Chapter 33
Fiorette frowned when she spotted Richelle approaching before giving her the prize.
“Stay back, you don’t have to come out.”
“ …”
There was no response from Richelle to Fiorette’s words.
Instead, she remained stiff and rigid, her head bowed low.
As Richelle’s sudden approach delayed the ceremony, attention focused on her.
Count Ricardo told Richelle to step back, but she didn’t move.
Fiorette sighed, grabbed her by the shoulders, and was about to push her away when she caught sight of something sparkling in her bent arms.
A blade glinted in her hand.
A dagger.
“Watch out!”
As soon as I realized it was a dagger, my body moved first.
I pushed Fiorette, who was standing right next to me, to the ground. As a result, Richelle also fell sideways.
As she fell, the sharp dagger clattered to the floor with a heavy thud, and for a moment there was silence.
As I froze at the suddenness, Aden’s voice, quick to assess the situation, rang out.
“Seize her.”
No sooner had Aden finished his sentence than the waiting knights seized Richelle.
Pinned to the ground, Richelle bared her teeth.
“Get off me! Let me go! I have to kill her… I have to kill her, I have to kill her so I can live! Let go of me!”
“Stay still!”
“Let me go! Let me go! Fiorette… Fiorette! I’m not guilty of anything! You, you’re the one who did everything wrong! You’re the one who tormented me… the one who made my good life miserable! You’re the one who made me unable to live! I don’t need you. Without you, She’d let me go! So, get off me! I’ll stab you!”
Richelle struggled against the knights, who were twice her size.
She struggled so hard that the knights who held her down trembled.
Count Ricardo, who had been unable to react to what had happened, regained his senses and began to organize his surroundings.
As she struggled, she scratched the floor with her palm, her nails slipping out and spraying blood everywhere.
The knights lifted Richelle, muffled her screams, and dragged her off the stage.
Richelle’s voice, still screaming, echoed in the distance as they disappeared.
“What the…”
Fiorette, who had fallen to the floor with me, muttered helplessly as she stared at the scene.
The calm, composed Fiorette looked completely different, shaken and scared by the unexpected event.
Fiorette’s face showed that she hadn’t expected it either, frightened and surprised.
“Are you okay?”
Fiorette and Richelle were so close that not even an arm could fit between them.
Even though I pushed her quickly, Richelle could have been faster.
I checked Fiorette’s body for injuries.
Fiorette’s gaze slowly returned to me.
Confusion filled his eyes.
Fiorette frowned, her eyes wide.
“Why did you…?”
She mumbled, her gaze rolling downward.
Following her line of sight, I saw my shoulder soaked in blood.
The sight of it made my shoulder start to burn.
“Why are you…?”
“Sierra!”
Aden’s urgent voice cut off Fiorette’s words before she could continue.
Aden sat down on the floor, examined my shoulder, and frowned.
Without hesitation, he stripped off his coat and tore off his white shirt, wrapping it directly around my shoulder.
“Even though the dagger wasn’t long, it was sharp. It didn’t pierce all the way through, so it didn’t tear your muscles or bone. Can you move your arm?”
“No problem.”
I moved my arm slightly, and Aden nodded, examining the wound.
“Not too deep…,” he muttered quietly, then sighed.
He stares at me, his eyes sharp as if he’s asking me what I’ve done.
But instead of arguing, he took the medicine and potion from a knight standing behind him.
Aden said nothing more as he healed my shoulder wound in silence.
I stare at Aden’s silence, and when I turn my head, Fiorette bites her lip and gets up.
Aden’s gaze followed Fiorette as she rose to her feet.
Fiorette stared at me with conflicted eyes and turned away.
My eyes followed her as she left in the direction Richelle had disappeared, and then I shook my head.
“’She’s leaving without saying thank you.”
“I didn’t expect one.”
“Then why did you save her? Should have just let her get stabbed. Now you’re hurt for no reason.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
I winced at the throbbing pain in my shoulder.
How long has it been since the last rumor, and now there’s a new one?
Well, thanks, Richelle, for creating another distraction to cover up the last one.
“I should have just let her get stabbed.”
I swallowed a deep sigh and closed my eyes.
* * *
The tournament that had been going so well ended abruptly because of Richelle’s actions.
We couldn’t even hold a proper award ceremony, and the festival planned afterward had to be canceled.
Count Ricardo was very disappointed, but there was no way to force it, so he had to reluctantly give up.
