I’m Not the One Who Seduced the Grand Duke Chapter 21

Sylvia quickly wiped the smile from her face.

Then, with a triumphant look, she pointed at my hand and said,

“That’s right. The ring the Marquess always wore—the one given to the head of the family. Look, everyone! The Marquess’s finger is empty even now, isn’t it?”

“My goodness, she’s right!”

The people who noticed my finger had been bare for the past few days reacted in shock.

“Oh my, this is a proposal that can’t be denied, isn’t it?”

“Exactly. Why else would he give his partner the symbol of the head of the family rather than some other ring? It’s practically a promise to spend the future together!”

Everyone’s gaze shifted from Sylvia to me.

As if daring me to refute her words.

“To be perfectly honest…… I’m a little taken aback. Because……”

I barely managed to organize my confused thoughts. Suppressing my emotions as much as possible, I calmly opened my mouth.

“The truth is, I happened to go to Roden Street a few days ago and lost my ring. I’ve already had people searching for it ever since……. So why is it in Young Master Valentine’s possession?”

“Wait a moment. Are you saying you lost your signet ring?”

And that lost ring was in the Young Master’s possession?

Faced with this new development, the spectators began exchanging whispers once again, their eyes darting around.

“Are you implying that I’m lying right now? That’s very unfair. There’s no way I would lie about something like this. And besides, you suddenly claim that you lost it only now that things have come to this…… Isn’t that a little strange? Has anyone here heard that the Marquess had lost her ring?”

“Well…… I suppose that is a little suspicious.”

One by one, the other ladies began to agree.

I was starting to feel wronged.

But there was some logic to Sylvia’s words.

Until now, I had said nothing, and only now, when the situation had reached this point, was I claiming that I had lost it.

‘……Even I have to admit it sounds like an excuse.’

It seemed difficult to gain their trust.

“But if you really can’t believe me……. I can prove it!”

Sylvia cried out in a tearful voice.

“Even if we were in a relationship equivalent to an engagement, we had yet to hold the ceremony, and there are quite a few cases where things fall apart before then. So I tried to understand the Marquess and let this matter pass quietly.”

“…….”

“But if you slander not only my brother but me as well in this manner, I have no choice. I have no choice but to prove my innocence to everyone.”

Sylvia appealed in an agitated voice, as though she truly had no other choice.

She was declaring her intention to bring this matter into the open.

While subtly emphasizing that the Young Master and I had already been in a relationship in which we had promised each other marriage.

‘She really is pulling every trick in the book.’

I glared at Sylvia in utter disbelief.

But that was all I could do. I couldn’t say anything.

Unfortunately, there was no denying that the situation was currently unfavorable to me.

‘I’ve been caught.’

If the ring really was in their possession and this wasn’t merely a bluff……

It was a headache.

‘On the other hand, even if she is bluffing, there’s no way to verify it right now.’

Either way, I was at a disadvantage.

“Your Excellency? Please say something. Is everything the Countess said…… true?”

“…….”

“Your Excellency?”

Even those who had maintained their neutrality until the end looked at me with uncertain eyes.

They were asking me to refute her if there was anything to refute, yet I was in no position to open my mouth.

Seeing me like that, Sylvia gave a faint smile before once again appealing through her tears.

“Sniff, please don’t corner the Marquess like that.”

“Countess.”

“I have a personal relationship with Marquess, and she is also someone my brother holds dear. If you apologize to my brother and me even now…… I’ll cover everything up and pretend none of this ever happened.”

Sylvia spoke through her tears as though she were graciously offering me mercy.

I frowned.

‘As if I’d apologize.’

If I apologized here just to get myself out of this situation, it would amount to admitting everything she had said.

But if I refused to apologize, that would become fodder for the gossipmongers all the same.

And I would be branded.

‘As a horrible woman who abandoned her fiancé and switched to a man with better conditions.’

This was different in nature from the scandal with Leon.

Strictly speaking, in the incident with Leon, he was technically the victim after being stripped of his priestly robes, but since the incident had occurred between two consenting adults, the general attitude was that I should simply take responsibility like an adult, or that the two of us should sort it out ourselves.

