I Thought It Was a Common Transmigration - Chapter 25
“I feel sick just thinking about her. How sneaky of that piece of shit to pretend to be nice and innocent, and woo the Duke and Duchess of Ludwig.”
“Trouble is, that sneaky bitch also seduced Cliff and Killian. I guess Killian has given up halfway, seeing as how he’s married Edith, but it’s made it more likely that LizĂ© will marry Cliff.”
“Are you kidding me?” Leila shouted, as if spewing fire.
“This isn’t going to be solved by you being so angry.”
“You’re saying that if I marry Killian, I’ll have to treat her like she’s above me? I absolutely don’t want that!”
“That’s why I’m saying LizĂ© is more of a problem than Edith. Besides, if LizĂ© becomes Cliff’s wife, it’ll be harder for our family to become part of the Duke’s entourage, and she’s probably the biggest obstacle to you marrying Killian.”
Leila’s eyes seemed to darken. “That wench is a sin for being born, and for that to make her the Duchess of Ludwig is ridiculous.”
“So we’ll have to figure out something to do with that wench before you take the seat next to Killian.”
Silence fell over the Sinclair siblings.
They had to get rid of Lizé, but there was no way they were going to put their blades to her when she had the complete favor of Cliff and the Duke of Ludwig.
Leila, who had been tapping her fingers nervously on the armrest of the sofa, suddenly stopped and spoke cautiously, “How about using Edith Riegelhoff?”
“What do you mean?” Anton asked, frowning.
Leila’s expression broke into a smile. “Edith must have a crush on Killian, given how she bragged about him before they were married. So I’m guessing she hates LizĂ© too, right?”
At that, Damien nodded slowly. “Yeah, I don’t know any girl who wouldn’t have a crush on Killian.”
“We just need to poke Edith in the side, so she’ll hate LizĂ© even more, and then we’ll lay the table and she’ll take care of the rest.”
“Hmm…… you do have a good idea sometimes.”
“I know, right? If it’s about Killian, sister will be racking her brains!”
“Are you done talking?”
The three siblings, who resembled each other, laughed merrily. But there was a sinister undertone to their laughter that sent shivers down the spines of the maids who were attending to them.
***
I spent my probation days like I was on vacation.
I had gotten out of the habit of dressing up my dolls and was passing the time by practicing my embroidery.
“Edith!”
“Mama! You startled me!”
Thanks to Killian’s sudden burst into my room, I pricked my fingertip on the needle, bleeding.
“Killian, do you have no manners for knocking beforeâ”
“A document in your handwriting has been found, and you’re telling me this isn’t your doing?”
He grabbed both my forearms in a painful grip and shook me.
“Ah! It hurts, let me go and talk properly!”
“My father will be calling for you any minute now, what are you going to say to him?”
He looked impatient and nervous. I don’t know why he’s so upset that they found evidence that points to me as the culprit.
“I’ll say you tried to frame me for something I didn’t do. Why?”
“Are you…… out of your mind, or are you making fun of the Duke of Ludwig?”
He glared at me like he was going to devour me, but in all honesty, I knew this wasn’t going to get me killed, let alone kicked out.
‘They still need me to just let me go.’
In the original story, it was Edith who did it, and the evidence was found, just as it is now, but in the end, the Duke of Ludwig buries it. Of course, he does use it to give Count Riegelhoff a stinging warning.
“Pardon me for interrupting you. His Excellency the Duke is calling for Miss Edith.”
As if the play needed to get underway, Anna and the knight I’d seen earlier picked me up.
“Yes, let’s go.”
I set the embroidery frame aside and stood up lightly, but Killian still looked fearsome.
“Keep a straight face, Killian. If they found the evidence, isn’t that a good thing for you?”
I threw it out in a joking tone, hoping to lighten the mood, but he stiffened and walked away. Either way, he’d lost his temper.
I followed Anna and the knight to the Duke’s office, and the mood was lighter than last time. Only Killian seemed serious.
“Sit down, Edith.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
Once I was seated, he placed the ‘evidence’ Killian had spoken of in front of me.
“This is the list of items the arms dealer claimed to have received from Count Riegelhoff. In your handwriting.”
I held the paper up and looked at it to see how the original story could possibly incriminate me.
