‘No, it can’t be. If that’s the case, it doesn’t make sense to change the details. Someone poisoned it!’

But why did it have to be the embroidery thread she gave her? Why did they have to accuse me of being the culprit?

“Killian. Right now I’m doubtful, but think soberly. I… How can you be that stupid?”

Killian didn’t say anything either, but he seemed to be barely holding back his anger as he clenched his molars. She had to calmly convince Killian.

“Do you think I would do something like that in a situation where everyone is suspicious of me because of the peach pie incident?”

Killian didn’t agree with her. Well, she couldn’t believe this situation right now, but others were shocked.

“I want to believe in you too. But how many times has this been done? Can’t you keep me from doubting you?”

At that moment, a good idea came to her mind. Because Killian’s wishes were exactly the same.

“I don’t want to be suspicious either! So please give me more maids to watch over me. Will that work?”

Sure enough, Sophia looked up with her menacing eyes and then interrupted.

“Miss! Surveillance!”

“Even so, I will prove my innocence! Besides, there is no surveillance. Because I didn’t do anything wrong. From my point of view, it is just an increase in the number of maids.”

She could hear Sophia grinding her teeth from here. So happy! How long did she thought she would be swayed by her?

“Killian, I’m begging you. Please don’t doubt me without even doing that. If nothing changes, I have no choice but to doubt the Duke.”

“Then good. Let’s call Anna back right now.”

“Great. Thanks for doing me a favor, Killian.”

Killian wouldn’t know at this moment how much she appreciated him. She could finally escape from Sophia’s violence! Killian called the butler from his seat to reassign Anna to her. He may have called Anna right away, thinking that she would make plans with Sophia if he left for even a moment, but for her, she was avoiding any assault from Sophia that could happen in a matter of seconds.

‘Thank you so much, Killian.’

She thanked Killian several times in her heart for unintentionally saving her. But the problem remained, because she was still the biggest suspect in Lise’s poisoning.

“Have you checked out the handicraft merchant?”

“They should have caught him by now. But would he have tried to poison a random person? Who would believe it?”

“Well, yes… After I gifted the thread to Lise, did no one have access to it?”

“If I were to say that the people who came in and out of Lise’s room were Lise’s close maid, Cliff, me, and mother. There was a time when Lise’s room was empty, but it’s too short a time to think that she’s found the embroidery thread and even applied the poison.”

“But it’s not completely impossible. Yes? Maybe liquid poison was sprayed over the embroidery basket.”

Killian looked like he didn’t like it, but he didn’t object.

“Killian. Again, I am absolutely not the culprit. If, by any chance, I decided to hurt someone, I wouldn’t do something that would get noticed right away.”

“That is a very tense declaration.”

“You can be nervous. Anyway, I can’t help but feel that someone is trying to harm Lise safely by using me as a scapegoat.”

Then, Killian finally looked at her with eyes other than suspicion.

“Continue.”

“The Count of Sinclair.”

As expected, Killian’s eyes grew cold at the name Sinclair. She had been busy taking care of her own business and forgot about it, but Lise Sinclair’s main enemy was not her, but the Sinclair family. Especially her half-brothers and sisters, who were no more beautiful or smarter than the illegitimate daughter, Lise.

“I’ve heard rumors too, but I heard that the half-brothers in that house aren’t very friendly to Lise.”

“…Yes.”

“I heard that they tried to harm Lise many times before.”

“I don’t know what kind of rumors are going around.”

“But you can’t argue.”

Killian shut his mouth. Then she paused for a beat and spoke in a coy voice.

“Haven’t they been too quiet all this time?”

“…”

“And the Sinclair Counts don’t get along very well with the Rigelhoff Counts either.”

Killian nodded his head slightly.

“If Lise dies or gets seriously injured and I get punished or expelled because of that… The Countess of Sinclair will be very happy, won’t they?”

“I guess so.”

“And you can’t bet that among the many servants of this mansion, there won’t be a single spy from the Count Sinclair family, right?”

