Why Is Everyone Hiding Everything? - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Just when it seemed he had finally fallen silent, he demonstrated an astonishing ability to instantly freeze the atmosphere that had only barely begun to relax.

“Ah……”

Jade suddenly looked speechless before lowering his head deeply.

An expression of wounded pride mixed with the inability to deny it.

“Sir Lux.”

If you’re not going to help, then at least stay quiet!

I called his name with every ounce of my willpower, silently begging him to shut his mouth, and Lucian responded with an incredibly innocent gaze.

As though asking, ‘Did I say something wrong just now?’

“My apologies, my lady. As a fellow knight, I seem to have become overly immersed in the conversation.”

Lucian answered with a smile that very clearly showed he was enjoying this situation.

Everything I had previously thought about him being gentlemanly and reasonably decent was officially revoked. Haston had been absolutely right.

Displeasure instantly crossed Hayley’s face.

“He is doing his best. He has rejected those proposals repeatedly, and yet they continue contacting him anyway. Recently they’ve even begun threatening to expose fabricated scandals about the Delphoi family.”

“Fabricated threats, hm.”

Lucian widened his eyes as though hearing this for the first time and looked back at me.

His acting skills were truly top-tier.

“I heard House Paneschula excels at inventing stories. It seems they intend to drag the Delphoi family’s honor into the mud this time as well.”

I calmly recited the conclusion I had already prepared beforehand, and Jade’s shoulders sank even lower.

I was merely stating facts I had already anticipated, but watching the gloomy expressions on the couple’s faces still made me feel somewhat guilty.

When I subtly signaled Minabel with my eyes, hers immediately sparkled with understanding.

“Then what sort of rumor would deal the most devastating damage to the Delphoi family?”

For the first time, Jade turned toward Minabel.

“Ah, I’m Minabel Cherita. Haha… I suppose my introduction came rather late.”

“I already told you, but Lady Cherita is incredibly famous in high society.”

It sounded like he was whispering to Jade, but everyone could hear him perfectly. Minabel’s face reddened in embarrassment.

I could tell just how desperately she had struggled to survive.

“Ah, my apologies for not greeting you sooner.”

“No, it’s alright. I know how difficult this situation must be for you. I was the one who brought Tie to the book club in the first place, so I wanted to take responsibility as well and asked to join this gathering despite the imposition.”

Minabel—until now, because she constantly panicked in front of me and accidentally revealed secrets, I had never realized it—but she was also an exceptional actress.

Why did everyone become so careless only around me?

The moment my name was mentioned, Jade seemed to lower his guard and began answering much more smoothly.

“The most devastating scandal for our family would be… anything that damages our pride in serving our lord with absolute loyalty.”

“Pride?”

Lucian rested his chin on one hand with visible interest.

Now he had completely shifted into speaking as though he were above the other man.

I wondered whether he remembered he was currently pretending to be a knight himself.

Perhaps I should simply be grateful Jade failed to notice. Though Hayley’s expression was becoming increasingly furious.

“Our family is a house of knights who have, for generations, offered even our lives to the lord we swear loyalty to. So if rumors spread that House Delphoi lost its loyalty and betrayed its master……”

Unable to continue, Jade trailed off, and Lucian calmly finished the sentence for him.

“So if you refuse to marry Paneschula, they’ll fabricate rumors claiming the Delphoi family betrayed the Crown Prince despite originally swearing loyalty to him?”

“……”

“And the reason for that change of heart will likely be framed as the influence of whichever prince House Ginevra supposedly supports. Well, that’s the direction they intend to push things. They merely need to alter the timeline slightly and claim the Delphoi family had originally been meant to marry into Paneschula, only for Delphoi to reject them later.”

The contents of exchanged letters could easily have their dates manipulated.

Secret correspondence rarely preserved exact dates on purpose. And many rejection letters had already been burned.

Lucian let out a faint laugh and continued.

“So then, let’s see—the prince House Ginevra supposedly supports certainly wouldn’t be the vanished Second Prince, whose survival is still unknown. That leaves only the useless Third Prince Lucian Edvain, the drunken disgrace locked away in the Cold Palace who spends his days drinking and causing trouble, doesn’t it?”

Excuse me.

The more I listened, the more it sounded like you were being excessively harsh toward yourself.

