The Beast Swallowed by the Flower (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 22
Jamie, who had been hiding behind Lisi and Kai, stepped forward and stood beside Lisi.
Everyone stared at Jamie in bewilderment, taken aback by his sudden appearance in this situation.
“As everyone surely knows, I should introduce myself—this gathering will be all the more enjoyable for it! I am Baron Jamie Russell, the knight of the blue heavens, the flame of the battlefield… or at least, that’s what I aspire to become.”
Jamie’s cheerful introduction drew soft laughter from the crowd.
Knight of the blue heavens, flame of the battlefield, blazing fire.
Jamie said he wished to become those things—but in truth, he was already known by those very titles.
“And I am also the loyal butler to these two distinguished individuals here—attending even to their personal matters.”
Jamie took another step forward, standing directly before Kai and Lisi.
“Our elegant and precious Countess need not trouble herself with this matter. I’ll look into the truth behind these rumors myself. Is that alright?”
Who could possibly say no?
Not when he had such a fearsome glint in his eyes.
Though Jamie smiled, his gaze alone was sharp enough to tear them all apart.
“Now then, all the newspaper and magazine reporters present here—please raise your hands.”
Though a dozen or so reporters were surely present, only Wittingk raised his hand.
He must have sensed things were going awry and wanted no part in the fallout.
Jamie grinned.
“I already know exactly who the reporters are…”
Only then did the journalists exchange uneasy glances and, one by one, hesitantly raise their hands.
Jamie slowly approached one of the reporters, and the crowd parted like receding tide to let him pass.
“You’re the reporter from the magazine that first published the article about Countess Green, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right, but…”
“From whom did you hear that information?”
“Oh, well… it wasn’t so much from someone specific… more like… just rumors…”
“Rumors!”
*Clap!*
The sharp sound of Jamie clapping his hands made everyone jump.
“So you wrote an article based solely on circulating rumors without verifying their truth. Is that correct?”
“No, no… that’s not it…”
“Not it?”
“Well…”
The reporter swallowed hard and glanced around desperately for help, but no one stepped forward.
Finally, the reporter answered with a terrified expression.
“I… couldn’t verify whether it was true or not.”
“Very well.”
Jamie said this with eyes that clearly meant the opposite, then moved on.
Standing before another reporter, Jamie spoke again.
“You’re from the newspaper—the very first to publish an article about this rumor. As a newspaper, I’d like to believe you didn’t print such a story based merely on hearsay…”
“Yes, I conducted an interview.”
“Is that person here?”
“Yes, over there…”
The reporter pointed to someone.
It was a commoner woman with a pointed chin.
Jamie approached her, visibly frightened, and asked,
“Did you personally witness Countess Green meeting Viscount Alford Fuchs in secret?”
At Jamie’s question, the faces of those who had been watching like spectators across a river paled instantly.
No one had expected Jamie to investigate the source of the rumor, one person at a time, like this.
Most of the people present had themselves repeated that very rumor.
“No, no! I just heard it from someone else…”
“From whom?”
“Well…”
The commoner woman pointed at someone else.
Jamie approached her and repeated the same question—receiving the same answer.
One by one, he interrogated them all, as if determined to question everyone present if necessary.
Gillette finally grasped the situation and held her breath.
Jamie was drawing closer to her.
Soon enough, Jamie turned to a noble young lady standing beside Gillette, indicated by someone else, and asked,
“Did you personally witness Countess Green meeting Viscount Alford Fuchs in secret?”
“No…”
The noble young lady glanced quickly at Gillette.
Gillette wanted to scream.
She desperately wished to slip away—but her outfit was far too conspicuous to escape unnoticed.
‘No, no need to panic. I’ll just say I heard it from someone else, too.’
“Then, from whom did you hear it?”
Gillette’s noble friend hesitated briefly, then pointed directly at Gillette.
Gillette wanted to slap her for the betrayal, but she clenched her teeth and kept her expression composed.
“Miss Gillette Merdi—you’re also a maid to Countess Green. Yet you dared to spread rumors about your own mistress. I’m deeply disappointed in you.”
At Jamie’s rebuke, Gillette clenched her fists tightly.
Whether or not she was the original source, merely speaking ill of her mistress Lisi as a servant was enough to tarnish Gillette’s honor.
Her parents watched their daughter, barely daring to breathe.
Gillette hoped Jamie would ask whom she’d heard it from—but Jamie simply stared at her in silence.
It wasn’t just Jamie.
Every eye in the room was now fixed on Gillette.
Unable to withstand the pressure, Gillette finally spoke first.
“I heard it too.”
“From whom?”
“From the maids.”
“That simply isn’t possible, Miss Gillette.”
“It’s true! The maids told me they saw it themselves—Countess Green meeting Viscount Alford Fuchs secretly beneath the tree in the west garden.”
“I assure you, that truly couldn’t have happened, Miss Gillette.”
“Why… why won’t anyone believe me? I’m telling the truth!”
“Miss Gillette, when I say I don’t believe you, there’s always a reason.”