“That… In the meantime, it sounds like Rigelhoff’s spy is also involved.”

“There are also people from the Ludwig family in the Rigelhoff family, right? Don’t think I don’t know that much, you hurt my pride.”

Their eyes met. His eyes seemed to be burning for some reason, but she had no intention of being pushed away from here either.

“At first, to be honest, I doubted that the duchy would frame me and disgrace the Rigelhof family.”

“How could you do such a mean thing! I can say for my honor that it never happened.”

“Isn’t it unfair to be suspected everytime? Even though I said I would risk my life, you didn’t believe me. Can you imagine how I felt?”

His brow twisted. Still, she was glad he didn’t cover it up and criticize or ignore it.

“But don’t worry. I also don’t believe in you and the Duke. To be more honest, I don’t think you’ll ever feel that I’m worth the effort.”

“You were surprisingly self-objectifying.”

After all, she didn’t give up obediently.

“The term self-objectification is not used for such things. Anyway, I thought about it in many ways while lying down this time. Who the hell is doing this… And the conclusion I have reached is the Count of Sinclair.”

“It’s a pretty plausible guess, but I don’t know if my father and older brother will fully agree.”

“I understand. To be honest once again, I’m doing this because I don’t want to be suspicious for Lise rather than them. I don’t want to be remembered as the person who gave her the poisoned thread as a thank you.”

At those words, Killian opened his eyes wide as if he was a little surprised.

“Don’t you hate Lise?”

“Yes? Why me?”

“You all know what I think of Lise, don’t you? Besides, everyone praises Lise rather than you…”

He knew very well that she was in debt with Lise. To be honest, she didn’t know if she was a little jealous in the past, but now she was not at all. Lise was the heroine who might save her life, why should she be jealous? Anyway, now she had to strongly appeal that she wasn’t jealous of Lise.

“Killian. Do I look like someone who would beg for your love or the praise of others? Even doing such a bothersome thing?”

Killian seemed to have lost his words. Yeah, it’s the first time she had been so shameless. But when she said this, she really felt like a ‘strong woman’ and her courage and self-esteem rose. While she was bluffing, she raised her chin a little more.

“I am Edith Ludwig. Do you think I’ll be jealous of other women just because I want a man’s love? Don’t get me wrong.”

She couldn’t believe the day would come when she could say these lines in her life! Her whole body was thrilled. She felt pretty cool now! But then Killian suddenly put his hand on the back of her head.

‘What? To grab the hair?’

Lately, when she had been attacked by Sophia, when she put her hand on her head, she got nervous without knowing it. But Killian put his hand on the back of her head and held it tight, then kissed her.

“Oops!”

Contrary to his rough demeanor, his lips were surprisingly soft on hers, and then, in between, he slipped his tongue. It felt cautious enough to get out if she rebelled. But she couldn’t resist kissing him.

“Yes…”

She was surprised for a moment, but she was helplessly caught up in his kiss. It was really strange to feel only the sweetness of someone else’s lips and tongue. When she didn’t push him away, he moved deeper into her, and there was nothing she could do but hold on to his shirt. It was a feast of hot, giddy, sweet sensations.

“Ha…”

“Ha ha ha… … .”

After a slow kiss for a long time, he finally let her go when she was out of breath. She managed to control her hazy mind and looked up at him.

“This… What does it mean?”

Even to her question, Killian, who had been looking at her from corner to corner, gave a short answer.

“Just… I wanted to.”

“Yes…?”

“Anyway, I will share your opinion with my father and older brother. I sincerely hope that you are not guilty.”

Killian picked up those words and got up and left.

“What, what…?”

It was absurd. He still didn’t seem to trust her, but there have been times when she had felt subtly given away after a night they impulsively spent together. Even that alone made her think it was a big step forward, but such a sudden kiss… It was absurd and surprising, but to be honest… It was great. When it came to the leading role in romance, this kind of technique seemed to be standard equipment. He must have been a virgin who hadn’t even kissed until he did it with her.

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