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“Then is it impossible to summon her as a witness or something like that?”
“According to Sir Averil, it would be possible to summon her as a witness if it goes to trial. But for now, it’s meaningless.”
"Haa... Then I suppose I'll have to keep pushing to visit her while she's recovering."
If Seraphina really is sick, Letticia just has to visit her, show concern, ask how she’s doing, and then casually bring up something like, 'Which orphanage do you think would be best to donate to?'—and then leave.
But if Seraphina is lying about being sick, things get complicated.
Honestly, Letticia still has feelings from their past relationship, so she hopes Seraphina isn’t involved in this scheme—she wants to believe she hasn’t stepped into this mess. Still, sometimes people get used against their will, even without realizing it.
“But Letty, if Lady Eskis is down with something like the flu, how will your operations continue?”
At Kenneth’s question, Letticia paused to think before answering.
“Lady Eskis had arranged to mediate the long-term donations for each orphanage, and Dayna will handle the funds and distribute them accordingly. We had already roughly discussed which orphanage would receive how much.”
“Then is there anyone besides Lady Eskis who can meet with the nobles making the donations?”
“Do you think there is? Even the orphanage inspections were all done by Lady Eskis alone.”
Even Letticia, considered one of the main representatives, only memorized the information Seraphina taught her—she hasn’t seen the orphanage conditions with her own eyes.
So, it would be difficult for her to decide which noble should be connected to which orphanage. And frankly, it’s uncertain whether the noble donors would even welcome Letticia stepping in to explain in Seraphina’s place.
If their purpose for donating isn’t pure charity, but rather to build a connection with Seraphina, then Letticia cannot act as a substitute.
Camilla, who had been listening to their conversation, smiled.
“Then this gives us a reason to pressure the Wallace family into allowing a hospital visit to Lady Eskis. If she’s still claiming to be sick a week from now, we can say, ‘Shouldn’t she be at least a bit better by now?’ It’ll be the perfect excuse.”
“That’s true. And considering how passionately Lady Eskis was working to attract donations for the orphanages, even if she came down with the flu, she should’ve been up and about.”
“I’ll ask about that part when I meet with the Countess of Wallace. Oh, and Letty—what kind of evidence do they have to corner you with?”
“They’ll definitely try to dig into my emotions. Judging by the knights’ questions too, even if they can’t find physical evidence to accuse me, they’ll force a motive out of me.”
If they had just forged physical evidence and presented it, Letticia would’ve struggled to prove it false. But if they're trying to twist her emotions or intentions, she’s not worried.
There are plenty of people in high society who seize on every little word, twist them, and blow them out of proportion. But Letticia is confident she won’t fall into such traps.
Camilla fell into thought for a moment after hearing that.
“In that case, we should focus on the actual facts. Human emotions are hard to prove, but alibis and evidence can be verified.”
“I'm just worried they might turn it around and demand proof that I didn’t do it...”
“Right. They might even ask for proof that no suspicious substance was secretly put into the tea using a magical tool specially commissioned from the Magic Tower.”
Kenneth’s comment was grim, but not far-fetched. Letticia nodded in agreement—it was a real concern.
But Camilla chuckled lightly and replied playfully.
"Then I should say this too: since you're the one who brought it up, you're the one who should prove that my daughter did such a thing. The burden of proof always lies with the one making the claim, doesn’t it?"
"Do you really think saying that will make them back down? They’ve probably come at you with the intention of finding fault with you no matter what."
"No one who’s picked a direct fight with me like that has ever won. So don’t worry about that part."
Coming from Camilla, who had held her position as queen of the social world for over twenty years, her words carried weight.
When Kenneth realized that, the anxious expression on his face eased a little.
"True, with Aunt Camilla around, even if the other side tries to manipulate public opinion, it'll be difficult for them from the start. Even if the Countess of Wallace tries to push things, if Aunt Camilla is determined, the Duchess of Dinever and the Countess of Freke would side with her."
“Oh, the Countess of Wallace doesn’t have ties with those two?”
As far as Letticia knew, the Countess of Wallace was also a central figure in a rather influential faction within high society. Back in her academy days, Audrey had been considered a promising talent among the old nobility—not just because of the honor of coming from a family that had produced a knight commander, but also thanks to her mother's influence.
