Though the words were spoken in a hushed tone, I heard them clearly. Despite the blatant insult, Marienne showed no reaction. She didn’t look angry or like she was holding back. Her demeanour suggested that she regarded it as no more than a passing fly – not worthy of her attention.

Come to think of it, the looks from around the room weren’t so much directed at me as they were at Marienne. Focusing my senses, I picked up on the whispered taunts directed at her.

“She’s so ugly.” 

“Why would His Highness Bapharos choose someone like her?” 

“She must have seduced him with her body.”

The murmurs carried a tone of envy, their voices dripping with jealousy of Marienne.

I examined Marienne from head to toe. She was thinner than average, her cheeks freckled and her skin slightly dark. It seemed to be the kind of appearance that was often the target of ridicule by noblewomen. However, her appearance wasn’t bad enough to warrant being called ugly or insulted in such a way. Nevertheless, it seemed that she endured the ridicule because of the special treatment Bapharos gave her. In truth, Bapharos was probably just using Marienne as a pawn in his game.

“When did you and Bapharos become lovers?”

“Hmm… About a year ago, I think. His Highness was the one who asked me to be his lover.”

Marienne said this with a shy smile and I couldn’t help but be curious. Her family wasn’t one of the most influential in social circles like Karial’s, nor were they particularly wealthy.

Although her family could be traced back to the founding of the kingdom, making them an old noble house, that was the extent of their prestige. Having avoided involvement in social affairs, their influence had diminished over time, and they were now regarded as a rooted but otherwise unremarkable family of counts.

So what did Bapharos hope to gain by keeping Marienne close to him?

“And who confessed to Your Highness first?”

Marienne asked, glancing behind me. She was probably looking at where Zetak was standing.

“What do the rumours say?”

“It is said that you became close to the boy after you saved him. There are rumours that Your Highness is very attached to him…”

“If that’s what they say, then so be it.”

At my reply, Marienne looked up at me with a curious expression. She tilted her head as if unconvinced, then spoke again.

“I hesitate to say this, but… I’ve heard that Your Highness has a mental illness, that you have trouble feeling emotions.”

“That is true.”

“And yet you can say with certainty that you feel affection for that boy?”

Her question made me pause. To ask something so direct—she was bold, to say the least. Was it the backing of Bapharos that gave her such confidence, or was it simply part of her nature?

“Whether I care for him or not is none of your business.”

“That’s true, but… May I speak frankly?”

“Go ahead, speak.”

“I am afraid that the tragedy of five years ago may repeat itself.”

Marienne avoided my gaze, perhaps aware that she was overstepping. But she insisted on saying what she had to say.

“Five years ago, it was obvious that Your Highness cared deeply for the servant boy. No matter how rude his actions were, he was the only one who was never punished.”

“You speak as if you saw it yourself.”

“I did see it. In the garden, when he spilled tea while serving. It splashed all over Your Highness’s face. It wasn’t hot tea, because it was summer, but still… Your Highness didn’t punish him at all, even after such a mistake.”

“It wasn’t a mistake. He probably did it on purpose.”

“Excuse me…?”

Marienne’s eyes widened in shock at my words. The idea that a servant would deliberately spill tea on a member of the royal family seemed incomprehensible to her.

“Since he has been on the medication, he has started to do this a lot. He always stumbled when he was holding water or tea and spilled it in my face. He probably thought I wouldn’t notice him laughing secretly.”

If Zetak’s hearing was as sharp as I thought it was, he would have heard every word of my conversation with Marienne. It wasn’t just directed at her – it was directed at him. ‘I know all about your antics. Think about it. ‘ That’s what I said. As I pretended to dance, changing positions with Marienne, I glanced at Zetak. His gaze met mine directly, as if to say, And what do you want me to do about it?’ Impertinent brat.

“Uh… medication? Doing it on purpose… what do you mean?”

“Forget it. Just think of it as me talking to myself.”

Marienne gave me a puzzled look, but nodded without further question.

“Still, I can’t help but worry a little. I wonder if the same thing could happen again. That poor boy… he really liked Your Highness.”

“You speak as if you knew him well.”

“I do know him well.”

“I was the one who recommended him.”

