CH 189

“In the first place, it is nothing I suggested. If Lady Indra says that she wishes to go through with it, I am not one to stop her,” Damsel Scarlet said with a shrug after casting a fleeting glance in my direction. “The accusations against me seem to have been resolved, and with this it has become clear for all time that they have been false charges. Former Noble Lady Indra Springcoat kindly proved my innocence. Above all, Lady Indra herself is a live witness as she became a commoner due to false accusations. I hope you keep all that took place here in mind, Your Highness, Lord Genius. Also, Sir Direck?”

At this point, Damsel Scarlet exposed her anger for the first time, glaring at the muscled buffoon, “…Do you not think you went a bit above your own station in regards to me, Sir Direck? Despite being no more than the son of some lowly Knight Leader, you dared to try pinning me, Scarlet Chaudgal who has her name entered in the register of a ducal family, down with brute force, did you not? …It is well within my right to call this an improper behavior if you are someone with the heart of a knight, and even more so, when it comes to conduct towards a woman. Have you resolved yourself for the consequences?”

Being told all that, the muscled buffoon glared back at her.

“――Hoh? This guy’s spirit has broken yet, huh?” I grinned broadly. “It’s the face of a guy not intent on giving up on his little plots. Hihihihi, that’s how it gotta be!”

“Lady Indra, could you please not rejoice over this? I would hate it to be kept in constant suspense.”

Damsel Scarlet looked at me with a rather unwilling face, but isn’t it boring like that?

I cracked a smile at the muscled buffoon and said, “You listened to everything up until now, right? You created a fake witness in order to blame Damsel Scarlet with wrong accusations. But, you didn’t expect that one of the guys, who accused her, would become a proof for her alibi, did you? In other words, she’s innocent and you’re actually the criminal here. ――Now then, Mr. Criminal, how are you going to defend yourself?”

The muscled buffoon ground his teeth, “……It’s all lies.”

Haah?

“All of it is a lie! It’s a fact that Scarlet Chaudgal loathes Rose, and she’s the one who harrassed Rose in various ways! Your so-called proof is made-up nonsense!”

“In other words, you want to say that Lord Genius lied in order to cover for me?” Damsel Scarlet asked the shouting buffoon with a frosty tone.

Mr. Underling also stared at the buffoon with a appalled look.

“No, I certainly remember. …Ah, I see, that’s why the time got stuck in my head… I didn’t want to remember the conversation since it wasn’t an overly pleasant one, but I did look at a clock. That’s why I can precisely recall the time. I can vouch…for her alibi,” he said with an incredibly vexed expression.

I guess he’s the type of person who can’t lie. Then again, that kind of type is still better since they tend to have some backbone.

Still, he’s an underling, and a useless bum remains just that, a useless bum.

＊

The muscled buffoon howled with a mortified expression, “…Then, what about the other days!?”

Damsel Scarlet elegantly retrieved her diary, showing off her grace.

“Why not. I will take you on any time. It is not as if Lord Genius would be my only witness.”

Going by his look, the buffoon apparently grasped that he had no chance of winning this, but even so, he continued his useless resistance.

＊

“…On that day I had a tea party with Lady Indra. Since our attendants were present as well, they can also testify to my alibi, in addition to Lady Indra, if you wish.”

As a result of that, Damsel Scarlet presented alibis for every day he mentioned.

“…Guuh…”

He was at a loss, groaning in frustration.

“It’s no time for you to 『Guuh』 around, is it? What are you trying to act all cool for? Apologize, dipshit.”

I stepped up to the muscled buffoon, kicked his ass, and grabbed his hair once he started to roll around on the ground.

While peering into his face, I bluntly told him with a smile, “In the end, you merely attempted to act violently towards an innocent woman of a rank higher than yours, and tried to gloss it over by creating some false charges. Moreover, you did all that for the dumb reason of 『drawing the interest of the woman you love』.”

The muscled buffoon became bright red.

“You want to charm your crush with how superior you are, and because of that vanity of yours, you tried to set up some false accusations! Is that something the knight order of this country does!? What a wonderful country. If the commoners hear of this, they’ll look up to the heavens full of despair!”

I let go of him, lifted my hand, and lamented exaggeratedly, fully relying on my acting skills.

“In short, it means the knight order of this country will do anything to satisfy its own desire for vanity! I see. Now I know why Instructor Sword is being hailed as 『hero』! If the knight order only consists of trash like you, the knight order will be seen as nothing more than a group of foul cowards by the nobles and citizens, making a hero the only one they can rely on!”

“That’s wrong!” The buffoon roared, but I made him shut up with a scornful laugh.

“You yourself are the perfect proof. Look, you were praised by my sister Primrose, weren’t you? 『He did it for my sake, you know?』, she said! How nice for you. Your beloved Primrose affirmed your disgusting, violent treatment of a frail woman after fabricating some lies about her, and your nasty displays of cowardice!”

As my tone gradually became louder and rougher, the buffoon started to be at a complete loss. And then he looked at Primrose with a face that showed his helplessness.

“Rose…”

Primrose returned his look with condemnation written on her face, “Lord Direck, it’s wrong to lie and act violently, you know? How about you apologize to Lady Scarlet? I’m sure she’ll forgive you!”

Yep, you can count on my sister for such things.

Thanks for your worthless opinion where any ordinary person would doubt whether you’re in any position to say that. Your beloved musclehead is despairing now, you know?

“Of course I shall not accept any apology nor will I forgive it. Please resolve yourself and get ready to pay for the crime of having made a fool out of a ducal daughter, okay?” Damsel Scarlet responded with a smile, despite the veins popping around her temples, once she heard Primrose’s statement.