Chapter 69: Chapter 69

at this point, seira felt something was amiss.

if someone hits the mark, they should blush, but not only luna, even the man who claimed that flory was taken away was mocking seira.

“it seems like it. where did i steal the young lord from? from whom?”

with a scoff as if there was no one who could do such a thing, seira looked back at flory. although she owed luna, there was no loyalty to uphold when pushed to a corner.

“lady flory flora…! if lady flory had a conversation with someone and you took that person away, that’s what you mean, right?”

thanks to this, flory, who was caught by the hair again like last time, was startled and didn’t know what to do.

although luna was the one who stole that man, they were not close enough for her to send seira to question him.

luna was lost at the appearance of a familiar face. again, her. what kind of bad connection did they have in the previous life to get entangled like this? and with malicious lies too.

“alright. if i really took the young lord from lady flory, i’ll give him back.”

“…young lady?”

at this, antes widened his eyes. he was a person who always handled things smoothly, so this was quite a strange sight. either way, luna said sternly again:

“young lord, if you came to see me after seeing with that person, please go back.”

of course, she didn’t mean it. there was no way antes would choose someone else over her.

even knowing flory was spouting nonsense, luna said this for a simple reason. she wanted to use this opportunity to clear her name from all the false accusations so far.

although she had met antes once when she went to return the check to seira’s mansion, it was funny that she didn’t recognize him.

despite understanding luna’s intention, antes couldn’t hide his displeasure. he thought luna would say, ‘what nonsense. this man is mine.’

he felt an inexplicable sense of disappointment, and abruptly turned to flory, who was still being wary.

“who are you?”

he was even more annoyed since he didn’t remember her face. who was this woman who put him in such an annoying situation?

at this, flory was startled and stuttered. she thought they weren’t close, but she didn’t expect that he wouldn’t recognize her at all.

“who on earth are you to claim that i left you for lady luna?”

“lady flory…?”

despite antes’s reproach, flory didn’t answer, and seira also desperately sought an answer from her.

in this way, seira, who helped with good intentions, would also not be able to escape criticism.

what to do. in a situation no different from the last time, flory’s heart started to beat as if it would burst.

she would have run away if she could, but too many people surrounded her. it was obvious that she would be caught immediately even if she tried to escape.

but as it is, she would be humiliated enough to never go outside the mansion for the rest of her life. amidst her worries, flory played her worst card.

“why are you pretending not to know me?”

it was a plan to betray antes and become the victim. it wasn’t a lie anyway. the maid and the escort knight were witnesses.

if she claimed that he was charmed by luna peils and pretended not to know her to put her in a tight spot, somehow, she could manage to wriggle out of this situation.

suddenly finding himself in trouble, antes’s expression became grim.

“what?”

“young lord… young lord is being deceived by that woman! despite having a lover already, she’s meeting the young lord to torment others!”

at her words, the surroundings fell into silence. how could she choose such an absurd method?

truly picking the worst of the worst, luna swallowed a chuckle at flory.

“really? who’s my lover then?”

“…it’s antes vincent, isn’t it?!”

why on earth was she asking that? she should just confess and apologize at the very least.

with an intention to look more pitiful, flory took out a handkerchief from her bosom and wiped the corners of her eyes.

however.

“so, i am that antes vincent, what exactly did lady luna deceive me about?”

following antes’s irritated words, flory seemed as if she had been struck by lightning.

“hey. why aren’t you answering? i’m asking what nonsense you’re talking about since i am lady luna’s lover.”

he wasn’t even mad at such a stupid and shallow opponent. having endured fersen for a long time, antes had quite a lot of patience.

since no more rebuttals were coming, luna, alongside flory, turned to seira, who was stiffening up.

“i introduced myself late. it would have been nice if you had told me before selling to me lady granada again. you must have seen him once at your mansion, but you don’t seem to remember? this is my lover, young lord antes vincent.”

with a smooth smile, she leaned slightly on antes’ chest to appear affectionate, which was an added touch. originally, it was more shocking to smile in such situations.

taken aback by the unexpected physical contact, antes hesitated for a moment. however, he soon wrapped his arm around luna’s waist as if nothing had happened.

only then did seira recall where she had seen him before. it was when luna had come to deliver the check to her, who had been in solitude realizing the strangeness of fersen, and he was the man who accompanied her.

back then, she hadn’t paid attention as her mind was completely on luna, but recalling now, she remembered that he was there with her.

