Of course, Luchen was well aware of the truth.
“Hmph. A Grand Consort in name only.”
She refused to admit she’d just been completely suppressed by Iris’s presence.
“To see the Grand Duke favor a woman who sides with commoners... speaks volumes about his discernment.”
Now fully unmoored from reason, Luchen’s mouth ran unchecked.
“Lady Camilla was right all along. A woman who steals another’s man, and the man who accepts her—both are disgraceful.”
“Lu–Lady Luchen…”
Another noble daughter, silent until now, softly called her name.
Everyone could tell: the Grand Consort was seething beneath a calm exterior. The only one too blind to sense it was Luchen herself.
“Lady Balbadia,” Iris spoke gently, “do you remember the Serpent of Yeldeva?”
The Serpent of Yeldeva.
A cautionary tale of a woman who spread lies about a serpent living nearby… only to be bitten to death by one in the end.
“Why do you let your tongue slither like a snake, while foolishly thinking the snake won’t tighten around your neck?”
“I-I didn’t say anything false…”
“Your rudeness today will be formally conveyed to House Balbadia. I’ve heard they’re beginning a new trade venture with House Yordin.”
Luchen blinked, startled.
“Our house is… starting a new venture?”
“That venture must be licensed by Leontheim—the sovereign power of the North.”
With every word, Iris’s tone remained tranquil. But Luchen’s face turned deathly pale.
“One who lacks even the most basic decorum has no place establishing themselves in the North.”
Only then did Luchen begin to realize what she had done.
“Heavens… what did I just say?”
As the survival of her house came into question, she panicked, clinging to Camilla.
“Camilla! You said you had evidence to remove the Grand Consort, didn’t you?”
“M-Me?”
Camilla, who had been quietly holding her breath, shook her head in denial.
“I never said that.”
“What are you talking about?! You
definitely
told me there was a way to get rid of that lowly woman who stole someone else’s man!”
Luchen, visibly desperate, cast glances at Iris as she tried to push Camilla to speak.
“I-It’s true! Camilla told me so herself!”
“I… I never—”
“You said it to me too, didn’t you?”
Another noble daughter cut in, followed by more murmurs.
“Yes, she told me the same.”
“Me too.”
“Exactly like that.”
The more voices joined, the more nervous Camilla became. She started glancing fearfully at Iris.
“How far did I let my lies go?”
Camilla had always bragged subtly about being “close” to the Grand Duke, to present herself as
above
the ordinary women who merely admired him from afar.
“It’s not like the Grand Duke would ever hear about it anyway.”
But with each retelling, her fabrications had grown until they had spiraled completely out of control.
Iris looked directly at Camilla. Her elegant posture was unshaken—but there was not a drop of warmth in her eyes.
“So the one spreading absurd rumors about my husband… is Lady Yordin?”
“T-There’s been a misunderstanding. It’s all just confusion and people misspoke—!”
Camilla waved her hands frantically, but in the process, a letter fell from her pocket.
“What are you doing?! You said there was evidence—oh!”
Eyes lighting up, Luchen quickly snatched the letter.
“Here it is! Grand Consort, look—this is proof, just like Camilla said!”
The moment Camilla saw which letter it was, her face went ghost-white.
“No! That’s not what it is! Give it back right now!”
“Lies! Your name’s right here. Grand Consort, look—she even addressed it to the Grand Duke!”
Luchen raised the letter high. On the front, it clearly read:
To His Grace, the Grand Duke of Leontheim.
“There’s definitely something in here… there
has
to be…”
But the moment Luchen opened the letter and read its contents, the color drained from her face until she looked like a walking corpse.
“Camilla!” she cried, nearly shrieking in disbelief.
“You said you had proof to remove the Grand Consort! What is this?! You weren’t even close to the Grand Duke at all!”
The letter was nothing more than Camilla’s desperate plea to be taken as his concubine—even if not his legal wife.
It had all been a lie.
Luchen, who had believed her and helped spread the rumors, leapt to her feet, stomping in fury.
“How could you say such ridiculous things?! What do we do now?!”
Her outburst made the surrounding noble daughters panic. They grabbed the letter and began reading it themselves.
The entire atmosphere shifted.
Now, for the sake of their own reputations, they had to turn on Camilla.
“You lied to us from beginning to end!”
Any semblance of noble dignity had completely vanished from their tone.
Camilla stammered, voice trembling.
“I only wrote that letter because we’d grown distant, and I didn’t know how to act around him. It’s just
one
letter.”
“If one letter is excusable, then what about several?”
Iris’s calm voice sliced through the noise, silencing the chaos.
“The truth is, Lady Yordin has sent many such letters.”
