Chapter 4 (Part 5)

While she was leisurely contemplating this without a sense of urgency, someone suddenly stepped forward.

“Madam is innocent! I can prove it!”

The person who abruptly stood up and stepped forward was Nancy. It seemed she felt they had hit a snag when Sellakia remained silent, so she made a rather proactive defense.

“I was with Madam all day, so I know her every move. I also know she didn’t see Sophie last night. Besides, Madam has no reason to harm the Duke. The two of them love each other deeply…!”

“Shut up! How dare you speak so freely in this place!”

Aldrich shouted fiercely, cutting off Nancy’s words. His face, twisted like a demon, was a stark contrast to the timid and meek demeanor he had shown before.

Aldrich, who couldn’t even straighten his shoulders in front of Tenus, seemed like a completely different person now standing before Nancy.

“So, you’re Sellakia’s personal maid. I see, you must be involved in this too? You two must be conspiring together.”

“What? No! There’s some misunderstanding. Sophie, isn’t that right? You got it wrong, didn’t you? You didn’t say anything to me yesterday!”

Nancy pleaded, but Sophie just shed tears silently. Aldrich, with a vicious look on his face, shouted in a chilling voice.

“Torture will reveal the truth. What are you doing? Lock them in the underground prison at once!”

Aldrich pointed at Sophie, Nancy, and then Sellakia in turn.

It was at the moment when Sellakia, unable to bear Aldrich’s attempt to involve even innocent Nancy, was about to stand up.

“Watch your words, Uncle.”

Tenus’s calm voice stopped her.

“Sellakia is a person of Seidon. Who dares to torture someone like her?”

“This is a very heinous act that threatened your life. Even if she’s your wife…!”

“I will prove my wife’s innocence.”

Aldrich looked as if he had been struck in the head.

“How can you…? You were definitely in the office until late last night.”

“How would you know that, Uncle?”

“Well, everyone in this house knows you stay late in your office. So, naturally, I also…”

“I didn’t know you were so interested in me. Then you must also know that I can’t take my eyes off my wife out of concern.”

Tenus looked at Aldrich with a dignified gaze.

“I have never received such a report from the knight assigned to guard Sellakia.”

Even as he openly declared that he received reports on his wife’s every move, there was not a hint of shame on Tenus’s face. Naturally, no one raised any objections.

“That unreliable knight? Ha. How can you trust someone who was wandering outside!”

Even Aldrich didn’t question it. Watching the situation unfold, Sellakia wondered if she was the strange one for being dumbfounded. The sequence of events felt that natural.

“Someone who was wandering outside, you say.”

Tenus lightly tapped his index finger on the table and whispered.

“Mark.”

In response to a voice that even Sellakia, sitting close to him, couldn’t hear, someone suddenly appeared from the far end of the banquet hall, where the light didn’t reach.

“Huh, gasp.”

“Ah!”

Surprised gasps erupted from among the attendants who had been silent.

Sellakia also looked at the unfamiliar man’s face with wide eyes. Only Aldrich seemed to recognize him, muttering under his breath.

“Why is Mark Pinter here….”

Mark, dressed in a perfect knight’s attire with a sword at his waist, stepped beside Tenus with unembellished steps. Tenus signaled him with his eyes and asked Aldrich.

“Do you know him?”

“Of course. I can’t not know the loyal vassal family of the Seidon Dukedom.”

“As you said, he’s certainly not an outsider wandering around.”

Aldrich made a face of embarrassment but couldn’t refute. Tenus, without taking his eyes off Aldrich, commanded Mark.

“Report on yesterday.”

“It was the same as usual yesterday. In the morning, she didn’t leave the bedroom, and in the afternoon, she spent about three hours reading in the study before returning to the bedroom without stepping out again. No one came in or out.”

“…Not a single step?”

As Tenus asked again, Sellakia’s face flushed bright red. She felt ashamed as her mundane daily routine was exposed to everyone, even though she hadn’t done anything embarrassing.

“Yes. She took her meals in her room and didn’t go out for a night walk.”

Sellakia, forgetting even her predicament, glared at Tenus with a burning face.

Isn’t Roberta enough, and now you have another person watching? Without even telling me?