It had only become such a huge matter because the other party happened to be Leon Obsidian.

But……

‘This time, there’s a real possibility that people will see me as the perpetrator who deceived and manipulated the two of them, while the two brothers are viewed as victims who were tricked by me.’

If that happened, not only would my reputation hit rock bottom, but they might even use this momentum to demand compensation for emotional damages.

‘I think there was a similar case last year. A couple who had promised to marry had their engagement unilaterally broken because one partner cheated, and the court ruled that compensation had to be paid.’

The key issue in that trial had been whether the two people were truly “in a relationship in which they had promised to marry.”

And my situation……

‘If they use the family signet ring as evidence, I’ll be overwhelmingly disadvantaged.’

Just look at what is happening now. The moment the ring appeared, everyone here had begun to waver.

Then the action I needed to take here was……

“I’m sorry, but that will be difficult, Countess. I’m the one who should be receiving an apology right now, not you.”

At my firm refusal, Sylvia’s brow twitched.

As though she had never expected me to refuse.

‘Did you really think I’d fall for that? If I apologize here just to put out the immediate fire, I’d be admitting that the relationship existed. And then I’d be even more disadvantaged if this went to court.’

Either way, if I was thinking as far ahead as a courtroom, refusing to acknowledge the relationship was the right choice.

Because it wasn’t true in the first place.

“So you intend to see this through to the very end? I clearly gave you one last chance.”

“That’s what I should be saying. I clearly gave you a chance as well, Countess. But you’re the one who threw it away. Countess Oscar.”

I deliberately singled out the name of the family she now belonged to—Oscar.

Sylvia’s complexion darkened in an instant.

Why wouldn’t it?

‘From this moment on, this matter has effectively become a battle over the honor of two families: House Zaherette and House Oscar.’

“How could Countess Oscar possibly go that far if it were a lie? Think about it. Does it really make sense that the Marquess just happened to lose her ring?”

“That’s true. A necklace, perhaps, but it’s difficult to lose a ring unless you take it off your hand. And a signet ring, no less. That makes it even less likely.”

Some people believed Sylvia’s story was probably true.

“I don’t know. I think it’s the other way around. Isn’t this the first time we’ve seen the Marquess respond so firmly to something?”

“That’s right. And everyone knows that Young Master Valentine has been going around spreading rumors about his relationship with the Marquess on his own, don’t they?”

Somehow, there were people who found my words more believable.

And finally……

“The Marquess definitely was in a relationship with Young Master Valentine, but she switched to the Grand Duke halfway through. I’m certain of it!”

“That’s right. They were serious enough to exchange a proposal, but once she thought His Grace might accept her, she abandoned the Young Master!”

“My goodness. It is so pitiful!”

There were even young ladies who were convinced that I had engaged in a rebound—or rather, a switching romance.

And so, the crowd was divided into three groups.

I looked around the party hall, which had fallen into chaos in an instant, and bit my lip.

Meanwhile, Sylvia, who had been putting on a flawless performance with tears in her eyes until just moments ago, smiled sweetly.

‘I managed to buy some time, but as long as the ring isn’t in my hands, I can’t win this fight.’

All right, then……

……What am I supposed to do now?

This was bad.

My mind went completely blank, and I couldn’t see a way forward.

 

***

 

And the next day.

“……I knew this would happen.”

Orden’s high society was thrown into an uproar once again.

“So it finally came out.”

[EXCLUSIVE] Is ‘Love with the Grand Duke’ a Lie? — The Grand Duke’s Lover Suspected of Double Dating! (Shocking Interview Revealed!)

[…Accordingly, when this publication contacted Young Master Valentine, he confessed, ‘I feel like I’ve been toyed with, and I’m emotionally exhausted right now’……]

[…Meanwhile, throughout the entire interview, it was confirmed that his left index finger was wearing the much-rumored ‘Signet Ring of the Zaherette Head’……]

Ha.

‘So he really did have it.’

I glared at the photograph printed alongside the article.

In the photograph was Gerold Valentine, his head bowed in a forlorn manner, along with a close-up of his hand wearing a jeweled ring engraved with the Zaherette crest.