Xiliya was, after all, the young lady of the Camberlan Family, so her boudoir was not a place just anyone could enter. The City Guards waited outside, while several maids from the Camberlan Family went into the room to rummage through drawers and cabinets.
Ximo did not participate in the search. As Xiliya’s personal maid, she stood outside with the others to avoid suspicion.
“It’s fine,” Xiliya said upon seeing the worry on Ximo’s face. She thought Ximo was concerned about her and offered reassurance.
Xiliya was brimming with confidence. She planned to wait until the last moment to deliver a massive embarrassment to Charles and Masha.
But Ximo was not actually worried about Xiliya. She fretted over how she would take the blame onto herself to complete the task later.
Earlier, after Masha questioned her, she had asked the System why the task was not complete. The System’s reply was that the fact of “being slandered” had not yet been established.
In other words, though Masha had cast doubt on her, the slander needed to be pinned solidly on Ximo—like before—making Selina believe that Ximo was truly the thief. Only then would the task count as done.
This damn System was truly a pitfall. It only seemed satisfied when her life was full of misery, didn’t it?
Fortunately, she had already consulted the System in advance about the full flow of this plot segment. For taking the blame, Ximo had a plan.
At this point, though the matter was not yet settled, Masha was already pleading Xiliya’s case beside Selina.
“Lady Selina, I think Xiliya was just momentarily confused. Please don’t hold it against her…”
“It’s too early to say that,” Selina waved her off. “Nothing has been found yet, so we can’t confirm it’s Miss Xiliya who stole it, can we?”
That was exactly how it had gone in her previous life. Masha appeared to plead for her, but her words implicitly assumed Xiliya was the thief—all to nail the crime firmly on her.
Though Xiliya noticed Masha’s actions and Charles’s provocative smirk from afar as he stood with arms crossed, waiting for the show, she ignored them all. She simply gripped Ximo’s hand quietly.
Time ticked by in the tense atmosphere, minute by minute. After about ten minutes, one of the maids who had entered the room shuffled out hesitantly, her face pale.
“How did it go? Did you find anything?” Charles asked hurriedly. Realizing he sounded too eager, he coughed lightly twice. “You didn’t find anything, right?”
The maid said nothing and slowly opened her palm. A golden pocket watch lay quietly there.
Many servants gathered to watch, and the moment the pocket watch appeared, someone gasped. Even with the strict head maid Annaer present, whispers inevitably rippled through the crowd.
“This… this must be Lady Selina’s lost item, right?”
“I can’t believe it was really in the young lady’s room. So it really was the young lady…”
“Shh! Keep it down!”
The other maids who had searched the room emerged too. The one who found it handed the pocket watch to Selina and whispered, “It was in the young lady’s bedside cabinet.”
Selina did not immediately concern herself with the culprit. She took the watch and examined it carefully. Once she confirmed it was indeed her lost pocket watch and that it was undamaged, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“This is my lost item.”
With both witness testimony and physical evidence in place, Xiliya’s guilt as the culprit was seemingly nailed down. Masha wore a heartbroken expression, as if reproaching herself for failing in her guidance.
“Xiliya,” Charles’s voice sharpened, “And here you were, acting so self-assured before. Who would’ve thought the esteemed young lady of the Camberlan Family would do something like this!”
“Didn’t you say earlier that no matter who the culprit was, they must be severely punished? You weren’t just saying that for show, were you? Even the Camberlan Family’s young lady must be treated equally!”
In her previous life, Charles had not slandered her so urgently. Back then, Xiliya had not knocked out his teeth. Now, with the plan succeeding, his heart swelled with the thrill of revenge.
Hah, you made trouble for this young master at every turn before. Xiliya, this is all on you!
“Oh dear, Xiliya, you foolish child. Hurry and apologize to Lady Selina…” Masha chimed in to muddy the waters.
The ugly faces of the two before her made Xiliya take a deep breath. The familiar scene calmed her inner turmoil instead.
In her previous life, after Selina’s pocket watch was found in her room, almost everyone concluded she was the thief. Back then, she had been too cowardly to even know how to defend herself.
“Miss Xiliya, can you explain? I feel there’s still some misunderstanding here.”
Even faced with such ironclad evidence, Selina wavered. In her previous life, due to her poor impression of Xiliya, she had mostly sided with the conclusion that Xiliya was guilty. But now, Selina was somewhat unwilling to believe it.
“This…” Xiliya feigned surprise. “I want to explain too, Lady Selina, but I truly have no idea why this appeared in my room!”
“Still quibbling!” Charles pounced immediately. “It’s useless to play dumb now, Xiliya! Or are you going back on your own words?”
Gazing at Charles, who barked like a mad dog, a chill flashed in Xiliya’s eyes. Good. Time to shut this annoying pest up…
But just as Xiliya prepared to reveal the truth, someone beat her to it.
“W-Wait! Wait a moment!”
Ximo raised her voice with effort to draw everyone’s attention. Once all eyes were on her, she spoke cautiously.
“The young lady… truly doesn’t know. Because I was the one who stole it!”
The declaration stunned everyone momentarily. Masha recovered first and snapped at Ximo harshly.
“Ximo, the evidence is conclusive now. As Xiliya’s personal maid, covering for her at this point is only harming her! Understand?”
“I’m not covering for the young lady. I’m telling the truth… I-I have proof!”
Seeing the little maid suddenly step in front of her to confront Masha, the words Xiliya had meant to say caught in her throat.
Was Ximo speaking up for her? Taking the blame onto herself to protect her?
Xiliya could certainly stop Ximo, but suddenly, she found herself unable to speak.
She had experienced similar scenes countless times in her previous life.
But this was the first time someone had stepped forward to speak for her at a moment like this.
