Chapter 93
Wow.
How could she be so stupid?
As I thought so to myself, I stared blankly at Ophelia for a moment. Obviously, I didn’t think she was an idiot… well, it seemed that I had to revise my thoughts.
“…I don’t think that’s going to work.”
“Why?”
Ophelia asked curiously.
“No one will believe you.”
“If I organize it properly and let them know… would it still not work?”
“No way.”
I touched my forehead. Even though I knew Ophelia was naive, I never thought it would be this much.
“In the first place, Cassius himself confessed. Because of that, the situation is over, and it’d be difficult to convince people without irreversible evidence.”
“Really?”
Ophelia tilted her head.
“I think they will believe sister enough…”
The urge to laugh out loud bubbled in my stomach.
Did she say they would believe me? My words, which have already been hammered into the whole empire as a mad lady? Even though the words to tell her not to say nonsense went up my throat, I didn’t say anything.
The reason, of course…
‘I don’t want to break Ophelia’s heart.’
I took a close look at her Ophelia. My sister, who was as naive as an idiot but was strong enough when she moved for me, and my sister, who saved me from a crisis several times… how could I say such harsh things to her?
“…I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”
I blinked.
It was because I never expected an apology from her at all.
“Come to think of it, sister must be under a lot of pressure right now… I said something very immature.”
“…Don’t talk nonsense. What’s there to apologize for?”
“Still.”
Ophelia bowed her head.
“Still… I’m sorry.”
“….”
I swallowed dry saliva.
Perhaps the person who should be sorry was me for ignoring Ophelia’s opinion without thinking about it properly.
‘But, the straight method is impossible.’
Since there was no proper evidence, there was no way to properly inform anyone in the situation where everyone in the empire openly knew that Cassius was the culprit. However, if we orchestrated it with someone behind the scenes…
‘There’s no one to save him.’
I let out a sigh.
Cassius Brudenell was so proud of himself that he didn’t make a single proper ally. If he had any true friends or people who were indebted to him, I would’ve visited them, but unfortunately, there wasn’t a single person like that.
‘But… what about the Aisle?’
The best intelligence organization in the empire was reliable but lacked a proper identity. Even so, loyalty, according to the family, had been passed down from generation to generation.
‘….’
I shut my eyes.
“Sister.”
“Hm?”
“You know… this is just my opinion.”
Ophelia hesitantly opened her mouth again.
“I can spread rumors.”
“What?”
“Rumors.”
She repeated her words slowly and clearly before continuing.
“I made quite a few friends. It’s all thanks to her sister. If it hadn’t been for you…”
“Yes, I see what you mean. So, you’re going to spread rumors for me in favor of Cassius?”
I didn’t ask how she had made so many friends and how it was all because of me. It was because it wasn’t surprising considering Ophelia’s character, the position she had gained from marrying David, and her attractive looks.
While for me, well… it was nothing new.
“Yes.”
Seeing Ophelia nod her head, I took a deep breath.
‘It’s foolish.’
Far from achieving the goal, it would only end up ruining Ophelia’s reputation. Nonetheless…
‘…Isn’t it better than doing nothing?’
A small voice muttered from one side of my head.
‘Then, are you just going to wait for Cassius to die this way?’
‘….’
‘You know there’s no other way. You’ll have to do something.’
At that moment, making up my mind, I gazed straight at Ophelia.
“You must not spread rumors that Cassius is innocent. On the contrary, it will only harm you.”
Ophelia bit her lip before pouring out her words with enthusiasm, “It doesn’t matter. As long as I can help sister, I don’t care what happens. Really!”
“… Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
I gazed at Ophelia intently.
Her words weren’t entirely without truth. Nevertheless, it was just unreasonable to spread the rumor that Cassius was innocent directly.
What we need…
‘It’s a public enemy.’
After creating a public enemy, we could reveal the truth that the enemy actually tried to destroy the Duke of Brudenell. In other words, in this case, the public enemy was the Kingdom of Bynell.
