Chapter 22
A few hours later.
Albrecht spoke solemnly.
“His ribs are cracked.”
Dragged back to the main house, I shrank my neck like a turtle. Albrecht’s expression was the coldest I had ever seen—even among his usual blank stares, this one stood out. It was weird how I could tell the difference, despite it technically being the same expression. Was I imagining things?
“…Ribs?”
“Specifically, Caleb has fractures in his 4th and 5th ribs. His right shin is cracked, and he’s complaining of hearing loss in his left ear. The total recovery time is twelve weeks. Anything to say for yourself?”
I clamped my mouth shut. That’s when Saldir, who was standing next to Albrecht, spoke up.
“Well done, really. Better than going around getting beat up—”
“You keep your mouth shut too, Saldir. This is no time to take sides.”
Saldir naturally fell silent.
“….”
Ugh. I’ll admit it—this time, I really lost control. I should’ve held back my temper…
After I was dragged off by Theodore for beating Caleb, the whole manor practically exploded. Understandably so. After all, I had begged them to arrange the meeting, and once it finally happened, I thoroughly beat up the heir of the count’s family.
What made things worse was that the Wintel family and the Saylkar family weren’t particularly close. Unlike the Saylkars, who were closely tied to the imperial family, the Wintel family had more influence among local vassals. I’d heard they even clashed with the imperial faction at times.
I hadn’t known, but it seemed my father, Jindel, saw this meeting as a potential opportunity to bridge the two families. That is… until I went and assaulted Caleb.
“The Count of Wintel just arrived.”
Albrecht said with an icy face. I shrank further at his sharp tone.
“Explain.”
Albrecht’s gaze fell squarely on me. Knowing he meant for me to speak, I looked at him cautiously and mumbled,
“…I heard Caleb swearing at Mayra without restraint.”
“What kind of swearing?”
Gripping the hem of my skirt tightly, I said to Albrecht,
“I hate even repeating it. But it was so shocking that I remember it clearly. He said, ‘If you were going to get kidnapped, just stay gone. Why did you come back and make this my problem too? I have my knight academy entrance exam in two years, and now I don’t even have time to practice. And you show up now, seriously?’”
“What?”
“What did you say?”
Albrecht and Saldir both looked stunned. Saldir, standing beside him, turned to stare directly at me, visibly shocked.
“Caleb Wintel actually said that kind of crap?”
Whoa. Did… did they actually believe me? Albrecht didn’t say “Is that true?”—he was confirming it. I blinked. This never happens. People just… believe me?
“Yes.”
“What a total lunatic,”
Saldir blurted out, completely flabbergasted. …Wait. Are they really on my side? I peeked at them, then nodded enthusiastically. Since they seemed willing to believe me, I suddenly found myself eager to explain.
“It’s true. We were all worried because Wintel Lady was really late to the meeting. But then we saw their carriage approaching and ran out to greet her. That’s when I saw Caleb Wintel threatening her in a clearing. It looked like he’d gone to escort her out of concern, but he clearly didn’t want to.”
“Wait a second.”
Albrecht cut me off. Huh? What now?
I thought he believed me. Is he about to say that’s ridiculous? Did I misread things again? As I hesitated, nervous, Albrecht looked me straight in the eye.
“This isn’t something to talk about just with me. Let’s go now.”
“…Excuse me?”
“If you say it twice, you’ll forget half of it. Get your words straight, Berdette.”
Albrecht spoke shortly—then picked me up in his arms.
“Let’s go.”
Go where?
As I stood there, stunned, Albrecht and Saldir led me forward. Albrecht smoothly opened a nearby door with his foot.
Surprisingly, it didn’t lead to a hallway—but into the adjacent room. Inside were Jindel Saylkar, Horne Saylkar, Theodore Saylkar, and a middle-aged couple I had never seen before. And at the center… lay Caleb.
“I apologize. We, the Saylkar family, will take full responsi—Albrecht?”
Horne, who had been apologizing, blinked wide-eyed at the sight of Albrecht. Honestly, my face probably looked the same. As I stood there in shock, Albrecht strode forward confidently.
“Excuse me. During the investigation, I encountered testimony that completely contradicts Caleb’s. I’ve brought the witness for a direct confrontation.”
“A confrontation?”
The Wintel lady, who had been wiping away tears, asked in confusion. Albrecht didn’t answer. Instead, he turned directly toward Caleb—forcing Saldir and me to face him too.
“Caleb Wintel.”
Albrecht’s voice turned stern.
“Is it true that the heir of the Wintel family cursed at and lunged at the daughter of a duke, intending to strike her?”
“What?”
“What are you talking about?”
“And prior to that, did you indeed direct unspeakable abuse toward Mayra Wintel?”
At that moment, I couldn’t help but gape. Even I understood what Albrecht was doing. He was outright challenging Caleb now. I’d assumed he’d scold me like Theodore did—but clearly, I’d misjudged him.
Caleb, sitting on the bed, turned beet red. The Wintel lady, who had been dabbing her tears beside him, jumped up and tried to shield him from us.
“He’s a patient—”
“He may be a patient, but he’s also a candidate for the knight academy and directly involved in this case. He’s strong enough to hear what was said. Berdette.”
Albrecht cut her off, placed both hands on my shoulders, and pushed me forward.
“Say exactly what you told me.”
Albrecht’s hands were warm. As they wrapped around my shoulders, I felt like he was cheering me on. …No, “cheering” wasn’t quite strong enough. It felt more like—Albrecht was just as crazy as Saldir.
But of course, I wasn’t going to reject him.
When you’re handed a stage, you step on it.
When the game’s set, you jump in.
“Around four in the afternoon, Wintel Lady still hadn’t arrived even though the meeting was well overdue. Then I saw the Wintel family’s carriage past the front gate, and I got excited and ran toward it. But the carriage stopped in a clearing. I ran over to meet her—and that’s when I saw Caleb Wintel threatening Mayra Wintel.”
I described what I’d witnessed as precisely and objectively as I could. Especially the part where he said, “I don’t know why Mom or Dad even care about a useless brat like you.” I emphasized that line.
As soon as I finished, the Wintel couple turned to stare at Caleb. But I wasn’t done yet.
“And he also said, ‘The only reason Dad sent you here was to make connections with the Saylkar family. You know it too. If you end up with Albrecht or Saldir Saylkar, our family will be set for life.’”
At the same time, my parents also turned their eyes to Caleb. Suddenly under the scrutiny of all the adults, Caleb’s face flushed red. His breathing quickened, and his shoulders began to tremble.
“I—I never said that. You—you’re the one who ran at me and started hitting me! I was just trying to discipline Mayra a little…”
