# 19
**Chapter Nineteen**
Harold's deep blue eyes slowly turned to me. Without taking his eyes off me, he straightened his stance from where he was leaning on the balcony railing.
“Let's go down now,” he said and disappeared from the balcony. Moments later, he appeared in the garden.
With noble, impeccable steps, neither too fast nor too slow, Harold moved to my side. Specifically, he stood between me and Vincent, gently throwing his arm around my shoulders.
The smell of the perfume I'm wearing is more pronounced now that he's standing so close—a pure, forest-like scent. Realizing that Harold was truly by my side eased the tension I felt under the cold stares of the crowd. Just having him nearby brought an unexpected feeling of relief.
With his trademark elegant smile, Harold glanced at Vincent.
“Young Master Vincent, are your eyes not working properly? Or did you drink too much in the gambling house last night and still have a headache? Otherwise, I don’t see how you can claim that my Diana grabbed Lady Ella by the hair.”
“Huh, defending the Duchess is one thing, but will you now pick a fight with me?”
"Battle? I'm just stating a fact. I was on the balcony the whole time Lady Ella was alone in the garden." He pointed to the balcony he was just standing on.
"Lady Ella approached Diana to start a conversation, but suddenly she screamed and collapsed. Then, as if possessed, she began tearing out her own hair, just as my wife had described."
As Harold defended me, murmurs echoed through the crowd. His words carried a lot of weight, unlike mine, even though they were essentially the same thing.
I felt a bitter-sweet taste in my mouth knowing this, but at the same time, I felt reassured by his support.
Harold returned his focus to me.
“Diana, you said a servant called you here earlier?”
"Yes."
“Just to be clear, I did not ask any servant to bring you to the garden. So...”
He paused, his fingers gently running over my earlobe, sending shivers up my spine.
“…Someone else must have wanted to put you in an embarrassing situation.”
Harold's gaze slid from me to Vincent again.
“What…! There are limits to how much you can cover for the Duchess, Your Highness!” Vincent's voice rose, his face flushed with anger.
“Do you think I'm the type of person who would fool everyone here just to protect my wife?” Harold's smile disappeared, replaced by a cold, dissatisfied expression. The enormous pressure emanating from him made Vincent's face turn pale.
“That… I didn’t mean…”
“If not, what did you mean?”
“…”
“If it wasn't an insult, what was?”
Even though the oppressive atmosphere was not directed at me, I felt its weight. The tension was evident on the faces of those around us. ‘Wow…Diana, how could you argue with Harold?’ If it were me, I wouldn’t dare attend any party he was at—at least, not if we were arguing.
But now, we were on the same side, and no one was more reassuring than Harold.
“…”
Vincent, realizing how deep a mess he had gotten himself into, seemed to finally grasp the situation. I could anticipate what he would do next.
“I must have made a mistake due to the residual effects of alcohol. My apologies, Your Highness.”
“It seems that your apology should not be directed to me alone.”
“I have wronged you, Duchess. I sincerely apologize for my actions.”
When Vincent felt overwhelmed, his first instinct was to escape the situation. Now, that's exactly what was happening. I turned to look in Ella's direction. She was still in Kayden's arms, her face hidden.
However, Kaiden's face was completely clear, and was full of tension.
“Mrs. Ella, don’t you have something to say?” Harold's sharp question made Ella's shoulders shake.
She turned around slowly, her golden, tear-filled eyes looking at Harold with pity.
“…When I saw the Duchess, it reminded me of the events of the past, and I was overcome with fear. I should have stopped my brother when he misunderstood the situation, but…I couldn’t breathe properly when I looked at the Duchess...”
"Why, though? You were having a perfectly good conversation with her earlier."
"Excuse me? When... oh." Ella bit her lower lip, looking at me with wide, desperate eyes before collapsing into Kayden's embrace again.
With her pale cheeks and fragile appearance, it truly looked as if she had fainted. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at her play.
“I apologize on behalf of my fiancée. I will officially visit you later to offer our apologies again,” Kayden said, quickly carrying her away from the garden.
With Ella's theatrical exit, Vincent was left alone.
“Young Master Vincent, I think it is time for you to leave as well,” the Marchioness Mayer suggested gently, even though the words were clearly dismissive.
Vincent clenched his jaw, but under the harsh gazes of the onlookers, he had no choice but to leave on his own.
I sat at a table on the balcony and took a deep breath, trying to shake off the tension from the argument. He was still hanging over me like a heavy cloud.
I stared blankly at the open garden, lost in thought.
'If Harold wasn't watching everything from there...'
If that were the case, everything would have gone exactly as Ella and Vincent had planned. I was going to be the one fired by Mrs. Mayer, not Vincent. The title of “evil” Ali would have become more entrenched. Harold wouldn't have fired me because of my abilities, but would he have been disappointed?
Just imagining Harold looking at me with disappointment made me feel frustrated.
At that moment, something cold touched my cheek. It was a cup.
“Huh?” I flinched, surprised. When I looked up, Harold was there, holding two glasses in his hands.
“What were you thinking that you didn't even notice me coming in?” He sat across from me, crossing his long legs lazily. He placed the cup he was holding on his cheek in front of me. A sweet scent of wine rose from the cup.
“Oh, I was just having fun,” I replied.
“Hmm.” Harold slowly raised one eyebrow as he sipped, his deep blue eyes focused on me as if he couldn't believe I was just daydreaming. Avoiding his gaze, I sipped my wine.
We sat in silence for a while, just drinking. Before I knew it, my cup was empty. The alcohol in my body relieved my tension a little, and I leaned back in my chair, staring at the garden.
I remembered the time we encountered human traffickers. Harold “accidentally” was passing by, and that’s how I survived.
And today too—he just “happened” to be on the balcony, watching everything, saving me from a big misunderstanding.
"If you hadn't been there watching from the balcony, things would have gone exactly the way they both wanted. With everything I've done so far, no one would have believed me, no matter how unfair it was. I had no one to complain to, so I probably would have ended up crying under my covers."
I laughed as I said that, but deep down, I meant every word.
If things had gone wrong, I would have been upset thinking about all the effort I had put in. It would have been painful to be accused of something I didn't even do. I would have been devastated by Harold's look of disappointment. Just imagining that made me feel like I wasted ten years of my life.
So yeah, I was really lucky that Harold was there seeing it all.
“I think I'm a very lucky person,” I said with a joking smile, turning to look at Harold. He was already looking at me, and our eyes naturally caught.
Harold raised an eyebrow.
“…”
“…”
Without saying a word, he took another sip of his wine. There was still more than half left.
“Hmm, maybe.” He put his cup down quietly, leaning back on his chair, his fingers interlaced in front of him. Even in such a relaxed pose, he exuded natural elegance.
“Still, I don't think you would have cried alone under your covers like you imagined.”
"truly?"
“Diana, you handled it well. Compared to the emotional, reckless girl you were before your marriage, I'd say you did a great job.”
Hmm. So maybe someone would believe me after all? It was good that I remained calm and dealt with the situation rationally instead of reacting emotionally. Good job, Anna.
I felt a little proud of myself, so I asked jokingly, “So even if you hadn’t seen what happened from the balcony, you wouldn’t have left me crying alone?”
I wasn't really expecting him to say yes. I assumed he would give a more negative answer, and then I could just grumble cheerfully in response.
“Oh, did I forget to mention?” Harold's lips curved into a long, mischievous smile.
“When I said I saw the moment you ran into Ella... that was a lie.”