Chapter 6
There was a sense of trust toward Beilin in Haren’s voice as he asked what she had discovered.
“It is only my assumption, but I believe those standing against Your Highness have already begun to move. Perhaps they are even closer to you than you think…”
“What do you mean by that?”
The voice did not belong to Haren.
Beilin turned around in surprise. Standing there was Aivan, his expression flushed with anger.
From his expression alone, she immediately realized that he had heard everything she had said.
Haren was equally startled by Aivan’s unexpected appearance.
“Your Highness…”
While Beilin hesitated, unsure how to explain the situation, Aivan strode into the office and approached until he was right in front of her.
“I asked what you mean.”
“That…”
“Your Highness, please calm down for now—”
“I was not asking the Duke.”
The overwhelming pressure made it difficult for Beilin to even raise her head.
When she remained silent, Aivan eventually lost control of his anger and raised his voice.
“On what basis are you saying such things?!”
The fact that someone who worked far away from the capital knew about his situation—things even he himself was unaware of—caused countless thoughts to race through his mind.
Haren stepped in front of the frozen Beilin, perhaps realizing she was frightened, and tried to stop Aivan.
“Please calm yourself, Your Highness.”
But those words were not enough to ease his anger.
For someone who had no connection to him, what she had said was an extremely dangerous claim. Dangerous enough that even the truth of her words could be questioned.
And Aivan’s suspicion pointed toward one person.
“Did the Empress send you? Did she tell you to somehow gain the Duke’s favor?”
“That cannot be true. This girl has nothing to do with them—”
“Then tell me! Why would you say something like that?”
Beilin unconsciously hid her trembling hand with her other hand and tried to calm herself.
But she could not let Haren be dragged into trouble because of her.
So, in the end, she opened her mouth.
“It was fake!”
Aivan stopped at her unexpected statement.
“What do you mean?”
Standing behind Haren, Beilin looked directly at him and spoke again with certainty.
“The jewel on Your Highness’s brooch… is fake.”
“What…?”
Aivan was left speechless by her answer.
No, he simply could not believe it.
That the jewel on the brooch was fake.
Because it was something that should have been impossible.
“That was a gift personally given to me by His Majesty the Emperor. There is no way it could be fake.”
He took the brooch in question out of his pocket.
No matter how he looked at it, there was no visible difference.
It was something meaningful to him, something he had always kept carefully stored away.
It was an item that had never passed through anyone else’s hands.
Even despite Aivan’s denial, Beilin’s voice remained firm.
She had not wanted the truth to be revealed like this either.
But now was the time to tell the truth.
For her own sake.
And for Aivan’s.
“No. It is definitely fake. That jewel has a unique trait. When it receives light, it sparkles with the colors of a rainbow. But the one Your Highness possesses does not.”
Beilin calmly explained her reasoning, and Aivan hurriedly held the brooch under the ceiling light.
Just as Beilin claimed, the light merely passed through it.
“When you examine it carefully, there is a clear difference from the real one. No matter how perfectly a fake is made, it can never become the original.”
Seeing the certainty in her eyes, Aivan could no longer insist that she was wrong.
Haren was just as shocked by the fact that the jewel was fake.
“Is that true, Beilin?”
“Yes. If you do not believe me, call a jewel appraiser tomorrow and confirm it yourself. It will certainly be judged as a fake. However…”
She paused before continuing.
“I am not sure whether it would be wise for this fact to become known outside.”
With those final words, Beilin completely organized the situation.
The hand holding the brooch was trembling.
Just as she said, there was only one thing Aivan could do.
Hide this fact completely.
If people learned it was fake, he could already imagine the rumors.
They would surely criticize him for failing to properly manage something personally bestowed by the Emperor.
They might even accuse him of trying to cover up the truth by replacing it with a fake.
‘That must have been their intention.’
Aivan looked at Beilin, who had immediately predicted the situation the moment she realized the jewel was fake.
And he became certain.
She was not an ordinary servant.
“What did you mean by saying they are close to me?”
