Liana Bell’s voice was not loud.
In fact, it was quiet.
Quieter than the music in the ballroom, softer than the nobles’ whispers.
Yet somehow, those few words brought the entire grand ballroom to a halt.
"Was what just happened... started by using my name as an excuse?"
Silence.
This silence was different from when Eveline had drawn her sword.
The silence then had been fear.
The silence now was bewilderment.
Because the one person no one expected to speak had asked the question no one thought she would ask.
Liana Bell.
A scholarship student of common birth.
A Saint Candidate.
The original story’s heroine.
In the game, she was the face of the person choosing the options.
But not here. Not now.
She wore the expression of someone who had realized her name had become another person’s sheath for a blade.
Her hands were trembling.
Her lips were slightly pale as well.
But she did not retreat.
I held my breath.
This scene had not existed in the original story.
A scene where Liana Bell voiced her own question in front of Eveline Rosette.
And with Arsene watching, no less.
In the original story, Liana had been the one who was protected.
The male leads moved around her, villainesses clashed over her, and incidents erupted.
In the process, Liana was hurt, grew, and made her choices.
But early on, she had almost always learned too late.
Who had used her name.
Who had used her goodwill as justification.
Now, things were different.
Far too early.
I had tried to change Eveline, and now even the original heroine had begun to move.
A system window appeared.
`New Branch: The Saint Candidate’s First Question`
`Liana Bell’s dependence on the original story decreases.`
`Arsene Berhardt’s control over the scene wavers.`
Control over the scene.
A good phrase.
Until now, Arsene had controlled the scene.
The scene where Eveline became angry.
The scene where Liana became uneasy.
The scene where Klaus issued a duel challenge.
The scene where he himself remained kind and spotless, one step behind it all.
Liana had stood at the center of that scene.
And now, that Liana had torn up the script.
"Miss Liana."
Arsene was the first to speak.
His voice was gentle.
Very gentle.
Which made it all the more dangerous.
"It is a misunderstanding. Sir Dean merely stepped in because he believed you had experienced something unpleasant."
Klaus’s face stiffened.
Sir Dean.
The man Arsene had kept standing behind him like a branch-family relative until moments ago was now being addressed like a knight.
It was a way of dividing responsibility.
Liana wavered.
She looked like she wanted to believe Arsene.
Of course she did.
In this world, Arsene was the first nobleman to bring her into high society.
The one who had extended his hand to her in an unfamiliar ballroom.
The one who had treated a scholarship student of common birth with courtesy.
What he said would seem safe.
But words that seem safe are not always the truth.
Liana parted her lips.
"Something unpleasant I experienced..."
Her gaze shifted toward Eveline.
At once, Eveline’s hand tensed.
She thought Liana was blaming her.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
If Eveline said even one wrong thing here, the board would return to square one.
`As expected, Lady Rosette intimidated a commoner scholarship student.`
That single rumor would be enough for Arsene to smile again.
I spoke quietly to Eveline.
"Rule two."
She gritted her teeth.
"Ask first."
Then she looked at Liana.
"Liana Bell."
Liana’s shoulders flinched.
Eveline’s voice was still cold.
But it was no longer all blade.
"Did I make you uncomfortable?"
The grand ballroom fell quiet again.
Good.
She had not challenged her directly.
She had made the other person speak.
Liana’s eyes widened as if she had received a question she had never expected.
"Pardon?"
"Lord Berhardt just said that Sir Dean stepped in because he thought you had experienced something unpleasant."
Eveline spoke slowly.
"Was I the one who caused that unpleasantness?"
After speaking, Eveline swallowed almost imperceptibly.
Only I could have noticed.
She was afraid too.
What if Liana said yes?
Eveline would immediately become the villainess.
But she had to ask.
Rather than asserting her own innocence, she had to give the other person the chance to judge.
That was how we had trained.
Ask first.
Flustered, Liana stared at Eveline.
For a long time.
A truly agonizingly long time.
Then, carefully, she shook her head.
"No."
The instant that word fell, the blood drained from Klaus’s face.
Arsene’s smile thinned as well.
Liana brought her hands together before her chest.
Her voice was still trembling, but this time it was clearer.
"Lady Rosette did not behave rudely toward me."
The grand ballroom stirred.
Liana Bell had said it herself.
