The commotion grew louder.
“Miss, let’s go quickly.”
Regina urged Elise while shielding her, hastening their pace. She was worried about getting caught up in unnecessary rumors and causing trouble.
“Wait a moment, Regina.”
However, Elise could not simply walk past when she saw a noblewoman threatening a maid with a sword.
“Miss, you can’t!” Regina tried to stop her but failed. Elise had already started walking over.
“What is going on?” She even spoke up. Regina turned around, looked up at the sky, heaved a deep sigh, and hurried to catch up with Elise.
“This maid stole my bracelet.” The woman wielding the sword did not even look in Elise’s direction, as if telling her not to get involved.
“Are you certain?”
“No! I did not steal it.” The maid saw Elise as a lifeline. She walked on her knees and prostrated herself at Elise’s feet.
“Come over here.” But soon the woman’s vicious hand grabbed the maid’s hair and dragged her away.
Elise’s brow furrowed. Even if one committed a crime, punishment must follow proper legal procedures.
“Wait a moment. You should call the city guards instead.” Elise grabbed the woman’s wrist. Only then did the woman look at Elise. Her eyes were full of rage, making rational thinking seem impossible.
“Listen, just go on your way. Don’t butt into other people’s business.”
Other people’s business, that’s true. Elise had no authority to get involved. But as a human, she could not simply walk away.
“I will report it to the city guards on your behalf.”
“There’s no need for that, it’s a waste of time. I can’t spend my time dealing with this thief.”
“No! I really didn’t steal it. I’m really wronged. Please report it, please.” The maid desperately clung to Elise. To Elise, the maid did not seem like someone who had stolen the bracelet, given that she insisted on her innocence even when her wrist was at risk of being cut off.
“Let this person go.”
“What did you say?”
Elise forcibly removed the woman’s hand.
“You want to find your bracelet, right? I’ll help you find it.”
“What if you can’t find it? Can I then deal with this thief as I please?”
“Then……” Elise looked at the maid, who nodded vigorously, meaning she definitely did not steal it, so they could find it.
Elise did not want to agree to the woman’s unreasonable proposition, but accepted it.
“If that’s what you want. I’d like to speak with this maid for a moment.”
“Why? Are you two conspiring? Do it in front of me.”
This woman was incredibly suspicious. Not wanting to waste time on trivial matters, she glared at Elise.
While the maid looked so pale that it would not be strange if she fainted on the spot.
“Shall I explain the situation in detail?”
“I’ll explain the situation!”
The woman interrupted again.
“I asked this child.”
“Can this maid even speak properly? Listen to me, and if there’s anything else, let that child speak.”
The woman spoke as if unable to stay silent, or she would die.
Since the terrified maid did not seem in a state to speak properly, Elise nodded reluctantly.
“I was on my way back from visiting the Queen Mother.”
Ah, she wanted to show off her closeness with the Queen Mother.
“The dessert the Queen Mother gave me was so delicious that I overate. So I got off the carriage to walk a bit. But the sunlight was scorching hot. Since I needed a maid to hold my parasol, I met this child.”
“You, come here and hold my parasol.”
While the palace maids’ priority was to assist the royals, when free, they would also attend to nobles visiting the palace.
This maid, who happened to have some free time before her next task, held the woman’s parasol instead.
“When I handed over the parasol, this child stared intently at my wrist. That’s where it was, my bracelet. A golden braid with rubies and sapphires alternately set into it.”
Up to this point, the maid did not deny anything.
“Then?”
“As I continued my stroll and was about to return home, my wrist felt empty. When I looked, my bracelet was gone!”
The woman’s account did not provide any evidence that the maid had stolen the bracelet.
“I immediately thought she had stolen it.” Yet the woman stated it as if she had witnessed it herself.
“Did you search the area?”
“Of course I searched. What do you take me for? I’m not that ignorant. But who are you?”
Since Elise did not immediately refute her claims and just listened, the woman’s mood improved a little, and she abruptly asked Elise’s name.
Normally Elise would answer right away, but for some reason she did not want to tell this woman immediately.
“Shouldn’t the one asking reveal their name first, as a courtesy?”
“Ah, right. My name is Camvet Benjamin.”
The daughter of Count Benjamin. Elise immediately recalled studying the list of Tetris’ nobility.
So Count Benjamin is close with Bennett, and thinks Bennett’s power is theirs too.
How foolish.
“I am Elise Worton.”
