You Said You Wanted Us to Break Up - Chapter 42

Sezna, as if waiting for the opportunity, tried to seize control of the conversation.

“Then…”

I cut her off, not giving her the chance to steer the conversation as she intended.

“But there was clear evidence that I did it.”

That was also why I couldn’t refute it to Sioden.

Because I couldn’t find anything to overturn the evidence proving my guilt.

If I had found the necessary evidence, I might have been able to turn the situation around.

Sioden didn’t mix personal feelings into his judgments.

He only made judgments when the circumstances, evidence, and witnesses aligned.

He seemed tired of it all. He even once said with a weary look,

‘At least don’t leave any trace of your actions.’

It was probably closer to sarcasm than sincerity; he must have said it because he was tired of me being involved in every incident.

Even so, I truly wanted to heed his words.

Like the matter concerning the nursery, I swept away from my mind the facts that were useless to recall now.

Sezna frowned, displeased that I wasn’t readily following her. I asked her,

“But is there any evidence that I committed the embezzlement you mentioned today?”

Sezna’s face reddened. I drove the point home, preventing her from pressing further.

“If you want me to admit to a crime, bring the evidence.”

Then, whether I liked it or not, I would have no choice but to take responsibility for any crime.

Or rather, if there was evidence, Sezna wouldn’t have come to me personally. Sioden would have already come and made his judgment.

He had never delayed in judging my crimes.

The door burst open then.

Turning to see who had entered, a person I didn’t understand why they were here stood in the doorway.

“Sioden? Why are you…?”

Before I could finish, I realized there was a knight behind him.

I tensed involuntarily. Ever since having my letters inspected by a knight, I’ve been uncomfortable around them. I knew they were just following orders and weren’t at fault, yet every time I saw them, memories of that time resurfaced.

Sioden apologized to me, reflexively taking a step back.

“I’m sorry for barging in.”

He spoke with remarkable normalcy given the situation and then instructed the knights who had followed him.

“Take her out.”

The person referred to wasn’t me, but Sezna.

Sezna seemed startled. Her gaze, as she looked up at Sioden, trembled uncontrollably.

“Y-Your Grace.”

Sioden looked down at Sezna with cold eyes.

I knew that look on Sioden well. Even though I didn’t know much about him, I knew that expression well. That cold, utterly heartless look was actually a sign that he was suppressing the rage boiling inside him with reason.

He wore that expression every time he had to judge the numerous crimes I was found guilty of.

And when Sioden had that look on his face, there probably weren’t many people who could stand up to him.

Sezna was soon dragged out by the knights. I witnessed firsthand her attempts at protest, which were unsuccessful.

After Sezna disappeared from the room, Sioden turned to me. His still-cold face softened slightly. The coldness was replaced by a hint of awkwardness. He took a step towards me and asked,

“Were you surprised?”

Surprised? Of course, I was surprised. More surprised than when Sezna came to me and insisted I had done something I didn’t even know was.

Instead of agreeing, I questioned him.

“What’s going on?”

A knight approached him then. Sioden leaned towards the knight.

After hearing what the knight said, a chill like a winter north wind brushed my left cheek again. The same thing must have happened on the other side, but since I could only see half of his face, that’s how it felt.

The cynical feeling, which I could call disillusionment, quickly disappeared. Sioden turned his gaze back to me.

“I’ll explain later.”

But I wasn’t curious enough to want to schedule a separate time to hear the explanation.

I chose my words carefully to convey that I didn’t want to know that much. But before I could even begin, Sioden apologized.

“I apologize for the rudeness.”

With that, Sioden turned. The knight followed close behind as he strode away. Soon, the sound of the door closing echoed.

I stared at the closed door, dumbfounded.

☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓

The knight who had dragged Sezna out passed through the main building’s hallway.

When she was practically thrown to her knees on the floor of the family head’s office, Sezna involuntarily raised her voice.

“Your Grace! Why are you doing this suddenly?”

Sioden looked down at her with cold eyes.

“I’m sure you heard that access to the annex was restricted.”

He knew all too well how people with their heads on their shoulders would act, so he had started by blocking access to the annex.

Those who knew he wouldn’t give a second chance knew where to cling.

What conscience would make them try to involve Iella? Sioden felt like he would vomit at the thought of those belonging to Raslet pleading with her. It was a disgust that surpassed the sense of duty that allowed him to suppress his usual aversion to the family.

Sioden looked at the knight standing by.

