And I swallowed dryly and stepped into the room.

‘Wait a second.’

To my surprise, Felide and Chloe were standing inside my room.

‘Grandfather’s not even here right now.’

Grandfather had left the estate today for a major contract.

‘And now even Monica’s getting involved? This feels fully planned.’

Especially since I still didn’t know Chloe’s true identity.

That, above all, was the most frustrating part. I needed to know something in order to formulate a counter-strategy.

Which meant I had to stay completely sharp.

‘But if I play this right, I might be able to learn something through this.’

After all, something had happened.

I steeled my resolve and bit down hard on my lower lip.

“You’re here, Rosie.”

Then Felide let out a ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) long sigh as if deeply regretful.

“Yes. What exactly are you two doing in my room?”

“Well…”

Chloe sighed deeply and quietly held out a brooch in front of my eyes.

A beautiful butterfly brooch adorned with gleaming rubies and sapphires.

“Ever seen this before?”

“…Huh?”

“I asked if you’ve seen it before.”

“What are you talking about?”

I asked, my expression freezing over. Chloe sighed again and clipped the butterfly brooch onto her own dress.

“This was a farewell gift from Linna. I’d kept it safe. But when I checked the other morning, it was gone.”

She gently stroked the lower left wing of the small butterfly, clearly familiar with it.

“So I hurriedly sent a letter to Linna… and this is the reply I got.”

Felide held up the letter with a smug look.

On the pale pink stationery was the seal of Idra and the signature of “Linna Idra.”

This brooch has a tracking spell. I’m including a magic item that can track it. Hope it helps.

Chloe raised her chin and said,

“So I used the magic item… and guess what? It was in this room. I searched, and sure enough, it was here.”

At those words, Heidi stepped in.

“That’s impossible!”

She bristled, shaking her head, eyes wide with outrage.

“I manage all of the young lady’s jewelry. I’ve never seen that brooch before!”

“Well.”

Chloe replied coldly.

“The other maids saw me pull the brooch from the far end of the drawer. So it’s one of two things—either you’re lying, or you’re completely incompetent.”

From the far end of the drawer?

That could easily be faked. You could hide it in your sleeve and pretend to pull it out.

It wasn’t even a large brooch.

“But I didn’t steal it.”

I slowly turned my gaze to Felide and said,

“I’ve been framed. This is a cheap, malicious trick.”

“Well, I mean… sure, you could’ve been tempted. It’s the possession of a tasteful girl from the Idra Duchy, after all.”

Felide said with a somber voice.

“But you made a bad mistake. Because this happened to be a gift from Linna—and that means you’ve potentially offended the Idra Duchy.”

There was a postscript on Linna’s letter.

Let me know who the culprit is once you find out. I’m furious that someone would take my gift.

I think you’ll be more comfortable staying at the Noart estate if this is handled decisively.

So we’ll deal with the culprit in the name of the Idra Duchy.

“This isn’t something that ends with just an apology.”

Felide pointed to the words Idra Duchy as he spoke.

“This could become a conflict between our two houses.”

Damn that Idra…

I bit down hard on my lip.

…This was a trap I couldn’t avoid anyway.

Now that the Idra Duchy was involved, even if I claimed “It was in my room but I didn’t do it,” things had already escalated.

“Sigh.”

Felide shook his head as if troubled.

“Well… I’ll have to report the situation to the Idra Duchy as it stands. Lady Linna is probably waiting to hear.”

But just then—

“That’s not enough, Father.”

Chloe shook her head. Her eyes were suddenly brimming with tears.

“I… I’m honestly so upset.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“Hm?”

“I’m also Grandfather’s granddaughter. But just because I came later than her, I’ve been assigned to ‘Opal’ instead of a nice room like this.”

I stared at Chloe in disbelief.

‘Opal’ was a perfectly fine room, one designated for direct grandchildren.

“And yet this room is stuffed full of valuables.”

“But Chloe… switching rooms is a bit…”

“Yes, I think that’s too much as well. So instead…”

Chloe crossed her arms and swept her gaze across my room.

“I’ll be taking all of Rosie’s jewelry stored here.”

My mind went blank at her words.

“…What?”

Chloe smirked as she spoke.

“What? You get to steal from me, but I can’t take what’s yours? And you seem to have received all these things simply for being the ‘only’ granddaughter… but that’s not the case anymore, is it?”

“What a joke, even a barking dog would meow at that nonsense…”

“Move it all to my room.”

Chloe gave the command to the maids without batting an eye.

“Then I’ll ask Linna for leniency. I’ll tell her this punishment was already carried out, so hopefully she’ll consider it.”

At that, Heidi—who had been blocking the maids—hesitated.

She seemed to have had the passing thought: We can always just buy more jewelry.

Grandfather or Julian would replace it all, surely.

And I’d never really had a strong attachment to jewelry in the first place.

So if giving it all up meant we could settle this quietly… it might not be a bad tradeoff.

But…

“No!”

I shook my head vigorously and stood in front of the maids.

“Don’t move a single thing. Absolutely not.”

My voice was already desperate.

I wasn’t greedy for jewelry.

But among those items, there were still many that Julian had bought for me.

If he were to see even one of those again… there was a chance it could trigger his memory.

Anything else could go—but what Julian had given me, I couldn’t allow to be taken.

“I didn’t steal that brooch. So I’m not giving up my jewelry. Not a single piece.”

I said firmly, and Felide snorted.

“She’s so greedy, no wonder she stole Chloe’s brooch! Huh?”

Chloe sighed deeply and fiddled with the lower left wing of the butterfly brooch again.

Then, her expression turned venomous.

“Then give up something else precious.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“The position of the Dyfenril Duchy’s fiancée.”

She grinned.

“Hand that over. Then… I’ll drop the whole matter.”

So that was the goal from the beginning.

“Whether it’s true or not, how can you be engaged to someone accused of stealing? Looks like you don’t understand—this is a matter between noble houses.”

Chloe said coldly.

That’s when I snapped back to my senses.

This wasn’t the time to hesitate.

‘No, actually… this might be a good thing. Because…’

I stared at Chloe’s butterfly brooch.

It was so familiar—I’d seen it countless times before regression.

‘I finally know who you are!’

I’d wondered why she’d come here, but this whole theft fiasco had given her away.

‘And I also know how to get rid of you.’

Because I know the one you’re pathetically in love with!

And if I use him, I know you’ll dive in without a second thought!

I bit my lower lip and sank into thought.

‘Looks like I’ll have no choice but to set a trap using Assistant Yuta. Hmm… how can I get Assistant Yuta to come here…?’

And just then—

“Oh, that.”

A calm voice spoke from behind me.

“I forgot. I’m the one who put that brooch in Rosie’s room.”

It was Zahid.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep