Get Ahead of the Fallen Heroine and Make the Bull-Headed Man the Victim

53. How would I know? I’m just a good-hearted person helping out.

In the blink of an eye, it was the next morning. While the king, queen, ministers, and other nobles began their meeting in the main hall, the children of the nobility gathered in another room within the palace.

These young nobles, who were likely to inherit their family’s territories and titles, exchanged glances, hesitating to speak as they looked at the first princess Delia, who was seated in the main chair, in a very good mood.

They wanted to tell Delia something very terrible, but they were afraid of being targeted by her and dared not speak.

Meanwhile, Delia, unconcerned about the changing atmosphere around her due to the good news about to unfold, elegantly sipped her red tea, appearing calm and at ease.

If this group of noble children were to tell Delia about that matter now, perhaps there would still be hope for her.

—

But until Valentina walked into the room to officially begin this sisterly showdown, none of them dared to speak.

Even Leonard, the eldest son of the Marquis of Clemens and the next marquis, remained silent throughout.

“So, Valentina, what is your answer?”

Seeing Valentina enter the room with a blank expression, a pleased smile gradually appeared on Dilia’s face.

She was enjoying this feeling of being high and mighty, easily manipulating the fates of others, just like her mother, the queen.

However, Valentina did not respond to Dilia right away; instead, she began to quickly search for a certain figure.

She had no regard for Dilia at all; her actions were solely driven by the desire to make that person regret choosing Dilia.

Fortunately, she found him easily, as the dark-haired young man, who looked like a villain, was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, wearing an evil grin that showed no attempt to hide his malice towards her.

It was clear he wanted to see her make a fool of herself.

Hmph, just wait and see how I defeat the princess you chose!

Upon seeing Noah, a competitive smile gradually emerged on Valentina’s previously indifferent face.

Then, Valentina shifted her gaze from Noah, who stood diagonally behind Dilia, back to her half-sister in the golden hair and white dress.

“Answer? What answer?”

“Hmph, are you pretending to be clueless at this point? I clearly refrained from publicly announcing your crimes out of sisterly affection, and yet you still refuse to repent here? You’re truly embarrassing our royal family!”

Seeing Valentina’s fearless attitude, Dilia appeared furious, but in reality, she was overjoyed.

Her tone of voice was as if Valentina had truly attacked a noble to gain favor with the public.

In truth, she felt no shame for slandering her sister; she was almost convincing herself of her own lies.

“Oh, so it’s about that incident? The culprit has already turned herself in, hasn’t she? Don’t you know, dear sister? She was supposedly threatened by some formidable figure and used a magical artifact to transform into my likeness to commit the crime. She’s already facing justice and undergoing detailed questioning by the knight order. In fact, I just came from there.”

In the original story, the protagonist, who had no words to defend herself, would desperately explain her innocence. But now, she wore a slightly scheming expression, resting her finger on her chin as if just remembering, while casting a suggestive glance at her sister.

“What!?”

Dilia, clearly just learning this news, jumped up from her seat, slamming her hands on the table in frustration.

“Hahaha! You’ve been played! Your Highness, don’t blame me; it’s your fault for having too many stand-ins!”

At that moment, Noah, standing diagonally behind Dilia, let out a cheerful laugh, leaving everyone unsure of which side he was on.

Of course, this was Noah explaining to Valentina why there were impostors of her besides him.

Ironically, just after Noah finished laughing, Dilia’s expression darkened immediately, as if she could hear Noah’s voice.

Though Dilia was malicious, she wasn’t a fool. Seeing Valentina’s demeanor, she realized the situation was likely true, so she merely shot a fierce glare at Leonard, who stood to her right.

Leonard, aware that it was his family’s servant who failed to keep an eye on the impostor, awkwardly averted his gaze.

He had sacrificed his injured brother, who was still lying in bed, only to find himself exposed. That man named Allen was truly formidable; he had managed to uncover the truth.

It was likely that he had secretly helped Princess Valentina as well; otherwise, it shouldn’t have been difficult for them to deal with the bothersome princess.

“Hmph, so what? She’s just a criminal spouting nonsense. She must have taken too many potions; how can we trust what she says!”

—

Indeed, she had been set up, but Dilia forced herself to calm down. She feigned composure as she sat back in her chair, wearing an expression that suggested even if the criminal named her, it would be nothing but slander.

“Is that so? But dear sister, your reaction seems to imply that you know the criminal mentioned your name~”

Valentina’s voice floated lightly, yet it carried a strong undertone of lethal intent.

Dilia, already looking displeased, felt her body stiffen even more.

“Look at your smug attitude! It’s obvious they mentioned my name!”

Even though her voice began to tremble slightly, the proud Princess Dilia would never admit to being the mastermind behind it all.

“Hmph~ Is that so?”

Valentina regarded Dilia with an expression that seemed to say she was looking at a fool (warm yet filled with sympathy).

