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Ezkhiel lowered his head slightly, looking dispirited.
"I’m a bit disappointed that I only got to hear Letty sing. Right after Lady Eskis collapsed, I got really busy with various things because of His Highness's orders."
"Did His Highness watch the whole performance?"
"Yes. When I went to report to him, he was talking with Lenard."
"With my brother?"
Letticia was taken aback by the unexpected pairing. Unlike his younger siblings, Matthias had never met the Sharon siblings as children, and he hadn’t had any connection with Lenard at the academy either.
"Did he speak to him because he was with Ez?"
"I'm not sure. Originally, we and the Averil duchy members were having a conversation when His Highness came over."
"The Averil duchy?"
Letticia perked up, curious.
"Did the Averil family members talk to Ez?"
"No, it was the young lady who approached Lenard to say hello. Since she hasn’t debuted in society yet, I think she was making the rounds to greet acquaintances."
"Then of course her brothers would have followed, and His Highness showed up too? Did he speak with Lady Averil as well?"
"Yes. They were talking about the popularity of plays lately..."
Ezkhiel trailed off, looking uncertain. From his expression, Letticia could guess the topic of conversation.
"Don’t tell me they talked about The Secret of the Clocktower?"
"How did you know? Lenard mentioned it."
"...That and The Lovers of Aquarius are the most popular plays lately."
She couldn’t very well say she’d copied word-for-word what Ezkhiel had written in his report.
Just as she had said to Matthias earlier, Letticia truly hoped this period where Ezkhiel worked proudly as Matthias’s chief aide would continue.
"But we can rest for an hour now, right? His Highness actually allows break time?"
"Ah, lately he’s been going for walks. So everyone takes a break during that time."
True rest only happens when the boss isn’t around. In that sense, it was a good thing. But if the purpose of those walks was to meet Ariette...
‘No, let’s trust him for now. He might have that obsessive male lead tendency, but… for now, he seems to truly care about Ez. He even told me everything about Ez’s parents. I should trust him, for Ez’s sake.’
Determined to believe in Matthias—for Ezkhiel’s sake if nothing else—Letticia gave Ezkhiel a warm hug when they reached the carriage.
"Come over to my house after work. You didn’t get to hear the whole performance yesterday, so I want to sing a few more songs for you, Ez."
"Ah… okay. I’ll definitely come."
"Hehe, then I’ll stop by Faymont and get your favorite desserts. Oh, and do you want dinner too? I’ll have them prepare something you like."
"...As long as it’s not steak, I’m fine."
Ezkhiel, blushing from the affectionate gesture, replied in a tiny voice.
If they weren’t outside, Letticia would’ve kissed him on the cheek. But since they were at his workplace, she settled for waving goodbye and climbing into the carriage.
***
Back home, Letticia quickly calmed her hunger with some madeleines and milk she’d bought in Faymont.
Fortunately, the chef had anticipated her return and prepared her favorite regional dishes from the southeastern province—lobster thermidor and onion soup—since she hadn’t eaten properly earlier.
"Letty, why are you so late? Did the investigation take that long?"
Kenneth, who had apparently skipped his own meal while waiting, joined her at the table. Across from him, Camilla urged her daughter to answer as she enjoyed a western-style dessert made with cream, white wine, and lemon.
“No, right after the investigation, I was summoned by His Highness the Crown Prince. I hadn’t even finished breakfast, and then lunch got delayed too—I was starving. But since it was His Highness who called, I couldn’t refuse. It was driving me crazy.”
At the mention of the Crown Prince, Kenneth inhaled sharply. Camilla, equally alarmed, asked quickly.
“The Crown Prince summoned you? What did he say? No, wait—tell us about the investigation first. Did you catch the names of the knights who escorted you?”
“One of them was called Sir Kurt. I don’t know the others.”
When Letticia mentioned the name she had heard, Camilla’s expression turned grim. It was a sign that, just as had been foretold to the bearded knight, Sharon Jewelry's retaliation was about to begin.
“And during the questioning, they asked things like whether I disliked Lady Eskis or noblewomen from old aristocratic families. It felt like they were trying to frame me as the culprit. It was like a trap, really.”
