IAYA 42

chapter 42

Two conflicting feelings coexisted within me: a part of me didn’t want to see Petrin again, while another part was curious about why she had tried to frame me.

I hesitated for a moment but soon made up my mind. I would meet Petrin one more time.

I needed to know the truth about the incident involving Frecklin. And I had the right to know.

“…Show our guest to my room.”

“Yes, milady.”

As soon as I gave permission, I heard Hailey’s footsteps moving away from the door.

I should have been the calm one, not Petrin, yet strangely, my hands were sweating. I found myself clenching and unclenching my fists without realizing it.

A moment later, there was another knock at the door. I didn’t need to be told to know that she had brought Petrin.

“Milady, I’ve brought your guest.”

I answered in the calmest voice I could manage.

“Bring her into the room and make sure no one else comes near.”

“Yes, milady.”

The door opened, and there stood Petrin, looking tense.

Hailey, who had brought her, bowed deeply and quickly left. From now on, no one would come near unless I permitted it.

“B-Belia…”

Petrin’s voice uttered my name so easily. She had never called me that affectionately before.

I instinctively met her gaze with a cold look.

“I don’t recall us being close enough to call each other by our names,” I said.

Even to my own ears, it sounded icy. But I had a lot of built-up emotions, so my tone wasn’t soft.

I could still vividly picture Petrin accusing me of being the culprit.

“I-I’m sorry. No… I’m sorry, Miss Fredov.”

Petrin knelt before me without the slightest hesitation, as if she had prepared herself mentally for this moment.

I flinched in surprise. I had expected Petrin, who had always disliked me, to act shamelessly even if we met again. I certainly hadn’t expected her to go this far.

Seeing me stiffen in shock, Petrin spoke in a pitiful voice.

“I-I know you didn’t mix the Frecklin. But I was dragged to the interrogation room without knowing why and was threatened.”

Threatened?

I felt a step closer to the truth I had been curious about.

“Who threatened you?”

“I-I don’t know. They came to the interrogation room and said all sorts of things, but later I found out they weren’t even a staff member of the Kamar Academy. I couldn’t find them anywhere.”

“So then how can I know whether that’s true or not?”

“I-I’m not lying! They yelled at me, saying I had accidentally mixed another ingredient into Miss Camilla’s medicine. So I… I thought it was my mistake.”

Hearing Petrin’s shrinking voice, I was stunned.

“You thought it was the senior’s mistake with Frecklin and falsely accused me?”

“I-I had no choice! That day was too terrifying.”

Petrin looked at me with a pitiful, pleading gaze, but I still couldn’t understand her then, nor now.

“It’s true that I was careless because I was upset about having to wear a maid outfit for the festival, but I’m not so incompetent as to mix in Frecklin. So after leaving the interrogation room, I kept searching. I checked the medicine room, looked through the records of compounding… retraced my steps from that day… Yes, I did mix up some ingredients, but it definitely wasn’t Frecklin. I hope you believe me.”

Petrin seemed worried I wouldn’t trust her words. But what she said now was credible.

Even if Petrin had made mistakes, she wasn’t inexperienced enough to mix in Frecklin. After all, she had worked in the medicine room much longer than I had.

However, believing Petrin only deepened the mystery.

There were only the two of us in the medicine room. If neither of us was the culprit, then someone else must have intervened.

But who?

And why?

My mind was in chaos.

When I didn’t respond, Petrin seemed to misinterpret my silence as doubt and began explaining in a rush.

“I-I realized I had fallen into a trap as soon as I knew you were Miss Fredov. You must have thought I was the culprit, but I really wasn’t.”

“…And?”

“I secretly watched Miss Camilla, who supposedly ate Frecklin. But she looked completely fine. You know, if someone eats even a small amount, they should be in critical condition.”

It was true. Both Petrin and I, as experienced assistants in the medicine room, knew this.

“I really didn’t mix Frecklin by mistake. I apologize for trying to pin the blame on you. But please don’t misunderstand me.”

It felt strange. Petrin, who had always looked down on me, was now apologizing.

Perhaps the reason she had come to apologize and even knelt before me was because of my connection to the Fredov Marquis family.

If I were merely a baroness of minor nobility, I would never have received such an apology.

The thought felt like a stone in my chest.

Seeing that I didn’t answer, Petrin hurriedly continued.

“I-I know. This alone won’t make you forgive me. But while trying to prove my sincerity, I discovered something unexpected.”

“Something unexpected?”

Her face brightened when I showed interest. She nodded.

“Yes. There’s a reason why only our medicine room had to wear maid outfits on festival day.”

Petrin looked around to see if anyone was near, then whispered in an even quieter voice than before.

“Apparently, Miss Anox pressured the academy staff. She said the festival would be boring if everyone wore fancy clothes, so they added plain uniforms too. She subtly singled us out as suitable candidates.”

“Miss Anox?”

I couldn’t believe it. Rayzeni, who seemed to lack nothing, why would she do this?

Rayzeni had no reason to care what Petrin and I wore at the festival. Even if we wore fine clothes, it couldn’t compare to her own dress.

Suddenly, memories of Rayzeni came flooding back.

─“I hope you don’t linger near the Duke of Acruze. My family is arranging an engagement, and I don’t want any trouble from you.”

The first words Rayzeni had said when she approached me.

And the day of the festival, she even came to my quarters.

─“I thought you would follow my instructions for a while, but today I saw you with the Duke wearing a mask. If you keep associating with him, I can only think you intend to interfere with our engagement.”

