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Chapter : 11
The banquet had been interrupted.
Jane hurriedly pulled down her skirt and crouched in the corner of the terrace, hiding herself. She was wearing the same clothes as the servants who had been attending the banquet hall.
Rachel’s heart turned cold.
She had read the original story and prided herself on knowing everything about Theodore and Jane after preparing for many things.
But Theodore was beyond imagination.
“To think he would use the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet as a place for an affair.”
She thought she wouldn’t be shocked by anything anymore, yet her legs weakened as if all strength had left them. A few unnamed noble ladies nearby supported Rachel.
“…Theo.”
At Rachel’s quiet voice, Theodore, who had stiffened, finally moved. He hurriedly straightened his clothes and searched through the crowd for his wife.
“R, Rachel. This is, well… I mean… I just… I got drunk somehow…”
He had mistaken gifts meant for his mistress as gifts for his wife, invited his mistress to his home, and openly gazed at her with affection right in front of everyone—yet now that he had been caught, he seemed flustered.
Or was he just pretending to be flustered because there were many witnesses?
Berengela, who had arrived at some point, was also mixed into the crowd. Perhaps out of shame, she did not step forward to scold Theodore, instead covering her face with her fan and remaining where she stood.
“…Hello, Jane. We meet again here.”
At Rachel’s slightly hoarse voice, the nobles began to murmur.
Jane, trembling in the corner of the terrace, lifted her head.
“C, Countess…”
“You told me you would give me the fragrance Theodore likes. I thought you were just someone ignorant of etiquette. But now it seems you wanted to boast about your relationship with Theodore to me.”
“I… I’m so sorry…”
“Sorry? Don’t say something like sorry.”
Jane looked like she was about to cry.
“You appeared right in front of me, and in a banquet filled with nobles, you even committed something filthy with my husband. Did you think you wouldn’t be caught? Or did you secretly want to be caught?”
As Rachel’s words continued, the surrounding murmurs grew louder.
“The Count of Elosa is truly shameless.”
“My goodness, wearing a cufflink as a token of love and doing such things with another woman…”
“How disgraceful. To think someone like that is a count. He’s staining the honor of the nobility.”
“Who is that woman? I’ve never seen her in the palace before. She must be a servant.”
“Didn’t the Count prepare this banquet?”
“Oh my, are you saying he prepared the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet just to bring that woman here? How bold.”
Behind her fan, Berengela’s face had gone pale.
From afar, Cyan finally walked toward Theodore. In his hand, he held a dining knife, as if he had prepared it beforehand.
“Theodore Elosa, Count.”
At the low voice, Theodore flinched and looked up.
Cyan extended the knife toward Theodore.
A sense of déjà vu arose. It overlapped with the moment Graham had once threatened Theodore.
“Using the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet for personal purposes is disrespectful.”
“Y-Your Grace the Grand Duke…!”
“The Count will have to pay the price for insulting the Imperial Family. The Imperial Family and the Noble Council will carefully review what punishment will be decided. And.”
As he finished speaking quietly, Cyan’s golden eyes flashed. It was a sharpness he usually concealed when dealing with others.
He had disguised himself as an intelligence informant of the guild and lowered himself, but he was still of imperial blood. There had once been evaluations that he was more suited to the throne than his elder brother, Sigar.
Overwhelmed by Cyan’s pressure, Theodore collapsed to the ground. He tried to crawl backward in panic.
“Why are you running away?”
Cyan knelt on one knee in front of Theodore. After staring into the frightened man’s eyes for a moment, he raised the knife high—
and slammed it down between Theodore’s legs onto the floor.
CRACK!
“Gahh!”
Theodore fainted while covering his most important part with his hands. Near the knife embedded in the floor, a pink cufflink rolled away.
As if uninterested in the unconscious man, Cyan picked up the cufflink and wiped it on his sleeve.
“Didn’t I say it? I wanted it very much too.”
Muttering words the subject could not hear, Cyan walked out of the terrace with calm steps. He stopped in front of Rachel and reached out to cover her eyes.
“It’s dirty. Please don’t look.”
There was no authority or pressure in Cyan’s whisper.
“…Grand Duke.”
“Turn around. I will escort you to your carriage.”