The head maid, standing nearby, stepped forward holding a stack of yellowed envelopes.
“As it happens, we were just sorting through them. Too many to keep, too troublesome to burn.”
Camilla, eyes wide, shot to her feet and clenched her fists. “No, no—this can’t happen!”
“What is it that cannot be allowed?” Iris asked softly.
“Isn’t this exactly the method Lady Yordin sought—to uncover the truth? From her perspective, revealing the letters would be the surest way.”
At that moment, Camilla’s mind raced through the sentences she had written.
‘If those letters come to light, I’m finished!’
The letters contained even harsher words than the one currently under discussion.
“They’re my personal letters,” Camilla stammered.
“Do you still believe this is merely a personal matter of Lady Yordin’s?” Iris’s gaze was sharp and unyielding.
Camilla bit her trembling lip and pleaded, “Then, could it be kept secret? At least the letters must not be disclosed…”
“This is a matter concerning the honor of Leontheim—and even the Grand Duke’s name is entwined in it. We cannot let this pass. Nor should we.”
Thanks to the testimonies from the surrounding noble ladies, Camilla’s slanderous rumors were confirmed.
All those who had acted recklessly, including Camilla, were now subject to punishment.
Expulsion from the social sphere was a given, and reparations could be demanded in the name of their houses.
“I may tolerate offenses against myself,” Iris said, her sky-blue eyes blazing with cold resolve.
“But to touch Leontheim, to offend the Grand Duke, is something I will never forgive.”
Overwhelmed by the force of her aura, Camilla’s eyes unwittingly welled with tears of fear.
The noble ladies around her sensed the merciless fury burning in those eyes and shrank back.
They looked at Camilla in disbelief.
“What has she done to deserve crying now?”
“We’re all about to be cast out of the social circle because of her!”
Feeling utterly abandoned, Camilla bit her lip hard and whispered a desperate plea.
“Then… please summon the Grand Duke. Surely he will say something different…”
“Me?” a sudden voice interrupted, drawing every head.
“Who are you?” someone demanded sharply.
By the greenhouse door stood a striking figure—like a wolf in the snowy wilderness. Cedric’s crimson eyes shone coldly.
“I don’t know anyone like you.”
At his words, Camilla stopped crying, her face draining of color as if turned to stone.
Cedric strode forward toward her.
With each step he took, Camilla trembled in place.
Still shaking, she asked in disbelief, “…You don’t know me?”
Though they weren’t close, Camilla hadn’t fabricated everything. They had even exchanged names back at the academy—a memory she had cherished deeply.
But in Cedric’s red eyes, none of that warmth remained. Instead, a fierce killing intent pressed down on her.
“I… I was the one who liked you first, Grand Duke.”
Tears streamed down Camilla’s face as she spat out the words and shot a spiteful glance at Iris.
“Our Yordin Guild’s gold power will be needed in Leontheim. Your Grace needs a woman with—”
Thud!
Something sharp plunged next to Camilla’s hand on the table. The cold steel bit into her skin.
The dessert knife she had been carelessly holding.
What… what is this?
The icy cold touch of the blade sent chills down her spine.
Mid-plea, Camilla froze instantly.
If it had pierced just a little deeper…
Her hand might have been impaled.
The long, straight fingers that held the knife withdrew it slowly.
Camilla looked up with trembling eyes.
Cedric glared at her with the fierce gaze of a wild beast.
“I heard you’re my academy peer. So you must have heard plenty about me.”
He flicked the knife in his hand like a toy, then caught it again. The blade glistened ominously in the light.
“Then you know my temperament is nothing short of a disaster.”
The knife suddenly lunged forward but stopped just before her eyes.
“I have no need for your vulgar wealth.”
Cedric sheathed the knife again with a casual air.
“What I need is not money—but
my
wife.”
“…”
“Do not speak carelessly with that filthy mouth.”
Camilla nodded frantically, her tear-streaked face shaking.
Sc-scary…
That movement had been no mere threat—it was genuine lethal intent.
Born as the only daughter of the prestigious Yordin Guild, Camilla had never before known such fear.
Cedric’s gaze then shifted back to Iris, who watched silently.
“Ah, such a wicked side revealed before my gentle wife.”
He shrugged and added a final, patronizing remark.
“This must have been a useful lesson about your own shortcomings. Now that you understand, I suggest you leave.”
Of course, his version of kindness was entirely subjective.
Only then did Camilla snap back to herself, forcing her trembling legs to move and fleeing the room.
In the sudden silence, only her hurried footsteps echoed.
Cedric cast a cold, assessing glance over the remaining noble daughters as if entertaining himself.
Chapter 46