Suddenly, Sellakia remembered that there were moments when Roberta occasionally looked behind her in the garden. She had thought it was a meaningless gaze thrown out of boredom, but perhaps the knight with keen senses had already known something.

“Unless Sellakia used the balcony leading to the cliff to go outside, the maid’s words would be false.”

Tenus nodded towards Aldrich’s flushed face.

“Do you still doubt Sellakia’s innocence?”

“But there’s clear evidence… How do you explain that child having Sellakia’s jewel?”

Whether it was persistence or foolishness, Aldrich clung to the brooch as if it were his last bastion.

“How could such a trivial thing be considered evidence?”

Tenus chuckled, mercilessly crushing Aldrich’s futile hope.

“It seems the discipline in the Duke’s household has slackened considerably. A maid stealing her master’s belongings and then trying to use them against her.”

Tenus leaned back in his chair, lazily swirling a wine glass with one hand. His actions seemed more bored than relaxed.

Sellakia instinctively felt it was her time to step forward. As much as it pained her, she had to set aside her grievances against Tenus for now.

“Oh. That explains it.”

Aldrich’s eyes, full of turmoil, spun half a turn towards Sellakia. Sellakia continued her act, letting out a long sigh tinged with feigned regret.

“I noticed a few jewels I had carefully stored were missing. I was very disappointed since the Duke had selected them for me, but I intended to overlook it with a generous heart…”

Sellakia’s gaze, now cold, fell upon Sophie, who was kneeling on the floor.

“So this is how you repay my leniency.”

“No? I didn’t steal it! This was definitely sent by Madam with a letter…”

“Then show me that letter. We can catch the real culprit by verifying the handwriting.”

The situation shifted dramatically with Sophie’s flustered demeanor and Sellakia’s confident stance. The attendants’ shocked gazes turned from Sellakia to Sophie.

Sophie, aware of this, began trembling even more violently.

“If I give you the letter…”

“Then your innocence will also be proven. I won’t hold your loyal confession against you…”

Before Sellakia could finish her sentence, Aldrich suddenly stood up and, before anyone could stop him, slapped Sophie across the face. Not satisfied with just one strike, he slapped her other cheek. With a harsh sound, Sophie’s body fell to the floor.

“What are you doing!”

Sellakia hurriedly rushed to stand in front of Sophie, blocking Aldrich, who was raging.

“If she’s innocent, don’t stop me! She tried to frame you and even attempted to harm Tenus. It’s not too much to execute her on the spot!”

At first glance, his anger seemed justified. However, to Sellakia, it appeared as nothing more than a pitiful attempt to sever ties. Aldrich had decided to discard Sophie.

Silent, thick tears fell from Sophie’s eyes. Her empty face, devoid of fear, was that of someone who had accepted her fate. Since she wasn’t seeking help from Aldrich, it seemed she was unaware of the full extent of the situation.

If she were dragged to the underground prison, she would likely be found dead before the night was over. The letter she supposedly received would vanish without a trace.

…Should I save her?

The question arose in her mind.

Sellakia had no reason to defend Sophie. Now that she had cleared herself of the accusation, she could leave without issue. In her heart, she wanted to mock Aldrich and return leisurely to her chamber.

This was not a scheme Sophie had orchestrated herself, but the responsibility for choosing to cooperate lay with her.

“I will execute her myself. Take her to the underground prison!”

But is this truly Sophie’s choice?

Sellakia looked at Aldrich, who was screaming with veins bulging in his neck, with cold eyes.

There are choices in the world that cannot be helped. Sellakia understood that helplessness better than anyone. Just as Sellakia was cast in the role of ‘Duchess,’ Sophie was given the role of ‘exploited maid.’ It was something that happened regardless of right or wrong.

Even if it wasn’t Sophie, anyone in the mansion could have been placed in that role. How many could receive a letter appearing to be from the Duchess and precious jewels and pretend not to know?

“What are you doing? Hurry up!”

At Aldrich’s roar, a few knights standing by the door approached and roughly grabbed Sophie. Tenus merely observed, showing no intention of intervening to save her.

Once dragged to the underground prison, it would be too late. If she tried to smuggle Sophie out then, it might arouse Aldrich’s suspicion, so the opportunity was now.

“If it’s an immediate execution, I’ll do it.”

Before she could fully process her thoughts, Sellakia’s mouth opened.