That Eveline Rosette had not been rude to her.
That meant Klaus’s justification was gone.
No, it had not merely vanished.
It had become as laughable as a handkerchief dropped from his hand onto the floor.
I let out a breath inwardly.
Good.
This was huge.
A system window appeared.
`Liana Bell rejects the misunderstanding flag concerning Eveline Rosette.`
`The central justification for the duel incident route collapses.`
`The success rate of the Preliminary Ball counterattack route rises.`
`Current success rate: 94%`
94%.
It was nearly over.
But Arsene remained.
Arsene Berhardt did not show numbers like that.
And I already knew.
The more this type of person’s hand fell apart, the more gently they smiled.
"I see."
Arsene spoke.
He gave Liana a kind look.
"If that is how you feel, Miss Liana, then I am glad."
Glad.
It sounded like a good word.
But this was a way out.
It meant this had all been a misunderstanding, everyone had acted with good intentions, and no one needed to bear responsibility.
If I let it go like this, Klaus would get away with little more than some embarrassment.
Arsene would still remain spotless.
I could not allow that.
Liana had asked her first question.
Eveline had, for the first time, entrusted judgment to the other person.
Then the final responsibility had to be tied to Arsene.
I stepped forward.
"Lord Berhardt."
Arsene’s gaze turned to me.
"Speak, Professor Cart."
His voice was polite.
His eyes were not.
"You said that you would take responsibility for escorting Miss Liana Bell today."
"I did."
"Then would you confirm something here and now?"
"What would that be?"
I looked at Klaus.
He was glaring at me.
He probably wanted to kill me.
I understood.
I would have hated myself too.
"That Sir Dean’s actions had nothing to do with Miss Liana Bell’s wishes."
The surroundings fell silent.
Arsene’s eyes hardened almost imperceptibly.
It looked like a simple question.
But the structure of responsibility changed depending on the answer.
If he said it had `nothing to do with her`, Klaus became someone who had unilaterally used Liana’s name.
If he said it did not have `nothing to do with her`, it meant Liana had provided the justification for the duel.
And Liana had just said no.
Arsene was silent for a moment.
The nobles in the grand ballroom held their breath.
Kaiden watched us quietly from the second-floor railing.
At last, Arsene smiled.
"Of course."
His voice was gentle.
"It seems Sir Dean got a little ahead of himself. Miss Liana had no such intention."
Klaus’s face twisted.
Arsene had cut him loose.
Too cleanly.
He discarded a branch-family member to protect the main house.
As expected, he calculated quickly.
But it did not come without a price.
He had to publicly cast aside one of his own allies.
And he had said it in front of Liana.
`Your name had nothing to do with it.`
Now it would be harder for him to use Liana as a shield in the same way.
I inclined my head.
"Thank you for confirming it."
Eveline spoke quietly.
"Then, Sir Dean."
Klaus flinched.
Eveline looked at him.
This time, she did not look at him with anger alone.
She looked at him like a true noble.
From above, looking down.
"Whose permission did you have to invoke Miss Liana Bell’s name while attempting to challenge my escort to a duel?"
Good.
Perfect.
Arsene had cut Klaus loose, and Eveline drove straight into the exposed wound.
Klaus opened his mouth.
"I merely..."
"Merely?"
Eveline asked back.
Just as I had done to her.
She held her handkerchief.
She did not crumple it.
"Merely for Miss Liana Bell’s sake? Or for Lord Berhardt’s sake? Or was it because you disliked a commoner teacher standing as my escort?"
Klaus could not answer.
Eveline gave a brief laugh.
Laugh last.
"Next time, speak in your own name before borrowing someone else’s."
The grand ballroom rippled.
Laughter came first.
This time, it was laughter too difficult to hide.
Klaus’s face flushed red.
He had lost his white glove, his handkerchief, and his justification.
And now he had lost the verbal exchange as well.
Liana stared blankly at the scene.
She must have feared Eveline.
The red-headed delinquent young lady.
The fiancée who was supposed to hate her.
But Eveline had not attacked Liana just now.
Instead, she had returned her name to her.
The name others had borrowed, returned to its owner.
Liana’s eyes trembled.
Then she lowered her head slightly.
"Thank you."
Eveline’s expression froze.
