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The ladies, who had been trying to join in with Vivian's comments, opened and closed their mouths, looking completely frozen.
Even the slightest misstep will add tension to the conversation about the death of Vivienne's father, Baron Haydn.
I, too, wiped my smile and looked at Vivian.
How do I act?
Can I extract information about the case from Vivian?
Complex thoughts raced through my mind.
In this somewhat relaxed atmosphere, Vivian closed her eyes and smiled.
“In fact, your defense dispelled the misunderstanding that day.
Anyone who attended the trial would have thought so.”
“If that's the case... then I'm happy.”
Confused, I raised the corners of my mouth in embarrassment.
Then, as if trying to change the atmosphere, someone next to me also spoke hesitantly.
“As expected, Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess always thinks of everyone.
This is befitting of a member of the imperial family, who upholds the laws of the empire.”
Complimenting the ladies, Vivian shyly ran her hand over her flowing silver hair.
I sipped my tea, wetting my lips, my nervousness draining away.
"Honestly, I didn't realize until now how hard it was.
I didn't want to think that Benny, who's always so kind, would abuse me so much."
“Pfft!”
I spit out the tea without realizing what I heard.
This made me doubt that my ears were working properly.
'Penny'?
Is it the 'Penny' that Ms.
Perona mentioned?
Did you call 'Archduke Benedict Richard' 'Penny'?
Vivian?
And you say that robot is cute?
“It's a relief that I no longer hold a grudge against Benny.”
Hah.
A sarcastic laugh escaped my lips when I heard the word 'penny' again.
Without realizing it, all thoughts of Baron Haydn or the Empress disappeared from my mind.
Only Benny remained.
Were they so closely related that they called each other by their first names?
I remembered the first thing Benny said to me.
“I never loved Vivian for a moment.”
Look, Mr.
Benny.
'Your Vivian' seems to be saying something a little different now.
I don't know why, but I felt a heat creeping deep inside me.
I managed to get the right words out of my throat, hoping that she would see the meaning behind the words I emphasized.
“Ha…Haha.
I didn’t realize Your Highness valued my ‘husband’ so highly.”
A slight smile appeared on Vivian's face, a mixture of remorse, affection, and nostalgia.
“It was nice to see Penny with you at the party this summer.”
"Oh, yeah.
Why don't we talk about something else—"
حاولتُ مقاطعتها، لكن فيفيان ظلّت مُصِرّة.
She continued to chatter incessantly, in a voice like the voice of a nightingale.
"I'm very happy with His Highness the Crown Prince now.
So I wanted Benny to be happy too.
But I always felt guilty because I couldn't.
He always went to parties alone, without even looking for a partner."
My eyes opened for a moment.
His words at the summer party echoed in my mind.
“…You are my first partner.”
He must have entered society years ago, and yet I was his first party partner.
Why didn't he have a partner before?
What's the reason?
By coincidence, the other ladies seemed to share my thoughts.
“Come to think of it, I don’t think I have ever attended a banquet where the Archduke brought a woman with him...”
“Oh, that's right.”
Although they did not say so, it seemed that the Archduke, who loved Vivien, could not forget her and did not look for another partner.
Some of the ladies, as if recalling the previous scandal, looked at me nervously and coughed hesitantly.
“Hmm...there seems to be a misunderstanding-”
I thought I would clarify things.
The rumor of the Archduke's love for Vivian was nothing but a baseless rumour, and as you have all read in countless articles, the truth is that Benedict Richard loved his wife Elena Richard.
Then a strange idea suddenly occurred to me, so I remained silent.
'Is this really true?'
The fact that the Archduke loved me was a lie I made up for the trial.
But maybe…
I stared at Vivian blankly.
As the novel described her, she was so beautiful that anyone could fall in love with her.
Is it possible that the Archduke truly loved Vivienne, as described in the novel?
The hand holding my cup trembled slightly.
My mood was more anxious than ever.
Perhaps more than the day I heard the decision to confiscate the Archduke's fortune until the culprit is found.
“So far, you two look so harmonious.
They look like a couple in love, don't you think?”
Vivian smiled innocently, as if her words held no malice.
She said nothing about the Archduke's love for her, and in the end, she confessed his love for me.
So, it was difficult to refute or add anything else.
So, I forced myself to smile.
It would have been better to handle the situation so as not to spread unnecessary rumors, even if it was for the sake of the 'trial', which is more important to me now.
“Of course, Your Excellency and I love each other deeply—”
“Come to think of it, I and your love connection were alive, right?”
I tried hard to keep a straight face, but what she said eventually left me speechless, with my mouth open.
“You said you met on the battlefield, right?
And Benny saved the lady.”
“…But why is all this thanks to Her Highness?”
My facial expression hardened, even my usual smile was gone.
Vivian, indifferent, lowered her eyes shyly.
“I asked Benny...to fight for the Empire and Lawrence.
That's why he joined the army and went to dangerous battlefields.”
“...!”
At that moment, my eyes widened.
I recognized the discomfort in her words.
At the same time, the ladies stepped in, as if they had been waiting, and joined Vivian.
“Oh my God!
The Archduke made so many contributions to the war, as if the empire had achieved peace thanks to Her Highness the Crown Princess.”
“How can you be so worried about the empire?”
The tea party continued to discuss various topics, but most of the discussions were in the same vein.
Whenever Vivian spoke, everyone praised her excellence.
“Isn’t this new trend of dresses with only accents on the hem perfect?”
"Oh my God.
I thought it would be extravagant to decorate every part of the dress, so I came up with this design.
I didn't know it would become this popular."
“Oh my God, was this the first dress Her Highness the Crown Princess had ever worn?
I didn’t know.”
“Yes, at this New Year’s party.”
“Your Highness, how thrifty and clever you are!”
The Tea Party found everything, from Archduke Richard Lee's love to the fashion for empire dresses, thanks to Vivian.
When I finally left the palace, I mumbled quietly.
“That dress was a design that had been on the market since last fall.”
Other people's memories may be wrong, but my memories don't lie.
The dress that became the hot topic on page 23 of the design book Claire brought me while I was preparing for a summer party was a design that was prominently displayed as new from a famous brand last fall.
From the tea party I finally realized why there was such a huge discrepancy between the story I had read and Archduke Richard's account.
“I think it's inevitable that she'll get heroine disease, since she's the heroine...”
Perhaps this was due to the unique nature of the beloved heroine in romance novels.
Vivian was interpreting everything from a selfish perspective.
This is also why I felt concerned about the Archduke's story.
‘In the novel, even before Vivian and Archduke Richard met, the Archduke was a war hero in the Empire.’
But Vivian was talking as if he had joined the army for her.
And Vivian even seemed to really believe it.
For this reason, in the novel, which is told from Vivien's point of view, Archduke Richard is constantly portrayed as being in love with Vivien.
“However, everyone who attended today’s tea party must think that that man loves Vivian...”
Feeling somehow depressing, I sighed and looked up at the sky.
The sky, unusually clear and blue today, made me feel even more depressed.
At that moment, a large shadow suddenly fell on my face, which was looking towards the sky.
“What if you fall again?”
The sudden sound startled me, causing me to stumble.