At a glance, I realized that someone had forged my handwriting.
The table isn’t even the way I’d drawn it.
‘Someone who has learned how to tabulate from the Duchess or LizĂ© must have forged my handwriting.’
It was bizarre.
Why would they bother to imitate my handwriting? It was as if they knew this would be discovered and they needed to frame me as the culprit……
Anyway, I wasn’t about to take the accusation lying down.
“Someone copied my handwriting.”
The Duke and Cliff snorted at the same time.
“Who?”
“That’s for you to figure out, Duke, and the others.”
“Edith.”
The Duke’s voice was low with a hint of laughter.
“If anything, it’s a loss for the Riegelhoffs, and to be honest, I’m not going to punish you for it.”
I’ve never missed forensic science so much. In modern times, this wouldn’t even be a problem in the first place……
“Your Excellency, this isn’t about punishment, it’s about my honor. Would you mind bringing me the documents I organized back then?”
The Duke looked displeased, but compliantly handed over the documents.
I unfolded my own tabulations and compared them to the Duke’s ‘evidence’.
“To me, a ‘table’ is something like this, where you can adjust the height or width of the columns according to the amount of information. But when I first explained this to other people, they all drew a table with the same size columns, like a grid.”
Finally, the Duke realized that my table and the one in the ‘evidence’ were different.
“I don’t draw this badly, which means it’s nothing more than someone copying me who hasn’t yet grasped the concept of a ‘table’.”
“……or you could have drawn it like this on purpose.”
“What’s the point? I wouldn’t have written in my own handwriting in the first place if I was expecting to be found out. You’re taking me for a complete idiot, aren’t you?”
I laughed out loud in disbelief.
“And now that I’m looking at it more closely, the handwriting is also slightly different from mine. I don’t write capital Q like this.”
The capitalized Q on the ‘evidence’ was a graceful rolled line, the kind you’d expect to see from an aristocratic lady.
But I don’t write Q like that.
“I’ll ask Anna to bring my diary, and I’m sure it has a Q written on it.”
The Duke agreed, and Anna brought me my diary.
There aren’t any great stories in it, but sometimes I write this and that when I’m in a sentimental mood, like middle schoolers usually do. So I look for Q and hide everything else from the Duke and the others.
“Ah, here it is. This is how I write Q.”
Everyone’s eyes widened at the completely different handwriting from the Q on ‘evidence’, where the circle was drawn first and the line was drawn afterward.
Killian, in particular, seemed surprised enough to pick up my diary and take a closer look.
“As you see, this is a document someone forged to frame me. The Duke needs to catch that rat.”
“Hmm……”
The Duke seemed to agree with me for a moment.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
“Your Excellency, it’s me, LizĂ©.”
LizĂ© apparently didn’t realize there was a ‘trial’ going on here.
I expected the Duke to ask her to leave or to come back later.
“There you are, come in.”
“Excuse me, ah, am I interrupting?”
LizĂ©’s eyes widened in surprise at the serious atmosphere, but she was more surprised than I was.
‘What the hell, why are you letting LizĂ© into the room?’
Then I realized the obvious, which I had completely forgotten.
‘Oh, right. LizĂ© is going to reveal Edith’s crime.’
Maybe it’s time for the female lead to step in.
“No, no. I called you here to ask you a question.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
Lizé looked up at the Duke, nervous and yet bright-eyed.
“LizĂ©. It’s been four years since you helped Jocelyn with her work, hasn’t it?”
“Yes. It’s been that long already.”
“I see. Last time, Edith taught you how to organize contents in tables, didn’t she?”
“Yes! It’s a very efficient method, the Duchess was delighted.”
“Who knows about that method?”
LizĂ© seemed to think for a moment, then answered in a clear voice, “Edith explained it to the Duchess and me, but I didn’t really understand it. I think the Duchess understood it, but it’s not the way she’s used to writing, so she’s not using it very well yet.”
“Who else?”
“I’d have to ask the Duchess if she’s taught it to her aide. Cliff and Killian probably have some idea from what the Duchess has told them. I’ve never taught it to anyone because I don’t understand the concept very well.”
The Duke’s frosty gaze turned to me again.
MANGA DISCUSSION
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