“Send all the knights Lady Rodalton encountered on her way to the annex to the dungeons.”

The dungeons were where only those the family head would judge personally were imprisoned. Sezna cried out, her face pale.

“Your Grace!”

But when a pair of icy blue eyes fell upon her, she regretted her actions.

Even the filth on the roadside wouldn’t be looked at with such a gaze.

Looking at her with eyes that couldn’t bear the sickening sight, the family head asked,

“Why did you go to Iella?”

Sezna trembled, making excuses.

“I-It was all because I was thinking of Your Grace.”

Thinking of me. Sioden suppressed the urge to scoff. Coincidentally, it was similar to what the elders who had urged him to marry Merwen had said.

Rupid also tried to marry him to Merwen under the pretext of it being for Raslet.

Sezna must have seen him as more of an entity representing Raslet than an individual, so her words wouldn’t be much different from Rupid’s.

Sezna, reading the scorn that crossed his face, spoke urgently.

“Think about it. Lady Merwen would never do something like embezzlement. What would she lack…? It must have all been a frame-up.”

He had intended to let her speak for a while, but it was something he couldn’t tolerate any longer. Sioden yelled at the person spouting nonsense.

“Then what does Iella lack?”

Iella had absolutely no reason to touch the money.

No matter what was going on beneath the surface, Iella was born and raised as the daughter of the Southern Duke. There was no way she would have the kind of material lack that would make her feel the need to manipulate the accounts.

Sezna clamped her mouth shut, like someone who had glued their lips together.

Sioden knew why Sezna was so desperately defending Merwen. He gritted his teeth, his jaw clenching involuntarily.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm his trembling.

“Alright, as you say, Merwen might have been framed.”

Sioden picked up the ledger on his desk and threw it in front of the woman.

“It wasn’t her who directly committed the embezzlement.”

Something fell in front of her knees. Sezna reflexively looked down. It was a leather-bound notebook.

She flinched at the familiar sight of the notebook. This was definitely…

“You shouldn’t have left evidence like this, Sezna.”

Sezna reached out with trembling hands and picked up the notebook. There was no way this should be here. Didn’t Miss Merwen say…

‘Hmm, maybe I’ll use it as kindling.’

So, it should have turned to ash by now…

To confirm if it was indeed the notebook she knew, Sezna opened it with trembling hands. Seeing the densely packed handwriting, she almost fainted.

The notebook was filled with her own handwriting.

Sezna trembled, her face ashen. The hand clutching the ledger also spasmed violently.

Scorn, cold and dripping, fell upon her head.

“It fits perfectly, doesn’t it?”

Sezna looked up at the family head. The young man still looked down at her with cold eyes. It was a gaze filled with such disgust that she wondered if she was dreaming or awake.

“And how did a maid, not even the current duchess, but a maid of the former duchess, maintain such a consistent standard of living?”

“……”

“If it were when Merwen was in charge of the internal affairs, it might be understandable, but after she was sent to Ethel, there would have been no one to take care of you.”

After Merwen returned to Ethel, the internal affairs were handed over to Ben, the family head’s advisor.

Sezna, no longer serving anyone, would not have received the same upkeep allowance as before.

Yet, Sezna remained in the main house as before. Even without a special position, it would have required considerable wealth to continue living in the inner castle.

Sioden spoke through gritted teeth.

“I thought my mother had given you some separate assets before she passed. Didn’t she care for you greatly?”

Even though it was only a curse-like will for him, he thought she might have shown kindness to those she cared for.

Indeed, in a will supposedly written a year before Evelyn’s death, there was mention of leaving inheritances to Merwen and Sezna. Sezna was left a room to stay in the main house even after her dismissal as a maid, and Merwen received back several pieces of jewelry she had brought with her when she married.

Considering he only left instructions to give his son his legal inheritance, it was quite thoughtful.

But the reality was that she was quietly embezzling the family’s assets to satisfy her own desires.

If she had only embezzled funds, he might not have been so furious.

But what Sezna had tried to do…

“She inquired whether it was something the former duchess had done.”

That was what the knight, who had completed the investigation around the annex before leaving, quietly reported to him.

Sezna, not content with merely concealing her crime, had tried to pin it on Iella.

How much she must have underestimated him and Iella to come up with such a plan.

A surge of heat rose within him. Sioden averted his gaze, trying to calm his emotions before delivering the punishment. A brief silence descended.

Realizing this was her last chance, Sezna bowed her head to the ground.

“Please, forgive me for the sake of the former duchess.”