“I don’t know for sure, but… perhaps it was intercepted in the mail. Ah, Arrie. Why would you do such a thing…?”
Lizzy pretended to cry, burying her face in her hands.
Despite being a hastily concocted lie, she had managed to grasp the truth quite well. Blaming all the wrongdoing on Ariella was also quite skillful. Her mind was surprisingly sharp in this regard.
As she mentioned Ariella, the murmurs grew louder. The nobles took it as a show put on by the fake princess to bring down the real princess, expressing sympathy for Lizzy.
As the situation unfolded, the one who found himself in the most trouble was Lord Wrexham. His face turned as red as a tomato, and he could neither move forward nor backward, merely twitching his lips.
If this was truly a scheme by Ariella, he would end up looking like a fool for revealing his feelings for Lizzy. Even if he claimed to be a victim deceived by Ariella, it wouldn’t change anything.
He had already boldly declared in front of Catalina and the prince that the only woman he wanted to drape a ruby necklace around was Lizzy.
There couldn’t be a more disastrous situation than this.
But then, an unexpected savior reached out.
“So what you’re saying is, Arrie, who is not even on good terms with Lizzy to the point of not attending her debutante ball, gave Lizzy a gift, and Lizzy, knowing that Arrie dislikes her, wore it without any suspicion?”
Just moments ago, Catalina had been trembling with rising anger and betrayal, but now she raised her chin haughtily as she spoke.
Although she was furious that Calum Wrexham had sent a gift to Lizzy without her knowledge, Calum was still the man she cherished and adored.
As long as Calum’s appearance didn’t become ugly, her feelings would continue.
Thus, if his reputation fell, it would be the same as her own reputation being tarnished. As his fiancée, she couldn’t allow him to be made a fool of like this.
“How strange. When you usually converse with us, you’re so suspicious and wary of Arrie’s every move, yet today, of all days, you wear the necklace without a hint of doubt?”
“Catalina…!”
Lord Wrexham called Catalina’s name with a face that looked like he might cry.
He had found Catalina, who monitored his every move and treated him like a puppet, tiresome, but at that moment, her protective stance felt incredibly reassuring and admirable.
‘Ha, so today is the day to catch me off guard, huh?’
As Catalina displayed her combative stance, Lizzy scoffed lightly.
Just a moment ago, they had been laughing together, belittling Ariella, and now she was facing her as if flipping a palm. It was simply ridiculous.
“I knew Arrie disliked me. But how could I have imagined it would escalate to this? To intercept mail, that’s a thought too far-fetched for someone like me.”
“That’s quite interesting, isn’t it? Didn’t you say that Lady Arrie is pitifully treated like a servant in the Duke of Abercorn’s household? How could someone like that have the ability to intercept the real Abercorn princess’s mail…? It seems a bit contradictory. It would be more convincing to say that you instigated this to put me, Calum, and Lady Arrie in a difficult position.”
Catalina genuinely believed that. Even though she knew Lizzy had no reason to take such risks in such an important setting.
For the sake of her pride, it was easier for her to think of Lizzy as a fox and herself and Calum as victims of a witch’s trick.
“Isn’t it true that Calum sent you that because you were subtly pressuring him from behind? Calum isn’t a fool; why would he send an unexpected gift to a woman he had no prior interaction with? Isn’t that right?”
As she spoke, looking around as if persuading, the gathered nobles averted their gazes with confused expressions.
They couldn’t openly side with her for fear of being marked by the royal family and Abercorn, but many nobles found her words to have some merit.
The conservative belief that men often acted foolishly due to women’s wiles was deeply ingrained.
Lord Wrexham couldn’t bring himself to mention that Ariella had suggested it and kept his mouth shut. If he brought it up now, he would only make himself look more foolish. Everyone would laugh at him for being fooled by the words of a mere fake princess. He couldn’t allow himself to be humiliated like that.
“How could you—!”
“Catalina Lancashire.”
Just as Lizzy was about to urgently refute, Aaron interrupted her. When the prince called her name in a cold voice, Catalina, who had been raising her voice, noticeably shrank back.
