Chapter 54
Chapter 54
Translation: godsn
"How ridiculous."
"What is?"
"That out of all those people at the banquet, not a single one truly intended to protect that little girl."
The Princess didn't seem to expect anything either.
Despite looking as fragile as a fledgling bird perched on a hand—one that could be crushed with the slightest pressure—she alone stood against the massive brute charging at her like a wild boar.
As if she knew only she could save herself.
The dry, unexpectant gaze that readjusted the folding fan left a mark on my mind like a hangnail on a fingertip—was it because I saw my childhood self in her again?
Gallo snorted. Far from pity, he shuddered as if frightened.
"What? So now you feel sorry for the Princess? Pfft, you do know she orchestrated that whole mess today, right?"
Right. The bizarre behavior of Minister Etienne at today's banquet was no accident.
Neither was the involvement of Claudio's children.
"Now I get who that impotence-inducing poison was meant for. It was all the Princess's doing!"
"Doesn't that make her all the more pitiable?"
Despite having so little in hand, she squeezed out every last ounce of strength to painstakingly lay each move—even a stone-hearted man like me found it pitiful.
"Ha... Boss, I think we have vastly different thresholds for pity. I'd understand if you said you fell for her because she's pretty, at least."
Gallo shook his head vigorously, his expression screaming disbelief.
"Anyway, next time, try to hold back the pity, yeah? The Princess wasn't buckling even when she was alone. You butting in just got us—Facade included—called a doghouse by that stray mutt."
"......"
Should I kill him?
My fingers twitched, betraying my contemplation.
"My lord, the Book of the Sage—it seems Regent Claudio received it as an inheritance when he left the palace."
Just then, Zeta returned with a timely report.
"I tried to dig further, but the knights suddenly returned, so..."
They had returned earlier than expected, cutting the search short.
"Ah. The banquet ended sooner than planned."
"What happened?"
"Well, y'see. The most noble man of our Empire got treated like a clueless stray do—GYAH!"
Gallo leapt back with a yelp.
"Sure, I've got a loose tongue, but this is too much, Boss! You'd really kill your sworn brother like this?!"
A silver dagger was embedded where Gallo had been standing moments ago.
Right where his mouth would've been.
The next day, rain poured relentlessly.
"Did you hear? About what happened at the royal banquet yesterday?"
"Count Etienne? Of course! I saw it with my own eyes!"
Despite the gloomy weather, the salon buzzed with energy as fervent as the blazing sun.
"Not only did he trample over Duke Claudio's children, but he even harassed the young lord. Said he wanted him to serve him at night because of his pretty face."
"The young lord? So the rumors were true? The Minister is really... you know?"
Not only was Etienne's hidden proclivity laid bare, but in his drunken state, he even molested young nobles.
And of all people, the victims just happened to be the Regent's only son and daughter. How could this happen?
"Hmph, the Duke himself sent out orders to keep last night's events hushed. How dare you all gossip so lightly here?"
The Regent had frantically tried to silence the rumors.
But it was too late.
"Pfft. Go out to the streets right now. Everyone's talking about it. No matter how great the Regent is, how's he gonna track down who started it?"
Since the banquet was held under Medeia's name, they had invited twice as many people as usual.
No matter how hard he tried, there was no way to seal the eyes and mouths of so many.
The Minister's scandal spread across the capital in less than a day.
"Hey, did you hear? About the banquet—"
"Oh my, oh my! Of course I did!"
The moment someone cautiously brought it up, another eagerly jumped in.
"They say even when he was dead drunk, he was so heavy it took ten knights to drag him off."
"My god, Claudio's children must've had quite the ordeal."
"Exactly. They must have spent a fortune from the ducal coffers to throw that extravagant banquet yesterday, only for their supposed ally, the Minister, to cause such a disgraceful scene and ruin the entire event..."
Wherever one went, conversations about the Claudio siblings flowed naturally.
"Well, the ducal family will be fine, won't they? Did you see the dress the Duke's daughter wore yesterday? With all those jewels dripping from her chest, she was so decked out I couldn't even tell who the real princess was."
And as the discussions deepened, hidden truths inevitably surfaced.
A noblewoman lowered her fan and whispered conspiratorially.
"Honestly, isn't it inappropriate? Even Her Highness the Princess restrains herself from extravagance and indulgence, yet she parades around dressed like a peacock..."
"And that dress was originally made for Her Highness the Princess, wasn't it? She just used her influence to snatch it away."
"Well, if her father hosted the banquet, the daughter must be cut from the same cloth. Does the Regent even care about anyone's opinion in this kingdom anymore?"
People pitied the Claudio siblings for the harm the Minister had caused them—yet they also took secret delight in their humiliation.
"Did you hear the Duke's daughter screeching while she was pinned down? Goodness, I thought a wyvern had returned. The way she shrieked at the people trying to help her..."
"And the young Duke? I saw through him long ago. While boys his age are fighting for the kingdom on the battlefield, he just struts around, puffing his shoulders because he's a 'Duke.' No wonder those grotesque creatures flock to him—look, the Minister didn't even approach real men like me."
At a tea party, one particularly brazen young lady even sneered openly.
"Oh dear, is the Duke's daughter feeling better? If only she'd worn a lighter dress, she might've escaped faster."
And so, the scorn and derision that had once been directed at Medeia in her past life now fell upon the Claudio siblings instead.
They had long basked in the admiration of high society, using Medeia as their scapegoat.
Naturally, those who had been waiting for their downfall were legion.
"Why has it come to this?!"
The Regent was beside himself with fury.
His children were the victims here—so why were they being dragged through the mud as well?
"Your Excellency, it would be best to refrain from going out for now and assess the situation."
Fearing they would only fuel the rumors further, the Duke's household barred their gates and refused all visitors.
"AAAAARGH!"
Virna screamed, pounding her fists into the pillows.
"Huff... huuuuff..."
Her cheeks burned crimson. Her nostrils flared as she seethed, her eyes wild with rage.
It wasn't hard for Virna to guess that the Minister must have ingested something foul.
The real question was—why him?
'Why did that piglet drink the wine meant for Medeia?!'
Did his gluttony drive him to snatch the Princess's drink and gulp it down?!
And then that mad Minister had charged at her like a raging bull, dragging her down with him.
Everyone had seen it—the ridiculous spectacle of her tangled with the Minister, slipping and sliding across the banquet floor.
Her dress, utterly ruined, soaked in sticky champagne and smeared with cake.
"I'll kill her!"
She was going to lose her mind.
"Virna! Don't worry. Mother is here. I'll take care of everything."
Catherine embraced her daughter, who had buried herself under the blankets, and soothed her.
She sighed, thinking that if only Virna had quietly changed her clothes as she'd told her to—but seeing her daughter's tear-streaked face, her heart ached unbearably.
"How?! Everyone saw me—hic—in that wretched state! What about my marriage?! No one will propose to me now!"
Virna wailed, her voice breaking.
"It's all Medeia's fault. That bitch ruined everything."
Catherine gritted her teeth.
She, too, was a Claudio to the bone—selfish through and through.
'If only Medeia had just worn that dress obediently...'
Her daughter had suffered this humiliation in Medeia's place. And yet, Medeia hadn't even apologized—hadn't so much as asked after Virna's well-being.
After using her daughter to polish her own pristine reputation as the noble Princess?
A chilling fury settled over Catherine's beautiful face.