TVMF 23

Chapter: 23

“Uh…?”

When I leaned in curiously, Mrs. Stewart chuckled softly and took a step aside.

“Nathaniel, come out here.”

“!”

There, hiding behind her, was a child even shorter than me—
a pure, fairy-like boy who seemed as though he had been born into the wrong, harsh world.

“H-Hello…”

—Ding!

[Status Window – Nathaniel Stewart]

Seed of the Chancellor
Status: Extremely shy

Charm: A
Reputation: B
Favorability: 25
Self-Esteem: 9
Corruption Rate: ?

[You may use coins to check the corruption rate.]

Hah….

It really was Nathaniel.

The brown-haired male lead who embodied pure devotion in the early part of The Sacrifice of the Thorned Golden Flower.

As the second son of the Stewart chancellor family, he was refined, polite, and in many ways the “normal” one among the novel’s characters.

Whenever Lexia came back emotionally shattered after dealing with Adrian or Erden, it was always Nathaniel who comforted her.

Thanks to that, whenever Nathaniel appeared in the early chapters, the story’s overall angst level dropped dramatically.

And yet…

Perhaps he eventually grew tired of endlessly comforting Lexia, who—no matter how much he soothed her—gave both her body and her affection away to terrible men.

From the middle of the story onward, he began to show resentment.

[You are precious. I told you again and again that those men were unworthy of you.]
[But maybe I wasn’t enough for you. I know. Anyone can see how exceptional they are.]

Then he completely snapped, descended into darkness, and kidnapped Lexia.

[If I can’t have you in my own way, then I’ll become a monster just like them.]

They say late-blooming criminals are the scariest—and corrupted Nathaniel proved it, displaying an obsession that surpassed even Adrian and Erden’s, trapping Lexia in a gaslit, coercive relationship.

Betrayed by the one person she trusted, Lexia spiraled into an irreparable mental breakdown…

And yet—

“L-Lady Utel… excuse me.”

The child stammered his greeting, toddled over, gently took my hand, and pressed his lips to the back of it.

‘Gasp.’

This couldn’t be happening….

He was unbelievably cute.

Since he was one year younger than Lexia, who was my age in the story, that made him nine years old now.

One look was enough to tell that Nathaniel was extremely shy.

Even though he’d been hiding behind his mother’s skirts, the fact that he came out in the end to observe proper etiquette was deeply endearing.

‘You little…’

I had no idea what he’d gone through, but the fact that such an adorable child had a self-esteem score of only 9 out of 100 was just heartbreaking.

‘I’ll protect you. I swear it.’

In that moment, driven by the terrifying power of good looks, a pure, instinctive resolve filled my heart.

“Um, Lady Utel.”

Nathaniel, his cheeks noticeably redder than before, spoke to me.

“Yes, Young Master Stewart. What is it?”

When I replied gently, the red on his chubby cheeks deepened to the point of no return.

W-What’s going on? Is he okay?

“I-If it’s alright, w-would you like to d-dan—”

At that moment, majestic music filled the ballroom.

It was the prelude announcing the start of the dance.

When this happened, couples who had agreed to dance were expected to move to the center of the dance floor.

I hadn’t received any invitations, so I assumed I could just stay where I was—

“Rohesia.”

I turned at the sound of my name and saw Adrian.

“Adrian!”

You good boy—no killing anyone and behaving yourself this whole time!

Happy to see him safe, my joy spilled onto my face in a radiant smile.

“……”

Adrian silently studied me, then held out his hand.

“?”

Without thinking much of it, I took it—and he led me onto the dance floor.

Oh? Was this an invitation to dance?

Well, it wasn’t like I couldn’t dance.

And since I had things to discuss, the dance—where music drowned out conversation—was actually the perfect opportunity.

When the prelude ended and the music began, we exchanged the formal greeting for the dance. Adrian spun once and whispered first.

“I thought you’d run away since I couldn’t find you.”

Hey, jerk. Run away?

I almost got kidnapped in your house, you know?!

…But I couldn’t say that, so I just smiled lightly.

“As if I’d ever give up on you.”

My life depends on it, after all.

Adrian stared at me intently.

“…What are you planning to do, Utel?”

Lowering my voice, I whispered quickly.

“The butler has recovered his memories.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah. It just seems he needed more time.”

I smiled briefly at the dazed-looking Adrian.

“As soon as he regained them, he contacted the Duke. He’s on his way here now.”

“What…?”

Apparently, he hadn’t anticipated that far ahead—Adrian was visibly shaken.

Keeping in time with the music, I gently tugged his hand and guided him along.

