Episode 51

The duke’s voice turned ominous, delivering the final blow.

“If you really doubt it, I can show you the ledgers.”

“T-that… what…”

The marquis stuttered, looking dazed for a moment before turning to Diana.

Had he not anticipated such a turn of events?

Diana’s face flushed with sudden panic.

“M-Marquis, wait…”

It seemed she was trying to defuse the situation, but the marquis was quicker.

“Then where did Diana consume apricots?”

“Pecan pie!”

I quickly replied before the duke could be put in a difficult position.

“Diana brought it. She wanted to share it with me!”

“T-that’s…”

Diana’s face turned pale at my outburst.

It was always me who was caught off guard in unexpected situations.

Seeing the heroine now cornered felt very strange.

‘…Why did you do that, Diana?’

I truly wanted to get along with you in this life.

“I’ve never had this much to eat before.”

Honestly, if she had only said that, I might have been uncertain.

If I hadn’t seen her smiling slyly at Edwin when he entered with her maid.

‘Could it be that she did this in the previous life too?’

I couldn’t remember.

What was clear was that Diana had tried to use me.

The reason was probably that…

‘She wanted to build an image of herself being bullied by me to turn the situation around.’

Her failure to heal Joshua and my sudden sponsorship.

The fall of the loyal dog who had supported her wholeheartedly.

All these factors likely made her feel her position was threatened.

‘Who knows, if I hadn’t recognized the allergy and used my healing power right away, she might have cleverly pointed out my incompetence.’

Diana’s behavior was far from the angelic heroine described in the novel.

But that fact wasn’t particularly surprising.

Unfortunately, I had experienced such situations too many times in my previous life to be shocked by deviations from the novel.

So many times that I was utterly sick of it.

Therefore, I could confidently say,

‘There is no such thing as a perfect protagonist in this world!’

Even I wasn’t a perfect villain.

So, how could the heroine be exactly like in the novel?

‘…Right, Diana?’

I calmly opened my mouth as I looked at Diana, who was staring at me frozen.

“And, when we were eating the pecan pie, I thought I smelled apricots!”

“Hmm?”

“It tasted different from the walnut tart the kitchen made a few days ago!”

“Is that so?”

The duke glanced down at me and then raised his chin as if to say, ‘What now?’

“Belze! What are you talking about!”

“That’s absurd!”

Diana and the marquis shouted simultaneously.

The marquis quickly denied my words.

“That can’t be! I’ve often bought that pecan pie for Diana before!”

“…”

“She’s never had trouble breathing before. Suddenly, there’s apricot in it? Unless you and your maid tampered with it, this is absurd…!”

“Watch your tongue, Marquis.”

The duke effectively silenced the marquis, who was rambling in his agitation.

“We’ll soon know whether it makes sense or not. I’ve sent someone to the store.”

“When… When did you say?”

The marquis looked bewildered.

The duke’s sharp gaze cut through the air as he spoke curtly.

“Just now.”

“Heh…”

The marquis let out a dry laugh, as if he couldn’t believe the duke’s words.

But I understood immediately what the duke meant by “just now.”

‘Did he send the Shadow Corps?’

I glanced at Edwin, who also seemed to understand, his expression calm.

I looked back and forth between them, filled with admiration for how they didn’t dismiss my words.

‘Having these people on my side…’

I felt incredibly secure and happy.

‘Our duke is so handsome, competent, and perfect from head to toe…!’

Feeling proud, I looked at Diana with a sense of triumph.

She seemed to have not anticipated this development, biting her thumb nervously like a little child.

Seeing her like that, I felt a pang of doubt.

‘…Was I too harsh?’

Despite my lingering anger and disgust, she was still just a five-year-old child.

I began to question whether this entire plan even originated from Diana’s mind.

‘If she admits she knew about the apricot and apologizes… maybe I can let it go.’

Although the thought of her scheming against me still angered me, logically, it seemed more likely that the Marquis of Barrelotte was the mastermind.

Lost in thought while watching Diana, our eyes met.

I stiffened.

‘Why…’

Her purple eyes, fixed on me, sparkled with pure interest.

