Chapter 43: Chapter 43

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suddenly? who? luna, who had stopped explaining, looked back at karen.

rosemary and the young ladies also asked with puzzled faces”

“what are you talking about?”

“being deceived? about what?”

“what do you mean?”

“i mean the four of you are being fooled right now.”

karen looked at the three young ladies and rosemary, then finally set her gaze firmly on luna before answering.

upon hearing this, the three young ladies who were following karen’s gaze seemed to quickly realize what she meant. they had also doubted luna just a little while ago.

“no, it’s not like that. you’re misunderstanding, lady karen.”

“that’s right. we discussed this earlier, and it seems there might be a misunderstanding. let’s talk calmly and clear it up.”

“you said you’d explain in detail later. how about calming down for now?”

“no, my friend flory experienced it herself.”

since the three young ladies denied it, karen pointed at flory. flory, surprised to be suddenly pulled into the conversation, widened her eyes.

she thought she’d handle the issue discreetly. what should she do? should she step in?

as she hesitated, rosemary, who had been watching, asked with a puzzled expression.

“it’s strange. you met at the baron’s residence, at the boutique, and even played a game. what wrong did you do?”

“it wasn’t a game but a bet, and just because she lost, she had to walk from the boutique to the mansion. seems you didn’t know that.”

walk from the boutique to the mansion?

the three young ladies, surprised by this excessive action, stared at luna. rather than doubting, their faces were demanding an explanation for the situation. rosemary did the same.

luna, who had been watching the situation, calmly began to speak. being misunderstood wasn’t a new experience for her.

“to explain that, i first have to tell you why we bet in the boutique or why miss flory visited the baron’s residence.”

her tone was as if she was about to recite a classic fairy tale.

suddenly, the atmosphere felt as if a great story was about to be told, and everyone’s attention focused on luna.

“miss flory came to me out of the blue and threatened me.”

“…what?”

stunned by the accusation of ‘threatening’, flory couldn’t resist and countered. regardless of the gathering or wishes, she had to address the accusation against her first.

“why are you saying such terrible things?! i just went to give advice! you kept interfering between lady seira and lord rodrian!”

“so, nearly ten young ladies came all at once to confront me, just me, and that’s just advice?”

“well…! many people were angry with you. it just turned out that way. because you always act improperly. everyone just snapped.”

indeed, about ten people ganged up on luna. no matter how angry they were, it was a low move.

however, flory believed she would be the victor of this conversation.

as long as luna interfered between seira and fersen, she wouldn’t be forgiven by anyone.

“why did you interfere between lady seira and lord rodrian in the first place? you constantly called for him, preventing the two from meeting, right?”

flory raised her voice slightly as new young ladies appeared in the corridor leading to the glass garden.

by now, they surely would have heard. as flory imagined everyone joining forces to drive luna away, she awaited the response.

“it was a misunderstanding.”

“that’s right. i heard earlier, and there was a clear misunderstanding.”

but to her surprise, it wasn’t luna but the other young ladies who rebutted her.

“a misunderstanding?”

“when checked, it doesn’t make sense. there’s only one carriage at the baron’s residence, and that’s used for the baron’s commute. how could she constantly call young lord rodrian without a carriage to leave the mansion?”

everyone naturally denied it, leaving flory at a loss for words. however, she quickly brought up another incident.

“then what about the time you suddenly sought out lady seira and caused a scene? do you know how much she cried that day?”

“lady granada paid me to stay away from fersen. she asked me to leave the capital. i just said i didn’t want to go. why should i leave the capital?”

luna responded flexibly. startled by this unexpected answer, rosemary asked luna:

“lady granada paid you to leave?”

though it was a strong expression, it wasn’t wrong. the other young ladies also widened their eyes, waiting for an answer.

“yes. i have a letter from lady granada. i didn’t throw it away, so i can show it to you if there’s a chance later.”

“my goodness, she paid you to leave the capital.”

“i never thought she was that kind of person…”

hearing that there was even evidence, lady seira’s reputation plummeted in an instant.

panicking at having unintentionally tarnished seira’s reputation, flory rushed to do damage control.

“wait a moment! isn’t it because lady peils has repeatedly said she’d leave the capital if she had the money!?”

“i thought so. i didn’t do anything wrong, but misunderstandings kept arising, so i was frustrated.”

