I Start with a Bad Hand!

I’ve thought this before, but whether the Ducal House of Elexion is ruined or not, it really has nothing to do with me. Whether they are mocked everywhere or have to hang their heads in shame…

It’s their downfall, not mine.

Yet, the only reason I remained silent back then was this:

‘Let’s not get entangled with the Elexion Ducal House to avoid future complications for Dietrich.’

However, my thoughts have changed now.

Cedric seemed like he would chase Dietrich to the ends of the earth, crushing her into nothingness. Even if Dietrich quietly lived in Heylem, tending a potato garden, he’d be the type to trample all over the potatoes, asking if you thought he’d leave her crops alone.

Cedric strode over and grabbed my collar as if to lift me by the scruff. Someone in the student council gasped in shock. Cedric lowered his voice to a snarl, as if aware that others shouldn’t hear what he was about to say.

“I’m sure I warned you. The day the dishonor of the Ducal House is exposed because of you…”

“And?” I interjected.

“What?”

“Do you want to tell the story of how the powerful Elexion Ducal House was fooled by a mere child’s lie?”

I whispered calmly into Cedric’s ear, seeing his expression as if he was about to strike. It wasn’t even Dietrich’s fault in the first place. When Dietrich entered the Ducal House, she was only five years old. My nephew at that age cried believing that a watermelon would grow in his stomach if he swallowed a seed. To hold Dietrich, who was merely that age, responsible was astonishing.

“Or would you rather say that the many people of the Ducal House were deceived by the lies of a mere orphanage director, a commoner?”

I don’t know the specifics of how the director of the orphanage deceived the Ducal House to send Dietrich there. However, if all these people, superior both in number and quality, were deceived by one person’s lie, then their incompetence seems to be at fault.

After all, how could they not even properly know their own child?

I pushed Cedric away forcefully, still gripping my collar with his strong hand. It seemed Cedric only expected Dietrich to be pushed around, not to push back herself. He stood awkwardly, off-balance from being pushed.

Before Cedric could utter a word in response, I spoke up, this time not whispering, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

“The gem on my hairpin is not a sapphire. As Cedric himself said, how could our family possibly afford a sapphire fit for a duchess?”

I shrugged my shoulders as if to express regret. Indeed, the gem on Dietrich’s hairpin, taken from her dress, was as precious as a sapphire. However, it seemed necessary to clarify to Cedric that this was not the pin Roxanne had lost.

“The gem on my hairpin changes color when it catches the light. Indoors, it appears a deep blue, but it turns transparent when hit by sunlight.”

Since the sun had not set yet, we could verify it now. I moved toward the window, but my ankle, twisted during the fall, throbbed unusually, causing me to stagger and lean on a desk for support. Irene approached, helped me up, and took the pin to the sunlit window on my behalf.

As soon as the light touched it, the gem shone with a transparent blue glow, eliciting gasps from several onlookers. The expressions of the spectators in the student council room were as clear as the gem. They watched the unfolding situation with fascinated eyes.

‘Are they enjoying this?’

Honestly, if I weren’t involved, I might have found the spectacle entertaining too. What began as a simple lost item had suddenly turned into a theft case, and it seemed the culprit and victim were in the same room, ready for a swift capture. Yet here was another twist…

The crowd seemed to be enjoying this complex drama as if it were a form of 3D entertainment, satisfying both sight and sound. However, I wanted to put an end to this story. I no longer wished to be a spectacle. Looking at Cedric, who had stiffened, I spoke up.

“So, do not try to pin the Ducal House’s disgrace on me.”

It suddenly struck me that the men of Elexion still seemed to mistake me as belonging to the Ducal House. Cedric continually tried to impose the honor of the Ducal House upon me, but why should someone unaffiliated be burdened with another family’s honor?

Dietrich is now with the Degoph Baronial family, not Elexion’s.

“If something is missing from the dormitory, please formally report it to the dormitory supervisor or the security team. Don’t baselessly accuse innocent people due to personal grievances…”

I paused for a moment, reflecting on Cedric’s words from earlier and choosing my response carefully to ensure it was sufficiently impactful.

“And stop making a spectacle of yourself.”

Fortunately, my words seemed to have struck a nerve with Cedric. His face turned red as he strode towards me, lifting his hand as if he was about to strike me across the face.

“Stop this now.”

An unexpected person intervened between Cedric and me. I glanced back and forth at the flowing golden hair. The taller one was holding back Cedric’s raised hand, and the shorter one was blocking the space between Cedric and me.

Once Cedric saw who had grabbed his hand—the Second Prince—he slowly lowered it, simmering down as if quenching his own flare-up. Watching Cedric back down in front of the Second Prince, I momentarily wondered if I wasn’t the only one possessed in this novel.

It seemed the crazy old man from the convenience store had possessed Cedric. Otherwise, how could he resemble the crazy old man who turned into the world’s greatest gentleman when the manager arrived at the convenience store in response to my SOS, after I couldn’t tolerate his nonsense any longer?

The Second Prince, with a haughty expression and his chin lifted, released Cedric’s arm as if throwing it away. If Dietrich had been 30cm taller, I too would have loved to wear that expression towards Cedric someday. But more surprising than the Second Prince was…

Irene.

Irene was standing between Cedric and me. With her back to me, I couldn’t see her face, but her voice was lower than usual.

“Enough, Lord Cedric.”

Irene positioned herself as if to protect me, explaining that she hadn’t intervened earlier because she didn’t understand the situation fully.

“Please explain in detail what item you lost, when, and where it went missing. I will relay the message to the security team.”

Though it is regrettable that a keepsake has gone missing from the Ducal House dormitory, this matter needs to be handled ‘within the academy,’ Irene stated firmly.

Indeed, Cedric was enrolled at an academy supervised by the royal family, but it was distinct from the academy where this incident was unfolding. It was as if a university student had come into a high school under the same foundation and was causing a ruckus, demanding a student be held accountable for an item missing from his dormitory.

“If you suspect an academy student is involved, please follow the proper procedures to address the issue. We don’t even know if it’s actually an academy student’s fault, if it involves the ducal house’s servants, or if it’s the work of a third party…”

“Please do not cause any further disturbances.” Irene finished with a cool tone. With the Second Prince still eyeing Cedric from a slight angle, it seemed unlikely Cedric would attempt any sudden moves towards me. Thanks to the intervention of Irene and the Second Prince, the confrontation that had escalated like a battlefield in the student council room began to calm down.

I turned my head slightly to look at Roxanne. She had a paler face than either Yuri or I as she watched the situation unfold. Reflecting on it, Roxanne had been almost invisible, keeping herself out of sight during most of my fiery clash with Cedric, or rather, while I was being mostly on the receiving end of Cedric’s aggression. Normally, she was so vibrant, always drawing people’s attention.

Perhaps misfortune or brief disturbances simply vanished when they reached Roxanne. In the original story, it was only the male protagonists who engaged in intrigues out of Roxanne’s sight, while she spread warm smiles and comfort to those around her. Such nervous confrontations and loud disputes must have been foreign to her.

Thinking about it, I suddenly understood why the original Dietrich said those words to Roxanne at the end.

“You think you’re truly good, don’t you? No. It’s because everything in the world goes your way, everything is yours, that’s why you can afford to be so gentle.”

Dietrich must have been comparing herself to Roxanne, who was always at the center of her world, surrounded by people ready to give her everything, while she herself had to continually prove her worth.

However, this tiresome fight would unexpectedly come to an end thanks to Roxanne’s people.

“Miss, we found it!”

A servant of the Ducal House burst in, triumphantly announcing the news, followed by a dirt-covered Prince, bringing the event to a close.