a normal family—we're competitors who have to crush each other to rise.'
"Karos, with the ducal family backing me, I'm a power you can't touch recklessly. So think carefully about how you'll act from now on."
Helen turned away, her face equipped with a mask-like smile.
If Cynthia was someone who benefited from coincidental luck, then Helen was someone obsessed with manufacturing and exploiting coincidences.
