CH 53

“Second Prince…?”

I was puzzled when the servant told me that Diego had come to visit, but when I went to the reception room with him, he was indeed there.

‘Why did he come?’

However, Diego’s words to me were incomprehensible.

“Why did you steal it?”

Out of the blue, asking why I stole it.

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you think I wouldn’t know?”

“…I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Was it because you didn’t have money, so you took it thinking of selling it? Or did you take it because it was precious to me? To make fun of me?”

What on earth is he babbling about? Why is he accusing me of being a thief?

“If it’s precious… do you mean the scale?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. You’re the only one who could have taken it.”

“I’m not! Why would I take it?”

Feeling bewildered and unjust, I raised my voice, but Diego continued to insist that I was the culprit.

“If you don’t bring it to me by today, I’ll consult with the Duke of Flotina about this matter.”

Consult with Persis…? He’s already so busy.

“I’m not. It’s someone else…!”

“Since you’re in Nine, bring it to Nine.”

Even if I said I didn’t take it, he insisted until the end that I was the thief.

Diego left the reception room, leaving me there, desperately trying to refute him. I quickly followed him and grabbed his arm.

He flinched and forcefully pushed my hand away, his brows furrowed.

“What are you touching? With your dirty hands that have touched someone else’s belongings.”

“I’m telling you, it wasn’t me. I had no interest in the scale.”

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to believe that. The scale, which has never disappeared until now, went missing right after you were invited.”

“How can I prove that it wasn’t me…!”

Even when I vented my frustration, Diego didn’t pay attention to my words.

“Bring it to me by today.”

“Your Highness…!”

He didn’t even look back and walked away.

“No… I really didn’t do it…”

Being falsely accused of being a thief was a first for me. I became extremely anxious, but I tried to maintain composure.

I am definitely not the culprit. Then who took the scale? Since there were no employees today, the only suspects are the members of Nine…

No, did it really disappear? Diego might be trying to frame me. If Diego dislikes me like the other members of Nine, he could be the kind of person who would do such a trick.

I rushed to Diego and blocked his path.

He raised his eyebrows and looked down at me with a questioning gaze.

“I will also go to Nine.”

***

All the members of Nine were present. They were all sober, and the frame didn’t show a trace of the scale, let alone a shadow.

“Young master, even if he wanted the scale, what would he took it?”

“To think that the next heir to the Flotina family would be a thief. How disappointing.”

Velta and Galley showed their disappointment next to me. Strangely, there was a faint smile on their lips.

“Do you all think I’m the one who stole it?”

“Of course. Among the members of Nine, there is no one who desires the scale, and since there were no employees today, the only person left is Young master, isn’t it?”

“But I really didn’t take it. We were always together. When we were in the reception room, I was with the Prince, and in the main room, I was with everyone. How could I have taken it?”

“You said you were going home and left the main room first. You must have taken it then.”

“No, I went straight home.”

“Who can prove that?”

“Jed saw me. Jed escorted me. Right, Jed?”

“…”

I looked at Jed with pleading eyes, but he didn’t pay any attention to me.

In my urgency, I grabbed his arm and urged him.

“You had a conversation with me during the day, and you saw me leave the building right away.”

“…”

“Jed, please confirm it. Don’t you remember because you were drunk?”

Watching this, Clovin spoke to Diego in a loud voice.

“Prince, isn’t this an interrogation? It’s suspicious to try to create an alibi from someone who was drunk at the time.”

“That’s right! It’s an interrogation!”

“If you apologize and admit your mistake now, the Prince will show leniency. Stop denying it and apologize, Master.”

Clovin, Velta, and Gallay joined forces, and I couldn’t defeat them with words.

Then, Jed spoke up.

“I remember. I escorted the young master. After seeing the prince leave the building, I returned to the main room.”

“That’s right. You remember!”

As Jed spoke, my expression brightened gradually.

“But that doesn’t prove the prince’s alibi.”

“Why not?”

“He could have come back in after leaving.”

“What…?”

While my pupils shook uncontrollably at the unexpected response, Clovin openly sneered.

“Tsk-“

I felt despair, but I calmed down and thought carefully.

