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~Chapter 57~
It seemed Viola had always thought of me as insignificant.
“A… a traitor? What do you mean by that?”
Even though she was caught red-handed, she acted shameless.
“I just remembered I hadn’t finished cleaning the bathroom yesterday, so I stopped by for a moment.”
I guess it was natural.
Trying to steal confidential documents was a serious crime. She knew that if she admitted it, she’d be finished.
“Viola.”
But I already knew.
“I’ve known for a while that you were the one leaking information from the mansion to the outside.”
“That’s…! Wh-when…?”
“Hmm, maybe a week ago?”
Morgan corrected me.
“To be exact, today makes eleven days.”
“That’s what he says.”
“….”
Viola pressed her lips tightly together.
After noticing the strange changes in the mansion—
I immediately tried to figure out the cause. Luckily, it wasn’t hard.
‘Information from inside the mansion was leaking out.’
The butler suspected it was one of the staff—most likely the maids. I could tell from how the maids around me had been replaced.
That meant the information leaking out was the kind only a maid could access.
‘The knights were stationed only in the halls, and none entered my room. That makes it obvious.’
“From the start, I was never a suspect.”
“…!”
Viola’s lips opened and closed silently. I lowered my gaze to look at her sitting on the floor.
“In other words, the scheme you made to drive me out of the Grand Duke’s house was impossible from the beginning.”
“Wh-what do you mean…?”
“You know exactly what I mean.”
I began counting on my fingers as I explained the things she had done.
If it happened once, it could be seen as a mistake. Twice, maybe I could doubt my own nerves. But repeated mistakes were no coincidence.
“I pretended not to notice. This level of trickery was something I could handle myself, and I thought it was just childish spite.”
“….”
“Viola, you like the Grand Duke, don’t you?”
“!”
“You were holding back your one-sided feelings, and then I suddenly showed up and took a place by his side. Of course you hated me. Especially when you even hid your noble status for love.”
“How…! How do you know that?!”
Her eyes suddenly focused, as if she never thought I would know.
“Shall I go through it one by one?”
First, I pointed at the cuffs of her sleeves, stained with dust and dirt.
“Viola isn’t used to housework like cleaning or laundry. The dust clinging to sleeves that easily brush against things is proof. You also don’t clean dust from behind hinges or dirt hidden in the shadows of flowerpots. That’s strange, considering most maids are commoners who grew up doing chores and are skilled at cleaning.”
“….”
“Of course, someone born into a wealthy family might be unskilled at chores. But then it’s strange that you know so much about high society trends and dresses.”
“So from back then…”
“I was watching you. I figured a noble lady—wealthy enough never to do chores herself—must have a reason for working as a maid in another family’s house.”
The most obvious clue was the ruby hair ornament of the highest quality, but I didn’t mention it.
‘She probably never thought that commoners, even with money, rarely get to see gems of that quality.’
Her lips twisted into a bitter smile.
“I thought you were a fool with your head full of flowers, but you’re actually a sly fox.”
She suddenly stood up.
“If you saw through me from the start, then you must know this too! Yes, I’ve never liked you from the beginning. Are you of high status? Are you talented? Are you incredibly beautiful? What’s so special about you that the master—!”
“I don’t recall giving you the right to judge Bella.”
The voice was colder than ice.
Both of us froze, not daring to look toward the door. But we knew whose voice it was.
“Am I wrong?”
The arm Viola had raised to slap me was seized and forced down roughly.
It must have hurt, but Viola didn’t make a sound. The pressure from Armin’s presence seemed to keep her from feeling the pain.
“I overlooked your hidden intentions because you covered them well. I didn’t expect you to stab me in the back like this.”
Armin looked down at Viola and smiled.
“Viola Maolen. Did you really think I didn’t know?”
“…!”
As expected, Armin had known exactly who had entered his mansion.
“Beryl.”
Armin called to the knight waiting outside.
“There’s a criminal here who tried to leak the family’s internal information. Take her away and make her pay for her theft.”
The knights gripped Viola’s arms tightly.
Only then did she come to her senses and start struggling, but she couldn’t escape their grip.
“No…! W-wait…!”
“Take her away.”
“Master!”
Viola might be a noble, but with her crime so clear, it would be hard for her to escape punishment.
Her pleas and screams for mercy echoed for a long time.
Armin stood there silently until the sound faded completely.
“….”
The long silence felt heavy.
Armin was just looking at me, and I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
‘Does he think I was fooled too? Like Viola did?’
Part of the reason Viola saw me as stupid was her own arrogance, but it was also because I wanted her to.
I thought if I acted clumsy, she’d create an excuse for me to get kicked out of this mansion.
The moment she tried to frame me as a spy, that act was over.
Viola was my enemy, a tail that had to be cut off. Revealing her real identity was part of that—so I could corner her completely.
But I knew that side of me didn’t look like someone with memory loss.
‘Maybe I should have been more cautious, more foolish.’
Regret I hadn’t felt while cornering Viola now grabbed at my ankles.
My head filled with thoughts of just wanting to run away from here.
‘No.’
I pushed down the impulse.
If I ran away now, everything would really fall apart. Better to find something to say…
“…I am,”
Without realizing it, I looked up—and Armin’s face was right in front of me.
He had somehow closed the distance.
When I couldn’t handle his sudden gaze and looked down again—
“I am a fool.”
The words dropped heavier than a bomb.
“…Pardon?”
“That day. I saw Bella in the garden looking tired, and I only thought she was waiting for me. I was foolishly happy. I knew nothing.”
“Uh…”
“I’m an idiot, a dunce, a complete fool.”
When he killed Charlotte, he was a ruthless butcher. That decisive, deadly side of him had been so frightening it haunted my dreams.
But now, his clenched fist trembled slightly as he stared at the floor. He seemed so… fragile.
Without thinking, I touched his fingertips.
“Your Highness.”
He shut his eyes tightly and took a deep breath.
“I won’t kill Viola.”
“…?”
“Don’t worry. I won’t do anything that would scare you.”
I couldn’t tell what was going on in his head.
“No, I…”
“Then rest.”
He pulled his hand away, exhaled deeply, and slowly turned to leave. His lips were tightly closed.
I didn’t know if I should be relieved he didn’t throw harsh words at me, or frustrated that his misunderstanding only deepened.
‘Strange.’
Normally, I’d be relieved that Armin wasn’t angry with me. That would mean I was fooling him well.
Even his promise not to kill Viola—that had been my plan from the start: to corner her but let her live.
It was like blowing my nose without using my hands. It should have been a good thing.
‘Then why do I…’
Why did watching Armin feel sorry toward me make my chest so heavy?
‘I don’t know. Really.’
Like a question I couldn’t answer, my sigh only grew deeper.
‘Fine, let’s admit it.’
I sat up from where I had been lying down.
I knew why I was feeling unsettled. In the end, it was my own emotions.
‘Armin likes me.’
