CHAPTER 645: CHAPTER 645

"An explanation is what I demand from you, Lady Karina! Nonetheless, you seem determined to feign ignorance over your doings!"

I heard Karina manifest after being restrained and cornered; being refuted by my little sister, whose reaction was unexpectedly delightful to my ears.

"... My lady, stay here with his grace." — Standing from beside me, he glanced at my dad who quietly observed. Receiving his coldness like never I had seen it before as he moved to take the seat.

"Silence. This matter will be addressed shortly so it is best if both of you ladies remain quiet and obedient."

"Follow Noverrne’s advice." — The crown prince said as he approached them, making everyone present more tense... yet I ought to say, the tension appeared amusing. Promising a nice plot twist as I once knew it in stories. — "Being noisy will do you no good."

"... Anyone would lose composure in my shoes, your highness."

’Hmph... and what about me, I almost died but-’

"Lady Marianne had it worst and yet is not in the least as troublesome as you are."

"?! Of course she does not, she’s mut-!!!"

’Oh? I dare you to finish that sentence~’ — Locking my eyes with hers I noticed how her tongue was bitten at the realisation. Becoming entertained since it’s the first time I’ve seen her so troubled.

"... ahem. Comparing the ninth with someone like myself is an unfair thing to do, Your Highness."

From the place that I was... suddenly her behaviour became more interesting with the change in her voice.

"At least you acknowledge that much."

"Well, well~ Good Zeleskiaz, isn’t such a thing too much? Why treat a lady like that~" — Prince Niccolò said walking to their side, making his presence apparent, as well as the other princes of the Empire.

"Prince Niccolò is correct. Let us not get our emotions in between while clearing up this matter, brother- no, crown prince Zeleskiaz... You have brought these two ladies apart under some kind of motive, have you not? May you tell us so we are able to aid and wrap the issue? Tonight’s events, for all of us present, require an end. The sooner the better."

"... Lady Theressa, the ring you showed me."

"... here it is."

"You said, this is not yours but Lady Karina’s and that it has a hidden needle... here, this is it."

"?! That is not mine!"

"... Lady Karina dropped it after accidentally getting her dress stained. She told me to keep it while she was gone."

"Lady Theressa, I do not know what you are saying...! Why would you lie about such a thing...sniff!"

"!? I am not lying! Why would I harm my—"

"You have already done it in the past." — Prince Sverre said nonchalantly at Theressa’s halt. Summoning a guilty silence we all could feel.

"..."

’Oh no...’

"Excuse my uncalled testimony... however, I did see Lady Theressa pick up the ring. I was there at the time." — The foreigner, Prince Niccolò said after an awkward moment, unaware that his intrusion was very much appreciated given the fame Theressa now owned. — "Although, I did not see them exchange any words for I was... very much appreciating Zeleskiaz’s and the lovely Ninth’s dance~"

"I-I am sorry to say, yet that only proves Lady Theressa picked it up! Not that it was mine..." — Seemingly timid she shrank, tracing us who observed until she found how to continue. — "! Your grace, Duke Clemente. You were with me before this all happened, from the beginning of the Ball, may you tell if I was wearing such a piece?"

"... I cannot." — Bothered, Clemente’s voice answered. Truthful, yet having a sense of displeasure while he told us his notion about the ring. — "Regrettably, I do not recall the Lady wearing it... I did not pay much attention to the accessories she wore..."

"... it is not mine..."

"... Lady Theressa even if it is not yours, framing me is unjustifiable."

"I am not lying! I saw it fall and you told me to keep it!! I swear I- I swear I didn’t do this to my sister!!"

Her eyes, Theressa’s gold stared at me as if blue was about to become her new hue. The waver in them and the desperate entreaty her whole body transmited gripped onto my heart, leaving me breathless in turmoil that only heightened to the squeeze dad gave to my hand while he also watched the scene.

"... After what the Empire knows has happened in the Sylfinnier’s house, my lady’s sister would be too reckless to attempt something like this." — The crown prince, given the silence Theressa’s scream invoked, said after sighing to himself. Pacing towards Karina, menacingly and thankfully saving my sister a little from the judgment she was receiving. — "Don’t you think so too... woman?"

"The name is Karina... I am innocent of what I am being accused of."

"..."

"Your highness, only Lady Theressa saw the ring on Lady Karina’s hand. Sir Clemente who was with her most of the time cannot say if she was wearing it also... There is little to do in a case like this, don’t you think?"

"I don’t." — Replying to the Prince of Latrishk without a second of hesitation, his highness did not take his gaze away from Karina... making me nervous as he was too close and appeared dangerous in a way I could not decipher completely. — "I think it is too convenient that you were not there and that it was my lady’s sister who casually picked this ring of yours."

"!? I can tell his highness dislikes my presence yet that is not enough to make me the culprit!"

’...? Uh? This she is saying...’

"I am ashamed to say this as I appreciate Lady Theressa’s friendship."

’She... I am sure she said it in the novel too...’

"Yet she is known for her evil doings and capricious ways as a child of the Duke of Sylfinnier."

’If I’m not mistaken then she will say... "what happened to me tonight" or something....’

"What happened to me tonight, being cornered like this, could it not also be part of her scheme?!"

’Oho?’

"My father is away... little I am able to do to fend for myself in this society I am new to..."

’Hah... I can’t believe it... It’s really like I remember reading it...’

"Little do I know about the situation their family is under... but... but I have no reason to hurt the ninth while it appears Lady Theressa does!" — From amusement, I was starting to feel disgust as I saw her perform a pitiful act. Becoming more and more disgusted as I saw her cry now. — "Sniff...! His Highness also appears to only hope I am to blame for this when everything points to the opposite. Unfair this is! I admire and worship the empire and the ninth...! Sob! I do not understand why I am being treated like this! I... humble upbringing I have, is that why-"

"? Tha f*ck is she sayin’...? So annoying. Gosh, what a b*tch."

"Huh??"

This time, the silence was louder than any other I have witnessed or made myself be as a mute woman. It brought my attention.

It was a little after that I decided to watch again the scene played by the female lead in a novel in a far past I read, that many stares... no, everyone’s was met. I paused my thoughts as I was late to understand what had just happened.

"... m-Marianne..." — Dad, with a sound too soft of disbelief that seemed louder than a yell for it broke reality to me.

’... Did I... I just said that out loud, didn’t I?’