CH 11

The banquet came to a halt.

Jane hurriedly pulled down her skirt and curled up in a corner of the terrace. She was dressed in the same clothes as the waiters at the banquet hall.

Rachel’s heart went cold.

She had read the original and was confident that she knew everything about Theodore and Jane in various ways.

But Theodore was beyond her imagination.

‘I never would have expected him to use the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet as a secret meeting place.’

She had thought there was nothing more to be shocked about, but she was so embarrassed that her legs became weak. Some unknown noble ladies standing nearby helped Rachel.

“…Theo.”

Theodore, who had been stiffened in shock, started to move at the sound of Rachel’s low whisper. He hurriedly unpacked his clothes and found his wife amongst the crowd of people.

“Ra-Rachel. This isn’t… I mean… It’s… T-This happened because I was drunk…”

He mistook the gift he gave to his mistress as one he gave to his wife, invited his mistress to the house, and even looked at her lovingly in front of his wife, but now he was flustered because he got caught.

Or was he pretending to be flustered because there were so many eyes present?

Rachel had no clue when she had arrived, but Verengela was also in the crowd. She simply stayed put, unable to come forward to scold her son, perhaps because she was ashamed.

“… Hello, Jane. We meet again.”

The nobles started to mumble at the sound of Rachel’s slightly hoarse voice.

Jane, who was shivering in the corner of the terrace, raised her head up.

“C-Countess…”

“You said you’d give me Theo’s favorite perfumed oil as a gift. Back then, I thought you didn’t have proper manners. But now it appears that you just wanted to show off your relationship with Theo.”

“I-I-I’m so sorry…”

“Sorry? Don’t give me that crap.”

Jane began to tear up.

“You show up in front of me and do dirty things with my husband at a banquet hall where countless nobles are gathered. Did you think you wouldn’t get caught? Or did you secretly want to get caught?”

The more Rachel’s words continued, the louder the chatter around her grew.

“Count Elosa is a shameless man.”

“Goodness, I can’t believe he was doing that with another woman while wearing the cufflink, a token of his wife’s love.”

“How obscene. I can’t believe someone like him is a Count. He’s dishonoring the name of nobility.”

“Who is that woman? I’ve never seen her in the palace before.”

“Did you forget that the count prepared the banquet?”

“Oh, so you mean he brought her to the banquet hall for the Crown Prince’s birthday party? He’s got some nerve.”

Verengela’s face turned pale behind her fan.

Sian, who had been standing at a distance the entire time, approached Theodore. In his hand was a food knife that no one had noticed he picked up.

“Count Theodore Elosa.”

Theodore raised his head in surprise at the low voice.

Sian held the knife towards Theodore.

Rachel felt a sense of déjà vu. The current situation seemed to overlap with Graham’s threat to Theodore.

“It’s disrespectful of you to use the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet for personal purposes.”

“Your Highness…!”

“You will have to pay the price of insulting the imperial family. The imperial family and the noble statesmen will carefully consider what kind of punishment you will receive. And…”

The golden eyes of Sian flashed as he quietly spoke. Normally, he kept his harsh energy hidden when he was dealing with people.

He had lowered himself by posing as a guild informant, but he still had the blood of the imperial family. He was once considered more suitable for the throne than his older brother, Siger.

Theodore sank to his knees due to the overpowering energy of Sian. He squirmed before trying to run away.

“Why are you running away?”

Sian knelt on one knee in front of Theodore. Looking into the frightened man’s eyes for a moment, he lifted his knife high and hit the floor between Theodore’s crotch.

Clutch!

“Ackkk!”

Theodore fainted, covering his precious jewels with his hands. A pink cufflink rolled down next to the knife stuck on the floor.

Obviously not interested in the unconscious person, Sian picked up the cufflink and rubbed it off with the sleeve of his shirt.

“I did mention it was something I really wanted,” Sian muttered so she couldn’t hear and left the terrace with a clean gait. He stopped in front of Rachel and reached out to cover her eyes.

“It’s dirty. Don’t look.”

There was no command or pressure in Sian’s whispering voice.

“…Your Highness.”

“Turn around and I will escort you to your carriage.”

She felt like a doll following orders. As if possessed, Rachel turned quietly.

While people were focused on Rachel and Sian, Verengela approached Theodore.

“Count… Count! Wake up! Count…! Theodore!”

Slap!

Behind her, the sound of Verengela smacking Theodore, who had fainted, rang loudly.

