Chapter 176

The scene that Siervian noticed seemed to be the exact reason for Tiff’s strange behavior.

Just as she was about to rewind the part that had quickly passed by, Tiff, who had been biting her lip in silence, suddenly exclaimed brightly, “Oh, thank goodness the misunderstanding has been cleared up!”

As if trying to clarify the situation, she added an exaggerated gesture.

Siervian reflexively looked at her and saw that Tiff was still trying hard to hide her suspicious intentions.

[Tiff Rovery]
Thoughts: Oh, I have to end this quickly. If they keep playing that video… !

Therefore, Siervian ignored the change of subject and asked Ellie, “Ellie, can you slow down the video a bit?”

Despite the fact that she could have handled the situation more calmly, a prickly feeling suddenly arose in her heart.

‘I don’t want to dance to the tune of such a bad person!’

The social circle’s unique skill of feigning ignorance, which had been honed over long familiarity with noble intrigue, came into play.

“Ellie, can you slow down the video a bit?”

“Of course, Princess.”

Ellie skillfully manipulated the magic orb.

The video began to move very slowly.

She even zoomed in on the part where the brooch was located.

‘…Come to think of it, how on earth do they do that kind of manipulation?’

As far as Siervian knew, ordinary video orbs definitely didn’t have that kind of function.

It was as if Ellie was using magic.

Ellie’s hand movements, moving dazzlingly over the video ball, seemed impossible to follow, no matter how hard she tried.

“Your, Your Highness. The matter has been concluded successfully, so why…”

Tiff was flustered and approached Siervian and spoke to her.

She tried to keep her distance and not reveal herself, but she seemed very anxious.

Now completely in Siervian’s thrall, Catherine stopped her.

“Hold on, Tiff. I’m sure the Princess has a reason!”

After stopping Tiff, Catherine then approached Lady Irvita.

Irvita’s face was tense as the opponent she had been arguing with until now approached her.

Catherine, who was staring intently at Irvita’s pale face, apologized to her in a very subdued tone.

“I’m sorry, Lady Hardouin. I was really rude.”

[Catherine Greenwood]
Thoughts: It was a ridiculous misunderstanding. I thought Hardouin was up to something again, but why did I do that? I’m ashamed, really.

It was a plain apology, literally not saving face.

Perhaps surprised by Catherine’s unexpectedly sincere and frank admission of her mistake, the lady’s eyes widened.

After a moment of contemplation, Irvita also returned a polite phrase.

“Thank you for apologizing, lady.”

The two of them briefly looked at each other.

Siervian felt unnecessarily nervous and glanced at them while concentrating on the video.

‘Thank goodness. It doesn’t look like there will be any hard feelings. Huh…?’

“Ellie, stop!”

“Yes, Princess.”

Ellie quickly stopped the video orb that had been playing slowly.

“That, just now…?”

“Oh my!”

In the video that had been stopped, someone was reaching out toward Catherine’s brooch.

“Is that, is she trying to steal it?”

“Whose hand is that?”

In the paused video, Catherine was turning her body to look in the direction of another lady.

The hand, taking advantage of that blind spot, reached from behind Catherine’s back and subtly touched the brooch.

“Let’s play it again.”

When she played the video again, a scene appeared where Catherine hurriedly turned her gaze toward Siervian.

Then, the hand hurriedly retreated from the brooch as if it were running away.

“The brooch disappears behind her.”

As Siervian calmly summarized the situation, people’s gazes began to gather in one place.

This was because everyone recognized the owner of the arm that had only been shown.

“Tiff…?”

“That, that’s. The brooch looked like it was going to fall off. So, I was going to put it back on.”

“….”

It was a plausible excuse, but everyone had an expression that said they didn’t believe her.

This was because the video clearly captured Tiff’s hand reaching out from behind in a very secretive manner, as if she weren’t trying to put the brooch back on.

Just then, Karmen, who had been watching the situation unfold in silence, spoke in a sharp tone.

“Let’s find the activation condition.”

“Activation condition?”

Siervian heard Karmen’s opinion blankly and had a major realization.

‘Could it be, even in the previous life?’

Even after the Pre-Debutante, Catherine and Tiff continued to stick together.

What if Tiff had been after that brooch on the day of the second brooch incident as well?

“Lady, please hold this.”

“Oh, yes, yes!”

Karmen walked over and spoke to Catherine.

Catherine suddenly had a blush on her cheeks and politely brought her hands together and asked Karmen.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to try to steal the brooch.”

