The End of First Love - Chapter 43

“What are you doing!? Let go of me!”

It all happened in an instant.

With a signal from Heinz, knights in white uniforms stormed into the hall and apprehended Maria, forcing her to her knees. The hall erupted in chaos at the shocking sight.

“You bastard!! What are you doing to Maria!?”

“Please calm yourself, Prince William. Lady Maria, Baroness of the House of Maria, is under various suspicions. Of course, we have His Majesty’s permission to arrest her here and now.”

A document was presented swiftly in front of William. It bore the direct signature of His Majesty, permitting the arrest of both Lady Maria and Count Mareille, along with the charges listed.

“Verbal and physical assault against high-ranking nobles. Adultery with engaged or married men. Attempted abduction of the Duke of Baker’s daughter… What is this…?”

“Ah yes, the attempted abduction of Lady Elizabeth has been confirmed to have Maria as the mastermind. As for the other charges, they probably point to Count Mareille, but Maria, having had a physical relationship with him, must have known.”

A physical relationship between Count Mareille and Maria… That can’t be true…

Was the ideal woman I longed for merely an illusion?

Staring blankly at Maria as she was taken away by the royal enforcers, William watched as the gentle and graceful image of her he once adored crumbled apart before his very eyes.

“It’s a lie! This is all a setup! A conspiracy! Yes… It must be Lady Elizabeth over there, jealous of my engagement with William, who planned this!”

“Lady Maria, you claim to know nothing. Then, do you also not recognize this man?”

At Heinz’s signal, two royal officers escorted in a man. William instantly recognized his face.

Leonard Mareille. The son of Count Mareille, and William’s trusted right-hand man. With his hands bound behind his back, he was brought in, causing murmurs to ripple through the crowd of nobles.

“This man was caught recently in the attempted abduction of the duke’s daughter. Do you still claim not to know him, Lady Maria?”

“Who is that? I don’t know him. William, please… help me…”

Her frightened eyes pleaded with William, but all he felt was suspicion. He could no longer look at Maria the way he once had.

So she, too, was just another calculating woman, only concerned with her own gain—something William despised most.

“—Maria! Don’t think you’re getting away alone!”

The angry outburst of his former friend only drove William further into a corner.

Leonard revealed that everything—from the relationship with Count Mareille, to the attempted kidnapping of the duke’s daughter—had been orchestrated by Maria. She had even ordered that Elizabeth be sold off to a neighboring country after the abduction.

“Maria, the Mareille family only became your pawns because you were going to marry Prince William. You’re the true mastermind behind it all!!”

“No… no, you’re wrong… I didn’t know anything… William, help me!”

Hair disheveled, her desperate eyes clinging to William—he could feel nothing but disgust. As he turned his gaze away from her, it happened.

A piercing scream rang out. Out of the corner of his eye, William saw Maria, her eyes wild with rage, rushing toward Elizabeth. In the blink of an eye, Heinz tackled her to the ground, and the guards pinned her down.

That outstretched hand—who had it been reaching for?

But the thought vanished the moment Maria, even while restrained, began spitting curses.

“Elizabeth! You stole everything from me! Everything! I was a princess—and you took it all! I only took back what was mine. The title, the prince… None of this is my fault. If only you hadn’t been here, I could have been happy!!”

“Enough. Take her away.”

Even as Maria was dragged out by the guards, William felt no emotion.

(So in the end, she wasn’t the one either.)

A modest, kind woman who would accept and spoil him with love—that was his ideal.

“Are you alright, Elizabeth?”

“Yes…”

Her voice, soft and delicate like a bell, reached his ears. William’s wandering gaze landed on Elizabeth, embraced protectively by Heinz.

There she is… my ideal…

The woman who never once criticized him, and always poured her love into him.

As if drawn by an invisible force, William took a step forward.