I leaned over to Ophelia.
“The rumor is…”
Ophelia, who heard my explanations, nodded her head eagerly.
“I’ll do that.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Making up my mind, I slowly turned towards Ophelia and told her what to do.
“….!”
Her eyes widened a moment later.
“Is that really all I have to do?”
“Don’t even think about doing anything else.”
I uttered firmly and added.
“You might get hurt, and the last thing I want in this world is you getting hurt. Do you understand?”
“Yes!”
Of course, I couldn’t just leave it to Ophelia alone.
I, too, had to act.
I also told the members of the Aisle to spread rumors quietly in the streets, but I didn’t do the stupid thing of spreading rumors myself. Since I had become a person of interest, if I spread malicious rumors about the Kingdom of Bynell, my intentions would be obvious.
Ophelia, on the other hand, seemed to have spread her rumors well without any damage.
…Yes, it was usually the scariest thing when a good person did something bad. I didn’t go near my angelic sister, and the more I did, the more Ophelia became more and more popular.
And finally…
“There are rumors about the Kingdom of Bynell.”
Princess Hermia frowned.
“Has the Young Lady heard anything?”
“I didn’t?”
I put on a puzzled expression and added.
“I’d have to meet someone to listen to such a thing, right?”
“The Young Lady has a younger sister, don’t you? She’s been very active in the social world lately as well.”
“Is that so?”
I titled my head, asking back.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been apart. As you know, her husband and I…”
“A competitor?”
“More precisely, the child in the womb is his competitor.”
“Huh.”
Hermia snorted.
“You talk well with a child who doesn’t even exist.”
“I just did it the way Your Highness told me.”
“…Anyway, if the Young Lady is using a trick, be careful. It seems to be quite noisy even within the Kingdom.”
Finally!
I swallowed the cheers inwardly.
If the Kingdom of Bynell was conscious, the rumors must have spread much more widely than I thought.
“Help me.”
I said without hesitation.
“…To save Cassius.”
“Hmm.”
One of Hermia’s eyebrows went up.
“Cassius… You seem to have gotten quite close with the Lord?”
“….”
“Well, that’s not bad either. After all, the Young Lady has no choice but to live with your husband.”
Even though her tone was strangely jarring, I didn’t care too much because it was true anyway. Yes, now I couldn’t imagine a future without Cassius Brudenell. Even if he were to die, everyone would think that I was in the position of being his wife.
But one thing that was strange was…
‘…I don’t feel bad.’
In the past, I would have avoided getting into this situation. However, look at it now… I came in on my own, and I was running around with my feet to save Cassius.
“Still, I would like to hear how to save the Lord with these kinds of means…”
I swallowed dry saliva at her question.
“If Your Highness helps, I’ll let you know.”
“Isn’t that something I’ll find out anyway?”
Hermia made an amused expression.
“Whether I help or not, as long as I don’t interfere, the Young Lady will eventually play out her hand to achieve what she wants.”
“Still, there’s no need for me to show you in advance.”
Eventually, Hermia nodded her head.
“All right, I’ll help you, but I can’t do such vulgar things like spreading rumors myself.”
“Of course not.”
I brought up the request that I had been thinking about before coming here.
“Please hold a formal trial.”
“….!”
“Your Highness led the investigation. Cassius didn’t receive a single proper trial and was imprisoned through summary judgment. With jurors… I want to ask for a formal trial.”
“It should be in his own will.”
“If I say I need a formal trial… Cassius will unconditionally follow my words.”
For a moment, there was silence. And, what came out of Hermia’s mouth…
“Ha… Haha, hahahahaha!”
It was a very hearty laugh.
Startled, I just stared at her in surprise. Hermia let out a laugh that didn’t match the lofty princess image at all. Eventually, she spoke while wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Cassius Brudenell… He really found the right mate.”
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