I Give Up on the BL Novel's Male Leads - Chapter 79
The words from the Second and Third Princes left Damon feeling confused. If such an incident had occurred before, it indeed is suspicious.
“Twice now, a similar incident involving the same individual.”
“Can this really be a coincidence?”
Edwin didn’t respond. He simply felt worn out by the entire situation.
Illein, however, had witnessed Edwin defending her and reprimanding Willai’s group, who had been persistently bothering her.
“Perhaps it’s not Edwin at all.”
She said so.
The Edwin she has recently seen and heard about wouldn’t do such a thing. He’s indifferent to most things but has been kind to her.
Why would Edwin have attacked Damon? Maybe someone else disguised as Edwin had set him up. Illein chose to trust her recent experiences over the madman she knew from the original story.
Edwin had taught her magic and helped her in difficult times.
“What do you mean?”
“Anyone can change their clothes. And if the face wasn’t clearly visible, it could be someone using a disguise. Faces can be altered with transformation magic too.”
Despite her trembling, Illein spoke with conviction.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that the person she saw while drunk wasn’t Edwin. It didn’t add up; it felt like a trap meant to make things difficult for him.
“There are plenty of witnesses who saw Edwin downstairs. It seems more likely someone is trying to frame him.”
“What is your name, young lady?”
When the Second Prince asked, Illein hesitated before Damon stepped in with a bright smile.
“Her name is Lena.”
“Is she a commoner?”
“No.”
“I see. To which family does she belong?”
“I’m afraid that’s confidential.”
The Second Prince scrutinized Illenas, who bore a striking resemblance to Melias. Her appearance was that of a delicate beauty, marred only by the masculine features of her eyes and nose, giving an oddly mismatched impression.
“It seems like the young lady is being quite biased.”
“Why do you think so?”
If it weren’t for the peculiar situation, Illein wouldn’t have supported Edwin.
In truth, she found the original Edwin to be quite frightening. Her sincere wish was to distance herself from Edwin who might act like the one in the original story.
“Well, it’s probably because you’re only taking Edwin’s side in such a suspicious situation.”
Given how desperate the circumstances seemed to be making Edwin’s life difficult, Illein began to doubt the situation. It seemed almost as if the goal was to ruin Edwin’s reputation so he could never recover.
“Why not try to find the young lady who was present at the scene?”
Illein was jolted into realization by Marian’s words. She instinctively checked if her own outfit matched the one from the footage.
However, Melias had cleverly changed her outfit when they returned to this location, so she no longer appeared in the blue dress but rather in a golden one.
“That outfit seems to match the one worn by Lady Illenas.”
Marian’s dry response brought a hush over the crowd.
“Lady Illenas… the ailing daughter of Baron Thierry?”
The Second Prince seemed to recognize her just by the name.
Illein felt an unsettling chill at how the Second Prince knew of her who wasn’t even a central noble.
“Melias, weren’t you supposed to come with Lady Illenas earlier?”
Marian’s question made Melias frown.
“Lady Illenas had some personal matters and couldn’t make it here. She also mentioned that she drank so much that she couldn’t recall everything clearly.”
“Hmm.”
“It seems that might be the case. Look at this.”
Damon continued, feeling that bringing Illenas into this situation was not a good idea. He thought it unwise to reveal that Illenas had disguised herself in front of everyone.
“The person involved seems to be able to distort memories of objects. That would suggest a wind mage, right? So, can we really trust Illenas’s memories?”
Damon said this to redirect attention away from Illenas’s whereabouts.
“Even so, the young lady will need to come to the police station to give her testimony.”
“It seems difficult today, but can I bring her in later to testify myself?”
Damon’s request was met with a nod from the police officer.
“In that case, there’s not much we can do right now.”
“For now, all we can do is preserve the crime scene. It’s best if higher authorities come to investigate.”
The police officer said this with a wry smile.
“Moreover, it’s quite rare for a mage of this level to be involved in a crime…”
