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~Chapter 43~
Camilla swallowed hard and changed the subject.
“…Sh-should I talk about the kidnapper first? The person behind all this is…”
She stopped, about to say it was the Baroness.
‘…Dane thinks I’m really the baroness’s daughter.’
If she accused her own mother, what would Dane think? Would he start doubting her real identity?
Seeing Camilla hesitate, Dane asked quietly,
“Is it the baroness?”
“…How did you know?”
“If it wasn’t Everitt, I figured it must be the baroness.”
He said he had wondered after seeing her hit her daughter. Camilla didn’t answer, unable to say she wasn’t really her daughter.
Dane added,
“In the royal family, it’s common for parents to hurt or accuse their own children, or for brothers to turn on each other.”
“…Really?”
Dane’s voice was lower now, and Camilla could feel him trembling.
“That’s why you and your sister being so close is a little strange.”
“We’re not actually that close.”
Nina followed Camilla well, but Camilla didn’t think she was a good sister.
‘One day I’ll leave Nina behind and run away.’
Thinking of that future made her heart calm down. After a while, Dane asked,
“Camilla, when we reach the Grand Duke’s house, should we have a trial for your mother at the party?”
“…Yes.”
She’d thought of using what happened with Sir Dylan as blackmail, but maybe this way was better.
But…
‘Nina will be the problem.’
No matter the betrayal, Nina still loved her mother. Could she stand it if her mother was punished?
With heavy thoughts, they arrived at the Grand Duke’s house.
Dane helped Camilla off the horse.
“Miss! You were kidnapped, right…?”
“Are you hurt?!”
As soon as they entered, Ain and Carrie ran up to Camilla.
Dane left to make his report. Camilla waved off their worries, but was guided to the parlor with Nina for medical treatment.
Suddenly, the parlor door burst open.
“Nina! My daughter!”
It was the Baroness, crying.
“…Carrie, is the party over?”
“Oh, it’s still going on. But the baroness didn’t attend the party. She came here as soon as the knights told her.”
‘So Dane really left his own birthday party for me?’
Camilla felt strange.
Meanwhile, the baroness hugged Nina tightly, her dress covered in smoke.
“I was so worried! Thank goodness!”
For a moment, Camilla doubted if the baroness was really behind the kidnapping.
‘But she is.’
The musk perfume from Ail made it clear, and the dead woman proved the baroness’s involvement.
Just then, Dane came back. He looked at the baroness, who was hugging Nina and crying, with cold eyes.
Camilla signaled to Dane, and he nodded.
Then his cold voice filled the room.
“Baroness Mowin. You are under arrest for kidnapping Lady Mowin and for framing the Everitt family.”
“W-what?! Why would I do such a thing?!”
The baroness’s face turned white as she desperately denied it. But the knights grabbed her arms.
“Let go! How dare you—!”
“Mother.”
“Nina! Why would I kidnap you—Nina, why do you look like that?”
“…Why did you do it?”
Nina looked away, her face tearful.
“Nina!”
“Move the baroness to the main hall for a trial.”
Leaving the baroness to be taken away, Dane whispered to Camilla,
“I’ll be at the trial. Camilla, you don’t have to join if you don’t want to.”
Nina shook her head, not wanting to go. Camilla was curious about the ending but didn’t want to go either.
Just then—
‘Wait.’
A memory flashed in Camilla’s mind.
‘You don’t know how scary Glamis is!’
That madwoman, who kidnapped Camilla and Nina, with tears in her eyes and a crazy laugh…
‘If we all die here, maybe my family will be safe!’
‘…She said Glamis.’
Glamis—the dark organization even the Grand Duke doesn’t know about.
A doubt crept in.
‘Could the baroness really represent Glamis?’
Even as the baroness of Mowin, the one who really moved the family was the baron.
‘Can I be sure the baron wasn’t involved in this kidnapping?’
After thinking, Camilla answered Dane.
“Dane, let me come with you.”
In the Grand Duke’s main hall, all important judgments were made.
The Grand Duke himself was seated at the head, because the knights he assigned were attacked and guests had been kidnapped.
“A trial, on the night my son was born… What a noisy night.”
The nobles from the party gathered to watch, whispering.
Among them stood Baron Mowin.
“Oh, thank you for saving my daughters, Your Highness!”
He grinned at Dane, not even glancing at his wife, who was being dragged in.
Camilla shivered.
Standing behind the baron as his guard was…
‘Ares!’
Ares had kidnapped her, even if the baroness was the mastermind.
‘I have to tell Dane.’
But the Grand Duke’s voice cut through the hall.
“Everyone, quiet!”
With that, the room calmed down.
“We will now begin the trial for the kidnapping of Lady Mowin and the false accusation against the Everitt family.”
All the nobles held their breath. The baroness was dragged in, kneeling in shame, struggling.
“Your Highness! I swear, I would never harm my children!”
Her cry echoed in the hall.
“There is already enough evidence and witnesses.”
Dane stepped forward, with the Tiptoe Mercenaries’ boss kneeling beside him.
He was promised a pardon if he testified truthfully.
“The woman who hired me is the one who died in the fire. She said the baroness was backing her and claimed it wouldn’t break Escalus law!”
“Really? Describe the woman you met.”
“Describe her? Uh, thin black dress, and a sweet but wild animal smell?”
The nobles instantly knew what scent he meant.
“…Musk.”
“That perfume only comes from Ail. And the thin clothes are typical of Ail, too. Ail is the baroness’s hometown. If she used a local, it makes sense.”
Having already heard much from Camilla, Dane declared coldly,
“It was just a coincidence! I—I didn’t do it!”
The baroness screamed, but the Grand Duke’s sharp gaze made her stop.
“Baron Mowin.”
The Grand Duke turned to the baron slowly.
“When did you learn your wife was behind all this?”
The baron wiped his sweat and tried to answer, but he looked at Dane, not his wife.
“…I just learned now.”
“Dear!”
“Quiet! How could you do such a thing? I should have known from the moment you took a lover!”
The room erupted in shock.
Camilla, too, was stunned.
‘Did that just come out now?’
