Still holding her in his arms, Allen brought the girl into his house.
He headed to the living room, which was a mess, with moldy pieces of bread and shriveled herbs scattered over various surfaces. Piles of junk, consisting of objects that were somewhere between garbage and bric-a-brac, covered the floor. But there was one corner of the room with a leather sofa that was just tidy enough for human habitation. It was Allen’s favorite spot, where he liked to read, have a nap, and spend most of his free time. He gently placed the runaway girl on this sofa. She was still fast asleep.
“Right... I suppose I’ll just wait for her to wake up.” Allen gazed at her face and stroked his chin thoughtfully. “She doesn’t look anything like a felon that would make a country take such dramatic action. Though, as they say, never judge a book by the cover...” Either way, there was nothing he could do until she awakened. He idly picked up the morning paper and flapped it open.
The top foreign news was all over the front page. It gave an account of a scandal surrounding the second prince of the Kingdom of Neils, the neighboring country. According to the article, his fiancée was quite a wicked woman. She had been indulging in a luxurious lifestyle using the taxpayers’ money. On top of that, not only had she held secret rendezvous with innumerable men, she had even schemed to assassinate the first prince in order to secure her place as future queen. The second prince had exposed all of her evil deeds and saved the kingdom from her wickedness. This revelation had thrown the whole nation into a frenzy. The fiancée in question had vanished, and the authorities were searching everywhere for her. A helpful portrait of the lady was printed with the article, accompanied by a note urging readers to get in touch with any information.
“Hm?” Just as Allen raised his eyebrows at the portrait, there was a murmur from the girl. “Ah, you’re awake.”
She woke right on time. Her heavy eyelids fluttered open as she slowly rose to a sitting position. She looked around nervously, and when she saw Allen next to her, she flinched. “Oh! Wh-Who are you?”
Allen smiled gently to put her at ease. “Just someone who found you collapsed outside and brought you home.”
He rummaged around for a pot and some tea leaves in the mounds of clutter, and he soon served her a cup of black tea.
Hesitantly, the girl took the chipped tea cup. She took a tiny sip from the lukewarm tea and breathed a soft sigh. A touch of color returned to her cheeks. “I got lost in the woods,” she began in a hoarse whisper, “and I saw a mansion in the distance...so I tried to go there, and...”
“Well, you still reached your goal. This is the house you saw. You fainted just in front of it.” Allen decided not to tell her about the soldiers. There was no reason to frighten her unnecessarily.
The only people who ever visited the mansion were the mail carrier, the children who dared each other to venture close to it...or someone who lost their way. This woman was a typical case of the latter.
She still looked dazed, as if she was wandering in a dream, when he held up the newspaper to her. “Nevertheless, allow me to offer you a warm welcome—Lady Charlotte Evans, I presume?”
Charlotte became as white as a sheet.
There was no denying it. The portrait in the paper was her likeness. She was the fiancée of the second prince of Neils Kingdom, the “wicked woman” who had deceived the whole country, and the eldest daughter of Duke Evans.
“Don’t be alarmed. I’m not going to hurt you,” Allen said nonchalantly, folding the newspaper and peering into her face. Despite his words, she still shrank back warily. He went on anyway. “A long time ago, I was betrayed by some people I believed to be my friends. Since then, I’ve mastered the art of detecting lies.” He looked straight into her eyes. Her blue eyes, wavering with anxiety, showed no trace of falsehood or deception. “You’re innocent. Isn’t that right?”
Charlotte was speechless. Her eyes widened and, after a few moments, brimmed with tears.
Allen was taken aback. “H-Hey, what’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
“For the first time...” she sobbed, tears pouring down her face. Haltingly, she murmured, “You’re...the first one...to believe me!”
Once the floodgates had opened, Charlotte couldn’t stop weeping. Though flustered, Allen did his best to comfort her, offering her a handkerchief, pouring her more tea, and doing whatever else he could think of. Eventually, she calmed down and slowly began to tell her story.
“Everything happened...very suddenly.”
Exactly a week ago, there had been a birthday party at the royal castle for Prince Cecil, the second prince of the Kingdom of Neils. As his fiancée, Charlotte, of course, was invited, and she was going around the hall, greeting the guests. She didn’t exchange any words with the Prince, however.
“We were engaged to be married many years ago...but we hardly ever saw each other,” she explained. Even on the rare occasions they met, they had never held a conversation. Instead, he would only throw her an icy glare.
But that day, when the party was in full swing, Prince Cecil called her up to the center of the hall. As the guests and soldiers looked on, he declared not his love for her, but a revelation that was beyond belief.
“Charlotte Evans! I have investigated your countless misdeeds! Therefore...I shall annul my engagement to you with immediate effect!”
As if to add icing on the cake, the Prince described crime after crime that she had no recollection of ever committing. Each misconduct was backed by elaborately fabricated evidence, and everyone in the room soon believed everything he claimed.
Not even her own family came to her aid. Although it wasn’t publicly known, Charlotte was born out of wedlock, between the Duke and his mistress. As his lawful wife hadn’t borne him any children, the Evans family had adopted her in her infancy. Several years later, however, he married a new wife, who gave birth to his legitimate heir. Ever since then, Charlotte had been treated as an outcast in the family, and when Prince Cecil had made those false accusations against her, no one in the Evans family—not even the servants—took her side.