A disaster.

It was a disaster.

‘Will you be alright?’

‘I already knew this would happen. Why should I be shocked?’

‘The human mind is not that simple.’

Sian was right. It was quite arrogant of her to think she wouldn’t be shocked.

She used to get angry when she saw the main character cheating in shows about affairs, anyway. Even though it was only for a few days, it was natural to be shocked since she saw someone she called her husband have an affair in front of her eyes.

How shortsighted of her. Her mood was worse than she expected.

Rachel walked unsteadily down the palace corridor, biting her lips.

The hallway was empty.

Probably because it was shortly after the count’s fascinating cheating scandal was discovered at the Prince’s birthday banquet. The two of them, the count and his mistress, were still on the balcony so all the workers must have heard the news and flocked to the banquet hall.

She was glad she didn’t bump into anyone.

“Countess,”

“Ah!”

Rachel was startled by the sound of someone calling her.

She didn’t fall down but rested her back against the wall for a moment. Her heart, which was already beating fast, pounded ridiculously.

Dazed, she forgot that she was still with Sian.

“Y-Your Highness.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No, it’s not that. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“I understand.”

“I’m sorry. You warned me beforehand that I might be surprised, but I ended up like this.”

Her voice trembled.

Sian, who was watching Rachel, reached out a hand…

She thought he wanted to touch her and shrunk back, but Sian’s hand passed Rachel.

Click.

The place she thought was a wall moved and a door opened when he twisted a door handle that had looked like decoration.

The tip of her ears turned red in embarrassment.

“So, there was a door in a place like this.”

“The palace has a lot of secret channels. I think it might be better for you to take a break.”

She wanted to decline, but she couldn’t help it because her legs were shaking.

“… Thank you.”

“I’ll summon a carriage for you soon. If you need a cup of warm tea or anything, let me know. I’ll handle it.”

“No, I couldn’t dare ask Your Highness for anything like that. It’s already an honor to have you taking care of me.”

Sian shook his head.

“It’s natural to care. Half of it… is my fault, anyway. I gave you the evidence in such an extreme manner.”

He wasn’t wrong.

Rachel walked with a scowl and sat down on a chair in the drawing room recommended by Sian. Her body sank as she relaxed. He covered his face with his hands.

‘Let’s calm down. Calm down.’

This was something she had wanted and wished for. Theodore’s affair had been revealed to those from all over the empire, and now all she had to do was get a divorce.

Of course, Theodore would not be so easy to get rid of. She had to prepare for various situations in advance, such as him continuing to make excuses even though he got caught in the act, refusing to stamp the divorce papers and so on.

‘… Let’s just rest for a day before thinking.’

Sigh.

As she let out a long sigh, she suddenly felt something cold on her cheek. Surprised, she quickly lifted a hand to her cheek.

Clink.

The sound of metal rang out.

Sian, who was hit by the back of Rachel’s flurried hand, took a step back.

“… I’m sorry. I was applying medicine since you didn’t respond. You have a cut.”

“A cut?”

Only then did she smell the herbs. She realized that what fell on the floor was a medicine case.

Come to think of it, she forgot to apply medicine to the wound she had when the scuffle with Theodore happened yesterday.

Sian cleared his throat and picked up the medicine case that fell on the floor.

“The Imperial Palace keeps medicine in every living room. His Highness, the Crown Prince is such a troublemaker that he gets hurt pretty often.”

“I see.”

“It’s been bothering me since I first saw it. How did you get this scar on your face?”

“It was nothing, really.”

She knew that it was a big deal to have a scar on a noble’s body, especially on an area in view. However, she didn’t want to say she got hurt while her husband and son confronted each other, so she quickly glossed over it. She didn’t care about Theodore, but Graham had to be protected.

She felt the sticky medicine on her fingertips as she touched her cheek.

Sian, who was watching the slow gesture, hesitated, and asked, “… Countess, are you all right?”

“Of course. It’s such a small wound that I forgot to apply medicine.”

“With seeing your husband’s affair, I mean.”

“Oh.”

Of course, it was fine. She had already known, and there was no reason not to be fine with such clear and great evidence of infidelity.

She wanted to say it with a big smile but lacked the energy. Rachel smiled vaguely and managed to spit out the words.

“I’m all right.”

She was just a little shocked by the nasty scene.

Sian’s finger pressed against Rachel’s lips as she tried to speak.