With a loud thud, Nualan stumbled backward, almost falling over the railing. Several people screamed as he struggled to regain his balance.
He managed to grab onto the railing and pull himself up.
"What's going on? Jo, don't you trust me?"
"Why is my sister crying, then?" Joyce's eyes blazed with anger.
The Earl and his wife, as well as Sivana, rushed up from the 1st floor.
"What's going on here? Are you two fighting?"
Neris, who had never been formally introduced to Sivana, recognized him immediately.
He was a man who lacked confidence, with slumped shoulders and a defeated look in his eyes. At least Nualan could pretend to be confident.
Nualan didn't seem to care about his father's scolding. He quickly regained his composure and tried to smile, despite his swelling face.
"It was a misunderstanding, Uncle, Aunt. Jo, let's go downstairs. I won't argue, okay?"
Nualan's words were clever, as he tried to downplay the situation and shift the blame to Joyce's impulsive behavior.
People began to disperse, but then Neris cried out.
"Diane! Diane, are you okay? Did you get hurt? I thought you were going to get seriously hurt because of Nualan!"
The Earl and his wife's faces stiffened at her words.
Nualan realized that they were looking at him with suspicion, and he understood why Neris had accused him of hitting Diane.
People tend to believe what they can understand. If Neris had suddenly accused Nualan of trying to kill Diane, no one would have believed her. But saying that he hit her was more plausible.
Nualan looked at Diane's leg, and Betty pushed her way through the crowd to reach her.
Joyce handed Diane over to Betty and instructed her.
"Check if she's hurt anywhere."
"Yes, sir."
Nualan wanted to stop Betty, but she was already out of his reach. Sivana stepped forward.
"Nualan, what did you do to make Diane cry? Apologize to her right now!"
Neris found Sivana's words amusing. Apologize? For what?
The only apology for trying to take someone's life was with one's own life. That was a saying that had been passed down since before the empire was founded. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Sivana's words didn't sit well with the others either. Was he yelling at his son without apologizing to his brother and sister-in-law for not raising him properly?
Betty, who had taken Diane to a nearby room, soon cried out.
"Oh my, miss! What's going on?"
That was enough. The Earl's face stiffened, and the Countess politely asked the guests to leave.
"I apologize for showing you this on a joyful day. Please don't mind our family affairs and head to the reception room."
Although the guests were curious and wanted to know more, they couldn't disobey the host's order.
The guests dispersed, heading to the reception room, music room, and banquet hall. They gathered in small groups, speculating about what had happened, and the night would be too short to satisfy their curiosity.
"Nualan, Joyce, it's late, so both of you go to your rooms. And you, young one, shouldn't be out at this hour. Go to your room and sleep."
"Yes..."
The "young one" the Earl and Countess referred to, Neris, replied with a dejected and shocked expression. She stood by the door to the room where Betty had taken Diane.
The Earl and Countess didn't force the issue and led the guests to the reception room.
Nualan didn't say anything, but the look he gave Neris as he left was menacing.
Neris wasn't afraid of the tall man's anger. The worst he could do to her was kill her.
Death was the loss of hope. Neris had no expectations for the future, so she wasn't afraid of death, and consequently, Nualan's anger didn't scare her either.
***
It was a while before Betty brought Diane out. Diane's serious face brightened slightly when she saw Neris waiting for her in the hallway.
After taking Diane to her room, Neris was about to head to her own room next door when her sleeve was caught, stopping her. She turned to see Diane sitting on her bed and said quietly.
"You were scared today, weren't you?"
Diane looked up at Neris with tear-stained eyes and asked hesitantly.
"Can't I sleep with you?"
Neris was taken aback for a moment before she realized what was going on.
Diane was a real child, unlike herself, and she had almost been killed. So, it wasn't strange that she needed someone who knew the truth and had helped her escape the situation.
"Yes, Neris. I'll bring you anything you need."
Betty, who had come to apply ointment to Diane's leg, offered.
Neris wouldn't have cared if a hundred Bettys had offered, but there was no need to refuse. So, she sat down beside Diane.
"Okay. Your bed is big, so you won't fall off, right?"
"I don't thrash around in my sleep!"
Diane tried to smile, but it was a weak and lifeless smile. Betty finished applying the ointment to Diane's leg and muttered to herself as she went to tend to the fireplace.
"I never would have imagined that Nualan would be that kind of person! I mean, what did our miss do to deserve this? But-"
The bruise on Diane's leg was in a location and shape that didn't seem to match the typical kind of violence. Betty thought about this and frowned.
Diane snuggled under the thick goose-down duvet on her bed and instructed Betty.
"Betty, I want to sleep now. Turn off the light."
"Yes, miss. There's enough firewood, so it should stay warm until morning. Goodnight. Do you need any chocolate or cake?"
"I'm fine, just turn off the light."
Diane didn't even respond to the temptation of snacks, which were usually not allowed.
