The Reluctant Confession
Jacob was nestled among the servants. When Jayana noticed, she called out sharply.
She had realized that her silent disappearance had caused this chaos.
A whirlwind of anxiety, guilt, and embarrassment crashed over her.
Jayana sprang up from her seat, determined to sort things out quickly.
“Hey, wait—!”
Suddenly moving like that would make her dizzy…
“Ah…”
It was already too late.
Idel, who had tried to stop her belatedly, lowered his hand awkwardly as he saw Jayana sway.
Unlike Idel, who stood alone in embarrassment, the servants who witnessed Jayana stumbling grew pale.
“Lady Jayana!”
“Call the doctor immediately!”
“No, we don’t need to go that far…”
“Miss, are you all right? What happened to you? You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
The servants’ fussing cast a shadow of guilt over Jayana’s expression.
She felt responsible for turning the situation so dire with her reckless behavior.
As she opened her lips to calm everyone, a sharp voice pierced her ear.
It was Sylvie’s cold tone, the same one she had used while examining her body earlier.
“Is that the way, Idel-nim?”
“What?”
“You raised your hand at Lady Jayana?”
Even the shock of hearing Sylvie’s piercing voice couldn’t prepare Jayana. Her eyes widened in disbelief. Idel had raised his hand?
“Wait, Sylvie, that’s not it. It’s not like that…”
“Not like what? I saw Lady Jayana covered in dirt and dust lying on the floor with my own two eyes. Quite a few people saw Idel-nim lifting his hand toward the young lady.”
“That was only because Idel was trying to tidy up his own hair and tripped!”
“…Speak up, Idel-nim. Is that true?”
As Jayana slowly scanned her surroundings, panic filled her eyes.
The other servants nodded in agreement with Sylvie’s words.
This situation was nothing like what she had expected.
‘I thought I would be scolded for sneaking away… why…’
Why were the arrows of blame suddenly flying at Idel?
The servants who had once treated her so warmly now felt completely unfamiliar.
“If Idel-nim won’t give a clear answer, I have no choice but to tell the Duke exactly what I saw. That he pushed Lady Jayana aside and raised his hand.”
“Sylvie! It’s not like that!”
Realizing her words weren’t getting through, Jayana stamped her foot in frustration and glared at Idel.
Her eyes begged him to say “no” quickly.
In the suffocating gaze, Idel kept his mouth tightly shut. After a moment, he blinked slowly and met her eyes.
The instant he saw the blue in his own eyes flickering with panic, Idel spoke.
“Yeah. That’s what I did.”
“What? Idel! Why would you say that…?”
Why was he lying like this?
As Jayana stared at him in shock, Idel’s lips curved slightly.
Even if they weren’t the core servants of the Duchy, six people.
‘I worried they’d exaggerate if Jayana helped, but what is this? It’s a jackpot!’
A chance had rolled into his lap that Melissa would approve of! This situation right now? It was perfect.
“You admit to pushing Lady Jayana and bullying her just now?”
“Why? Go tell her yourself.”
The childish, spiteful tone made the surrounding atmosphere freeze.
Idel enjoyed the sharp glares from the servants and lifted his chin a little higher.
He even stuck out his tongue as if to say, “What are you going to do about it?”
“You’re already getting scolded and you’re not even scared at all?”
“Haa… Idel-nim.”
“Originally, she’s the one who… got close to me…”
Just as Idel was about to come up with another nasty excuse, a light-brown head popped up from the side and enveloped her.
With fierce eyes, she glanced at Idel once before beginning to defend him in a desperate voice.
“That’s not it! I don’t know why Idel is saying it like that, but… it wasn’t that he was trying to push me away. He tripped because he was brushing my hair. It’s true!”
“…”
After cursing at Jayana, Idel, like a thief trying to escape with a throbbing foot, closed his eyes tightly inside.
It was true—grateful and kind, but not something he wanted.
“So, Idel is shorter than me, right? That’s why, uh, I dropped my notebook, and that notebook…”
“…”
“Ah, really, what was that?”
Before Jayana could unravel the misunderstanding with her words, Idel cut her off.
‘I was trying to clear the servants’ misunderstandings, but it couldn’t be helped.’
Idel took a step away from Jayana as if he couldn’t stand being near her and ran a hand through his hair.
Then, in a chilly voice, he slapped her.
“I told you not to get close to me, you dirty thing.”
“Huh? Well, that’s true, but… it’s a bit different, though…!”
“It’s not different at all, you fool.”
“No! When I was pulling out the branch, your voice was quite different…”
“Wait a moment, Lady Jayana. So, Idel-nim insulted Lady Jayana, is that what you’re saying?”
Jayana’s small defense was drowned out by the stewardess’s cold words.
More precisely, it was close to not believing her at all.
To the servants, Idel was the ugly duckling and Jayana the gentle lamb.
From Idel’s tone, actions, and everyday behavior, the servants wearing all kinds of colored glasses saw no need to reinterpret what they had witnessed.
‘But this is actually a very desirable situation.’
As the situation unfolded plausibly, Idel sighed in relief while Jayana’s face crumpled moment by moment.
The scene before her felt unbearably suffocating, as if talking to a wall.
Jayana’s eyes brimmed with tears as she tried to hold back, but eventually a few plump drops fell.
The poor child’s wail echoed loudly through the garden.
“No…! It’s all a lie! Idel didn’t do that… hueng!”
“Lady Jayana.”
“Hic, hu! I don’t want to… don’t touch me…!”
The startled servants rushed over to comfort her, but it was useless.
Jayana, who had begun wailing loudly, eventually pushed away the hands reaching for her.
Her heaving chest and reddened eyes were pitiful. Idel had nearly reached out without realizing it before stopping himself.
In fact, he had expected Jayana to protect him to some extent.
It wasn’t because of the novel, but because of the impression he had received at their first meeting.
He had deliberately avoided the chance he didn’t want to miss…
Idel bit the inside of his cheek at Jayana’s greater kindness than he had imagined.
‘No, why is she crying so pathetically, as if she’s been framed…?’
…I’m sorry.
Just as he thought he needed to do something to stop her tears, Jayana, who had been sobbing for a long time, suddenly opened her mouth with a hiccup.
“And the word ‘dirty’… is, I, I’m talking about the secret path I took with Jacob…”
It was a line she absolutely should not have said.
“Hey!”
“Mmm, mmmph!”
Idel ran over in an instant, covered her mouth, and glared at her with wide eyes.
‘My heart just dropped! If she brought up that secret path from there, how would I—!’
It seemed the Duchy people would build a diamond wall for her safety.
If the last secret path was sealed by that remark just now…
‘Then not only I, but all of us would be ruined.’
Without finding the black mage, he would be controlled by Melissa until the end, and the Duke would die.
Of course, if the angelic Duchess marked her and returned, the situation would change, but Jayana would suffer many hardships she didn’t need to.
Whatever the intention Idel swallowed, the visible behavior of Idel horrified the servants.
The stewardess, whose expression hardened at Idel’s impulsive action, raised her voice and issued orders.
“Lady Jayana! Quickly separate Idel-nim from her— no, don’t separate, what are you doing?!”
“Ah, ah, yes!”
Idel sent a fierce gaze at Jayana until the servants rushed to separate him from her.
He even made a motion as if locking his mouth silently, fearing she hadn’t understood. It was clearly a warning not to say anything more.
That was the moment.