I Grabbed the Tyrant’s Heart - Chapter 200
“Shall we go too?”
As Tess and I mingled among the people, exchanging greetings, they congratulated me, regardless of their true feelings.
Weathering looked more groomed and proper than ever.
“…Congratulations.”
He sounded calm.
“Lady Hardland.”
But his use of ‘Lady’ instead of ‘Euel’ was uttered as if it pained him.
“Thank you, Senior Wizard.”
The formality between me and Weathering stirred some unrest among the onlookers. I pretended not to notice and continued receiving and returning greetings.
“Duke Liesl will surely congratulate me too, right?”
“Hehe, of course.”
Duke Liesl, who replied, though he looked like he’d swallowed a bug. I glanced at his second son standing beside him.
“And Master Liesl, you will also gladly congratulate me, right?”
“Sure.”
Regan Liesl smiled slyly while bowing extravagantly. When he raised his head, his smile soon twisted.
“But why did you slander the lady?”
Carin Heights, significantly shorter than I, stepped forward and snapped accusingly.
Regan Liesl blinked in surprise and shrugged.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You spread malicious rumors about Lady Hardland!”
“Lady Heights, what are you talking about?”
“That Lady Hardland is weighing her options between several men!”
The room stirred like a wave, and Duke Liesl’s face clouded. Regan Liesl didn’t even blink.
Carin Heights stepping forward was a fifty-fifty chance. If she hadn’t, I would have waited for another opportunity, which fortunately came.
“What are you talking about, Lady Heights?”
“You said she was frivolously playing around with several men, including the Senior WIzard!”
Regan Liesl’s denial was met with Carin Heights’s anger.
Being the daughter of a high-ranking Count, raised comfortably without the pressure of an arranged marriage, Carin Heights had a certain freedom.
We had known each other since our days at the Concium, though we only really became friends during our time in County Daidi’s domain.
In later conversations, I learned that Carin Heights had taken quite an interest in me because I was Weathering’s assistant.
“You knew such rumors were circulating, didn’t you?”
Being a Lady of Hardland with elf blood played a role in attracting her to me. She sincerely seemed to envy my mixed elf heritage, not just making a fleeting comment.
What I had anticipated from Carin Heights, however, was her fiery temperament.
Even during our trip to County Daidi’s domain, she had initially tripped me up before apologizing later.
She’s probably feeling the same now. She’ll likely regret firing at Regan Liesl in such a manner. Maybe she’s already fretting about it inside.
“Are you saying I did that?”
Yet, Regan Liesl’s mocking tone seemed to have ignited a fight in Carin. She held a positive interest in me, particularly after the rumors involving me and Weathering blew up.
I had expected that Carin Heights would initiate such an incident.
“If not you, then who? I’ve heard things as well.”
Her gentle gaze was raised high, showing no signs of backing down while Count Heights watched anxiously but did not intervene.
Did she have confidence she would not be overshadowed by Liesl, or did she believe I would come to help her?
No one dared to intervene in the confrontation between Liesl and Heights.
“What you just mentioned?”
“Yes. Everyone here just heard what I mentioned, right? Even if not exactly, you must have heard something similar.”
Carin Heights’ approach was somewhat rude, but the rumors surrounding me were known to all, and nobody denied them.
“You know better than anyone how bad it is to spread such vicious rumors, don’t you?”
The situation seemed to be escalating.
“I, I did it!”
Cutting through the tense atmosphere, the eldest son of Viscount Viana, a vassal family of Duchy Liesl, stepped forward. The young man with freckles across his nose, confessed his wrongdoing.
“It was me!”
“What?”
Carin Heights looked perplexed. She had learned about the rumors through her brother. The son of Count Heights had heard the rumors at the Glory Eagle and passed them on to his sister.
The sudden appearance of the Viscount’s son left Carin Heights understandably flustered.
“In fact, I’ve been harboring feelings for Lady Hardland, but she has not noticed me!”
The eldest son of Viana passionately confessed.
“I spread malicious rumors hoping her other suitors would back off.”
Without ever having sent me a love letter, he proclaimed his love, and a glance at Tess showed him slightly twisting his lips.
He doesn’t seem to have any intention to intervene, but it appeared the Viscount’s family was in a precarious position.
“Did you hear that, Lady Heights? It was not my doing.”
Regan Liesl spoke with a hurt tone as if he had been waiting.
“Lady Heights, it seems you are the malicious one. You pushed as if I were at fault, trying to pin the blame on me?”
Carin Heights clenched her fists and visibly grunted.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I am innocent. Please do not judge me based solely on this reckless young lady’s words.”
The audacity of the man was astounding.
With Viscounty Viana’s sacrifice, Liesl seemed momentarily freed from the crisis.
“Oh dear, please do not be too harsh on Lady Heights.”
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