Just as Milly sighed again at the foolishness of it, one voice rang out from the mob. “If the suspects are only those seated at the table, then isn’t the grand duke’s daughter herself suspicious?!”
The atmosphere in the crowd shifted in an instant. “What?!”
Milly turned her gaze to find a plain-looking boy staring at her, his face gone chalk-white. He was clearly a commoner. Several young noblemen around him tried to clap a hand over his mouth, but the words kept spilling out. “B-But it’s the only thing that makes sense!”
“You watch what you’re saying!”
“Why? Why won’t anyone suspect her?!” His chapped index finger pointed at Milly, trembling as it leveled the accusation.
“I... I saw it from the next table! Two of their cups broke, and then they got replacements!”
It was true. The cups had broken, and they had indeed been given new ones.
“But... But her cup was the only one that didn’t break! She said they should pour again, and then she gave that brown-haired girl the poisoned cup!”
That, too, was true.
The students who had tried to hush him all turned their eyes to Milly, their stares carrying a mix of shock, suspicion, and unease. Milly’s eyes widened just a fraction.
“She... She’s the one! She’s the one who slipped in the poison!” the boy shouted.
Milly’s heart gave a great, resounding thud.
“The grand duke’s daughter...poisoned someone?” someone uttered.
Milly almost brushed it off as nonsense until she realized something. She had no way to clear herself. That the culprit was someone connected to the academy was already beyond doubt. And with no clear suspect, suspicion would naturally fall on Milly, who had been seated at Sierra’s table and had, until moments before, held the very cup that carried the poison.
In fact, it was rather strange that her name hadn’t been raised earlier. Milly Asteara was the grand duke’s daughter. That title alone had shielded her from suspicion, but she herself had nothing to prove her innocence.
“Ha. Ha ha ha!” In the deathly silence, a hoarse laugh rang out. It was the same noble girl who had accused Lizbel earlier. “So it was you, my lady? You did this?” Her voice shook as she spoke. “You preached at me so self-righteously, yet you’re the culprit? Oh, how laughable!” Staggering forward on unsteady legs, she drew closer, but Milly was a beat too slow to react. “You’re no different from your filthy father! What a fool I was, trying so hard to win your favor!”
“You...”
“Having to grovel to the likes of you is truly pathetic! A girl who’d poison her own tea, and a grand duke who treats people as less than human—you’re both worthless!”
The noble girl lunged toward Milly, but was restrained by the teachers who had finally pushed their way through the crowd. One of them, a young woman, rubbed the girl’s back with anxious hands as the girl still cackled madly, her reason clearly shattered. Meanwhile, the older male teacher who stepped up to Milly kept his face stern, his eyes narrowed with open suspicion.
He...suspects me? Milly looked around. Everywhere, unfamiliar students whispered to each other, casting her the same distrustful glances. And only then did Milly realize—no one was standing up to defend her.
“Lady Asteara. I’ll need you to answer a few questions about what happened here,” the man said, his voice low.
The murmuring around them swelled louder.
“Poisoning someone... The grand duke’s daughter, huh? I’m not surprised.”
“My cousin told me the grand duke stripped her family of their lands. He’s inhuman. It’s only natural his daughter would turn out the same.”
“Maybe it’s all a setup? Poison the cup herself, then swoop in to force it out and play savior, just to win admiration?”
“I don’t know much about noble politics, but everyone says the grand duke is a terrible man. Does that mean his daughter would casually harm commoners too?”
Ah... Hearing each and every whisper, Milly understood. Because I’m the grand duke’s daughter. Because I’m his daughter, no one... No one was willing to believe in her innocence. Not a single person there was ready to say, “Her Imperial Highness would never do such a thing.”
Milly clenched her fists. She should have expected this, and yet, for some reason, it hurt. She had never felt this way before. In her previous life, no matter what was said about her family, she could shrug it off. But now, standing before this crowd, she was on the verge of tears.
Nothing ever goes the way I want it to. Shame washed over her. Shame at herself, for ever thinking—even for a moment—that she might get to live a brighter school life this time.
That she might make friends, work side by side with the student council, laugh together and, as the “final boss,” even expose Angelina’s schemes. She had let herself dream of a life like something out of a novel.
Meeting Sierra had only fueled that dream. She had even started to imagine a future surrounded by friends. But it was impossible. Because she was the grand duke’s daughter. All her efforts to build friendships, all her hopes, had crumbled to nothing.
“I see,” Milly murmured faintly, biting her lip. “But first, could someone escort Lizbel to the infirmary?”
“Lady Garcia?”
“Yes. Watching Sierra collapse seems to have been quite a shock for her.” Lizbel sat hunched, trembling from head to toe.
Milly thought the silver-haired girl had done well. Even in Lizbel’s confusion, she had carried out Milly’s request, and when suspicion was thrown at her, she hadn’t broken down in tears. Surely Lizbel was stronger than Milly herself.
The older male teacher gave a nod and gestured for Milly to follow him back toward the school building. He clearly meant for her to give her account of what happened. Milly was prepared to explain herself, but she couldn’t be sure how much anyone would believe.
What will father say? No doubt he would click his tongue in irritation. He might even sneer, “You, who couldn’t even clear a single suspicion, thought you could order me to protect you?” The very thought made her scowl in disgust.
“Ah... Um!” Just then... “You’re wrong! It wasn’t Her Imperial Highness!”
Milly’s eyes widened at Lizbel’s sudden outburst. “Lizbel?”
“It wasn’t her! It wasn’t! She would never do something so cruel!” The words spilled out like a broken dam, and Lizbel covered her eyes with both hands. A teacher hurried over to her, but her outpouring would not stop. “That teacup! That cup... Sierra said, ‘I can’t let Lady Milly drink lukewarm tea,’ and she took it herself!”
“Lizbel.”
“Lady Milly said she didn’t mind but even so, Sierra took it for herself! Lady Milly never meant to poison her!”
“Lizbel, calm yourself.”
“It wasn’t Lady Milly! It wasn’t... It wasn’t Lady Milly!” Her voice, louder than anyone else’s, silenced the entire crowd. “Lady Milly... Lady Milly invited me to sit with her, even though everyone else looks down on me. And just now, even though she could have cleared her own name, she never once tried to blame me for keeping silent!”
Milly fell silent.
“She’s an incredible person! It’s not her! Someone else poisoned the cup!” With that final cry, Lizbel collapsed in sobs.
After a short pause, the gathered onlookers began to murmur. Milly stared at Lizbel in a daze, overwhelmed by a swell of indescribable feelings that pricked sharp and hot at the bridge of her nose.
“Forgive me, Professor.”
“Yes?”
“Please allow me a little time. I need to speak with her.” The moment the words left her lips, Milly dashed toward Lizbel without waiting for permission. Her heartbeat was racing, pounding out of control. She had never imagined—never dared hope—that someone would stand up and believe in her.
So this was what it meant for one’s heart to be full. The joy was so overwhelming Milly thought she might burst. And because of that, she failed to notice Ike in the crowd, his lips pressed in a tight, silent line.