“she gave you the money you wished for, so why…!”

“when did i ask for money? i was going to save up on my own and leave the capital.”

there was no need to ask ‘how’ she intended to save, because in this place, there was no young lady as rich as luna.

karen, who had only believed in flory’s words and sold out luna, asked in surprise:

“what happened with the boutique? if you made her walk all the way to the mansion, it wasn’t your fault but due to circumstances, right?”

“lady flora mocked my poverty. she said i couldn’t even buy a ribbon from the boutique. so, i just wagered whether i could buy a dress or not.”

in other words, she started the quarrel and had to pay the price for losing. she shouldn’t act like she’s the victim.

“the reason she had to walk home… there was a major issue at the baron’s house. one day, suddenly, a horse died, the carriage broke, and the road out was in terrible condition. my father, the servants, and i had a tough time.”

so, it was implied as a kind of revenge. flory angrily retorted”

“hold on! i didn’t do that!”

“really? then tell me who did? i thought you might know.”

“wh…!?”

suddenly, the counter-argument turned into an inquiry. luna pressed flory further, who was taken aback by the unexpected question,

“do you know? the culprit. tell me who it is. i’ll use my second wish here.”

if what luna said was true, it was a crime. while it wouldn’t lead to a major penalty, it was undoubtedly morally condemnable.

everyone’s eyes were on flory. not just rosemary and the young ladies, and karen, but other ladies who had arrived late at the glass garden entrance were also waiting quietly and discreetly for her answer.

luna seized this opportunity to corner flory.

“go on. if you don’t know, just say so. then everyone can be cleared, right? i don’t like suspecting innocent people either. let’s clarify the truth now.”

of course, if it was a lie, she’d have to become a servant.

flory, experiencing this for the first time in her life, gasped. it was her first time being on the receiving end.

she felt like collapsing under the weight of dozens of eyes staring at her. she was outraged and dizzy with fear, wondering why she had to endure this unreasonable treatment.

“i, i…!”

unexpectedly, the answer she chose to give to everyone’s heightened curiosity was:

“i don’t know anything! i really don’t know! i have an urgent matter, so i’ll be going!”

“…huh? lady flora!?”

she ran away. flory hurriedly left the glass garden, clutching the hem of her dress.

surprised, karen chased after her. luna stopped rosemary, who tried to follow.

“it’s okay. just let her go.”

“but she didn’t give any answer, right?”

luna consoled the furious rosemary who seemed intent on extracting an answer:

“no, she did. otherwise, she would have vehemently said no, instead of running away.”

so, it was implied that either flory or one of her acquaintances was the culprit, probably from the group of seira.

luna never thought she would find a clue about the past incident in such an unexpected place and situation. knowing it for certain now was enough for the moment.

“how could this happen?”

“and she acted like the victim?”

while luna, who was the real victim and was deceived, remained calm, the other young ladies couldn’t hide their anger.

the young ladies, who had arrived late and had been secretly listening to the conversation from the entrance of the glass garden, felt the same way.

“i’m sorry for jumping in midway, but do you really have no interest in young lord rodrian?”

“is every rumor known to the world false? from start to finish?”

it was difficult to answer because there were too many rumors spreading. she needed to know what rumors were circulating to refute them.

“i don’t really know how or where the rumors about me have spread. ah, i have no interest in fersen at all. i can say that with certainty.”

so when she replied that way, they became even more outraged.

“my goodness, at this point, i can only think that the rumor was spread maliciously.”

“i’m sorry. i thought badly of you without knowing that.”

“me too. i apologize.”

at this, rosemary, as if she had been personally attacked, passionately defended luna.

“after talking with lady luna and finding out, it was clear that it was all false. such a beautiful and wise person would never do such a nonsensical thing. why would someone with a lover do such a thing? it doesn’t make sense.”

“a lover?”

“you have a lover? really?”

“my goodness! you had a lover? then the rumors really don’t make sense.”

“how could this happen? to someone with a lover, what a rude act…!”

upon hearing about the lover, they were convinced of luna’s innocence.

it was a very helpful explanation, but just because it was helpful didn’t mean one should blab about it. it was very questionable how rosemary even knew about it.

stiff with shock, luna managed to smile and called out to rosemary.

“lady rosemary, can you come here for a moment?”

“…”

rosemary nodded slowly, squeaking  like a broken toy.