It felt as if she had become a puppet obeying instructions. As if enchanted, Rachel quietly turned around.
While everyone’s attention briefly shifted to Rachel and Cyan, Berengela approached Theodore.
“Count! Count! Wake up! Count! Theodore!”
SLAP!
From behind, the sound of Berengela slapping the unconscious Theodore’s cheek echoed loudly.
Trouble.
It was trouble.
“Are you alright?”
“It’s something I already knew. Why would I be shocked or disturbed?”
“Human emotions are not that simple.”
Cyan had been right. She thought she wouldn’t be shocked because she already knew—but that was arrogance.
Well, even in affair dramas, watching the protagonist’s partner cheat would make anyone angry. Even if it had only been a few days, seeing her husband committing adultery right in front of her was naturally shocking.
She had been careless. She felt more disgusted than she had expected.
Rachel bit her lip and staggered through the palace corridor.
The corridor was empty.
Right after the scandal of the Count’s affair at the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet had exploded, all the servants had rushed toward the banquet hall. The mistress and the Count were still left on the balcony, apparently detained there.
At least there was no one she had to face.
“Madam.”
“Ah!”
At the voice calling her, Rachel flinched.
She didn’t collapse against the wall, but her already pounding heart jumped violently.
In her confusion, she had forgotten Cyan was with her.
“Y-Your Grace.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“No, it’s fine. I… was just out of sorts.”
“I understand.”
“I apologize. Even after you warned me I might be surprised, I ended up showing such an unsightly reaction.”
Her voice trembled uncontrollably.
Cyan, who had been quietly watching her, reached out.
She instinctively flinched, thinking he might touch her shoulder, but his hand passed her by. Click—he turned a decorative latch, and what had looked like a wall split open into a door.
Her ears turned red with embarrassment.
“There was a door here.”
“The palace has many secret passages. It would be better to rest for a while.”
She wanted to refuse, but her legs were too weak to do so.
“…Thank you.”
“I will call for your carriage soon. If you need anything—tea, or anything else—please tell me. I will prepare it.”
“No, I could never dare to ask such things of Your Grace. Your consideration alone is an honor.”
Cyan shook his head.
“It is only natural to be concerned. Half of it is… my responsibility. For delivering such a provocative piece of evidence.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Rachel stumbled into the reception room Cyan indicated and sank into the chair. Her body finally loosened as tension drained away. She covered her face with both hands.
Calm down. Calm down.
This was what she had wanted.
Theodore’s affair had been exposed to the world. Now all that remained was divorce.
Of course, Theodore was not the kind of man who would obediently comply. She needed to prepare for many situations—if he denied everything even after being caught, if he refused to sign the divorce papers.
…She should rest for just one day and think.
She sighed deeply—and suddenly felt something cold touch her cheek. Startled, she swatted it away with her hand. A metallic sound rang out as something fell to the floor.
Cyan took a step back after his hand was struck.
“…I’m sorry. You weren’t responding, so I applied medicine on my own. You have a wound.”
“A wound?”
Only then did she smell herbal medicine. She realized the fallen object was a medicine bottle.
Come to think of it, she had forgotten to treat the wound she got while struggling with Theodore yesterday.
Cyan cleared his throat and picked up the medicine bottle.
“The palace keeps medicine in every reception room. The Crown Prince tends to cause trouble often, so injuries are not rare.”
“I see.”
“I’ve been concerned since the first time I saw it. How did you get a wound like this on your face?”
“It’s nothing.”
She knew it was serious for a noble, especially a visible wound. But she did not want to explain that it came from a clash between her husband and son, so she brushed it off. She had to protect Graham, even if not Theodore.
When she touched her cheek, a sticky ointment clung to her fingertips.
Watching her slow movements, Cyan hesitated before asking.
“…Madam. Are you alright?”
“Yes. It’s just a minor wound—I even forgot to apply medicine.”
“I mean your husband’s infidelity.”
“Ah.”
Of course she was fine. She already knew, and now she had undeniable evidence of the affair. There was no reason she shouldn’t be fine.
She wanted to smile brightly, but had no strength. Rachel managed a faint smile and said only one thing.
“I’m fine.”
She had only been shocked by how filthy the scene was.
She was about to continue speaking when Cyan’s finger pressed against her lips.
