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~Chapter 26~
“Oh my.”
The woman staring at me with an expressionless face was someone familiar.
“I’m sorry. I was so nervous that I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“No, I should have been more careful as well.”
After exchanging polite words, I looked at her again.
Alia Branto, daughter of the Branto Marquis.
The current fiancée of my former fiancé, Marquis Regen.
Although Alia apologized quickly, what she had just done was clearly intentional.
‘…Why did this woman spill wine on me?’
She wasn’t the type to do something childish like pouring wine on someone’s dress out of boredom.
And looking closely, it seemed she hadn’t controlled her wrist properly—her own dress was also soaked in wine.
Alia handed the empty glass to a passing servant and extended her hand to me.
“This was my fault. Let me help you fix it. Let’s step outside first.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Instinctively, I knew—I shouldn’t take that hand.
“I can handle it myself, so there’s no need to trouble your—”
“Leonia Bellaci!”
At that moment, Diego, who had been talking with Freya, called out to me.
Naturally, the attention of the entire banquet hall shifted toward us.
I bit my lip. This was bad.
Given the state of both me and Alia, no one could tell who had spilled the wine.
‘And since everyone’s attention was on Freya, there’s little chance of witnesses.’
It seemed Alia had deliberately spilled wine on herself as well for this very reason.
“Didn’t I warn you repeatedly? Not to touch Alia?”
Diego crossed the hall with exaggerated movements, as if trying to draw even more attention.
“I knew you were jealous and spiteful, but this goes too far.”
He clicked his tongue as he looked at Alia’s ruined dress.
“Are you alright, Alia? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
Right now, Diego was painting me as a petty woman taking out her anger on his new fiancée.
‘…Did they really hold a royal banquet just for this?’
It was shockingly petty. If Louis had attended, he might’ve strangled someone for wasting his time on such a ridiculous love quarrel.
“You there. Come here.”
I called the servant who had taken Alia’s glass earlier.
He rushed over, looking flustered.
“Who handed you the wine glass earlier?”
“…Lady Branto, the Marquis’s daughter.”
At that, murmurs spread, and anger flashed across Diego’s face.
The servant glanced nervously at Diego, then bowed deeply and hurried to add,
“O-of course, I didn’t see who spilled the wine!”
“Hah, look at that, Leonia.”
“Then who gave you the empty glass?”
“Th-that is…”
“Enough. You don’t need to answer.”
Diego cut him off and dismissed him. He pretended to be angry, but in truth, he looked anxious—afraid another witness might appear.
“If you threaten him like that, anyone would say it was Alia’s doing.”
“Are you implying that a servant of the imperial palace would value my words over the truth?”
I tilted my head innocently.
“How strange. Does that mean my authority is higher than Marquis Regen’s?”
“…That—”
Diego’s expression stiffened. He realized too late what he had implied.
He had just admitted that his influence was lower than mine.
After a brief silence, he spoke through clenched teeth.
“…Don’t twist things, Leonia Bellaci. This is the imperial palace.”
“I can’t just ignore your misconduct anymore. However, we can’t cause a disturbance in the middle of a banquet.”
He meant to change locations. I refused immediately.
“That would be inappropriate. I am already engaged, and so are you, Marquis.”
“Then I will come as well. I am involved in this matter too.”
Alia stepped forward, insisting on accompanying us.
“…Very well.”
In the end, Diego, Alia, and I headed to a lounge in the palace.
The moment the door closed, Diego turned to me.
“This is all for your sake, Leonia.”
Before I could process the ominous statement, something glinted from his chest.
‘…Don’t tell me?’
And the next moment—
Stab!
“Ahhhh!”
Blood splattered across my dress and cheek. As if waiting for it, the lounge doors burst open and people rushed in.
“Oh my goodness!”
“Call a physician!”
There was no pain.
Because it wasn’t me who had been stabbed.
It was Diego.
* * *
Given the circumstances, it was only natural that I—being closest to him—was accused.
‘That was probably his plan.’
As a result, I had been detained in the imperial palace for 18 hours.
They gave me a room with a bed and regular meals, so it wasn’t uncomfortable—but it felt off.
‘Is this really all?’
Even without a full investigation, I was technically the suspect who attacked the future emperor.
Normally, I should be imprisoned or interrogated.
Knock knock.
After 18 hours, someone other than staff finally came.
“Have you been well?”
It was Diego.
His abdomen was wrapped in bandages. It wasn’t a fatal wound—he had controlled the stab well enough to avoid even leaving a scar.
‘Of course he did.’
I sighed and asked,
“Why did you do something like this?”
“I needed time to talk to you without the Arban Duke’s eyes on us.”
“A talk…? Is there anything left for us to discuss?”
When I genuinely looked confused, Diego reacted emotionally.
“Of course there is! I stabbed myself just for this!”
After shouting, he lowered his voice and declared solemnly,
“Leonia, let’s start over.”
This man again.
I wanted to throw the tea in his face, but I held back.
In this situation, with nowhere to escape, provoking him wouldn’t be wise.
“What do you mean by starting over?”
“I didn’t realize you still hadn’t gotten over me.”
Does he have some disease that prevents him from explaining things in one go?
Thankfully, he continued quickly.
“I found out while investigating—on your first meeting, the Duke drugged you, didn’t he? And then forced you—”
It seemed the events from the mansion where I first met Louis had been twisted into rumors.
‘And Diego thinks I’m carrying Louis’s child.’
So additional assumptions had been added.
Still, if he had investigated properly, he would’ve realized Louis wasn’t the one who drugged me.
“Even the servants from the ducal house said that every day you were…”
Correction—he had investigated. He just interpreted everything in the wrong direction.
‘The rumors I spread to hide the pregnancy…’
Diego focused only on the idea that I was being forced by the Duke.
He still believed what he wanted to believe.
“Anyway, I can deal with the Duke somehow.”
I’d bet his entire fortune that he couldn’t. If it were possible, the Emperor wouldn’t leave Louis alone.
“I understand what you’re saying.”
I began with a neutral tone.
“But it would be difficult for me to express my feelings now.”
“No! It’s not too late! You’re not married yet—there are plenty of ways to fix this!”
That wasn’t my concern, so I got to the point.
“Then will you release me first?”
“No. That would be difficult. You need to keep the charges—it gives me justification.”
So he wanted to use my weakness to control me.
“But there’s already a signed engagement contract, and…”
I glanced at my lower abdomen with a troubled expression.
Diego stiffened and sighed.
“…Invalidating the contract is easy. I can use someone from the temple.”
He was probably planning to manipulate documents through his connections.
“And it would be better to get rid of the child.”
Not surprising.
“We can’t raise the Arban Duke’s child as a prince.”
So I asked, pretending to be afraid,
“What if I become infertile after that?”
“Then take a mistress. Under the condition that she bears a child.”
“….”
“I only need you, Leonia.”
What a romantic.
After that, the conversation was mostly meaningless.
He asked about recent events, and I answered vaguely, leaving out everything about Louis. Satisfied, he stayed for a couple of hours before leaving.
‘Let’s discard this option.’
At first, I thought of playing along with Diego to resolve this situation.
But after talking to him, it was clear—
He was a madman obsessed with controlling me.
‘Better to stick with the original plan.’
As I reorganized my thoughts, another visitor arrived.
“You seem to be doing well.”
“…Lady Branto?”
Unexpected—but not entirely.
Only those directly involved could enter here.
Slap!
Suddenly, Alia slapped her own cheek.
Then, as if nothing happened, she calmly sat across from me.
