“Lady Bertia! How come there are rumors that I was the one who pushed you down the stairs?!” Baroness Hironia’s voice echoed across the courtyard.
Facing her, at a table, Bertia was enjoying tea with Joanna and her friends. At a different table nearby, Viscountess Eirin was having tea with a male student.
We were hidden in the shadows of the trees, observing the scene. A week had passed since Bertia had been pushed down the stairs. During that time, our sole goal had been preparing to retaliate against the perpetrator. The target was, of course, Viscountess Eirin Silbertz.
She had ignored my warnings and tried to injure Bertia, the future crown princess. Naturally, she will receive a fitting retribution.
We had already investigated the events on the day Bertia had been attacked. On that day, it seemed Viscountess Eirin had been masquerading as Baroness Hironia as usual and following Bertia around to harass her. She witnessed the object of her unrequited affection—Fannir—happily chatting and carrying things together with Bertia. Seeing the man she cherished blushing and eagerly talking to another woman infuriated her. Alone with Bertia, she gave in to her anger and pushed her down the stairs, then fled the scene, careful to keep her face hidden.
Really, to think she could do such a thing to my fiancée, she must have quite the nerve.
“Your Highness, is this also part of the plan?” Courtgain asked, nodding toward Baroness Hironia.
“No, that’s just a coincidence. But it doesn’t really matter if she’s there,” I replied.
The timing of her appearance was difficult to judge—whether good or bad, the results were anyone’s guess.
Confused by the sudden outburst from Baroness Hironia, Bertia tilted her head in puzzlement. “Um, what are you talking about?”
This only served to amplify Baroness Hironia’s anger. “This is your doing! Trying to frame me, an innocent person, as the criminal! And falling down the stairs was probably your own staged act! Just what I’d expect from a villainess! But I won’t be defeated by such a trick!!” Her face turned bright red with rage as she pointed at Bertia.
Over her shoulder, her light spirit was exerting its power, trying to assist Baroness Hironia. Kuro skillfully thwarted it, rendering the effort meaningless.
Continuing to simply watch from the sidelines would be a waste of time, so I decided to step in and put an end to this quickly. I quietly emerged from the shadows of the trees and signaled with my eyes to Joanna and her friends, who were glaring murderously at Baroness Hironia beside Bertia.
They immediately noticed and nodded in response. Shall we begin the punishment?
“Um… uh…” Bertia, flustered by Baroness Hironia’s assault, looked around in confusion. She seemed to be the only one who hadn’t grasped the situation yet.
Everyone had been considerate not to discuss the staircase incident in front of Bertia, so she was unaware of the rumors pinning Baroness Hironia as the perpetrator.
While facing Bertia directly, my aides and I began moving straight toward her.
As we made our appearance, the students around us began to murmur, and the whispers gradually spread. I stopped just short of where Bertia and her friends were seated, right beside Viscountess Eirin’s table. There, Viscountess Eirin, with an unconcerned expression, seemed to be enjoying the unfolding scene among the audience.
Truly carefree, she is.
I sighed and spoke up. “Could you please stop unjustly accusing my fiancée of being a criminal?”
Upon noticing my presence, Baroness Hironia’s face lit up. “P-Prince Cecil!” Her verbal attack on Bertia ceased, and she turned toward me, now pleading that she was being framed by Bertia.
This is rather annoying.
Bertia was watching us with a look of unease. “Prince Cecil…” she murmured softly.
To her, I offered a gentle smile and nodded as if to say, “It’s going to be all right.”
I turned to Baroness Hironia, who continued to claim her innocence as if she were the tragic heroine of the story, and asked, “You aren’t the one who pushed Bertia down the stairs, are you?” Truthfully, I found it bothersome to even engage with her, but in this situation, ignoring her wasn’t an option.
“No! Of course not!” Baroness Hironia’s eyes sparkled in response to my question.
She probably thought her stance was being validated and thus celebrated the acknowledgment.
Well, I will acknowledge that you aren’t the culprit, but I must completely deny any notion that Bertia staged the incident herself, okay?
“Bertia indeed testified that she saw a woman with hair the same color as yours when she fell down the stairs. However, she did not say that it was you,” I explained.
Looking into Bertia’s eyes, I tilted my head and asked, “Right?”
Bertia nodded vigorously in response.
If I claimed here that “Lady Hironia did it,” I might fulfill Bertia’s desire to be seen as the villainess, but Bertia seemed too confused right now to think that far ahead. Well, that worked out better for me, so I was thankful for that.
“I’m sorry. It seems someone tried to exploit the situation, seeing how you’ve been confronting my fiancée,” I said, placing my hand on the small shoulder beside me.
“Eh?” Viscountess Eirin looked up at me in surprise.
Fannir, the male student sitting across from Viscountess Eirin, wiped away his gentle smile and glared at her. “Right, Lady Eirin Silbertz?” I asked, smiling broadly at her.
Viscountess Eirin’s face flushed, and she stared at me, seemingly dazed. Is this really the time to be lost in gazing at me? Or has she not yet grasped the situation?
I let my smile fade away and leaned closer to whisper in her ear, “I warned you, didn’t I? ‘If you go too far, you might end up getting hurt.’”
“Eh? Eh?!” Viscountess Eirin seemed unable to immediately comprehend the meaning of my words, standing frozen in shock. But after a few seconds, it appeared she realized what I meant, and her face paled.
She looked like she was about to scream but quickly covered her mouth with both hands to hold it back.
“Courtgain, her bag, please.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Courtgain responded, standing ready behind me.
Though Viscountess Eirin’s belongings consisted only of a single bundle resting on her lap, rummaging through someone’s personal items was generally not commendable. However, circumstances demanded it, and it was us who had orchestrated for her to bring it here.
“Excuse me,” Courtgain said as he swiftly took the bundle before Viscountess Eirin could react.
“Stop, stop!” she protested.
Courtgain was not the type to cease his actions over such words. He briskly opened the bundle, and inside…
“That’s… the same color as my hair…” Baroness Hironia exclaimed in surprise upon seeing a pink-blonde wig, her face quickly turning bright red with anger.
“What is the meaning of this?!” Baroness Hironia, forgetting her act, confronted Viscountess Eirin.
“It’s not what it looks like! This just happened to…” Viscountess Eirin stammered.
“Right, ‘just happened’ because today was the dormitory’s scheduled deep cleaning, and you couldn’t leave the wig in your room, so you had to carry it with you?” I interjected with a knowing smile.
At this, Viscountess Eirin gasped with a short shriek.
Nobles of higher ranks often had multiple attendants, and their rooms were cleaned by their own servants. However, Viscountess Eirin, being of a lower nobility, would have her room cleaned by hired cleaners during the academy-wide cleaning days. It was unlikely that she would leave such incriminating evidence as a wig in her room when many different people would be entering.