“Worton, Worton…ah, where is the Worton family from?”
Camvet muttered rudely, then widened her eyes.
“Prince Karan’s fiancée? The one from Bedrokka…the broken engagement?”
“Excuse me!”
Regina, who had been listening silently, stepped forward.
“And who might you be?”
“Regina! Regina Catrina, Baronet.”
Although without a title, Regina outranked the untitled Camvet as a Baronet. Camvet hesitated, then greeted her.
“Quickly apologize to our Miss. Your words were excessive.”
“Miss? Ah……”
Even though she held a title, doing a maid’s work meant she was an insignificant noblewoman. Camvet slowly raised her chin.
But she did apologize, insincerely.
“I’m sorry if I offended you, Miss Elise. My frankness tends to cause these kinds of situations. But being honest isn’t a crime, is it? Lying is the bad thing, like what this child did.”
Regina puffed out her chest, looking ready to pull Camvet’s hair out, so Elise grabbed Regina’s wrist and pulled her back.
“Being honest can also provoke anger.”
Elise made the pointed remark and then looked at the maid.
“Do you remember the path you walked?”
“Yes, I remember.” While Elise and Camvet were conversing, the maid had calmed down somewhat.
“Could you perhaps get a dog?”
“A dog?”
“Yes, it will help prove your innocence.”
The maid nodded and immediately got up and ran off.
“Hey? She’s running away!”
“This is the palace. Where could a palace staff member run off to? Let’s wait.”
Camvet closed her mouth when Elise spoke sternly. Though petite, Elise exuded an immense presence.
Soon after, the maid returned with a small puppy.
In the meantime, Elise had drawn a small magic circle with an engraving pen.
“Well done.”
Elise attached the magic circle to the puppy’s back. A faint glow flickered and disappeared.
“Let’s retrace the path you walked earlier. You said you ate a lot earlier and were full, right? How about another stroll?”
“Fine. But if this stroll ends without proving this child is not a thief, I’ll deal with her as I please.”
“Do as you wish.”
Since there’s absolutely no way that will happen.
The group, led by the puppy, retraced the walking path.
The puppy sniffed around every nook and cranny with soft whimpers.
As time passed, Camvet’s expression grew more smug. In contrast, the maid’s expression…
‘She might faint soon.’
They needed to find it quickly.
But seeing the puppy still hadn’t found anything made Elise uneasy too.
The magic circle Elise had attached to the puppy was designed to find shiny objects.
Moreover, before searching, Elise had the puppy sniff Camvet’s scent.
If all went according to Elise’s plan, it was only a matter of time before the puppy found Camvet’s bracelet.
However, since it wasn’t a trained dog, time was being wasted as it explored its surroundings out of curiosity and marked its territory.
“How much longer must we walk?”
Camvet was slowly getting impatient.
“Let’s stop.”
She eventually halted her steps. The maid’s face turned pale.
“I was humoring this nonsense out of respect for you as the would-be fiancée of Prince Karan, but I can’t any longer…”
Camvet put on airs.
Woof woof, woof woof woof!
At the same time, the puppy started barking. The small pup struggled to enter a grassy area.
“Good boy, good boy. I suppose we don’t need to walk any further.”
Elise picked up the wriggling puppy and turned to Camvet.
****
“Phew, Miss, did you see that woman’s face? It was completely red. I thought she was a pumpkin!”
She did resemble a ripe pumpkin. But Elise just laughed at Regina’s joke rather than agree.
Here’s what actually happened:
The woman had been strolling when she waved at an acquaintance, causing her loosely locked bracelet to fall off without her noticing.
Camvet had insisted all along that the maid was eyeing her bracelet, but the maid claimed she didn’t see it.
Camvet only noticed it was missing much later, and wrongly accused the innocent maid.
“Thank goodness you were there, Miss. That poor maid would have been in huge trouble if not for you.”
Regina showered Elise with endless praise for being awesome.
After helping Elise change into an indoor dress, Regina left with the laundry.
But she quickly returned.
“Regina, you’re back already.”
Elise casually flipped through a book as she remarked.
“Miss…we have a visitor.”
Regina was still holding the laundry basket.
“A visitor? Who?”
“A maid of the Queen Mother.”
Elise raised an eyebrow.
Why had the Queen Mother’s maid come all this way? Could it be that since Camvet bragged about being close to the Queen Mother, she couldn’t contain her curiosity and came?