Letticia stabbed a chunk of cheese-covered lobster with her fork as she continued detailing everything that had happened.
She answered Camilla and Kenneth’s questions in between bites, and before she knew it, both the soup bowl and the plate of lobster were empty. Her mood brightened as she filled up, and her tone softened a little.
“So Count Wallace might start spreading rumors that I’m the culprit. His Highness told me that if such rumors begin, I should trace their source to confirm whether they’re coming from Wallace. Also, the young Lady Wallace said Lady Eskis was just suffering from a cold, but if they keep refusing visitors, I’m supposed to spread rumors about how suspicious it is that no one is allowed to see her.”
“…”
Camilla sighed deeply, looking like she had a headache.
“His Highness gave you direct instructions…? Well, considering he doesn’t yet have much influence in high society, trying to win you over isn’t entirely out of the ordinary. But does he really mean to ignore the fact that this contradicts Sharon Jewelry’s stance?”
“I’m not sure. But I did tell him I’d speak to you and Father first. This isn’t something I can decide on my own.”
“But it also needs a quick decision. A high noblewoman from the western region collapsed at a capital noble’s residence—there’s no way the western nobility will stay quiet.”
Kenneth put down his fork, seemingly having lost his appetite, and only drank water.
“If this becomes a political issue, the old noble class could use it as a pretext to strike at the new nobility. Despite the tension between capital and western nobles, the emerging noble class is a bigger threat to the old guard. If they temporarily set aside regional differences and make you their common enemy…”
“Since society is inevitably influenced by politics, there’s a real chance it could go that way.”
Camilla agreed, and Kenneth’s face turned pale.
“Then isn’t this beyond something we can handle, Aunt? Even if we’re not active in society, there are powerful families in politics. Even if Count Wallace keeps quiet, if those families band together and raise suspicions, Letticia could go from a witness to the prime suspect in an instant! This is way worse than what happened back at the academy!”
The situation at the academy escalated due to the Duke family's excessive emotional attachment to Ariette; however, this time, it is a political issue—a conflict between the old and new nobles.
The former had been frustrating due to its emotional irrationality, like talking to a wall. But this was more sinister: even knowing it was a false accusation, they were pushing ahead with it anyway.
"Luckily, we were able to get in touch with Sir Achilles Averil today, so Letty didn’t get dragged away. But if the commander of the knights is still pulling strings from behind the scenes, there’s no guarantee something like this won’t happen again. And if a High Judge who values politics over justice is assigned to the case, they could actually frame Letty as the real culprit."
“But surely His Highness the Crown Prince wouldn’t let it go that far, right? I mean, he gave me a personal order, and it didn’t seem like he wanted the old noble faction to gain anything from this incident.”
“That’s our stroke of luck. It means the Wallace family doesn’t have absolute power.”
Camilla wiped her mouth with a napkin and spoke coldly.
“Since His Highness appointed the second son of the Averil duchy to lead the investigation, Count Wallace can only make covert orders to the knights. He can’t do anything outright. So most likely, he’ll focus on swaying public opinion instead.”
“Then will it be the Countess who takes action? Or the young lady?”
“In situations like this, it’s usually the wife. Even if rumors circulate among the debutantes, the worst that happens is a tarnished marriage prospect. That’s not enough.”
No matter how much attention debutantes receive, true power lies with their mothers and the noblewomen. So to spread rumors effectively, they would target the older generation, not the youth.
“Then would it be better if you responded instead of me, Mother?”
“That would be best. In the meantime, just keep sending letters saying you’d like to visit Lady Eskis to wish her well, as His Highness instructed. Tell Lady Hailey and Lady Maynard to do the same.”
“But honestly... do you think Lady Eskis is really sick? It’s just... because it was Lady Wallace who said it, I find it hard to believe.”
Given Audrey's hostility, and what they knew about Seraphina’s personality so far, it seemed strange that someone like her—who appeared so upright, principled, even naive—would refuse to speak as a supposed victim and instead stay home resting.
On top of that, knowing her sincere and morally rigid nature, it didn’t seem likely that Seraphina would allow others to use her incident as a tool to attack Letticia.
“As things stand, there’s no way to verify. Lady Eskis is staying at the Wallace residence, after all.”
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