Chapter 103 - Accusations
After the entire fiasco, the people in the mansion were shaken for a while. They couldn’t help but keep on thinking of how it had all happened in the blink of an eye. A few people couldn’t help but look at the site of the accident.
The carpet there was still bloody and the glass shards were still spread around there. Bethany Harrels the host of this party, was extremely upset. This was the first time she had organized a social event like this all on her own, and it had gone wrong.
She wanted to show her father that she could do things on her own as a noble, but now all of that had been wiped out in the blink of an eye. And not only that, but there was a great chance she may have also damaged the relationship between her family and Viscount Drew.
Viscount Drew’s son Keith had been injured greatly and was close to death in the four walls of the Harrels’ Mansion. There was no way the other nobles would not gossip about this. Their tongues would wag and new stories would be born from them.
These stories would only get worse and worse as they spread from one tongue to the other, like a virus.
Bethany had tears in her eyes, but she was trying her hardest to hold back from crying.
“Why… why did this happen… how could this happen? When I planned it all so well…” Bethany sobbed to herself in a low voice.
But just as she was doing this, she felt a hand on her shoulder. The hand was warm and firm, making her turn to look at the person who had just appeared.
“Are you okay, miss Bethany?” Lucius asked with a gentle expression on his face.
Bethany couldn’t speak upon seeing Asher at first. His face looked just as handsome as she had seen him at start, but then she was reminded of how he mixed with Keith in less than a minute and even seemed to click well with him.
‘Wait… wasn’t he talking with Keith… when that happened?’ Bethany thought to herself.
Soon the memories came rushing back to Bethany. They had become suppressed for a bit due to the shocking accident that had happened just a little while ago, but now she was able to think a bit clearly.
“YOU!!!” Bethany suddenly shouted, while pointing at Asher.
Lucius raised his brows upon seeing Bethany’s reaction, while Kiana flipped her palms outwards while still keeping them down. No one noticed, but a circular metallic layer had appeared over it.
“YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DID THIS!” Bethany continued.
Hearing this, Lucius almost chuckled but managed to hold it back. He wanted to see how this girl would be going on about this first.
“Me?” Lucius spoke, innocently.
“YEAH! YOU CAUSED THE ACCIDENT AND MADE LORD KEITH FALL!” Bethany accused openly.
The people all looked at Asher and Bethany with great interest. Their earlier unease was washed away instantly, like morning dew from a leaf. To them, getting to see drama like this was much more exciting. But while they liked drama, they didn’t want it to get to the level of someone dying in front of them.
They were still not experienced enough to be able to enjoy that… yet.
“Miss Bethany…” Lucius gently spoke. “As the Young Lord of the Inanis family, I humbly ask that you withdraw your earlier words… I am giving you this chance before you make a greater mistake.”
“NONSENSE! I saw you speak with Keith just before he got injured. I even saw you smiling as he walked towards the maids.” Bethany shouted in rage.
“Miss Bethany, I once again ask that you withdraw your words and think about what you are saying,” Lucius repeated it again.
“NO! You are the one who spoiled all this!” Bethany continued.
By now, even captain Donald had understood that the situation was getting out of hand. He covertly looked around the hall and noticed the other guards, who were getting closer to them. His hand rested on the sword on his waist while his right leg rested on the top of his toes, with his heel raised.
He did not act yet though, he simply watched on and waited for his young lord’s actions. Kiana did the same and a thin metal needle was already floating at her palm, hidden from the gazes of everyone. She eyed the girl in front of her and felt furious.
Lucius could hear the whisper and gossips of the rest of the guests as they talked amongst themselves. Some of them hid their lips as a courtesy, while a few directly pointed at Lucius while speaking.
‘Baron Harrels is a fool if he allowed such an event to go unsupervised. He must have been greatly confident in his daughter’s capabilities, or could not be bothered to deal with it. Even the guards he assigned are not up to the mark.’ Lucius thought.
Bethany was looking at his expressionless face and couldn’t help but feel mocked. She almost felt like Asher was here to ridicule her.
“THAT’S IT! You want to destroy the relationship between the barony of Harrels and Viscount Drew!” Bethany suddenly proclaimed.
Lucius was honestly a bit surprised upon hearing her words and didn’t know whether to think she was smart to grasp that, or dumb to speak it out so openly. No one should have dared to openly accuse Asher like this, at least not when they were of a lower rank than them.
‘Even that guy Keith was tactful enough to behave when he saw me… but this girl…’ Lucius internally sighed.
His first impression of Bethany and Keith was flipped now. At first, he had thought Bethany had a little skill as a noble, but all of that was washed away. As for Keith, while Lucius did think he was laughable, at least the man had a little smartness to think of the situation and the location before acting.
“You are stepping past your boundaries from this moment, Miss Bethany,” Lucius said in a stern tone. “Do you want to implicate the entire Harrels barony in this?” He asked.
While Bethany heard his words, she did not see the hidden chance to escape from this situation that Lucius had given her. Instead of that, she just said something worse.
“SEE! He truly wants to destroy the reputation of the Harrels Barony! GUARD SEIZE HIM!” Bethany Ordered in the heat of the moment.
A few of the heirs that were a little bit… just a little bit wiser in the guests face-palmed upon hearing the words of Bethany. Even they knew what Bethany had just said was no less than causing enmity between them and the ruling noble family of this land.
~Ssssssss~
“How could she say that?” a few people had the question.
Lucius though, smiled and felt like another path had just opened up for him.
~clang~clang~clang~
The guards of the Harrels family surrounded Lucius, Kiana, and Donald. Some of them seemed to be nervous and doubting this order. Lucius saw the look in their eyes and understood it very well.
“Guards of the Harrels Family, I know you are under orders… but I will give you a chance. Lay down your arms and no harm shall come to you.” Lucius stated before looking Bethany straight in the eye.
“The Daughter of Baron Harrels has gone insane for the time being and cannot think well. Anyone who dares take another step will be considered an enemy of the Inanis family!” Lucius declared.
~gulp~
The guards were seriously conferring Lucius’s words, but that had to come to a stop.
“WHAT ARE YOU ALL THINKING! Do you all think you will be alive if you do not follow orders now? If not my father, the Viscount will have you and your family’s heads.” Bethany uttered, with a hint of craziness in her voice.
Some guests couldn’t understand how the situation had descended into this level so fast. Even the actions of Bethany seemed to be very strange.
~shing~
The guards no longer hesitated and drew our their arms. Multiple swords were raised and all of them were pointed at Lucius. Not only that, but Lucius also saw a few guards using their gifts. One had flames appearing on his sword, one had frost swirling around him, while another person was covered in a scaly layer.
~Sigh~
“Seems like you have chosen the hard path…” Lucius muttered before raising his head.
“I ASHER INANIS! Hereby declare that Bethany Harrels has falsely accused me of harming Keith Drew and is now conspiring to harm me. For this, I shall issue punishment immediately!” Lucius said out loud, his voice filled with power.
“WHY ARE YOU FOOLS JUST STANDING! ATTACK!” Bethany yelled at the top of her lungs.
~shing~
~splat~
But then, in the next second, she felt a chill go down her spine and felt a warm liquid on her face.