Chapter 102
It was all such a relentless series of shocks that my mind felt as if it were plummeting into a bottomless chasm.
“…Giovinetta?”
What was she doing here? The situation was so impossible to accept that the world began to spin. It grew so dizzying I could barely keep my eyes open.
“I happened to be passing by and saw it, too.”
“…What are you trying to say?” I slowly shook my head.
Giovinetta merely grinned, her expression wicked. “I saw Irenea try to throw herself into the pond, and that maid desperately intervening to save her.”
I could only tremble as one absurd accusation followed another. A wave of vertigo washed over me, making me stagger.
“Wh-what on earth are you talking about?”
Giovinetta’s sudden appearance was a full-frontal assault. “Irenea, are you suggesting I would lie?”
Just then, Countess Elvira, who had been observing, spoke up in recognition. “I wondered who it was. Aren’t you Lady Giovinetta? You had an audience with Her Majesty the Empress this morning, and now you’re here.”
The crowd began to murmur again.
“A lady acquainted with the Empress? Surely someone like her wouldn’t lie?”
“Lady Giovinetta is Her Majesty’s companion.”
At the mention of the Empress, everyone nodded. Giovinetta was Her Majesty’s recognized guest. Her words naturally carried significant weight.
Realizing this, Giovinetta lifted her haughty chin even higher, shrugging as she replied, “That’s right, Countess Elvira. After my discussion with Her Majesty this morning, I was just on my way to the Emerald Palace to see my sister, Irenea…”
Giovinetta ducked her head, her shoulders shaking. At the sight of her trembling so pitifully, the crowd let out sympathetic groans.
“Irenea, you… Why did you do such a foolish thing!”
“Giovinetta? What are you talking about…”
Giovinetta snapped her head up. Thick streams of tears rolled down her cheeks.
“I came to the Emerald Palace yesterday as well, looking for my sister. But she seemed so distressed, it worried me deeply. She wouldn’t even see me—she drove me away. That’s why I was so concerned and came back again today.”
Giovinetta sobbed, claiming she had only acted out of concern for her sister. The onlookers sighed in pity. Her mournful voice and tears painted her lies as the truth.
Giovinetta raised her head, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. “Irenea, you’ve always been this way. You injured your leg because you were careless and fell, but you always blamed me, always saw the world through such a warped lens. And now, this marriage…”
I was shaking violently. I couldn’t let Giovinetta and Mercedes spout any more of this nonsense. But I could see no way out of this elaborate trap.
“Your Highness…” Delphina clutched my arm anxiously, looking at me and shaking her head.
I ground my teeth. It was infuriating, but there were no witnesses to Elda pushing me into the pond. Even if there had been, the situation was stacked against me. The testimony of those three clearly carried more weight than my word alone.
Above all, I had to escape the stigma of having attempted suicide. That, at all costs, had to be avoided.
“…I slipped.”
“What was that?” Giovinetta asked, beaming. I wanted to spit on that radiant smile. But I held back.
“I just wanted to take a walk alone. I saw a frog by the edge of the pond and… I slipped when I moved closer to look.”
In the end, I had to admit I fell in by accident. That I had lost my footing on the slippery edge and hadn’t been paying attention.
I had no choice but to concede. It was humiliating, but it was the only way to resolve the situation.
***
“To think Giovinetta and Mercedes were working together.”
No matter how I looked at it, that was the only conclusion. I couldn’t hide my agitation and bit down hard on my thumbnail.
I’d had no choice at the time, but thinking back on it made me sick with anger.
“How… How could they do that?”
What chilled me most were the casual, blatant lies from Mercedes and Giovinetta. Neither had batted an eye as they backed me into a corner.
“They meant to kill me. I’m sure of it.”
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