It must have been something she had not expected to hear.
"For what?"
"For my name..."
After choosing her words, Liana spoke carefully.
"For giving it back to me."
This time, Eveline was flustered.
Genuinely flustered.
She wore the expression of someone who had no idea how to react when another person thanked her.
Eveline glanced at me.
`What do I say?`
That was what her eyes were asking.
I spoke quietly.
"Keep it short."
Eveline looked at Liana again.
"...It was nothing."
It was awkward.
Stiff.
Still, it was not bad.
Liana smiled faintly.
It was a very small, cautious smile.
A system window appeared.
`The first hostility flag between Eveline Rosette and Liana Bell is removed.`
`Liana Bell’s perception of Eveline Rosette is updated.`
`Dangerous fiancée -> Scary but strange person`
Why did everyone in this world have perception updates like this?
Still, it was good.
Scary but strange person.
For a first meeting, that was excellent.
Then I heard Kaiden’s applause.
Slow, distinct clapping.
The applause that began at the second-floor railing spread throughout the grand ballroom.
Arsene had no choice but to clap as well.
His hands moved.
But his eyes were on me.
More precisely, they moved between Eveline, me, and Liana.
Today, he had lost three things.
The picture of Eveline running wild.
The picture of Liana remaining a shield.
The picture of bringing down a commoner teacher through a duel.
In exchange, one thing had appeared.
An unpredictable variable.
Leon Cart.
I did not like describing myself that way.
But that was how I would look in Arsene’s eyes.
A system window appeared.
`Preliminary Ball counterattack route success rate: 98%`
`The duel incident route entry rate falls below the threshold.`
`Eveline Rosette’s first ruin condition is on the verge of collapse.`
On the verge of collapse.
It was not over yet.
Because ruin routes usually brought out their filthiest card at the very end.
I looked at Arsene.
He was quietly applauding.
And when our eyes met, his lips formed a single small word.
`Not yet.`
Not yet.
As expected, he had not finished.
Then a commotion rose near the grand ballroom doors.
A servant of House Berhardt hurried inside.
He approached Arsene and whispered in his ear.
For the briefest moment, Arsene’s expression stiffened.
A truly fleeting moment.
But I saw it.
This was something even he had not expected.
The servant soon delivered something to the grand ballroom’s master of ceremonies.
The man’s face stiffened.
Then he stepped into the center and raised his voice.
"May I have your attention for a moment."
The grand ballroom quieted.
"Due to a scheduling change for the Imperial Sword Dance Demonstration Troupe, the scheduled celebratory sword dance has been canceled."
The nobles stirred.
The ball’s highlight had been canceled.
The master of ceremonies spoke with cold sweat running down his face.
"Therefore, House Berhardt wishes to prepare an impromptu honorary demonstration for all attendees."
I felt a sense of foreboding.
An honorary demonstration.
An event where young nobles displayed their talents at a ball.
Usually, it was one of four things: swordsmanship, magic, etiquette, or music.
And if House Berhardt was behind it...
"The subject of the demonstration,"
the master of ceremonies said,
"will be a preliminary swordsmanship match for prospective academy entrants."
Eveline’s hand went still.
Inside my head, system windows flashed like mad.
`Warning.`
`Arsene Berhardt’s final card activates.`
`Forced Eveline Rosette Swordsmanship Demonstration Event`
`State: Not carrying a sword`
`Emotional strain accumulated`
`On failure: Public humiliation / duel incident route reactivated`
Ah.
I gritted my teeth.
Was this what Arsene had been aiming for?
Eveline, who had left her sword behind.
Eveline, who had danced with a commoner teacher and drawn attention through the handkerchief inspection.
Now he would make her take up a sword before everyone.
While her emotions were at their most unsteady.
Smiling, the master of ceremonies said,
"The first demonstrator will be Lady Eveline Rosette of Count Rosette’s House."
Applause erupted.
The color drained from Eveline’s face.
I looked at her.
She was holding her handkerchief.
Trying not to crumple it.
But her fingertips were trembling.
The success rate I had raised to 98% wavered in an instant.
A system window appeared again.
`The Preliminary Ball counterattack route success rate is recalculated.`
`Current success rate: 63%`
I cursed inwardly.
Of course.
At the end, a ruin route always makes her pick up a sword.
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