Looking at the current situation objectively, it was as if I had no alibi.

I couldn’t prove that I didn’t re-enter Nine after Jed escorted me out.

…But it still hurt.

The fact that I had left as if going home and then returned, leaving open the possibility of stealing the scales. It was inevitable that I would feel hurt by someone who had borrowed my shoulders suggesting such a possibility.

With a disappointed and saddened look, I looked at Zed, but he didn’t meet my gaze.

It was when he drew a line rather than sympathizing with the unfairness that I felt sadness.

“If you don’t bring it today, I’ll demand the value of the scales from Flotina.”

Diego’s warning snapped me back to reality.

Wait… What did he say?

“You’ll demand it?”

“I’ll assess it according to the value of the scales. It’ll be an unimaginable sum, so look forward to it.”

“…”

Upon hearing his words, I hardened my face coldly.

“…I didn’t take it and make it disappear. It was a trick by the Prince.”

!

While Gallay and Velta widened their eyes as if asking how he knew, Diego raised one eyebrow slyly.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“You can’t show that attitude.”

To someone who is convinced that you stole something precious and considers you the culprit.

“If you are convinced that I stole the scales, why are you demanding money instead of scales? If something precious is stolen, normally, even if you offer ten times its value, the owner would refuse and demand the return of the stolen item.”

“…”

“It’s because it’s something precious that money is not the issue.”

On the other hand, Diego easily mentioned money as if he didn’t mind not having the scales.

The members of Nine tried to intervene as before but couldn’t refute my argument, so they just smirked

.

Diego took out the scales from his pants pocket and showed them to me.

“Yes, that’s right. I have them.”

“As expected…”

As I expected, the scales weren’t lost.

A smile of triumph formed on his lips.

“But this is fake.”

He dropped the scales to the ground and stomped on them.

“It’s a toy I prepared to play with young master.”

“…And the scales called Guriugon were also a lie.”

“Of course. Use your head and think. When would there be time to take the opponent’s scales during a fight?”

“Did you think that Prince would lie about this? You even called it something precious.”

“Of course, it’s true that my brother fought with Gliu-Gon. Because brother lost his right arm that day.”

“…”

“Heint, Marquis Nazret, saved brother that day.”

I knew that the Crown Prince lost his right arm during the fight with Gliu-Gon, but I didn’t know the details.

It was a story that wasn’t in the original, and Lady Udif didn’t tell me either, so I didn’t know.

When I made a face that showed I didn’t know, Diego said as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Isn’t this something you can buy for any price in the information market? Young master, your information gathering skills are lacking.”

“I’m not insulting you, but shouldn’t you apologize to me?”

“Why should I?”

Why? I was dumbfounded by Diego’s shameless attitude.

Of course, he should apologize because he falsely accused me!

However, he seemed to have no intention of apologizing to me, not even a bit.

“If you were going to apologize, you shouldn’t have started this troublesome thing in the first place, young master.”

Ha! It was to the point where I felt like a dry laugh would come out.

“All of Your Highness’s remarks were insults towards me, and that is also an insult towards Flotina. Do you realize that? Not only Your Highness, but the Young masters as well.”

I looked at the members of Nine with an accusing gaze.

“Do you not feel ashamed of blindly believing in His Highness and doing this to me?”

Instead of the members, it was Diego who spoke up.

“So what if it’s an insult? Are you going to report it to the Duke?”

“What did you say?”

Diego was shameless to the end, and my face had been crumpled for a long time. He smirked as if I was pathetic.

“You can’t do it, can you?”

“What does that mean?” 

What does it mean that I can’t report it to Persis?

“Young master, we know that you are nothing but a pretentious person.”

A pretentious person…?

Could it be… Does he know that I’m a woman? Does he know that I’m pretending to be a son? 

I was filled with anxiety, but luckily, that wasn’t the case.

“You’re not even a legitimate child of Duke Flotina. You were just brought in as an adopted child because a successor was needed.”

“…”

“What can you do in a position that doesn’t even belong to the real Flotina?”

You have to live according to the Duke’s taste, right? Isn’t a smooth human relationship essential to becoming an excellent successor?

“What can someone like you do?”

“…”