Chapter 251

The three sisters enter the room first.

Carsein enters last after having a brief conversation outside with his fiancée.

Arina, thinking she was ready, started interrogating by hooking her arm with him.

“Seems like there was a little change, but you really haven’t changed at all, have you?”

“!”

“Sister!”

“Both of you, be quiet. Before Mother, we didn’t cause a commotion; I left because I had something to do.”

Flora trembled and shuddered, while Claire thought differently, trying to stop Arina.

But Arina began reproaching Carsein again, bringing up their entrance.

“We promised not to cause such a ruckus. You disobeyed the order to stay with family because you might face problems, and now you’ve forgotten our promise?”

Arina pressed down heavily with a lowered voice.

Carsein accepted the inevitable and calmly replied.

“Yes, we made that promise. But I couldn’t just stand there doing nothing about it.”

“What did you say?”

“I have a question. Arina, do you remember what happened at the martial arts tournament last year in the exchange hall?”

“There’s no way I wouldn’t remember.”

Arina let out a deflated sound.

“That day was when Carsein caused an accident. It was just like today, when someone got beaten up.”

“I know well. Then, do you remember what I said that day?”

“It’s not like I can’t recall.”

Just as always, she lied saying someone had slandered her.

Arina answered like that.

“Then, you should also remember this. Do you remember how my body looked?”

“…What?”

“You said I came back after fighting. Do you remember how my body looked?”

That…

She couldn’t remember.

How did Carsein look?

“…I came back with cuts from sharp things.”

Hearing Claire add from the side, Arina turned her head sharply.

“The clothes Carsein wore that time were made by me, so I know.”

“What does that mean…”

“I saw it too, big sister. He came back covered in blood…”

With Flora’s testimony added, Arina finally recalled Carsein’s appearance from the mouths of her two younger sisters.

Even though Carsein had beaten his opponent, he returned with many wounds.

His clothes were torn and cut, and his body was covered in fresh red blood.

He fell down, calling for Sheiden in a panic.

“…”

Looking back on those memories, she turned her gaze towards Carsein.

“Why, did you start to care now? About what happened that day, why I acted that way?”

“If there was such a thing, I could explain—”

“You couldn’t because of me.”

Carsein interrupted Arina with a cold voice.

“Arina, you’ve always been like this. Whenever I tried to explain anything, you always called it a lie.”

“…”

“So this time, I won’t say anything. So think whatever you want.”

-Slurp.

As Carsein stood up, something fell from his pocket.

At that moment, Claire and Flora’s hearts sank.

That thing was…

Tailoring Scissors.

‘Could it be… No way. Carsein…’

‘That he bled profusely from being stabbed by something sharp…!’

Once warm blood had hardened on the surface of the scissors, slightly unraveling threads were caught on the handle.

At the time, what happened?

It was clear evidence anyone could understand from the situation.

-Clink.

After dropping the bloody tailoring scissors, Carsein smiled and walked out.

Even though it was midsummer, a cold chill lingered where he had been.

“Hah. Trying to put another hollow threat… Fine, I’ll tell Mother about this.”

“Sister, wait. That’s a bit strange, isn’t it?”

“…Claire?”

“Why would you do this if Carsein isn’t at fault?”

“I agree! I think so too!”

Unlike Arina, who was puzzled, her two younger sisters noticed something.

-Ding!

▶Sub Episode. The Conspiracy at the Exchange Hall Cleared.◀

▶Penalty Disappears.◀

***

Being the main character of daily incidents and false accusations.

Starting an interrogation instead of asking what happened.

Having no chance to explain, being scolded and punished by family members.

This was my daily routine.

Whenever something went wrong, I always experienced this, and instead of asking about the ins and outs and causal relationships, it was more like an interrogation.

Unpleasantly, the same thing happened here.

But this time, it was different.

Maybe, this time, it could have been resolved more easily. Truly.

Rusmaier and Sha’tren openly supported me.

The Lirfetten and Aiferos tribes provided evidence.

Because of them, public opinion in the exchange hall was shaken.

So, even though it wouldn’t work in the game, maybe once, I could have spoken up this time. To explain that the child insulted my fiancée.

Well, depending on the circumstances, I might have been able to prove it wasn’t my fault.

But I didn’t.

I already knew telling them would make no difference.

This was my conclusion drawn from experience.

No matter what I said, they wouldn’t listen.

No matter how much I pleaded, they wouldn’t turn an ear.

No matter how I claimed to have reason, their ears remained closed.

So, I won’t tell them.

I’ll suppress it deep down, never letting it out, which is the perfect ending.

I don’t want any help from my family anyway. After all, we’ll soon be strangers.

Thinking this, I reached into my pocket, but surprisingly, it was empty.

“…Where did I drop it?”

I thought about throwing it away in the trash.