Betty sighed and blew out the candles before leaving. Neris took off her gown and got into bed beside Diane, wearing her white nightgown.
Diane's room was luxurious and smelled nice, but her face, looking up at the gold-embroidered bed canopy, was filled with worry.
After a few moments of silence, Diane couldn't help but ask.
"How did you know?"
"About Nualan's plan? I told you, I just guessed. Of course, if you hadn't been suspicious about why you didn't attend the same school as before, you might have missed the clues."
And if Neris hadn't been interested in the language of the minority group from the foreign country, she wouldn't have been so sure.
There was no need to explain further.
"You're really smart!" Diane exclaimed, feeling a moment of pure admiration. Thanks to that feeling, she realized that her small chest, which had been filled with sadness and fear, felt a little lighter.
Neris lay down and looked at Diane's face. Even without the candles, the fire in the fireplace illuminated her expression.
"Diane, listen to me. Your parents will do anything for you, and they'll be devastated if they lose you."
"Yes, they will."
The words "they'll be devastated if they lose you" sank into Diane's young heart, and her nose began to sting. Neris continued to speak in a flat tone, without showing any emotion.
"Nualan, of course, but also Angelo Railing and Sivana McKinnon, they're all after you. I don't know if they originally planned to kill you, but since I appeared, they probably thought they could use me as a scapegoat."
People tend to distort situations to make them sound better to themselves, even when they know all the facts.
That meant that even if there were some suspicious circumstances, if the people the McKinnon Earl and his wife trusted kept pressuring them, a weak and unknown little girl like Neris could be made into a scapegoat at any time.
Diane's face went blank with shock. Neris knew her thoughts well.
She had always trusted her family and done things for them. But what did they ultimately want?
It seemed that there were many people who, no matter how well you treated them, would always want more. They had treated her like family, respected her, and even pampered her, but that wasn't enough. They wanted her life.
Thinking this, Neris smiled bitterly.
"Yes, what would they gain by killing you? You were just the primary target. If you get hurt, your parents will be too distracted to think about anything else for a while. Your brother will be the same. Then, someone will have to take their place. The person who benefits the most is the culprit."
That speculation could only be made after being convinced of the existence of a crime, and Diane vaguely sensed that. However, she didn't have the vocabulary and logical thinking skills to clearly express her suspicions, which she had yet to learn in school.
So, Diane decided to ask another question, one of the many that had been piling up.
"How did you get the candelabra moved at exactly that time? How did you know it was today? Huh?"
It was unusual to change the location of decorative items, especially important ones like the candelabra, in the middle of a party. It was clear that Neris had given the order.
"If they were going to carry out their plan quickly, today was the most likely day, and that was the only time they could slip away during the gathering."
The date had practically been given away by Nualan himself.
Neris's instructions to show Diane the 1st floor, while staring intently at the balcony with a sly glint in her eye, had been disgusting.
If she had been planning to throw Diane off the 2nd floor, the timing of the plan was obvious.
The most formal and lavish banquet night, which would naturally pique the children's curiosity.
Between the banquet and the after-party, when the servants wouldn't be in the hall.
During the banquet, there would be over a dozen servants serving food, so there would be people to disturb them, and Nualan would have to make an awkward excuse to leave his seat.
If they had tried to carry out their plan during the after-party, it would have been too late, and no matter what excuse they made, it would have been hard to avoid suspicion that the children had left their rooms on their own.
Neris closed her eyes.
"Actually, I told the servants that your mother ordered them to move the candelabra. You can clear things up tomorrow."
"Of course!"
Diane's eyes widened, and she nodded. She waved her hand in front of Neris's face, who had closed her eyes.
Neris's eyes flickered open, and she slightly furrowed her brow.
"Go to sleep now. Why?"
"How can I sleep when nothing's been resolved? What am I supposed to do, Liz? Huh? I feel like throwing a rock at Nualan the moment I see him tomorrow!"
"You won't have to see him tomorrow. Your parents will make sure of it."
"But still! Why didn't you tell the truth earlier?"
Diane didn't understand.
Of course, she wasn't blaming Neris. She herself had been too afraid to speak up, fearing that the family's relationship would fall apart.
But Neris seemed to have planned something, like she had a hidden agenda.
Neris sighed.
"Diane, sometimes it's more effective not to say certain things directly."
"What do you mean?"
"You have to let them figure it out for themselves. People tend to doubt what they hear from others, but they rarely doubt their own conclusions."
Especially when the truth is shocking.
Neris knew she had a lot to do the next day, and none of it involved Diane's help.
To conserve her energy, she firmly closed her eyes.
Diane looked at her, thought deeply, and then moved her body to snuggle up beside Neris. She wrapped her arms around Neris and even put her leg on top of her.
Neris didn't react, even though she must have felt Diane's arms and leg. Diane closed her eyes, smiled slightly, and fell asleep.
As Diane slept, Neris's eyes remained closed, but her mind was already racing ahead to the tasks she had to accomplish the next day.