Elvin took the teapot and poured himself a cup of tea. However, his sunken gaze was not on the teapot, but on the void. He seemed to be agonizing over something.

As a result, Noah’s complexion became even worse. He was worried that the tea water would overflow and destroy the carpet. The carpet, red with fancy embroidery of gold and silver threads, was a very expensive one, newly brought in from Persia.

But a mere carpet was not enough to put him in a good mood. Fortunately, Elvin stopped just before it spilled. Noah breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. Elvin looked at his overfilled teacup and left his seat without touching it.

He quickly remembered that there was another person there besides him and turned his head.

“Get out of here.”

Elvin ordered coldly.

“What should I do with the request?”

“I will take it. I must thank you for finding my lost items.”

It wasn’t difficult to spread rumors among the people. But on the other hand, it was a big risk.

If it was discovered, many people would be decapitated. But since the master had already made the decision, Noah couldn’t argue. Noah quietly slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him. Elvin went over to the stove and threw in some firewood.

The bonfire, which had almost gone out, began to burn again when it touched the wood. Elvin looked at the scarlet flames undulating with gold and thought of someone’s face.

“*You’re smarter than I thought.” (*You=Roxana)

Elvin muttered to himself. A thin smile appeared on his lips for the first time today.

***

A rumor began to spread among the people.

The rumor spread fast from mouth to mouth.

Incidents and accidents happen every day, but this one was a little special. Because it was related to the royal family.

It was rumored that the Crown Prince was involved in the recent accident at the Count Evans’ residence.

It was said that Princess Lillian had called together a group of her closest friends at the Count Evans’ residence to deliberately bully Lady Dana, and that Lady Dana, who had a grudge against her, had staged the incident herself. Lady Dana’s lover, the Crown Prince, let this incident slide for her sake, even though he knew the truth.

The people were angry and disappointed by this incident.

There were mixed opinions among the nobles. The matter was brought up in disgrace among the people and damaged the reputation and good name of many people.

From Princess Lillian, Lady Dana, to the young ladies who attended the tea party, and even the Crown Prince…. No one was left out.

However, it was by far the Crown Prince and Claire who were the most talked about among the people. Although the aristocrats had secret lovers, the existence of an ordinary mistress was unfamiliar.

They were also considered to be very unclean. In fact, the name Clare Dana was well known among the nobility, but the people did not know much about her. Not to mention the fact that few people in the general population knew about Lady Dana, but many didn’t know that the Crown Prince had a hidden lover.

This was because the relationship between the Crown Prince and Claire was only “unofficial”. Moreover, his fiancée was the Duke of Lillian’s only golden jade.

The fact that the Crown Prince had the support of Duke Lillian was so unknown to everyone. Most people thought that since he had a powerful future wife, there was no way he could look elsewhere.

Among the people who could not see the two of them in person, the fact that the Crown Prince had a lover was treated like a false rumor.

This time, however, many people began to get upset.

People wanted to know about the Crown Prince’s lover in the rumor. They felt an increasingly great interest in the Crown Prince’s lover, who was beautiful in appearance.

But their interest wasn’t so positive.

People cursed at Claire, calling her a source of trouble. It was sly and vulgar when an unmarried lady caused a ruckus by seducing someone else’s fiancé in an immoral way at a young age.

They had poor quality conversations, wondering about the means by which Claire had firmly won the Crown Prince’s heart.

It could be said that the damage Claire had suffered in this matter was also enormous, but the more she had, the greater the damage of losing it.

The imperial family was the envy of the people, and the royal family was respected by many.

The Crown Prince was also the only legitimate son of the Imperial family, and he seemed to be a very honorable person. Not only did he have a clean bloodline, but he also had a gentle nature and a fair and righteous character that earned him the favor of many people along with his status. However, the fame and reputation that the Crown Prince had built up so far was greatly shaken by this incident.

He was rumored to have been involved in obscene lasciviousness even before he ascended the throne, and lost his honor and fairness.

People said that the Crown Prince was swayed by a mere Baron’s daughter and left his fiancée, the Princess.