Karmen glanced at Siervian and answered earnestly, and then stretched out his finger as if he were very annoyed and tapped the brooch.

[Karmen Kasselov]
Thoughts: Maybe the activation requirement is to make contact with the intention of stealing it.

“Ah!”

Just as she thought nothing would happen, the brooch disappeared from Catherine’s palm the moment she blinked.

“Mana is flowing toward that side.”

The moment the forgotten magic was activated, traces of mana remained.

Damian accurately read it and pointed to one side.

There, Lady Navij, with a blank face, slowly raised her wrist pocket.

“…How?”

The nobles expressed surprise as a red brooch emerged from there.

“What a rare magic! Could the activation requirement be ‘contact with someone who has the will to steal’?”

Damian had been displaying the video-assisting magic and now approached.

“It seems so. It’s probably a magic designed to return to a specific place to prevent theft.”

As if his role was over, Karmen moved away from the ladies again.

Then, he naturally returned to Siervian’s side.

‘Our Karmen! You’re so smart!’

Siervian felt refreshed as the question that had been lingering in her mind was resolved.

He grabbed her arm and met her eyes, his gaze filled with approval.

Karmen’s smile shifted as he suddenly became expressionless and turned his head away slightly.

‘His ears are turning red again.’

Having heard the explanation of the two mages, the nobles gathered around in wonder.

Then, they suddenly began to experiment here and there to see if the magic really worked.

“Oh my, it’s gone!”

“Unbelievable! Amazing!”

Catherine had to keep the brooch in her palm, still dazed.

The ladies and the others approached one by one, giggling and tapping the brooch. Inside, they were thinking, ‘I have to get that.’

Some of the young men wondered if the activation would work even if they took it completely, and they even tried putting the brooch in their own wrist pockets.

“Amazing!”

Each time, Lady Navij had to keep taking the brooch out of her wrist pocket.

To an uninformed observer, it would have seemed like she was casting a magic trick that made a red brooch keep popping out of her pocket.

[Harahe Navij]
Mood: Very annoyed
Thoughts: What is this, scary. I want to go home. I want to be alone.

‘Ugh.’

Perhaps captivated by the mystique of seeing magic in the imperial palace, the ladies and lords stood in line to watch the brooch pass between the two.

Although she was expressionlessly and obediently taking out the brooch, the status window of Lady Navij was gradually falling into chaos.

“Everyone, please calm down. It’s an unverified magic, so it could be dangerous.”

Fortunately, Damian came to his senses first and cautiously took the brooch.

Forgotten magic is managed in the imperial palace for verification first.

“I’ll take a closer look and return it to you, lady.”

Perhaps because of the mention of it being her grandmother’s heirloom, Damian kindly asked Catherine for her understanding.

“Yes, yes, Your Highness the Crown Prince…!”

Thanks to that, Catherine nodded fervently with a somewhat ecstatic expression.

She had thought she might disappear and be accused of using magic recklessly, but now the situation was being resolved.

As her confused mind calmed down, anger flowed in one direction.

“Tiff.”

Tiff, whom Catherine considered her closest friend, was clutching her fan as if she was going to break it, her eyes darting around.

“Oh, so you pretended to be Catherine’s best friend like that.”

“How undignified to steal like that. And to do it in front of the princess!”

“Shameful.”

As people gossiped, Tiff Rovery trembled, her face flushed red.

[Tiff Rovery]
Mood: Anger
Thoughts: I’m so annoyed! I was just going to throw it away because it made me so angry that she kept showing off that brooch! Damn it, why did they have to have that orb!

‘What a terrible person.’

She had wondered if there were other circumstances, but she was just a bad person.

The heart that had been greatly offended earlier stirred once again.

Strangely, she felt as if the dark heart within her was welling up.

“Lady Rovery. You cleverly accused Lady Irvita earlier.”

Siervian felt like she had been observing a lot from somewhere, but for now, she hardened her face coldly.

“I, I…”

“I’m very disappointed that such an unpleasant incident would occur at my pre-debutante.”

Everyone’s faces were filled with surprise as the princess, who was said to be like a kind fairy, coldly rebuked her.

Only after pouring out her agitated heart did Siervian regret it.

‘Such a mistake. I should have just let her go gently…!’

Not wanting to be called a villainess again, she tried to control her mind.

Strangely, her emotional state, which was running wild on its own, felt like a body that had not been synchronized properly when she was young and was moving on its own.

However, the situation took an unexpected turn.

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