The panic and anxiety she had shown earlier seemed like an illusion.

Her gaze was like that of someone who had found an amusing toy, sending a chill down my spine.

Knock, knock.

At that moment, someone knocked on the already open door.

“Duke, it’s me.”

It was the butler.

As everyone’s attention turned towards him, he approached with a calm demeanor.

And he delivered the verdict.

“It was the pecan pie.”

“What?!”

“Here, the ingredients list from the shop.”

The duke took the paper the butler handed him and tossed it carelessly to the marquis without even reading it.

Flutter!

The marquis grabbed the paper frantically as it fluttered in the air.

His effort was in vain, as the butler immediately explained the contents.

“The filling used in the pie dough contains a small amount of apricot jam.”

“This… this can’t be…”

Finally, the marquis’s face crumpled in despair.

He glared at the paper again, but nothing changed.

“Now, let’s discuss responsibility, as you suggested.”

“…!”

The situation had completely reversed.

The duke smiled ominously at the flustered marquis.

“You understand that my second son could have been seriously harmed by the pecan pie your girl brought, right, Marquis?”

“What? What is this about…”

“My maid was instructed to share it with Edwin and Joshua as well.”

“W-what…!”

The marquis immediately turned to Diana and her maid.

“Why did you do such a foolish thing…!”

“I… I just wanted everyone to enjoy something tasty together…”

Diana stammered, trembling.

“I-I’m sorry, Marquis, Duke, sob…!”

“…”

“I really didn’t know the pecan pie contained apricot. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…”

Diana whimpered with tears welling up in her eyes.

She looked pitiful and heart-wrenching.

It almost made me forget the chilling look she had given me just moments before.

‘So that’s why Edwin came to my room?’

I glanced at the crying heroine with a hint of suspicion.

My fingertips were still cold.

I didn’t want to think this way, but the unease I felt about Diana kept pushing my thoughts to extremes.

‘…What if she used the pecan pie as an excuse to lure Edwin to my room?’

If she showed him a scene of her struggling to breathe due to the allergy, making him misunderstand that I did something to her…

“I-I didn’t know either! I’m not the chef of that shop. How could I have known there was apricot jam inside?”

The marquis quickly shouted in support of the sniffling Diana.

The duke frowned at the irresponsible remark.

“As her guardian, are you telling me you didn’t know the food she was eating could be dangerous for her?”

“Th-that’s…”

“This is truly the worst. You admit yourself that you repeatedly bought food that could trigger her allergy. This sounds like child abuse. I could report you for that.”

“C-child abuse!”

The marquis jumped in his place, knowing well the fate of the loyal dog who was caught for child abuse.

He began speaking rapidly.

“Of course, I knew Diana had an apricot allergy. I was well aware!”

“…”

“But how can one check every single food item! And Diana has eaten it before without any issues…”

The marquis’s groveling tone was a stark contrast to his earlier assertiveness about assigning blame.

“Let’s set aside the child abuse.”

The duke wasn’t letting up on the marquis’s excuses.

“How do you plan to handle the fact that you brought a toxic substance into the duke’s residence?”

“T-toxic substance…?”

“Yes. The food your girl brought almost killed my second son.”

“Gasp! Almost killed him! What a horrifying thing to say…!”

“But it wasn’t horrifying when you were insisting on assigning blame for her almost dying, was it?”

“…”

The marquis turned pale and finally fell silent.

It was only natural.

Every word the duke said was a reflection of the nonsense the marquis had spouted earlier.

‘Wow, he’s really tearing him apart!’

Watching the duke methodically dismantle the marquis’s arguments, I felt a strong sense of catharsis.

The marquis, now looking thoroughly disheveled, tried to offer a weak defense.

“…But she bought the gift with good intentions, didn’t she?”

“…”

“In the end, only Diana got sick, and nothing else happened…”

“Enough with the nonsense.”

The duke spat out in annoyance.

“Apologize formally for insulting the House of Kalios by accusing us of serving poison to our guests.”

The marquis’s face was ashen, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly.

The room was thick with tension as everyone waited for the marquis’s response.