By now, Gillette’s anger began to boil over.
Why is everyone treating me like this?
“Is it because the Countess dislikes me? Because I’m close to the Count, she ordered everyone to pin this on me?”
Viscountess Merdi, Gillette’s mother, looked as though she might faint.
She seemed desperate to silence her daughter but couldn’t in front of the entire crowd.
“No, Miss Gillette—it’s not like that at all. The Countess dislikes no one.”
“How can you say she doesn’t? She does! She never liked me from the start! It’s not me—I didn’t do anything! I just heard it too!”
“If you confess honestly now and apologize, the Countess will surely forgive you.”
“I’m telling you, it’s not me! I heard it from the maids!”
“That’s precisely why it’s impossible, Miss Gillette. This morning, I questioned all the maids myself. Every one of them said they heard the story from you.”
“…Th… that’s a lie! They… they’re always lying! Besides, they’re jealous of me…”
“No one is jealous of you, Miss Gillette.”
“Yes, they are! I really didn’t say a word! I swear it’s true!”
The noble young ladies surrounding Gillette realized there was no way to save her from this situation.
They quietly began to distance themselves from her.
Gillette of House Merdi.
Versus Iris, the jewel of House Wittelo and now Countess Green.
The choice of whose side to take was already decided.
“You said you saw it yourself…”
One noble young lady muttered under her breath, prompting Gillette to glare at her with wide, furious eyes.
“No, why are you looking at me like that? You were the one who said you saw it yourself! You said you were so shocked, remember?”
“That’s right. You told us you saw it with your own eyes… we believed you.”
“We kept insisting it was true because you didn’t believe us—you even described the expressions on Viscount Fuchs and Countess Green and what they said to each other…”
Gillette saw no escape.
But she couldn’t afford to break down here.
If she admitted it, House Merdi would be unable to remain in this place.
There were many reporters present.
This incident would appear in numerous newspapers and spread across the continent.
Their opponent wasn’t just anyone—it was House Green, blessed by the Holy Nation.
Defaming House Green’s honor was tantamount to challenging the Holy Nation itself.
House Merdi would struggle to survive not just here, but in any other country as well.
“I… I… I also… I heard it from Viscount Fuchs himself!”
Gillette clung to the last straw within her reach.
“Viscount Fuchs told me they’d had that kind of relationship before. But the Countess sought honor, so she abandoned him and married Count Green…”
Gillette stopped speaking.
Because Jamie’s smile had deepened.
“I see, Gillette. That’s precisely why I summoned Viscount Fuchs himself.”
She thought it was a bluff—intended only to frighten her.
It wasn’t.
Alford was coming toward them, his face pale with fear.
Eugene and Wallace flanked him on either side.
Gillette’s mind went blank.
When Alford reached his side, Jamie spoke.
“Viscount Alford Fuchs. You just heard it, didn’t you?”
“Huh? Ah, y-yes… yes.”
“Is it true that you claimed to have had that sort of relationship with Countess Green?”
“N-no! Absolutely not! How could I possibly say such a thing… No!”
“But you did!”
Gillette shrieked.
“The last time you visited Count Green, you kept going on about how passionately you and Countess Green were in love!”
“What nonsense is this? I never said such a thing! I swear, Baron Russell, I never uttered those words! Would I be mad enough to say something like that in Count Green’s own home? This woman is framing me!”
“Framing me…! Jamie, I really did hear it from him! The maids must have overheard that day too—please ask them!”
“I’ve already questioned the maids.”
As Gillette and Alford shouted accusations at each other, Jamie spoke calmly.
“The maids told me they heard nothing at all, Miss Gillette.”
“Th… that’s…”
Gillette staggered.
She finally realized there was no way out of this situation.
‘What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?’
Frantically scanning the crowd for someone to help her, her eyes locked directly with Lisi, who stood at a distance.
Lisi wore a serene smile.
‘It’s all her fault. That woman is…!’
She wanted to rush over and tear Lisi’s hair out right then and there.
She longed to see that haughty, arrogant expression twisted into chaos.
But the last shred of reason held her feet in place.
At that moment, someone rushed toward Count and Countess Green.
Only belatedly did Gillette realize it was her own father.
Viscount Merdi ran up to Kai and knelt before him.
It was almost unheard of for a noble to kneel before another noble in front of commoners.
“Oh dear…”
“Oh no…”
Murmurs of disapproval and stifled groans rose from the surrounding nobles.
Viscount Merdi, kneeling before Kai—who was practically a generation younger—begged earnestly,
“Count Green, I failed to raise my daughter properly. Please, in your magnanimity, forgive her. I shall never forget such kindness for as long as I live.”
“It seems the one you should beg forgiveness from is not me, but my wife.”
Viscount Merdi immediately turned toward Lisi.
“Countess, my daughter has committed a grave offense. She is still young and foolish—please, in your great mercy, forgive her…”
Lisi, who had been watching Viscount Merdi with cold eyes, finally spoke.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
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