I had wondered then—how did she recognize Teansis under the mask? Had she been spying on me? Or on Teansis…?

Chills ran down my spine.

Nothing was certain yet, but seeing that I had to wear the maid outfit at the festival suggested that Rayzeni wasn’t the perfect lady I had imagined.

I had assumed she loved Teansis and wanted to be betrothed to him, but perhaps she had overstepped.

“Could it have been Frecklin too…?”

I muttered under my breath, and Petrin jumped in surprise.

“A-Alone, without evidence, you can’t just say that.”

The Anox family’s influence was considerable. Even if it weren’t, I wouldn’t accuse anyone without proof.

Still, my image of Rayzeni had changed. I had once envied her beauty and wealth, but now she seemed like a troublesome rival.

Collecting my thoughts, I looked at Petrin, who was still kneeling, and said,

“Don’t worry. You’re not my senior. I won’t accuse anyone without certainty.”

Her face flushed with embarrassment.

Seeing Petrin kneel and apologize was pitiful, but it also reminded me that, if I weren’t Miss Fredov, I’d never receive such an apology. My heart hardened.

Petrin was the type who was weak to the strong and strong to the weak.

I had been easy to look down on when I was weak, and now I was intimidating because I had grown stronger. That’s why I couldn’t easily forgive her actions.

But I couldn’t keep her kneeling here forever. My voice softened slightly as I asked,

“So why did you come to see me?”

“Well… I’m sorry for blaming you, and I came to show you I wasn’t the one. I didn’t want you to misunderstand me.”

“Is that all?”

“No… I’m sorry for troubling you before. But if you had told me sooner that you were Miss Fredov, none of this would have happened. You hid your identity, so I had no idea.”

As expected, what mattered to Petrin was my family name.

I had an urge to tell her I wasn’t really Miss Fredov, just to see her reaction. But that was only a fleeting impulse; I couldn’t actually do it.

I forced a wry smile and said,

“I understand what you mean, so you can go now.”

“Really? You’re not suspecting me?”

“Yes. I think your story is credible, at least for now.”

“Then… shall we be friends from now on…?”

Seeing the greed in her eyes, I understood what she was hoping for. But I had no intention of indulging that.

“Your purpose here is done. Leave now.”

At this clear command, Petrin awkwardly smiled and rose from her kneeling position.

“O-Okay. See you next time.”

Petrin left the room, keeping an eye on me as she went.

Left alone, my head ached, and I felt inexplicably down.

I was still ‘Belia,’ yet so much had changed simply because of my surname.

Over time, that reality felt even more pronounced.

I pretended to go for a walk and stepped outside alone. Marlene and Hailey wanted to follow, but I declined.

I genuinely wanted fresh air, but more than that, I was worried about Lulu being alone and wanted to check on her.

It had been a long time since I had walked the streets alone. Strolling along familiar paths, I finally felt like I had truly returned to Kamar Academy.

Then, I heard a voice.

“Teacher? Or should I call you Miss Fredov now?”

I turned to see a familiar voice, and there was a woman with striking blonde hair and a pure appearance—Rayzeni.

I had just heard about her, but I hadn’t expected to meet her so soon.

Seeing my surprised expression, Rayzeni smiled and approached.

“Now that we’re no longer teacher and student, can we speak casually? We don’t seem that far apart in age anyway.”

Her tone sounded friendly, as if trying to make friends, yet it also carried a hint of disdain for me as the daughter of the Fredov Marquis.

Perhaps because of what I had heard from Petrin, Rayzeni’s subtle intent irritated me.

The young ladies nearby giggled and began to speak.

“Oh, then can I speak casually too?”

“I’m from the Ajent Marquis family…”

Those who had seemed tense at first now looked at me with a bold, dismissive gaze.

I was now the daughter of the Fredov Marquis. Allowing even lower-ranking ladies to speak casually to me from the start was not acceptable.

“…I haven’t given permission to speak casually yet.”

My words instantly froze the atmosphere.

Everyone went silent, exchanging glances, when Rayzeni suddenly laughed, turning it into a joke.

“What’s with that? Being Miss Fredov doesn’t make you laughably inferior in society, right?”

Her eyes grew sharp with a dangerous glint.

“Say it like that and it sounds like you don’t want to be friends with us.”

It seemed that was exactly what Rayzeni wanted to convey. If we weren’t enemies, she was threatening us to behave accordingly.

But if the ladies used honorifics for Rayzeni and casual speech for me, who benefited?

It was Rayzeni of the Anox family who gained the advantage, while I gained nothing.

This seemed to reveal a side of Rayzeni I hadn’t known before.

I was disappointed.

‘I thought she would be a perfect match with the Duke…’

Then, one of the young ladies, who had been staring at me intently, suddenly clapped and spoke.

“Come to think of it, didn’t the medicine room teacher have a scandal with the Duke of Acruze before?”

“Oh! That’s right, that’s right.”

“I remember that too.”

Suddenly, the topic shifted from me to Teansis. Yet, Rayzeni’s expression looked slightly uncomfortable.

One young lady, noticing Rayzeni’s discomfort, quickly defended herself.

“Why are we talking about the Duke of Acruze? Didn’t Miss Anox recently break up with him?”

I was stunned by what I heard.

‘I thought they were about to be engaged, but Miss Anox broke up with the Duke?’

It was the first time I had heard this story, and everyone else seemed to know except me.

A young lady beside Rayzeni shook her arm and said,

“Miss Anox, say it again. Really, the Duke of Acruze is… haha, impotent?”