ESL Chapter 36

At her words, the party hall quickly filled with murmuring sounds. Helen felt Prince Lloyd’s sharp gaze fly toward her and pierce through, but though frightened, she endured and clenched her fists tightly.

“Kidnapped… such a terrible thing… My dear, I thought you had left home from the shock of the Count’s passing…”

Rene quickly spoke with an expression drawn with surprise and pity, but Helen looked at her coldly and said:

“What’s interesting is that I was kidnapped from my own room. And that too without even seeing my father’s deceased form, locked away in a room. And after being rescued by a certain person, I learned. That all the property and title had been inherited by my stepmother and half-brother standing over there. What exactly does this mean?”

As the murmuring grew louder, Rene changed her expression in desperation and shouted:

“What are you talking about?! The shock must have been too great! You’re talking nonsense! This is embarrassing, so quickly take Helen to her room!”

The maids hesitated at Rene’s words, reading the atmosphere. No matter what, she was a young lady they had served for a long time, so no maid stepped forward first. Then it happened.

“The Countess seems to look down on me.”

A quiet but cold statement flowed from Kaid’s mouth. At those words, both Rene and the hesitating maids froze in place.

“Royalty says they will listen, yet you interrupt in the middle and try to drag away the subject… This seems like it should be charged as lèse-majesté. Isn’t that right, Brother Lloyd?”

At Kaid’s sudden question, Lloyd was silent for a moment before slowly opening his mouth. However, his lips were twisted.

“Indeed.”

Lloyd was irritated to his limit. Rage boiled toward Rene and Rosman for creating such a foolish situation, but since Helen being alive was also his responsibility, he couldn’t say anything about it. Of course, there was no chance Helen would talk about being violated by him while throwing away her dignity, so there was nothing for him to be troubled about, but the unpleasantness made him uncomfortable. In any case, all he could do now was occasionally agree and remain silent.

“Well then, continue. Lady Roman.”

When Kaid called her, Helen opened her mouth again as if she had been waiting.

“I stake the name of Roman on verifying the authenticity of that will and uncovering the truth of this matter. If it’s genuine, it will bear my father’s seal. Just like this real will that I have!”

As Helen extended her hand, Lea respectfully presented the documents she was holding. When Helen received and displayed the will, Rene’s face turned deathly pale and Rosman’s expression hardened.

Helen looked around at the people who were now completely suspicious and continued:

“This will states that the Count’s title goes to my cousin Sean, and all property is left to me, his only daughter. Which will is the truth?!”

Helen returned the documents to Lea and received other papers. She held those up as well and spoke. Her voice was mixed with slight sobbing, as if suppressing grief.

“These are handwritten notes left by my father… Count Roman, that were with the will. Here it’s written what they blackmailed my father with and how they poisoned him to intoxicate him. My father wrote that he was threatened with being killed at any moment, and threatened with killing me, so he had no choice but to marry, but the only ones he loved were my mother and me… and that he was sorry he couldn’t protect me…”

Helen bit down hard, feeling tears about to burst forth. She couldn’t show weakness if she wanted revenge on them. She closed her eyes to compose herself. A single tear that she couldn’t hold back flowed down her cheek, but that was the last. When Helen opened her eyes again, tears pooled in them, but she didn’t cry. She fixed a dignified, anger-filled gaze on Rene and Rosman and shouted:

“I hereby present these documents as evidence and accuse them of the poisoning of Count Roman, document forgery, and kidnapping!”

At her angry outcry, the party hall was momentarily wrapped in silence. The people attending the party held their breath and watched the flow of events. If everything the former Lady Roman said was true, this was the scandal of the century. The enormous crime of daring to murder a noble, kidnap his daughter, and seize his title and property. While everyone was just watching each other, it was Kaid who broke that silence. He faithfully performed the role of moderator as Lea desired.

“This seems too big a case to resolve here. Elton?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

When he called Elton, Elton quickly approached, bowed, and waited for his words.

“Go and call the law enforcement officers. And detain everyone involved in this case.”

“Understood.”

Elton bowed and before leaving the hall, made eye contact with the imperial knights who had accompanied Kaid. The imperial knights quickly moved next to Rene, Rosman, and Helen.

