Inside the room away from Cesia, Marcus looked over a piece of paper that Layne had given him and frowned.
“This morning, messages like this were delivered anonymously to the residences of various important noble families,” Layne said.
It was an ordinary piece of paper that anyone could purchase from a normal stationery shop. On it, in sloppy handwriting, was the inflammatory message, “Cesia Kathrin has done wrong in the past. She isn’t fit to be the princess consort.”
“It’s certainly a very emotional letter,” Marcus remarked.
“Yes, it is. Like the rumors, most nobles seem to be ignoring it, but with all the rumors flying around about Cesia lately, a worried acquaintance of mine notified me about it,” Layne said.
Marcus furrowed his eyebrows. Just as Felix had said, the person who had started the rumor did indeed appear to be feeling pressed for time, and as a result, they were taking a rather clumsy approach. With the rumor, they may have been able to worm their way out of being found, but now they had left behind a piece of physical evidence. “Did you have Roy trace it?” Marcus asked.
“Not yet. And without any information about the target, even Roy won’t be able to track them,” Layne said hesitantly.
Marcus nodded. It was necessary to find and give information to Roy about people connected with Cesia and anyone who knew her past or might have had a grudge against her. If Cesia had still been a commoner, that would have narrowed things down significantly, but now that she was a baroness and engaged to a prince, there were many potential suspects. With such a large, unspecified number of people, it would hardly be efficient to have Roy trace each one by one. “I wish we could narrow things down a bit further,” Marcus said. “Though they don’t seem too smart, so they might give themselves away soon.”
“Yes, I’m surprised… I didn’t think they’d be this stupid,” Layne spat.
When he saw Layne’s rare display of emotion, Marcus squinted slightly. A vague sense that something was off settled in the pit of his stomach.
Meanwhile, Cesia was facing off with Selene. She looked her cousin up and down, from the tips of her shoes to the top of her head, then sighed softly. As always, the only impressive thing about Selene’s outfit was the copious amount of money spent obtaining it. Selene had an extravagant-looking dress and ornamentation, with large black pearls adorning her shining blonde hair. Cesia hadn’t known it when she had been Selene’s maid at the Diane residence, but she lacked sophistication no matter how luxurious Selene’s outfit was. Now that Cesia had gone through Rosary’s and Anita’s training and had seen true noblewomen like Mavis and Edith, Cesia could tell. Refinement was something one cultivated, not something one could buy. Noblewomen weren’t just splurging on luxuries; they always had their eyes and ears peeled for new information and went through a constant process of trial and error to improve themselves.
“What did you come here for? How did you get an invitation?” Cesia asked.
“Just when did you get into the position to be able to take that pompous tone of voice with me? I don’t care whether you’re a baroness or a princess consort; you’ll always be a dirty little rat, so watch your tone.”
Cesia’s eyes widened in surprise. The castle’s maids had spent quite some time dressing her up and preparing her for this occasion. Putting the question of whether she was a beauty to the side, she certainly wasn’t dirty. It wasn’t conceit that made her think that; she trusted in her maids, knew they had done a good job, and were skilled enough to turn even a dirty rat into a princess. On top of that, Cesia had learned etiquette from refined noble ladies. Cesia had grown thanks to the skills she had learned from educated professionals and Marcus’s love. It would be rude to them to have her confidence shaken by what someone said to her.
“You’re hardly discerning enough to say that. You may be a beauty, but you have disgracefully poor taste,” Cesia said. She was giving it everything she had on her first move. Whatever Selene’s intention was in coming here and contacting her, it couldn’t have been friendly. But Cesia wasn’t the powerless maid who had been thrown outside in the winter to do dishes anymore. No matter who she was up against, she would crush them with all her power—and if that person happened to be none other than Selene, then that was all the more reason to give it her all.
As Cesia expected, Selene was instantly infuriated and raised a hand to hit Cesia. But after all the time she had spent dodging Marcus’s powerful sword thrusts in training, she saw it coming from a mile away. She might have been able to let herself get hit so she could charge Selene for assault later, but she wanted a complete victory without using any sneaky methods. So, she nimbly dodged Selene and, putting some distance between them, she turned to face her head-on.
“Why did you avoid it?!” Selene yelled.
“I don’t want to suffer the humiliation of you hitting me.”
However, Selene hadn’t attacked without a plan. When Cesia had dodged her, she clapped a metal bracelet on Cesia’s wrist.
“What’s this?” Cesia asked, puzzled. She tried to remove it, but it felt like it was locked on and wouldn’t come off. Uneasy, she tried to break it with magic and realized with a start what it was.
“Oh, have you noticed?” Selene said triumphantly. “It’s a magic-sealing bracelet. Now you can’t pull your clever little tricks anymore.”
It looked like a normal metal bracelet, but apparently, it was a magic item with the same effect as magic cuffs. Cesia tried to see whether she could break it with just the strength of her arms, but after seeing that it was pointless, she lowered her arm. Honestly, even if Cesia couldn’t use magic, someone untrained like Selene was still no match for her.
By that point, they had drawn the attention of the other attendees, who were standing in a loose circle around the two of them and watching. Felix and the others were there too, but they didn’t know who Selene was, why she had approached Cesia, or whether she was Cesia’s enemy, and they seemed to be at a loss.
Cesia knew she was her enemy already—she had tried to hit her, then had unjustly put magic cuffs on her—but this was Rosary’s celebration. She didn’t want to raise a commotion and ruin it.
“Very well. I have a room ready, so we can talk there,” Cesia said. By now, it was obvious that Selene had spread the rumors. Viscount Diane might have tried secretly threatening Cesia, but Selene, who simply didn’t like her personally, was the type to take such a foolish approach as this one.
“You’re an idiot, as always,” Selene said.
Cesia frowned. She didn’t want an idiot to call her an idiot, especially not Selene.
Selene continued. “I’ve already set up everything here. Why would I go somewhere no one can see us? I’ll show all these people who think that you’re a noble baroness and princess consort who you really are.”
“That really isn’t a good idea,” Cesia said, frowning even more. Being exposed for misrepresenting her identity and attending the Academy would be a serious blow, but Selene would be in the same boat as her. Cesia hadn’t thought it would be a smart idea, so she had hardly expected Selene herself to be the one spreading the rumors. And to think, she had left the Dianes alone all this time.
“I’m not joking! I was driven out of the capital because of you! You don’t know the humiliation I’ve gone through!”
You’re the one who left the capital, Cesia thought, but more and more people were noticing them, and she didn’t know what to do. Another more dangerous thought flashed across her mind. I might as well shut her up physically.
With Cesia flustered, Selene looked pleased with herself. Meanwhile, the attendees continued to watch the two similar-looking women.
Cesia could see Rosary rushing over to her, but she wouldn’t make it in time for the decisive moment.
Selene opened her lips, red with lipstick, and cheerfully said, “Listen up, everyone! Under my name, Selene Diane, Cesia Kathrin faked her identity and attended the Academy!”