“Of course! But Valentina, on what grounds do you dare say that person isn’t your pawn? Their purpose is to make me look bad! Who can prove that guy is mine and not yours? No one, right!”

The most unbearable thing for someone in a position of power is to be looked down upon by someone beneath them. Valentina’s dismissive yet caring gaze made Dilia so furious that she slammed her hands on the table and stood up again.

“Exactly! Exactly! Who can prove that? I see you’re just slandering me! Look at this lady! She’s the first princess with golden hair and crimson eyes! No matter how you look at it, she’s far more credible than you! And her chest is bigger too!”

From noble mtl dot com

Because what happened next was truly pitiful, Noah kindly spoke up for Dilia.

However, his attitude was, to be honest, quite dismissive.

At first glance, it seemed like he was saying something nice, but upon closer inspection, it felt like he was being sarcastic. Yet, upon further reflection, it did seem like he was genuinely complimenting her.

A masterclass in uncertainty.

Fortunately, Dilia couldn’t hear his voice; otherwise, she would probably have kicked Noah and then, in the process, ended up exposing her white stockings for him to see.

At that moment, Dilia turned her gaze back to the young nobles in the room, a hint of disdain still curling her lips.

She understood that as long as this group of nobles stood by her side, it wouldn’t matter if the impostor pointed her out as the culprit.

Sorry, but in this world, power and violence always outweigh the law and the truth.

However, Dilia’s smile quickly froze, unlike the overwhelming support she had imagined.

She had initially sought to rally her teammates to pressure Valentina, but whether it was Leonard or the other noble children, they all averted their gazes, clearly feeling guilty.

Sensing something was off, Dilia quickly looked towards the other side where the noble children were, only to find them also turning away, not daring to meet her eyes.

Not only did they fail to support Dilia, but they were now too afraid to oppose Valentina.

After all, just last night, when they thought they could easily deal with Valentina today, they were sternly pulled into their rooms by their parents, who wore expressions of unprecedented terror, warning them not to provoke Valentina.

Though they were all confused about what had happened, some clever ones had already guessed that Valentina must have some leverage over their parents.

They knew this amounted to betrayal against Dilia, but they were far more afraid of Valentina, who had managed to instill such fear in their parents in just a few days.

Thus, they could only remain silent.

“What do you all mean by this!? Speak up! Why won’t you look me in the eye!!”

Realizing she had become the fool, the grand princess truly broke down this time. She grabbed a teacup and a plate from the table and hurled them away.

By the way, because it was too dangerous, Noah had quietly poured the remaining tea from the cup onto Dilia’s white dress earlier, so no one ended up getting splashed.

—

—

“Oh dear, big sister, you really shouldn’t be throwing a tantrum like this, you know?”

The noble children present, at the moment when they should have stood up to support Dilia, chose to remain silent.

Yet Valentina approached Dilia with a concerned little sister’s demeanor, smiling sweetly.

“What… what are you going to do!?”

Valentina’s smile was so wickedly sinister, combined with the long sword she wore at her waist, that Dilia instinctively revealed a panicked and flustered expression, losing all her previous composure.

She even anxiously raised her left arm, trying to place it between herself and Valentina, seeking a bit more psychological safety.

But it was futile, as Valentina firmly grasped Dilia’s wrist, holding it tightly in her palm while displaying a terrifying smile.

“Hmm? I’m not going to do anything, but big sister, it’s best if you behave yourself. Otherwise, I might just expose how you’ve wronged me. Don’t worry about me lacking witnesses, because everyone here will testify for me, right~? Everyone, you’ll support me, won’t you?”

As Valentina held Dilia’s wrist, appearing to have a friendly sisterly bond while smiling at the surrounding people, the noble children quickly nodded like chicks pecking at rice.

Please, those who know how to read the situation are the wise ones; it was time to switch sides. They certainly didn’t want to share Dilia’s misfortune.

“Ah… ahhh…”

Seeing her own allies being swayed to Valentina’s side, Dilia, now the pitiful lonely one, could no longer suppress the tremor in her pupils. She even let out a disbelieving, pitiful sound, her whole body trembling.

This was what they meant by losing one’s color.

“Just like that, big sister, you wouldn’t want others to know you’ve slandered me and tried to ruin everything for me, would you?”

Dilia, whose mental defenses were on the verge of collapse, finally realized, upon seeing Valentina’s face radiating a strong threat, that she could not win against this sister.

Wh-what the hell! When did Valentina become so terrifying!?

As the first princess, shouldn’t she be favored by the goddess!?

If that’s the case, why was she losing to her illegitimate sister!?

……

……

PS. Although there are only two updates today, each over 3000 words, it’s practically three updates, so thank you to all the readers for your generous support!

After the grand princess exits, the next to be countered by the heroine will be the blonde-haired Allen! And of course, the victim Clyde! And then…

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