“Your Highness Charlotte.”

Ethelbert looked down at Charlotte with a very stern expression. It was an expression he had never shown her before. However, what flashed across his gaze was…

“Why did you use yourself as a decoy?”

Without hesitation, Charlotte answered calmly, smiling ever so slightly.

“Since Lord Ethelbert, the most famous magician in the Empire, and his servant, Sir Brandon, were here, I believed if I could distract Malcolm even a little, they’d take care of the rest. To put it simply, I entrusted it all to you. I thought it the quickest solution.”

“…I’m grateful that you trust me… even so, you should take better care of yourself. There’s always the worst-case scenario.”

Ethelbert relaxed for a bit and his body tensed up awkwardly. But soon, he became stern again. Charlotte felt like a child being scolded by her parent. Of course, she never felt that way with Frederick.

“Are you angry?”

“What do you think?”

“Is it because I left everything to you…?”

“Do you honestly think that?”

She tried to calm him down by giving him a nonsensical reply, but Ethelbert’s aura and gaze only sharpened. Charlotte realized how tone-deaf she was acting.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? Can you tell me the reason?”

“I was being reckless and didn’t care about my own safety.”

“That’s what I just said. Are you sure you aren’t just parroting me?”

“I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“Yes, please do so.”

For some reason, Ethelbert’s expression was twisted, as if her pain was his. His violet eyes were subtly pleading. They looked too sincere and straightforward, Charlotte couldn’t bear to keep staring at them. She reflexively lowered her face.

Guilt spread in her heart.

He was worried about Charlotte. He was also irritated at Charlotte for belittling him.

She had lied to him—a person who genuinely cared about Charlotte from the bottom of his heart.

***

After that, the investigation progressed rapidly.

The culprit behind the trading of illegal goods with the South in the Elms Company had also been discovered. It wasn’t the eldest brother, George, but the youngest, Rex.

His motive was to usurp the position of the successor. The notion that the Earl of Elms wanted Rex to be his successor was a lie concocted by the two brothers. They didn’t want George to succeed. In truth, the earl doted on George. It seemed that they wanted to frame their eldest brother for the illegal trading.

Rex was the one who instructed George to transport the magic weapons to the warehouse. He then intended to set it on fire and use the remains to implicate George. Many people in the company disliked working under George, a prostitute’s son. As such, finding collaborators was easy.

His biggest undoing came from smuggling illegal magic weapons that he didn’t even know how to handle just to frame his brother.

The earl’s accident was real and unexpected, not orchestrated by anyone. However, Rex, who had always wanted to do something about the earl, took advantage of it. He poisoned the earl with poison he had obtained in a deal with the South. Said poison would prevent the earl from regaining consciousness. Rex intended to use that time to succeed both the earl’s family and the trading company.

Rex had bribed all the doctors who examined the earl. Hence, they diagnosed him as “normal.” He also lied when he claimed there was something suspicious about the earl’s accident to cast suspicion onto George. Meanwhile, Malcolm swallowed his brother’s lie without even confirming the facts.

Rex probably never thought much of the earl—his father—to begin with. He didn’t feel guilty for poisoning him.

There was also an antidote among the smuggled goods, so when they had the earl examined by a proper doctor, they were told that he’d wake up in a few days.

Rex also seemed to dislike his second brother, Malcolm, who lived in debauchery and refused to live up to his role as an earl. After falling in love with Juliet, Malcolm started working hard at in company. That was when Rex realized his brother was secretly plotting to become the successor to the earl’s family and the company.

Thus, he decided to set a trap.

When Rex happened to stop by a store on his way back form a shady deal, he encountered the four people who held a grudge against Juliet. He concocted the plan to have them attack Juliet so that Malcolm would save her. Thus, he approached them while concealing his identity.

Afterward, he reported sightings of non-existent bandits, had knights tighten the security, and sent the letter to Malcolm informing him of the intended attack on the second princess. Everything worked out surprisingly well.

Then, Rex suddenly informed Charlotte and the others that his brother had taken over the business negotiations the day of the incident. He did it to lead Charlotte and the others to the conclusion that Malcolm had made contact with Juliet and knew about the magic tools.

His intentions were obvious—and contrived.

The intervention of Ethelbert and Brandon must’ve been completely unexpected for both Rex and Malcolm. This might have caused them to become flustered.

“—So, Your Highness, were you aware that Rex was leading us on?”

“Of course. I’m actually surprised that you didn’t realize until the very end. When Juliet is involved, you become a sore, pathetic loser, it isn’t even funny.”

“Guh…”

With no room to argument, Quentin groaned.

Even though everything had been revealed, Katie refused to accept that her two sons had participated in the crime. She continued to blame George. She said, “You’ve ruined our lives!” condemning George’s actions and existence. She was currently under house arrest in her room in the mansion.

George would work alongside them and decide what to do with her as soon as the earl regained consciousness. Considering what her two sons had done, the earl would probably take advantage of this opportunity to bring up the subject of divorce. However, it was still a long way off, so what would actually happen was unclear.

George seemed to have been vaguely aware of his half-brothers’ intentions. As such, he tried to restrict their actions as much as possible, which had prevented them from committing further crimes.

Rather than be concerned about his half-siblings, George seemed more concerned with limiting the damage to the earl’s family and the company. The three brothers of the Earl of Elms family had barely developed any bonds as brothers.

After several days of investigating, the group finally came to a temporary conclusion. Charlotte and the others decided to return to the royal capital, leaving the knights behind to continue the investigation.

“—What do you think of Juliet?”

As soon as she asked George, who had come to see them off, he widened his eyes slightly and he tensed up. Something akin to fear or terror flashed across his eyes.

Perhaps, he misunderstood her question. Did he think she suspected him for beguiling her sister?

“I think she’s a lovely person, but I’m unworthy of her…”

He smiled modestly, looking troubled. Still, it was obvious that he wasn’t thinking of her as a romantic interest at the moment.

By the way, Charlotte had Juliet return to the capital first, escorted by the Royal Knights. Although she was the victim, her presence wouldn’t be of any use to the investigation. Besides, Frederick would have been dying to see her.

“If Juliet wishes, you can still be her suitor, even if you come from a disgraced earl’s family. His Majesty is lenient with her. The issue with your status can be resolved by having you adopted by a high-ranking noble.”

“Is that so?”

He looked displeased, to which Charlotte was happy about. Even though Juliet had finally fallen in love, the other party didn’t reciprocate her feelings at all.

“But don’t worry. If His Majesty asks you to marry her, just answer truthfully according to your feelings. His Majesty’s top priority is Juliet’s happiness. He wouldn’t use his authority to force Juliet into a marriage with someone who doesn’t love her.”

Frederick would never allow Juliet to enter a marriage where she loved without being loved in return.

“If you’re too nice, you might give her false hope and end up hurting her. His Majesty would then set his sights on you—and I mean that in a very bad way.”

“I understand. I’ll keep that in mind.”

George swallowed hard and bowed nervously. He was probably grateful for Charlotte’s advice.

Although, there’s a good chance he’ll change his mind.

Though George was confused by Juliet’s modest approach before she left, he responded in a noncommittal manner and didn’t seem to be swayed. But how would things go from there?

Even if a man had only a slight liking for Juliet at first, he mysteriously became fascinated with her over time.

As such, Charlotte could only hope that he wouldn’t change. But if he couldn’t resist her charm and was drawn to her, before getting engaged, that wouldn’t be a problem.

After all, she intended to ruin Juliet’s happiness.

---

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