Chapter 2

Edwin had not expected Lydia to be bold enough to destroy the royal signet personally bestowed on me by the former king.

The veins on his forehead popped with fury as he shouted in rage, only for Alaric's guards to force him to the ground.

The maids and senior attendants I had brought stepped forward to help, but the guards did not budge. Instead, they obeyed Lydia's every command.

"Wow! What a great younger brother I have! Someone, summon Alaric to the inner courtyard!" I was so angry I laughed before I turned to look at the smug Lydia.

Since she refused to listen to reason and insisted on slandering me as her imagined rival, I wanted to see who would be left standing in the end. "I would like to see what evidence you have that proves I tried to seduce my own younger brother!"

Lydia was the center of attention in the noisy crowd. However, she did not panic at all. Instead, she took a box a maid hurriedly handed to her and opened it before casually throwing it to the ground. Inside was a masterfully crafted sculpture made from emerald.

"This was carved from emeralds produced by House Upton's mines in the south. When you arrived, you had someone present this gift, and you wrote House Upton's name on the guest list."

"Sylvia of House Upton… The evidence is here staring you right in the face. Still pretending to be some fancy princess?"

I met Lydia's haughty gaze and nodded with a cold smile. "Indeed, I did present this gift. It is also true that one of my attendants wrote down House Upton's name on the guest list."

A sudden commotion broke out.

"Pretending to be a member of the royal family is a capital crime!"

"More than that, she impersonated the Princess, the Queen Mother's precious treasure and His Majesty's own elder sister!"

"This woman will use any filthy trick to seduce Alaric. If I were Princess Lydia, I would have her thrown into the moat."

As both mockery and slander filled my ears, I stopped my furious maids and senior servants before giving a sneering look over everyone around me. Then I said, "But those were not the only gifts I presented. Although House Upton and Alaric ended the engagement, their business dealings never did. As House Upton is based in the far south, they had petitioned for the Queen Mother to present their gifts instead. However, as she had caught a cold in the past few days, I am delivering the gifts on her behalf.

"I am here today to present gifts on behalf of the Queen Mother, House Upton, and the Grand Princess’s Household."

Seeing Lydia's face darken only made the whole thing seem even more absurd for me. "Ask the steward of Alaric's household whether my words are true!"

Ever since the engagement between House Upton and Alaric's estate had ended, it was awkward for both sides to meet each other. My mother and Alaric had discussed the gifts long ago and the steward had been present, so he would know about it.

While Alaric was being held back by court officials and royal advisers drinking with him and had not come to the inner courtyard, the steward could not refuse the summons.

Soon, the steward hurried over. But the moment he saw me, he angrily said, "So you're the vile woman who pretended to be Princess Sophia and tried to get into our prince's bed? You can forget about all of it! You're merely the daughter of a merchant! Do you truly think we are afraid of you?!"

After saying that, he turned to the crowd and shook his head in regret. "This was all my fault. I was deceived by her pretending to be Princess Sophia. Today is Prince Alaric's wedding day, yet I've allowed her to slip in with the intention of ruining the royal couple. I'll have someone drive them out of the estate at once!"

Edwin cursed in fury, but I looked closely at the steward's face as he turned his head. "Are you the newly appointed steward? Where is Cedric? Summon him here. The person present at the time was not you. It was Cedric."

Lydia burst into laughter. "You should at least have found out who is in charge now before you snuck into Alaric's estate. Alaric gave me authority over the household a long time ago and I've already replaced the estate's older servants with people I trust. You can forget about waiting for Cedric to cover for you!"