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LOS 78
After receiving the report that the guest had been shown inside, I headed to the drawing room. A civilian journalist, rather than a soldier, was now sitting there. I hadn't expected this, but I felt that I had been receiving guests quite frequently lately.
However, this time, it was my choice. I did not tell them to send this 'guest' away. A tea set befitting the prestige of a count's family was laid out on the table.
Unlike last time, I greeted her with a natural smile.
“Hello.”
“Ah... it is an honor to meet you, My Lady.”
“Please, just be comfortable. It's only the two of us anyway.”
She nodded awkwardly. Wearing glasses and a hairstyle that was somewhat trendy, she looked a bit different from other journalists. That is to say, from my perspective, she looked less like a con artist.
Rather, it would be more accurate to say she looked less like a journalist and more like a bibliophile who had come to get an autograph.
Perhaps unable to believe she was meeting me in person, her eyes behind the glasses shone with curiosity and enthusiasm.
Suddenly, the journalist stood up abruptly and reached out her hand.
“I am Anita Müller. I'm from Glubihne Magazine.”
Even as she did so, Anita seemed uncertain. Was it acceptable to request a handshake from a noble in this manner? Of course, I didn't care for such noble etiquette, so I readily took her hand and shook it.
“I've read it too.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It was very interesting.”
Despite my deliberate choice of an ambiguous word, Anita's face quickly flushed.
“As you may know, our magazine primarily covers the stories of famous people. Even if they aren't singers or actors, anyone who attracts public attention is enough to fill our pages. Glubihne has covered a wide variety of topics. Among them, we specialize in scandals.”
“Tell me more.”
“We hunt for scandals. But please don't misunderstand. We don't tear apart the people under scrutiny like other yellow journalism. What we are interested in is the sliver of truth that remains unknown to the public. Though it may not be sensational, nothing is as powerful as the truth. The radio broadcast you appeared in gave us inspiration.”
I was aware of the characteristics of Glubihne Magazine. They often published interviews with figures who were the subject of gossip.
Knowing that they rarely employed exaggeration for sensationalism or malicious editing, I decided that this magazine was worth talking to.
Of course, Glubihne had another problem.
“Attempting to convey the truth in front of the entire population of Beldam was a truly courageous act. That is why we decided to visit.”
“How are you so sure that what I said is the truth?”
“Pardon?”
Anita seemed not to understand my question. She adjusted her glasses with one hand.
“Giles Hessen is an atrocious traitor and murderer. For the sake of his own survival, he insulted the death of his own family and killed the fiancé I loved so dearly. Then, eyeing my body, he approached me while acting like a kind man. After suffering for a long time, I crossed the Beldam border to escape him. In Beldam, this is the truth. This is the story people believe.”
“So, you're wondering how we came to believe your words?”
I nodded. I had never expected it, but not a single person believed me. Everyone believed only the words printed on scraps of paper produced by people who had never even met me.
Even though I was the actual party involved in the incident. I was the one who saw and experienced everything before my own eyes.
And yet, people like Anita claimed to listen to words that no one believed.
Then what makes you so special?
Though I had already completed my investigation, I had to vet them once more. I had to completely block any possibility of my plan falling apart.
“If that were a lie, why would you go as far as saying it in front of the entire nation?”
“I could be a liar.”
“For whose sake? No one tells a lie that brings them absolutely no benefit.”
“What if I haven't psychologically escaped from Giles yet? What if, as the newspapers say, I've been brainwashed?”
“Right. Let's assume Giles Hessen really did torment you. A person who was sexually violated and brainwashed suddenly regains their senses, flees across the Beldam border, causes Giles Hessen to be arrested in Beldam, and then belatedly appeals to the public to rescue him? That's too strange. Even a third-rate writer wouldn't write a story like that.”
“But people believe it.”
“To them, what is true or plausible doesn't matter. Because the story they want to hear becomes the truth.”
I stopped talking. Beldam wanted my tragic story. The more I cried, grew angry, and screamed, the more they would love it.
It also meant that this society was shuddering in its own misery. I knew well the psychology of trying to resolve one's pain through the pain of another.
“We know that too. We've met many people who suffered while being discussed in the press for unpleasant reasons. I knew immediately after hearing the things you said on the broadcast. Whether you believe it or not, it's that feeling where you can't stand it if you don't speak out. Isn't that right?”
It was. She knew it all too well. Like a person tied to a chair who cannot stay still, I had to say something. Because if I didn't, I felt as though I truly couldn't bear it.
“...I didn't expect people to believe me. I even thought it didn't matter if they didn't. I did the broadcast with the mindset that it would be enough as long as Giles heard it. But now, I don't think that alone will be enough.”
I clenched my fists beneath the table. I felt a conviction that Anita would listen to my story. If she would only do that, if I could get even a little bit of help, I felt I could do anything.
“I have to save Giles. I know he must pay for his crimes, but not like this. Beldam is trying to use Giles as a scapegoat. Not simply to punish the sins he committed. I cannot stand by and watch him suffer such a fate. Because I...”
Because I love him. Unable to bring myself to utter those words, I composed myself for a moment and continued.
“Giles is the one who saved me. If it weren't for him, I might have died already. In the past, not knowing that, I hated him. I even wished for his death. Of course, the life I lived made me that way, but I will never forget the memory of trying to push him to the brink of death for the rest of my life. So, I cannot ignore him this time. This time, I will not make the wrong decision. I don't want to make myself ashamed anymore.”
Yet, even knowing that I hated him, Giles did not resent me. He felt no sense of betrayal toward me.
He simply accepted it in silence. He waited quietly until I became well enough to embrace him.
He had never once hated me...
“My Lady, what should I call you?”
“...Anna. My name is not Eloise. I have a name, Anna Keating.”
“I see. Miss Anna. This time, I will ask you a question. There is something I want to ask before we begin the interview. With what intention did you grant my visit? Our magazine can do nothing for you other than publish the interview. We cannot change the verdict, and it's uncertain whether the readers will even accept this story. Despite that, Miss Anna accepted my request for an interview. What is it that you hope for, and why do you wish to tell your story to me?”
To tell the truth, Glubihne could not be called the magazine most sought after by the public. Rather, Glubihne belonged to the category of minor magazines. In the first place, its number of subscribers would not be high compared to other newspapers or magazines.
But the fame of the magazine didn't matter. I could handle that. As long as the truth was delivered without distorting my story, whether the magazine was small or large was not a significant problem for me.
I did not have the power to make people listen.
But at the same time, I was a woman who had nothing but money.
“Whether my efforts end up saving Giles, we'll find out later. For now, I'm just doing everything I can. So, you deliver my story. Put it in the magazine. Just publish it so that people can read it. The truth, exactly as it is, without a single inch of distortion. Then, I'll take care of the rest.”
“By 'the rest,' what do you mean...?”
“I'll provide the funding. Even if it's a declining noble house, I'm not so poor that I can't support a single magazine. Spread my story. Not only within Beldam, but beyond it. I want this story to catch the eyes of as many people as possible.”
Anita's mouth hung slightly open. I lifted the teapot brought by the servant and poured the tea, which had a pale red hue. The sound of the teacup filling echoed clearly.
“So, you just do your job. I will do my part.”
The fortune I seized from those who abused me and slowly bled me dry would serve its purpose well. In the past, I was a woman who would do anything for her own survival. Of course, that hasn't changed now.
However, my goal now was my own salvation, and saving once more the one I had saved.
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