Her soft confession stopped me in my tracks. She looked up at me with a faintly bitter expression. Could she be the one behind Zetak? No, that didn’t make sense. If she were, she wouldn’t be so forthcoming about it. Moreover, if she had placed him as a spy, she wouldn’t have risked putting her own name on his recommendation. It was far more likely that someone had manipulated her family, a neutral house, to get involved… Bapharos. Could it really have been him? But then again, Bapharos and Marienne had only grown close within the past year or so.

“The boy really cared for Your Highness. It seemed as if Your Highness cared for him as well. Maybe you weren’t good at expressing it… but that’s how it seemed to me.”

“……”

Did it really seem that way? I wanted to ask Zetak. “Did you really like me? Did I really seem to care about you?” But even if I asked, he wouldn’t answer. What thoughts lingered in Zetak’s mind as he stayed by my side?

“I’m just worried that something similar might happen to the servant boy you seem to care for now.”

Her soft voice breaks my thoughts.

“I keep thinking that if I hadn’t recommended that boy, he wouldn’t have been put through such an ordeal. It weighs on me. When I heard he’d been banished from the palace, I went looking for him. I felt it was my fault that this had happened. I wanted to make sure he got proper treatment from a priest and help him start a new life.”

“Then you were unable to find him?”

She nodded.

“I sent someone to bring him back… but where the boy was left there was only a bloodstain. I don’t know if someone took pity on him and took him away first or…”

No, he was probably murdered. Zetak had said that he was killed after being thrown out of the palace. Whether he was killed on the spot or taken elsewhere and killed later was unclear, but it was unlikely that someone had taken him away for treatment.

“It would be nice if he lived well somewhere…”

Marienne murmured softly, her voice carrying no hint of deceit. She seemed to genuinely care for Zetak and to feel sorrow for him. A virtuous and selfless family, known for their concern for the commoners – the rumours about her family didn’t seem to be wrong.

I watched Marienne’s expression carefully. She remembered the boy she had recommended, but she didn’t seem to know that Zetak was that boy. That meant she probably hadn’t looked in Zetak’s palace records. If she had seen his name, she would have noticed. But then again, why would a noble bother to investigate the background of another’s servant? Only someone like Karial would bother with such things.

“Why did you recommend that boy?”

“That’s…”

For the first time, Marienne was silent. It was as if she was hiding something. Not necessarily because of her own actions, but perhaps because of something else.

“You were used, weren’t you?”

“…!”

“When did you realise he was a spy? Judging by your reaction, it doesn’t seem like you knew from the beginning.”

Marienne’s face turned pale. Her lips quivered slightly, as if she were about to speak, but in the end she bowed her head.

“I only found out after I heard that he tried to kill Your Highness… I had no idea before that. I really didn’t…”

“That’s enough.”

“….”

“I believe you. That’s enough.”

Marienne probably didn’t really know. Besides, the claim that Zetak had tried to kill me was nothing more than a false accusation I had made against him. If hearing that made her think she’d been used, then she really had no connection to the people behind Zetak.

“Are you… going to find out who’s behind this? I… I can’t tell you anything…”

“Has someone been holding something over you?”

Judging by her expression, she wasn’t. She wasn’t being blackmailed, but for some reason she couldn’t talk about it. I was sure of that.

“It’s Bapharos, isn’t it?”

She’s protecting him because he’s her lover. Her body stiffened at my words. Her pale face turned towards me, but I didn’t react much.

Bapharos, who hadn’t questioned Zetak’s severed tongue, now made sense. It was clear – Bapharos must have recognised Zetak and met with him in secret.

“Do you know he’s using you?”

“Th-that can’t be true. He really loves me…”

“You think? With your neutral family, Zetak probably wasn’t the only spy he used. He probably sent others to watch over my siblings, or anyone else he needed to control. Think carefully – was Zetak the only child you recommended to enter the palace under your seal?”

Probably not. “Marianne, this child is too precious to be left an orphan. If he is brought to the palace and educated, he will grow up to be someone remarkable.” That’s how he must have lured her. It would have been enough to fool a young girl. If she asked why he didn’t recommend her himself, he could have easily deflected the question with a plausible excuse. For someone unfamiliar with the intrigues of the court, it would have been convincing.

Marienne probably nodded out of genuine goodwill, believing she was giving a poor orphaned child a better future. But now her face had turned ashen, as if she might faint at any moment. Contrary to my expectation that she would vehemently deny it, she only looked on the verge of tears and offered no rebuttal.