Failed to Train the Beast Male Lead

“But there is evidence and witnesses, how can it be uncertain?”

The servant Margaret Chesworth had brought along jumped up in protest.

“I didn’t say anything for fear of getting scolded, but I occasionally saw the young master was not present at night.”

“That’s right.”

After watching their step, the servants gave testimony favoring Margaret Chesworth.

They likely could no longer work at the Duke’s Mansion, but had been paid enough to leave.

Carol quietly listened to the harsh back-and-forth to grasp the situation.

“The missing item was some jewel, and they still haven’t found it.”

Noah cupped his hand to Carol’s ear and whispered. She nodded once, then stood upright.

Her coming to meet him had now placed Noah in the most difficult position.

“That may be my fault. He was with me in the garden during that time.”

The prickly gazes shifted from Mrs. Wells to Carol.

She had thought this would clear up the misunderstanding, but Carol was mistaken.

Margaret’s servant asked in a mocking tone,

“And that’s supposed to be evidence?”

The easiest way for a noble house to dismiss a servant is by pinning a false charge on them.

“What do you mean by that?”

Over the years, it was commonplace to the point of tripping for nobles to have servants they particularly favored.

And there were many time-honored methods for ladies to expel such thorn-in-the-side servants.

“The fact that you two met is not proof the child did not steal.”

“……”

Among them, the most obvious yet effective was to make the servant disliked by the family head, reducing them to a stray hat blowing in the wind.

But Carol had no way of knowing that fact.

“Could you please tell us what you were doing outside in the garden at that time?”

“…That was…”

Carol looked down at Noah.

The honest truth that the Council of Elders had brought him, and the Duke had never seen him, didn’t seem like it would improve this situation.

And she didn’t want to put Noah, who had been boldly holding his head high until just before, in an even more difficult position by making him look like a criminal with his head hung low. Carol patted Noah’s back reassuringly.

Carol thought it would be over once she arrived and explained Noah’s alibi.

But an unexpected question came up.

“How do we know you didn’t conspire to steal it together?”

Those words made the surrounding gazes flicker with suspicion.

“If so, you would have sold the jewel and run away.”

Carol tried not to lose her composure. If she lost her cool and rambled here, it wouldn’t look like surprise at being falsely accused, but the guilty stammering of someone caught red-handed.

“Well, if she’s behaving this shamelessly, is it really so far-fetched that they stole it but then returned acting as if nothing happened?”

They had outright pegged Carol as the culprit and were driving the accusation home.

The other servants unfamiliar with Carol seemed to find Margaret Chesworth’s side more credible, exchanging glances with each other. Seeing things turning against Carol, Margaret’s servant drove the nail further.

“So what sort of conversation did you two have in the garden on such a cold night?”

“……”

“Weren’t you discussing where to hide the jewel? You do have plenty of time to wander the mansion alone.”

Noah’s body trembled. Though he couldn’t fully follow the flow of the conversation, he seemed to sense things were going against them.

He had done nothing wrong, so there was no need to hang his head.

“Then I can be a witness too. I also saw you wandering alone.”

When Carol defiantly met her gaze to refute her, the servant retreated a step.

“Nonsense! Unless ordered by the young lady, I’m always by her side. And why would I steal her belongings?”

Sneaking out to the town district. She lies so smoothly without batting an eye.

“Well then, where were you on the day I returned from the garden, Miss Kate?”

“That was…”

If there was no evidence or stolen item produced, she would grab one of their ankles in the same manner.

At Carol’s retort, Margaret, who had been silently observing the conversation, stepped forward.

She always feigned fragility, preferring when the other party extended a hand, but if not, she had no intention of waiting idly.

The preceding conversation was merely laying the groundwork for this moment.

“It must have been when I sent her on an errand, briefly leaving my side. It’s a monthly occurrence.”

The air grew heavier as Margaret took the fore.

“As Mrs. Wells said, I will remain still until clear evidence emerges.”

“…Yes. I will ensure ample compensation is made for the loss that occurred within the Duke’s Mansion.”

Mrs. Wells respectfully bowed to resolve the situation.

But Margaret did not seem intent on concluding the moment there, folding her arms as she looked down at Noah.

“However, I must know about this boy now.”

“Lady Margaret, the hour grows late.”

Mrs. Wells spoke with a resigned expression.

“There is time to hear the story.”

But Margaret just smiled dismissively. Had a single word made her willing to postpone, she would not have broached the topic.

“……”

“Mrs. Wells, this is a question I can surely ask, even if I am not yet the mistress of the house, is it not?”

Her elegant tone simultaneously admonished Mrs. Wells.

Carol took a fresh look at Margaret Chesworth.

Though considered plainer than her sister, in the winter castle’s night her steely gray eyes set beneath shining dirty blonde hair glinted sharply.

Wearing a dark blue wool dress with a cloak draped over it, she resembled a painting come to life.

Carol felt a bit ashamed at having so casually pitied her before.

She had only thought of Margaret as an unrequited, sacrificial victim of love.

In the novel, Margaret Chesworth was depicted quite pitiably.

As a character sacrificed for the Duke, there was little description of her psyche, the most frequent portrayal being that she waited for, worried over, and loved the Duke.

‘If her personality allowed her to come all this way alone after receiving her family’s permission, she could hardly be meek.’

Carol had rashly assumed her character based solely on the situations shown in the novel.

But the Margaret Chesworth she saw in reality was not the frail woman dabbing tears with her sleeve, hoping the Duke would come to her.

“Noah is from the Winterox family’s collateral branch. The family head passed away early, and after the mistress remarried, we took the child in.”

An answer was prepared in case the child’s identity was exposed.

But the Duke also learning of Noah’s existence was the bigger predicament.

‘I can only imagine how disappointed the Duke will be…’

The heavy sigh came unbidden.

If she mishandled this situation now, she would be too ashamed to face the Duke later.

“You raised such a child in the annex?”

“Very few of the servants knew about this child.” Kate added.

At her words, Mrs. Wells’ gaze turned coolly toward the Duke’s servants, who immediately bowed their heads under her withering look.

“He has been staying in the annex as his treatment here has not yet been decided.”

Despite Mrs. Wells’ composed response, Margaret did not easily discard her suspicions. She slowly approached and stood before Noah. His silver hair and burning red eyes beneath reminded one of the Duke.

“This child bears an uncanny resemblance to the Duke.”

“They share blood. The Winterox line runs strong, determining inborn traits.”

“……”

“I can show you the family tree if needed.”

At Mrs. Wells’ assertion that she could produce evidence, Margaret shook her head.

“That much is sufficient.”

Her suspicion of him being an illegitimate child seemed an overreach.

But even so, this child remained a thorn in her side.

If he proved too exceptional, he may one day covet the heir’s position.

However, that was a matter for after she became mistress of the house.

Margaret looked at Noah’s hand, gripping Carol’s dress hem until his knuckles turned white.

“If you two met in secret, did you approach him knowing who he was?”

“…That is not the case.”

It was not that she approached knowing his identity, but rather he approached, and she realized it.

“With such a resemblance, how could a servant attending the Duke not recognize him?”

“I had my suspicions, but…!”

The situation began taking a different turn, as if it had been waiting for the moment of Carol’s arrival.

The attention that had been focused on Noah instantly shifted to Carol.

“Then what was your purpose in meeting him?”

“…There was no particular purpose.”

Margaret stroked the fur of her cloak as if performing, letting out a low laugh.

“There is no one here who would believe such words.”