Thanks to Aden’s prompt treatment, my shoulder injury from Richelle didn’t get worse.
With the help of that expensive potion, the shallow cut on my skin healed quickly.
It was quite an experience to feel the pain in my shoulder disappear so quickly.
I found myself oddly grateful to the church that makes those potions. Maybe I should donate some money.
“I’m sorry, Lady Brilloxen. It’s my fault you got caught up in such unfortunate events since yesterday.”
“As I said before, Count, it’s not your fault. Don’t worry about it.”
“But it’s certainly my fault that I let you get into trouble twice. I’ll be more prepared for the next tournament, keeping in mind that this could happen again in the future.”
I couldn’t stop Count Ricardo from bowing his head in apology, so I just smiled at him quietly. Meanwhile, Aden came back inside after questioning Richelle.
“How did it go?”
“She’s out of her mind because when I tried to talk to her and ask her questions, she just kept repeating the same thing. One minute she was screaming with rage, and the next she was sobering up and babbling, and the next she was screaming again.”
“What did Lady Bayron say?”
“Lady Bayron left.”
It was Count Ricardo who answered my question to Aden. Surprised, I turned to look at him. Count Ricardo rubbed his chin and frowned.
“She left right after the award ceremony, saying she needed to return immediately. She only said to send Richelle back to the Duke of Bozebourne’s estate after the investigation.”
“Bozbourne…….”
“She seemed very busy. I wonder if something is happening at the Duke of Bozebourne’s estate since they also withdrew the proposal to send knights for the tournament today. It makes me think there might be some internal issue.”
I frowned at the Count’s words. Shifting in my seat and leaning forward, I saw Count Ricardo’s eyes widen in surprise.
“What’s the matter?” The Count recoiled a bit.
“The family that was supposed to send knights for today’s tournament—is it Bozebourne?”
“Yes, didn’t I mention that? It was Bozebourne who proposed sending knights for the tournament. More precisely, they provided the plan for the tournament. It was quite an interesting event and could have garnered a lot of interest from the noblewomen.”
Noblewomen’s plan…
I exchanged glances with Aden and then spoke quietly.
“Count, could I see that plan if you have it?”
“What? Oh, yes. Since the plan is now scrapped, it’s meaningless to keep it. Just a moment.”
As the Count stood up to retrieve the plan, I watched him leave and lowered my gaze.
From the moment Fiorrette and Richelle showed up, I suspected Belieta had some involvement in the tournament. I just couldn’t figure out how. I never imagined it would be through the knights’ competition.
I thought just keeping an eye on Fiorrette, Belieta’s right-hand woman, and Richelle, who claims to be her maid, would be enough. But I was wrong.
If Belieta had some plan and intended for Fiorrette to carry it out, then what happened yesterday might actually be a positive for me.
If Richelle’s sudden craziness and the withdrawal of the knights were connected to yesterday’s events, it means they were trying to use the competition to put me in danger. Fiorrette’s hasty departure fits this theory too.
“Aden, can I ask you a favor?”
“Anything. Just say it.”
“Thanks. Then, can you prevent Richelle from being summoned to Bozebourne for questioning? Since this happened here, if Count Ricardo transfers the investigation rights to us, even Bozebourne wouldn’t be able to complain.”
I needed to find out what Belieta told Richelle to make her come here. And everything about her involvement with Fiorrette.
“I’ll interrogate Richelle myself in Brilloxen. Until then, just make sure she’s held securely.”
“I can do that. But first…”
Aden slowly approached and reached out with his arm from close range.
His hand, large enough to cover my face, pressed gently on my shoulder.
“Even if the wound is treated, you still need to be careful. Take care of yourself. If you get hurt again because you’re overexerting yourself, I won’t just stand by.”
“ …”
Aden’s eyes seemed to demand an answer, and I nodded heavily. Seeing my response, a slight smile appeared on his lips.
Aden’s hand dropped slowly, but the warmth remained.
Aden buttoned his sleeves, smoothing out his disheveled attire.
“I’d like to stay with you until you get in the carriage, but I need to take care of something first. Before I go, I’ll wrap things up with Count Ricardo about this incident. Trust me and head back carefully.”
“Is this about the events from yesterday and today? Shouldn’t I come with you instead?”
“No.”
Aden’s firm refusal made me bite my lip.
Why not? This is all related to me.
I looked at him, silently demanding an explanation.
He met my gaze and gave me a small smile.