“Sir, your words regarding His Highness the Prince are far too severe.”

I ended up openly scolding him out of sheer shock.

But if I didn’t say something now, I feared he might continue insulting himself even further.

Even if he was speaking about himself, wasn’t this excessive?

“But are these not already well-known facts? Compared to the insults Your Ladyship suffers throughout the Empire, the things said about that prince are far more vulgar and filthy.”

Lucian looked toward Hayley and Jade with a completely calm face, neither mocking nor emotional.

“Sir, as a knight, I would appreciate it if you refrained from insulting a lady any further.”

“Or are you intending to challenge me to a duel?”

“As you yourself said, how can someone incapable of protecting even his own woman be called a knight?”

In other words, he was willing to duel if necessary.

Still, it was reassuring to know Jade’s feelings for Hayley were genuine.

Honestly, I had been worried about what to do if he turned out to be trash wavering because he was tempted by House Paneschula’s influence.

“Very well. Then allow me to apologize, my lady. From this point onward, let us limit the discussion solely to the Third Prince. Supposedly he spends both day and night drunk, causing every sort of disturbance imaginable, and even the servants can no longer tolerate remaining within the Prince’s Palace.”

“……”

“Furthermore, his temperament is said to be so violent and vile that the Crown Prince himself forbade anyone from visiting without permission in order to protect others’ safety. Surely that alone tells you enough about his personality.”

There were even rumors that the Third Prince’s Palace was daily stained with the blood of newly hired servants, and that the lilies there bloomed dark purple after feeding upon filthy black blood.

After that chilling story, an awful silence descended.

“Did I perhaps tell too frightening a story? Come to think of it, this may not suit a tea party very well.”

At this point, wouldn’t even accusing him of insulting the Imperial Family be entirely justified?

Agreeing with him felt strange, but ignoring him felt equally strange.

And as his nominal partner and the host of this party, my own position had become even more awkward.

Of course, Lucian could joke like this because he was speaking about himself, but since he had not revealed his identity, I was now somehow expected to answer while carrying the fate of House Rosena on my shoulders.

“Exactly!”

And then, at that precise moment, an even more bizarre statement exploded into the room.

Wondering if I had heard correctly, I turned toward the speaker and saw Haston strangely fuming with agitation.

At times like this, shouldn’t you be saying “How dare you speak of His Highness that way!” instead?

“What do you mean, exactly?”

I had believed that since he had served Lucian for so long, he would at least help smooth things over somewhat.

But that assumption was my mistake—one caused by viewing Lucian and Haston’s relationship far too reasonably.

“I mean the Third Prince. I hear he rarely remains inside the palace and constantly goes out drinking instead.”

“Oh my.”

Hayley, apparently forgetting her irritation toward Lucian for a moment, let out a startled gasp.

No matter how infamous the prince was, she probably had not expected to hear such raw stories spoken so casually.

Haston continued rambling for quite some time before finally concluding with a single sentence.

“Of course, these are merely rumors.”

Ah.

Only then did I understand Haston’s true intention.

All of this was, ultimately, nothing more than rumor.

We needed to understand exactly what kind of thing we were allowing ourselves to be shaken by.

“Indeed. They are only rumors, and yet somehow people choose to believe them. Perhaps what Paneschula truly trusts is that very power.”

“……”

Jade’s body flinched slightly.

While they feared Paneschula spreading false rumors about them, deep down they themselves had also believed the terrible rumors surrounding the Third Prince.

Even though he had never personally behaved that way in front of them.

Nor had he ever tried to defend himself.

Perhaps that silence itself had been the wrong choice. Because he chose silence, the rumors had grown day by day until they became sharp enough for strangers to butcher a person’s honor—and even their entire life.

“Timing is always the most important factor when correcting falsehoods.”

Lucian naturally dipped a silver spoon into his teacup.

There was no poison in the tea I had prepared, and yet it was almost as though my habit had somehow rubbed off on him.

He had already completely abandoned his knightly act. Taking a sip of tea, he slowly looked around the room.

“But once Paneschula moves, it is already too late. They have already created countless stories, and most of them are now accepted as established fact. The words of those who know the truth hold no power, and some people knowingly support lies anyway. Why do you think that is?”