“Ugh!”

Ines groaned as a dull pain throbbed on her forehead. The unexpected impact caused her to sway momentarily. However, she quickly regained her balance and managed to avoid falling.

“Your Majesty, the Queen!”

The director of the charity house exclaimed in shock. Immediately, the attention that had been focused on Raella shifted to Ines. Raella, who had been distributing gifts to the children, was so startled by the sudden incident that she covered her mouth with both hands. The guards, realizing the situation too late, turned pale.

They swiftly moved to shield Ines, blocking her from any further danger, and restrained the child who was about to throw another stone.

“Are you, are you alright?”

One of the guards, who had been distracted by Raella, urgently checked on Ines’s condition. Her forehead, struck directly by the stone, was bleeding. Additionally, the mud from the stone had smeared across one side of Ines’s face, mingling with the red blood.

Her dress was in a similar state. The sky-blue dress she wore was becoming stained with the blood and mud dripping from her face.

The situation was more serious than expected. The knight realized this, swallowing hard.

“Please, let’s get inside and treat your wound.”

The director approached Ines, offering a handkerchief as he whispered. Ines accepted the handkerchief and pressed it against her forehead while surveying her surroundings.

The murmurs of the townspeople watching the scene from outside the charity house grew louder. Even the children who had been receiving gifts from Raella began to feel frightened by the suddenly serious atmosphere.

“…Alright. Let’s go inside first.”

Everything had happened so quickly. She never expected to be hit by a stone in a place where she came to volunteer.

‘If what the child had held wasn’t a stone…’

If it had been a sharp knife instead of a stone, what would have happened to her? As the thought crossed her mind, she began to tremble slightly.

Supported by the director, Ines moved with an awkward gait. She turned her head to see the face of the child who had thrown the stone at her. The unknown child was pinned to the ground by the knight and restrained.

Yet even in that situation, the child’s eyes were filled with unfathomable anger and hatred directed at her.

‘Why on earth.’

Why did that child harbor such resentment towards her? The unanswered question echoed in her mind as she entered the infirmary under the director’s guidance.

The director sat Ines on a bed and quickly began administering first aid.

He gently wiped Ines’s face with a warm towel. Only then did the torn skin from the stone become visible.

“It’s a relief. The wound isn’t too deep.”

The director cleaned the dirt from the wound with gauze soaked in antiseptic. Ines flinched whenever the gauze touched her injury.

“It doesn’t seem like it will scar. We just need to stop the bleeding.”

The director sighed in relief as he examined Ines’s wound. It was understandable, given that such an unfortunate incident had occurred to the queen who came to volunteer at his charity house.

Just as the director was finishing Ines’s treatment, she, who had been sitting silently, asked.

“Is the child who threw the stone at me staying here?”

The director swallowed hard at Ines’s question. The moment he had been dreading had arrived. He couldn’t meet Ines’s eyes and replied in a low voice.

“…Yes. The child is staying at our charity house.”

“Then do you know why that child did such a thing to me?”

Despite her bad reputation, she didn’t believe the child would throw a stone at her without a reason.

“Well, it’s just that…”

The director hesitated, seeming uncomfortable, and watched Ines’s reaction. He seemed to know the reason. The charity house was typically a place for children who had lost their parents. There were certainly children who had come here because of the recent rebellion.

Ines guessed that the child might have lost their parents in the rebellion. However, the story that came from the director’s mouth was not what she had expected.

“The child’s name is Colin. He first came here a year ago.”

“A year ago?”

This meant the child hadn’t come to the charity house because of the rebellion.

“Yes. Do you happen to remember the diamond necklace incident from a year ago?”

At the mention of an unexpected term, Ines’s body stiffened.

“…The diamond necklace incident?”

Ines couldn’t possibly have been unaware of that incident. It was the event that brought her, once praised as the kingdom’s flower, crashing down in an instant.

“Yes. Colin’s father was the head of the Maxim Trading Company, the victim in that necklace incident.”

As soon as the director finished speaking, everyone around turned to look at Ines, gauging her reaction.

“Maxim Trading Company…” Ines murmured in a subdued voice. The diamond necklace incident.

It had been a fraud case that shook the kingdom a year before the rebellion. The one accused of being the perpetrator was none other than Ines, the king’s fiancée and the eldest daughter of the Claudia family.

The story unfolded like this: At the time, the head of the Maxim Trading Company sought a connection to secure trading rights with the Brillant Kingdom.

He found that connection in the former queen, Margarita. However, it was nearly impossible for an ordinary merchant to meet her. Then, as if by miracle, a woman appeared before him.

Introducing herself as Ines’s maid, she promised to connect him with the former queen, provided he prepared a gift that would please Ines.

The mysterious woman demanded a very expensive gift: a lavish necklace made with twelve diamonds. Believing it to be a reasonable price for securing trading rights with Brillant, the head of the trading company commissioned a jeweler to craft the necklace with the finest diamonds.

After handing the necklace to the maid, he eagerly awaited the day he would meet the former queen, but the woman disappeared with the necklace.

Realizing too late that he had been deceived, the head of the trading company filed a lawsuit, and the fraud case spread throughout the kingdom. However, Ines knew nothing about the necklace or the maid.

She claimed innocence, but when the missing necklace was found in her room, it was deemed a fact. Thanks to the still-powerful Claudia family’s influence, the matter was eventually swept under the rug, but it was said that the Maxim Trading Company went bankrupt and the head of the company committed suicide.

As a result, Ines’s reputation plummeted.

‘A spoiled noblewoman who relies on her family’s backing and indulges in luxury.’

‘A villainess who swindled the poor citizens.’

Without a chance to explain, Ines became the target of public ridicule and criticism.

‘But I…’

She genuinely felt wronged. It wasn’t something she had done. Yet no one believed her. As she briefly recalled the past, Ines clenched her fists.

“After the head of the Maxim Trading Company committed suicide, his sick wife soon passed away. Afterward, Colin came to the charity house with his younger sibling.”

The director, having finished the heavy tale, stood up and then knelt before Ines.

“So I beg you, Your Majesty.”

The director, his hair white with age, bowed deeply enough to show the top of his head.

“Please forgive Colin.”

“……”

Ines silently watched the director, who was begging her.

She was clearly the victim of today’s incident. Yet everyone here was naturally demanding her forgiveness.

“I…”

Just as Ines hesitated and was about to speak, Raella, who had somehow entered and stood by the door, approached.

“What a truly unfortunate story. That child, Colin.”

With a sympathetic voice, she clasped her hands and looked at Ines.

“Isn’t it so pitiful, Your Majesty? Perhaps you could forgive him just this once?”

The director of the charity house, Raella, and even the guards who were supposed to protect her—all awaited Ines’s forgiveness. Their eyes seemed to say, “Isn’t it your fault that the child became so unfortunate?”

She felt suffocated.