“It’s too early to be surprised. Turns out Melisandra was trying to kill the Duke.”

“…Hah.”

Oddly enough, hearing that his biological father had been targeted for murder seemed less shocking to Adrian.

His lips twisted coldly.

“She waited until Father was away from the estate. Took out the most troublesome obstacle first—the butler.”

“…Yeah.”

“And then tried to swallow the entire family in one bite.”

His grasp of the situation was frighteningly fast.

“She still deserves to die.”

“……”

“The only reason I waited until now was because you stopped me—because you were certain.”

Adrian’s gaze locked onto me.

The hand supporting me so I could dance comfortably was warm, but his eyes were sharper than frost.

Come to think of it, that was true.

Adrian harbored a murder impulse bordering on corruption—and I was the one who persuaded him, restrained him, and kept him in check.

By promising that Melisandra would face proper punishment.

So then… would everything really be resolved just by exposing her scheme once the butler and Duke Bellas arrived?

“Don’t disappoint me, Utel.”

Adrian whispered quietly.

At the same time, a powerful sense that I was missing something gripped me.

As a result of pushing Melisandra and escalating the situation, the Empress and Mrs. Stewart were also present at this banquet.

My intention had been to present the freed Adrian to everyone—but…

‘Wait.’

Cold sweat ran down my back, and my heart dropped heavily.

I forced myself to steady my rapid breathing.

Moving slowly across the marble floor in time with the music, I tried to think from Melisandra’s perspective.

If her goal was to claim the Bellas family, then even if she killed the Duke, the young Duke—who would never side with her—was a major obstacle.

‘What if… Melisandra is planning to kill Adrian too?’

As a stepmother, there were countless quiet ways to kill her son.

Make it look like illness.

Blame it on a resentful servant.

But there was a problem.

Anything that happened inside the estate would inevitably implicate the lady of the house.

Suspicion couldn’t be avoided.

But what if a grand banquet was being held in the mansion…

And with countless outsiders roaming freely—

If the young lord died then?

Melisandra could shift the blame entirely onto someone else.

Just as she planned to kill the Duke and pin it on the Utel family.

‘Damn it.’

What I’d assumed “just in case” aligned too perfectly with every clue.

In short, there were two potential victims in this ballroom.

Adrian—the one meant to die.

And another—the one meant to take the blame.

At that moment, light burst before my eyes and a quest alert appeared.

—Ding!

[SYSTEM: Sudden Quest Triggered!]

[QUEST: Uncover Melisandra’s hidden scheme within the ballroom.]

As if to confirm my suspicions, the quest itself acknowledged it.

That Melisandra’s plot was lurking within this banquet hall.

[Quest Reward: Reputation Rank Increase, Unreleased Special Reward]

Reputation ranks, secret rewards—things that might or might not be useful later.

But letting even one of Melisandra’s schemes go undiscovered was unacceptable.

“Adrian.”

It was best to expose every crime at once and make her pay properly—only then would there be no aftermath.

“If you were Melisandra, where would you plant your trick in this ballroom?”

“…The champagne tower.”

Slowly turning, I surveyed the hall.

The champagne tower stood lavishly decorated at the center.

For now, guests were scattered around chatting freely—but when the banquet reached its peak, everyone would gather around the tower to receive champagne.

That was when all eyes would focus on the star of the event.

The tragedy of an heir being murdered.

Melisandra’s tearful, heartbroken performance timed perfectly.

And the scapegoat who would bear all the blame as her prey.

All of it would unfold under the greatest possible scrutiny.

“Oh my…”

Huh?

I heard a small murmur of admiration and noticed people around us watching with fond smiles.

It seemed the sight of two small children dancing so skillfully looked adorable to adults.

Attention was nice, but if we stood out too much, there was a risk our conversation might be overheard.

Lowering my voice further, I whispered as our faces drew close.

“I was thinking the same.”

When the dance ended, we exchanged bows, then turned away from each other after a brief exchange of looks.

The butler and the Duke were observing from outside, planning to enter once the party reached its climax.

That meant if Adrian and I made a move, they would notice and wait accordingly.

Before the champagne was served, we had to uncover Melisandra’s plot and act.

At the same time, my vision flickered and a time limit appeared.

[TIME LIMIT: 09:59]

First, the glass at the very top of the champagne tower was safe.

By design, champagne overflowed from the top tiers to fill the glasses below.

If poison were placed in the top glass, everyone drinking below would die as well.

Unless Melisandra had completely lost her mind and intended to kill everyone at the banquet, she would never do that.

The real danger lay in the bottom tier—

The lowest twenty-five glasses.