“The party seems to be over, will you stay and watch more, Brother Lloyd?”

At Kaid’s question, a displeased expression appeared on Lloyd’s face. If things continued this way, the Count Roman estate would clearly be lost. But since there was nothing he could do in this situation, he suppressed his rage inwardly and answered:

“No. Never mind. I’ll leave first.”

Lloyd spun around and as he walked to leave the hall, he spotted Helen. At his gaze, she turned pale and froze, which improved his mood somewhat. So he deliberately walked toward her and stared at her. With that cruel smile he had worn in bed floating on his lips. Sure enough, seeing her trembling like a mouse before a snake, he felt exhilaration. Until the brown-haired attendant beside her stepped forward. When he whispered something to Helen, her frozen expression instantly relaxed and her trembling stopped. Lloyd’s thick eyebrows twitched and he turned his gaze to the attendant who had ruined his pleasure.

He wore glasses but had a strange beauty. Though his hair was common brown, his snow-white skin, sculpted features, and plump lips reminiscent of rose petals caught the eye. Especially his long, slender, snow-white neck was seductive enough to make one want to leave marks on it. But what stimulated him most was that he wasn’t the least bit intimidated by his gaze. An amused smile rose on Lloyd’s lips as he withdrew his gaze from Helen and the attendant and left the hall.

Not long after Lloyd left and all the nobles had returned, Elton came back with law enforcement officers. The law enforcement officer, summoned suddenly and bewildered, began to faithfully carry out his duty after hearing the situation explained. Lea, watching this, turned her head at Kaid’s voice.

“Is the debt settled now?”

Discovering him standing right beside her looking down, having approached at some point, Lea nodded.

“There’s a bit left, but since you did better than expected, I’ll settle it.”

“Hmm, then shall we talk for a moment? Ah, don’t worry about here. I’ll leave Elton and the knights.”

At Kaid’s words, Lea approached Ken, who was keeping his eyes on the law enforcement officer, and whispered:

“I’m going to talk with His Highness for a moment. Look after Helen.”

“… Will you be okay? Going alone?”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

Ken, who had shown a somewhat displeased expression, nodded as if he had no choice and turned his head back to the law enforcement officer.

“A friend? I’ve seen that face somewhere…”

At Kaid’s murmur after glancing at Ken’s face, Lea hurriedly grabbed his arm to pull him away in case he might recognize Ken, but realizing she was currently dressed as an attendant, she said:

“You said you had something to say. Let’s go quickly.”

At her words, Kaid smiled and led her toward the balcony. After entering the balcony, he drew the curtains so they couldn’t be seen from outside, then reached out to grasp her chin and examined her from various angles.

“What are you doing?”

When a startled Lea slapped his hand away and stepped back, Kaid smiled with interest, then raised his hand and grabbed her hand wearing the ring.

“Ah… I felt it before, but when you’re in men’s clothing, you’re strangely beautiful. Still, I prefer this appearance.”

Without giving her a chance to pull her hand away, his hand quickly removed the ring from her finger. Then long, jet-black, gleaming hair fluttered in the wind, and the snow-white face that appeared between it and the beautiful red eyes behind the glasses captured his gaze.

“Did you want to see my face rather than having something to say?”

Lea looked at him with an absurd expression, removed her glasses, and swept back her flowing hair. At Lea’s reaction, Kaid agreed, his golden eyes shining with pleasure.

“Well, that’s one of the reasons.”

“And the other reason?”

“You’ll debut at this Debutante, right?”

As soon as the word Debutante came out, Kaid suppressed his laughter seeing her pretty face scrunch up. As expected, open dislike suited that personality so well. Thinking about the dress fittings and makeup to come, Lea felt her head throb and glared at the culprit who made her think of it.

“So?”

“I’m going to escort you.”

“I decline.”

At her refusal as soon as the words ended, Kaid smiled broadly. It was as expected. But there was something she didn’t know.

‘It wouldn’t be fun if I told her in advance…’

He bowed his head to the hand he was holding and kissed it. Then, putting the ring back on, he whispered:

“You will take my hand. Just wait and see.”

The smiling golden eyes were fully reflected in the beautiful red eyes before changing to brown.