“They’re not completely unrelated, but she’s nowhere near Aunt Camilla’s level. As far as I know, she’s never managed to outshine Aunt even once—even before she got married.”
“Back then, just the three of us—myself, the late Empress, and Duchess Averil—were enough to dominate attention. There were many debutantes who got overshadowed, including her.”
“…Mother, I’m amazed you managed to come out on top in such fierce competition.”
Realizing again how fiercely competitive Camilla’s generation had been, Letticia couldn’t help but click her tongue in admiration.
As the atmosphere eased considerably, they resumed their meal.
Suddenly, Kenneth seemed to remember something and asked Camilla.
“Ah, Aunt. Have you ever had Invidia tea before? I know you’re not fond of floral teas, but I thought maybe you were once served it—it’s produced in the West, after all.”
“I have. Countess Hartnell, my great-aunt, was very fond of floral teas.”
Countess Hartnell was Camilla’s grandaunt who had passed away a few years ago.
Though she had disapproved of Camilla marrying into a new noble family and never allowed Camilla’s husband into her home, she still doted on her grandniece. Letticia remembered seeing Camilla as a child packing to visit her grandaunt in the West for her birthday.
“It had an apple-like scent. The aftertaste was sweet and tangy—people who liked it, really liked it. It wasn’t my taste, so I drank it just to be polite.”
“Then... is it possible to drink it unknowingly? Considering what Letty said about Lady Eskis’s personality, I can’t imagine her drinking it on purpose to make herself sick.”
“If it’s mixed with a strongly scented tea, like mint, you probably wouldn’t notice. I used to drink it like that behind my grandaunt’s back.”
Letticia giggled at Camilla’s sneaky little confession. Kenneth looked caught between amusement and concern.
“You really didn’t get caught...?”
“She always ignored what I liked and only gave me what she thought was good, so I had to do it somehow. That’s also why I didn’t even glance at floral teas back when they were all the rage in the capital. The only floral tea in our house is the rose tea brought by Letty’s suitors—nothing else.”
At that, Letticia looked up at Camilla and asked.
“Then have you ever placed an order with a floral tea or medicinal herb merchant?”
“Never. I only ever ordered black teas or loose-leaf teas.”
That meant, no matter how much anyone searched the trade records of companies dealing with Invidia tea, neither Letticia’s nor Camilla’s name would show up.
“So then, there’s basically almost no grounds to accuse Letty of being the culprit—why go through with it anyway?”
“From the Wallace family’s perspective, they probably needed someone to take the blame no matter what. Naturally, Lady Wallace herself would be ruled out. Among the remaining five, Letty attracts the most attention—so they chose her.”
“That may be the reason, but I still don’t get how they thought they could actually pull this off. Even with solid physical evidence, it would be hard—and here, they don’t even have persuasive circumstantial evidence. Did they seriously believe this would succeed? Against our Count Sharon’s household?”
Even if the old nobles were attacking Letticia to support the Wallaces for political reasons, the new nobles weren’t fools—they wouldn't just sit by and accept such a blatant ploy.
On top of that, the one in charge of this investigation is Achilles, from the neutral Averil ducal house. Not only is he not one of the old nobles, but he’s also someone the Wallace family has no power over.*
“What could Count Wallace possibly be thinking…?”
“How should we know? What matters is that man is trying to pin this on me—and we need to stop him.”
Letticia downed the juice that had been served at the end of the meal and sprang to her feet.
Now that she was fed and had a grasp on what needed to be done, she couldn’t just sit around.
“First, I’ll check if Dayna’s back home. Oh, and Ez is coming over for dinner tonight, so don’t prepare anything steak-related. I brought dessert from Faymont, so just serve that.”
“You’re seriously going on a date in this situation?”
Kenneth said, dumbfounded.
Letticia was unfazed.
“I haven’t done anything wrong—why shouldn’t I? Besides, acting like nothing’s wrong might be the best way to keep people from getting suspicious.”
“Sigh…”
Kenneth could only shake his head and let out a long breath, apparently out of arguments.
Still, considering she was about to be framed, the fact that she could smile and act composed was—in its own way—oddly reassuring.
🍓; *The Wallace family cannot influence, control, or manipulate him in any way.
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