“Someone who would dare touch Your Highness’s belongings would not do so without a reason. I believe they intentionally switched it with another one for a specific purpose.”
Beilin had reached that conclusion easily.
Behind this imitation jewel was undoubtedly a dark intention.
And the target at the end of it was Aivan.
“If an opportunity arises, they will probably pretend not to know and say it in front of everyone. That the jewel is fake. I assumed it was valuable because I saw how much Your Highness cherished it, but if it was something personally given by His Majesty the Emperor, then the accusations they make will be even more obvious.”
Aivan rubbed his forehead as if the unexpected situation had given him a headache.
Then he finally asked the question he had been holding back.
“Who exactly are you? What is your true identity?”
Unlike when she confidently explained her thoughts, Beilin could not easily answer that question.
Seeing her hesitation, Haren stepped forward instead.
“I will explain that part. Beilin, do not worry and wait outside.”
Haren patted her shoulder as if telling her to trust him, and Beilin had no choice but to leave the office.
Standing alone in the dark hallway, she suddenly had a thought.
The peace she had only just reached might be shaken.
‘Should I have just pretended not to know?’
Meanwhile, after Beilin left, Haren sat across from Aivan and looked at the brooch placed on the table before speaking.
“Do you still suspect Beilin?”
“It would be strange not to. How could an ordinary servant working in the castle notice that a jewel was fake and even figure out the reason behind it? I do not even know when it was replaced, but until now, no one in the Imperial Palace noticed.”
Aivan’s suspicion toward her was understandable to Haren.
Because if it were not for what happened at the Duke’s estate, he would not have been able to remain this calm either.
For Aivan’s sake.
And for Beilin’s sake.
Haren decided to tell him the story of the day he first met her.
“Do you know how Beilin and I first met?”
“I heard from others that you personally brought her here.”
“Yes. I still remember the moment I met Beilin. At the time, it was the day I had finished arranging everything after my daughter’s death and was leaving the capital. That day, it rained heavily, just like my heart felt at the time.”
As he spoke, Haren’s gaze seemed to return to that day in the past.
“It is raining heavily. There is no need to rush, so let us go slowly.”
“Yes, Duke.”
Haren had finished settling everything in the capital and was returning to his territory, but his heart was still heavy.
He had painfully realized that he could no longer continue serving beside the Emperor while carrying such guilt.
Could someone who could not even protect his own family truly have the right to protect anyone else?
That thought consumed him.
He felt as though he could no longer even lift the sword that had once felt like an extension of himself.
On the day he lost everything in the world, Haren had no idea that an unexpected encounter awaited him.
The carriage moved through the forest after leaving the capital, cutting through the pouring rain.
Then, without warning, it suddenly stopped.
Haren opened the carriage window and immediately asked the knight.
“What happened?”
“There is… someone collapsed ahead.”
“Here?”
Surprised that someone was lying unconscious in such weather, in a forest where hardly anyone passed by, Haren stepped out of the carriage wearing his robe.
When he reached where the knights had gathered, what he saw was—
“Why is there a girl here?”
A young girl who appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen years old was lying there, drenched by the heavy rain, as if she were already dead.
Looking at the wounds covering her face, one of the knights seemed to realize something and looked up.
“It appears she fell from that cliff.”
Right in front of where the girl lay was a fairly high cliff.
She must have fallen from the top, but fortunately, the trees growing halfway down the cliff seemed to have broken her fall and saved her life.
However, her breathing was weak, and her condition was not good.
“Move her to my carriage first and head to the nearest city. Hurry.”
“Yes, Duke.”
Haren carried the unconscious girl into the carriage and urged the driver forward.
Perhaps because the girl was around the same age as his daughter, he wanted to save her no matter what.
He could not bear to watch her die without even being given a chance.
Just barely keeping her breath alive, they managed to reach a nearby city.
Haren went to the mansion of a noble he knew and asked for help.
Fortunately, there was a physician staying at the mansion, allowing the girl to be examined quickly.
After changing out of his wet clothes, Haren headed toward the room where the girl was lying.
