Page 43 of Villainess's Redemption
“Oh?” I feigned surprise. “What happened? Do tell, Father. I want to know all the details.”
He shot me a look that was half-exasperated, half-amused. I couldn’t hide anything from him. “The prince and Lord Noah were there. Usually, King Arnald doesn’t involve them in trials like this. Maybe he wanted them to observe… or they are investigating.
I was there when one of Anderic’s men came and told him about the retrial. It was satisfying to see how his eyes turned wide.
“I should let you know that Prince Anderic and Noah are investigating Gareth,” I told him what happened today at the Meadows Inn. “You should do something about him.”
Father’s eyes widened as alarm set in. I sighed. Gareth really was involved. It would’ve been a disaster if he got caught today.
I leaned forward in my chair, fixing my father with a penetrating stare. “Father, tell me exactly how you planned Magnus’s embezzlement.”
Father shifted uncomfortably, his eyes darting around the study as if searching for eavesdroppers in the dark corners. The flickering candlelight cast dancing shadows across his face, making him look older and more haggard than I remembered.
“Well,” he began, clearing his throat, “I instructed Gareth to… ah… place some gold bars in the new furniture being made for Magnus’s residence. Since they were still settling in after moving back to the capital, it seemed… opportune.”
I stared at him, slack-jawed. Was he serious? My eyebrows climbed so high they threatened to disappear into my hairline.
“Gold bars in furniture? Really, Father? Did you perhaps consider hiding them under the floorboards or behind a painting while you were at it?” The sarcasm dripped from my voice like honey from an overturned jar. “How delightfully cliché. I’m surprised you didn’t leave a trail of breadcrumbs leading right to them.”
Father’s face flushed an impressive shade of red. “Don’t look at me like that,” he snapped, his pride clearly wounded. “I might be ambitious, but I’ve never framed an innocent man before. It was my first time.”
True, the people he went after were all those who had actually done something wrong. He would just conveniently reveal their misdeeds and climb the social ladder. But I was still baffled at his amateurish plan.
“Oh, of course,” I drawled, rolling my eyes. “Because that makes it so much better. ‘Your Honor, I’ve never committed murder before. It was my first time. Surely that counts for something?’”
To his credit, Father did look genuinely uncomfortable. “If you hadn’t thrown a tantrum to marry that good-for-nothing, Noah, I wouldn’t have had to do all this,” he grumbled, his eyes narrowing.
The words hit me like a slap. I flinched, my heart twisting painfully in my chest. It was true, wasn’t it? This whole mess, my family’s downfall, Magnus’s near-execution - it all traced back to my own selfish desires. My shoulders slumped as the weight of guilt settled over me like a suffocating blanket.
Father’s expression softened immediately, regret flashing across his features. “Ilyana,” he said, his voice gentle now. “It wasn’t your fault. I didn’t mean that.”
I managed a weak smile, but it felt more like a grimace. “Didn’t you, though?”
He sighed, running a hand through his graying hair. “No, I didn’t. I’m sorry, my dear. This… this is on me. I’ll make everything better, I promise.”
I wanted to believe him. Gods, how I wanted to. But I knew better now. I’d seen where this path led, and it wasn’t to a happy ending for any of us.
“How exactly do you plan to do that, Father?” I asked, unable to keep the resignation from my voice.
He leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers. “I admit, the situation is… delicate. But I have connections, influence. We can still turn this around.”
Father’s expression grew serious. He drummed his fingers on the table, a habit he only indulged when deeply troubled. “Hmm, it’ll be harder to explain the money,” he mused, more to himself than to me. “I told them to put five hundred gold bars, but they overdid it and added a million.”
“Them?”
Father looked back at me, “Oh, it’s the Red Cross gang. They are kind of like a mercenary. They can do anything for aprice. Gareth found them and did all the communication on my behalf.”
I blinked, my mind racing. My anxiety rising again. Father kept giving me heart attacks today. That didn’t sound right at all. “How did they get that much?” I asked, keeping my voice carefully neutral. “There’s a huge difference between five hundred and one million, after all. How much did you give them? And why didn’t you notice it before”
Father’s frown deepened, his eyes clouding with suspicion. “One thousand. I didn’t think something like this would happen. It only came up during today’s trial. I was quite surprised myself. I’ll have to ask Gareth. Or maybe …he really did embezzle.”We aren’t that lucky.But how ironic that would be. The man we’d framed might actually be guilty. Something didn’t add up.
Or someone else was involved. The thought hit me like a bucket of ice water. Did Magnus offend someone else? Someone with enough power and influence to frame him so thoroughly?
I could see the same thoughts reflected in Father’s eyes. He was no fool; he’d come to the same conclusion.
“Well,” I said, standing up, forcing a lightness into my tone that I didn’t feel, “if that’s the case then we’ll be free.”
And just like that, an idea struck me. What if someone really was involved? If I can prove that, then father won’t be implicated.