Fine. Just consider it lost.

In the meantime,

A group of Young Ladies found me outside.

Should I deal with them too?

Fatigue naturally set in.

But then,

“My Prince, do you have some spare time?”

An unexpected request came from the Young Ladies.

“A small ball is happening upstairs. I wondered if you might attend…”

“You don’t have a dance partner either, right?”

“Could you dance one song with us?”

“…What is this?”

Some kind of new prank?

No, forget it.

I should just refuse casually.

“I don’t dance or anything—”

“Carsein!”

At that moment, Harnei approached with a brighter smile than usual.

Ah, I can see the future.

If she approaches with that expression…

-Shush.

“Thought you were missing. Here you are, surrounded by Young Ladies.”

“…”

“Do you have something to talk about?”

“Y-Yes…”

Damn.

If I make a mistake today, I’m getting spikes on my back.

***

Following Claire and Flora’s suggestion that Carsein might not be at fault, they decided to investigate this incident further.

There were plenty of witnesses.

“We heard clearly! That child dared to say something to our Lady!”

“Even if he’s just a bastard, shouldn’t everyone know that much?”

“He even said she’s treated poorly in her own house!”

“He said she has no abilities or worth, and insulted our Lady as a commoner of the Bargrand family! Not only that, he insulted the Young Master too. The Young Master almost lost his temper!”

Rusmaier and Sha’tren, along with Carsein’s residents, all insisted that his actions were justified.

“Hmph. We, who were treated like barbarians, understand that feeling the best.”

“If it were us, we’d have silenced him completely.”

Not only that, the allied tribes Aiferos and Lirfetten were no different.

“If you stood up because you didn’t like your fiancée being slandered, there’s no problem, right?”

A few nobles defended Carsein with their testimonies.

With a full investigation underway, Mark and Radiel, who were responsible for Carsein’s security, brought undeniable evidence.

“Thinking it might be him, we followed and found out he was planning this conspiracy.”

“This item belongs to Lord Carsein. It was confirmed that he smeared Kelbia fruit juice on it.”

The residents’ faithful testimonies towards Carsein.

The trustworthy testimonies of the western tribes who worked closely with him.

The transparent testimonies of the nobles inside the exchange hall.

Finally, the discovery of decisive evidence.

It was no longer strange to lead to certainty.

Arina, contrary to expectations, showed confusion seeing Carsein wasn’t at fault, instructing others to confront those who insulted Carsein.

Late as it was, Carsein managed to shed his false accusation thanks to the help of those around him.

However, Claire still felt discontent.

Specifically, due to Arina’s approach.

Claire, who had held her tongue, finally spoke.

“Sister, this isn’t right.”

“What are you talking about suddenly?”

“Just hearing the witnesses’ words, you could have interrogated them immediately. Why did it take so long?”

This part was hard to understand.

“When someone insults your fiancée in front of you, anyone would react. If I were engaged and saw my fiancé being insulted, I would jump in. It’s natural, as a noble or as part of the Bargrand family.”

“Argh. Claire, we need to consider the possibility that Carsein lied.”

“Sister!”

Claire responded immediately.

“Yes, Carsein might have lied. But if that’s the case, it means it might not have been his fault. Right?”

“…”

“Just look at them! They’re so close, even having secret meetings. And they spent all the time together on the math trip. Does that make sense if he’s lying?”

“…If his behavior was like that, I wouldn’t have doubted him.”

“Sister!”

“You know very well. Last year alone, he was penalized for hitting another Young Master because he lied about someone slandering him, tarnishing the honor of a noble and the reputation of the Bargrand family.”

Claire clenched her lips tightly and pointed out harshly.

“Don’t you know he didn’t do anything wrong last year?”

“Claire, I told you, Carsein didn’t do anything wrong last year—”

-Klang!

“This! Sheiden checked and found Carsein’s blood! He was stabbed with tailoring scissors!”

“…What?”

“Those torn clothes suggest it wasn’t done by hand but with another tool. Since I made the fabric myself! In other words, if he cut his own clothes while slandering, he must have hit back with his fists, right?”

“…”

“Sister, this is really weird. This is hard to believe. From what I see, Carsein didn’t do anything wrong last year or this year! Why are you pushing the idea that he started with a mistake?”

-Kung!

Claire’s hand slammed the door shut with force.

Flora, watching this, hesitantly began speaking.

“Big Sister, this time… I think Little Sister is right. Knowing about the Kelbia fruit shows… They planned to torment him.”

The door opened again.

Flora left the room.

Alone, Arina sighed deeply.

“…I didn’t know there was something like this hidden.”

She deserved a proper reward for her shock.

-Ding!

▶Hidden Episode. The Truth of Last Year’s Exchange Hall Cleared.◀

▶Public opinion demanding punishment for Carsein disappears.◀