“it’s strange to say, but i haven’t met any other man besides the young lord.”

that was the end of luna’s explanation. since there were those who had seen them at the coming-of-age ceremony, they explained to the curious onlookers on their behalf.

that man was indeed the rumored antes vincent, and they had been dating for a long time, even dancing at the party.

so, what exactly was lady granada insisting on all this while? the audience murmured.

claiming that a man, whom she didn’t even know exactly, was snatched away from someone was absurd.

seira, who had blurted out ridiculous words in front of everyone, was unable to blink her eyes and just gaped.

flory seemed frozen in time, unable to move.

“i hope you would apologize if the misunderstanding is cleared. it’s quite shocking to be accused of snatching away men twice. i’ve never done such a thing.”

if she received an apology in front of so many people, there wouldn’t be anyone left who believed in past false rumors. luna urged seira, finding it an unexpected opportunity.

“i hope you’re not thinking of tripping over crying like last time? i don’t want to see you run away twice, so i hope you apologize this time.”

“i, i…”

cornered, seira stuttered. it was clear that she had made a huge mistake, but she couldn’t bring herself to apologize to luna.

no, she didn’t want to. it felt as if she was embracing all the torment she had suffered in the past.

and she couldn’t run away either, so it felt like she was a mouse trapped in poison. a foolish mouse that put itself in danger by stepping forward.

since seira couldn’t articulate a proper word, everyone was waiting for her excuse or apology.

“lady seira?”

fersen, who had left for a moment, returned to seira. approaching the trembling seira, he noticed luna.

“…!”

when did she, who showed a dreary response saying she had no interest in parties, attend a party dressed up beautifully with that bastard antes!

seeing them look so friendly, fersen’s face turned ferociously grim. although he needed to check on seira’s well-being first, seeing the glittering luna, he didn’t have the leisure.

as fersen only glared at luna without uttering a word, antes stepped in front.

“your lover committed a grave rudeness towards lady luna, so stop pretending to be the victim and go apologize, will you?”

as if protecting luna from a villain, the sight twisted fersen’s guts.

“that’s absurd. you must have plotted something again! you’ve always been like this since we were young, right? you didn’t hesitate to steal what i had, using dirty tricks.”

fersen touched upon the unresolved past of antes.

in his mind, antes had always tormented him through nefarious means. though unsure of the current situation, it was evident that antes had pulled off something despicable again.

stained by his wickedness, luna too must have colluded and dominated the situation.

“you still live in such a paranoid delusion, your life is pitiful. if you can’t believe it, ask your lover, alright? about the mistake she made herself.”

the designated seira gulped and grabbed fersen’s sleeve. only then did he shift his gaze to seira and supported her.

what on earth had happened, he seemed ready to even thrash someone.

however, fersen didn’t doubt seira. it wasn’t because he trusted her completely. rather, he had no trust in antes and luna at all and was convinced that this was some sort of trap. just like how luna had deceived him in the past trial.

“i believe in lady seira’s innocence. just like you fooled me last time, you must have fooled her this time as well.”

at those words, seira’s pupils quivered. until a moment ago, she was consumed by the thought that she had committed a grave mistake, but now, she felt like fersen’s words could be true.

no, she was certain. luna and antes had set up a trap to embarrass her in front of many people. there was no need to wonder ‘why?’ since they were indeed the type of people capable of such acts.

due to fersen’s comfort, seira who had found a bit of stability, quietly nodded her head.

“he’s gone mad. totally mad.”

antes who had been watching, held back a swear word about to jump out and expressed his emotions. luna’s emotions were the same.

how can a person be so consistent? i thought seira would be a bit different, but no. they really were of the same ilk.

“there’s no need to deal with such scum. lodge a formal protest later, for now, it’s better to take care of the young lady’s body.”

having said this, fersen took a quick glance at luna and antes before hastily leaving the place. as if achieving a mental victory and hurrying away.

antes tried to catch seira and fersen, but luna grabbed his sleeve.

“forget it. if we catch them, we’ll just have to endure that frustrating talk.”

“so we just let them go like this?”

at this, luna gave a meaningful glance to the surroundings. then, it could be seen that the nobles were ridiculing the two who had just spouted nonsense and disappeared.

“it’s not the end. it’s just the beginning. it won’t be long before this spreads throughout the capital, right?”

there was no method as effective as using public opinion to ruin someone. it was also the tactic that she had suffered from so far.

moreover, there were others involved; it wasn’t over yet.

“and it seems that there’s a separate mastermind who orchestrated this situation, to catch them, we need to catch that person.”

at this, flory, who was slowly backing away, stopped as if she was struck by lightning.

“good timing. you can also hear what you missed last time. i’ll forgive you for running away once. but not twice. if you say you don’t know again and run away… you know, right?”

swallowing the words about becoming a maid, flory who had held her breath, sat down on the floor.