It was a full three days later that this bad rumor, which had begun to spread around the private homes, crossed the walls of the Imperial Palace and reached the ears of the Crown Prince.

***

“How dare they say such nonsense!”

The Crown Prince was so angry that he broke his tea cup. The aide who reported this to him was quite surprised, but he could not dare to express it.

The Crown Prince was usually a gentle man and did not treat those under him recklessly. In all the years the aide had assisted the Crown Prince, this was the first time he had seen him so angry.

“Get out.”

Obeying the Crown Prince’s order, the aide hurried out of the room.

The Crown Prince, left alone, sat down again, suppressing his anger.

His clenched fists were strong and his eyes were filled with murderous intent.

A false rumor had spread, the people were upset, and the Second Prince’s forces took the opportunity to start a fuss. The second Prince had returned from a long absence from the battlefield, and the return of the Duke of Lillian was just around the corner.

It would be nice if he could order the soldiers to punish and monitor anyone who spoke of this, but he couldn’t keep everyone’s mouth shut in that way.

Furthermore, if they were to be controlled in such a strict way, people would complain, and the Second Prince’s forces would not remain silent.

This situation was very unfortunate. The fact that the rumors had spread so quickly made it seem as if someone was deliberately spreading malicious rumors.

The Crown Prince guessed who was behind this and the first thing that came to his mind was the face of a person.

“Roxana….”

Roxana usually hated Claire, and was dissatisfied with this incident. With the Duke of Lillian as her backer, she was fully capable of doing something like this.

The Crown Prince, who suspected that she might have done it, quickly shook his head. Roxana was not the kind of person who would do such things behind the scenes.

Most importantly, what would she do this for?

The people who suffered the most from this incident were him and Claire, but the next person who was vilified was Roxana. People called Roxana a “stupid evil woman”.

Although it was less than the damage done to Claire, Roxana was also vilified anyway.

It wouldn’t have a huge impact, though, thanks to the notoriety she’d built up before.

Although the awkwardness still remained, the Crown Prince soon got rid of his suspicions about Roxana. Now he and the Princess were in the same boat.

So there was no way that Roxana would embarrass him by spreading such ugly rumors behind his back. The Crown Prince kept the suspicions in his mind under wraps and turned his gaze elsewhere.

“I knew it, Payne* – it’s that guy………..” (*Payne is the second Prince)

***

As it got hotter and hotter, the roses that had been in full bloom in the garden began to wilt one by one. The fountain in the middle of the garden spouted out water that was cool to look at. The small sculpture of an angel in the middle of the fountain still had a bright smile on its face even under the intense sunlight.

As I sat on the couch to rest from the heat, Tien brought me a cold sweet tea with candied strawberries along with a peach tart.

“Thank you.”

It was very cool to see the ice floating faintly in the water glass. I sipped the fruit tea and picked up the newspaper. The newspaper had an article about the Crown Prince’s hidden lover, not the recent accident at Count Evans’ mansion.

The accident that happened at the Count Evans’ residence might be important to the parties involved, but the subject that the public was most interested in was by far the one about Claire. Much of the content has been omitted to please the royal family, and it has also been purified.

However, the content of the article was that the relationship between the Crown Prince and Claire had been going on for a long time, and it was unusual.

Of course, it was true that I was affected by this incident as well.

But what difference would it make if I was already soaking wet and had to take on more water?

More importantly, I now had a clearer picture of Elvin’s attitude. Looking at him committing this kind of harm to the Crown Prince as if it was nothing by my request, he was certainly not on the Crown Prince’s side.

‘So you are on the second Prince’s side?’

***

*The writing of this novel and the repetition of things mentioned really scratch my nerves lol. This chapter basically repeated the same thing that had already been mentioned in many chapters before. And one more thing, Roxana knew that Elvin and the Crown Prince don’t get along. She saw it and said so herself many times, but now she said it was certain that Elvin was not on the Crown Prince’s side….. really…. Ok I’m done complaining. For now.