Al smiled and turned his gaze back to Bia as he walked closer.
"I'm honestly too lazy to deal with something this troublesome," he said casually. "But allow me to present it anyway."
"First—Bia knowingly led me to that room. Even though if we had taken a different route, she could've guided me around the first floor without ever ending up there."
He continued calmly,
"She's been working here for a long time, hasn't she? That means she knows all the routes on the first floor. So why did it feel like she was deliberately guiding us to that specific room?"
The reasoning made sense to everyone present.
Out of all possible paths, Bia had led Al to that particular resting room—even though she should've known better routes and more appropriate destinations.
It was enough to slightly shift their perception in Al's favor.
Feeling pressured, Bia tried to speak immediately—
But Al raised a hand toward her, a clear gesture of I'm not done yet.
He continued,
"Second—when I arrived earlier, I saw Bia among the maids who welcomed me at the front of the house. After that, the other maids moved toward the right wing, while Bia hurried off to the left side."
Al shook his head.
"As if she had something urgent she needed to take care of. That's suspicious too, isn't it?"
Some of the maids who had welcomed Al earlier, along with Harun, realized he was right—Bia hadn't stayed with their group at all.
Bia hadn't expected Al to notice that detail.
"Ah… I—I…" she stammered, trying to explain.
But Al cut her off again.
"I'm still not finished. You can explain after," he said casually.
He walked closer to her.
His face stopped right in front of Bia—close. Too close.
Instinctively, Bia turned her face away, her eyes shifting toward that same direction again.
Al smiled faintly.
"And third—from the moment I started questioning you until now… why do you keep glancing in that direction?" he asked, following the line of her gaze.
The people in the room were confused by that remark, but instinctively followed Al's line of sight.
Their eyes landed on Sandra and David, sitting on that side of the room—along with several servants and bodyguards nearby.
David was slightly startled when people suddenly started looking in their direction.
There was a brief change in his expression, but it vanished almost instantly, returning to his usual calm demeanor.
He glanced back subtly, as if trying to confirm who they were actually staring at.
Sandra was just as confused. She looked around at the people watching them, clearly at a loss.
Bia, on the other hand, looked flustered. She wanted to respond, but didn't know how.
Her eyes met David's narrowed gaze, and a wave of anxiety crept into her chest. Yet no one else seemed to notice what was happening.
"David… Sandra?" Edward muttered. He then turned to Al. "What do you mean, Al?"
"Al… are you saying David or Mother was the one who instructed Bia?" Aurielle asked.
Al shook his head.
"I haven't said anything like that," he replied calmly. "I was simply asking this maid why she kept glancing in that direction."
Then his gaze returned to Bia.
"So how do you explain those suspicious actions?" he asked.
"Y-Young Master… I was just… looking," Bia said. "What's wrong with looking?"
She swallowed.
"And everything you said is just an assumption. I only happened to run into you earlier today. No one asked me to carry out any kind of special mission."
She shook her head as she spoke.
"And as for the route I chose… I—I…" She paused.
A faint voice echoed in her ears.
Al heard it too—and smiled.
Meanwhile, Bia looked as if she had just received some kind of revelation. She immediately continued, her tone suddenly calm.
"…I chose the outer route because my clothes were a little wet before entering the inner corridor. That's why we ended up in that room."
Those explanations, brief as they were, were enough to bring Bia back onto even footing with Al. Up to this point, the truth was still difficult to pin down.
David narrowed his eyes at Al.
He was able to deduce that much?
Hmph… interesting. Let's see what this kid is planning to do, he thought.
"I thought you were trying to prove something, Al," Edward commented. "But so far, all you've done is create more problem."
Al shook his head.
"Father… I've only presented an argument. I haven't shown any evidence yet."
"Then do you have evidence?" Edward asked. "If you do, show it now. Don't drag this out."
Al nodded with a smile, then walked toward Bia once more.
He raised his hand slightly, and out of nowhere, a small black metallic rod—no bigger than a toothpick—appeared in his fingers.
He immediately pointed it toward Bia's ear.
And at that moment—
WOSHH!
Grab!
The rod hadn't even reached its target when one bodyguard caught Al's arm, while another stepped forward defensively, positioning himself in front of Bia as if to shield her.
"What are you trying to do, young man?!" one of the bodyguards demanded.
Al observed the scene and smiled faintly.
Fast, he thought.
However, his movement seemed almost destined to succeed. His hand slipped through, and he managed to pry something out from Bia's ear.
The bodyguard who tried to restrain Al looked shocked when his grip failed. The one blocking him didn't even realize that Al's hand was still moving casually.
They didn't know why—it simply felt like they had been careless.
A small black object fell from Bia's ear and hit the floor.
Everyone's gaze immediately locked onto it, though no one yet knew what it was. Just a tiny black device.
Bia froze, her eyes widening in shock as she realized Al had taken something out of her ear.
Al remained calm.
"Relax. I have no intention of hurting her… not right now," he said to the bodyguards.
He then bent down, picked up the object, and held it up for everyone to see.
"Why were you wearing this?" Al asked Bia.
Snapping out of her shock, Bia quickly responded.
"T-That's… a hearing aid. I-I have a bit of a hearing problem," she answered stiffly.
"Huff… you're still lying," Al muttered, shaking his head.
He then tossed the device toward Harun.
"Butler Harun, with your experience, you should recognize this, right?" he said.
Harun caught it and examined it immediately.
"This is… a communication device. A voice receiver," he stated.
Edward glanced over and inspected it as well. He was familiar with such devices, and at this point, Al had clearly gained the upper hand in his eyes.
Al nodded.
"That's a voice receiver. It can receive spoken messages, or text converted into an AI-generated voice. Judging by its build and model, it seems to be the latest version… though its range isn't very wide."
He then turned his gaze toward David.
"And that means someone in this room was likely sending her messages, helping her shape her arguments."
David maintained his calm expression and even smiled faintly, offering no reaction. Meanwhile, Al turned back to Edward.
"Which means my suspicion—that someone instructed her to frame me—was correct, wasn't it?" he asked.
Everyone looked stunned by the explanation and the evidence Al had laid out.
Sarah and Aurielle, who had been cornering Al this whole time, felt a trace of guilt, yet neither of them voiced it.
More than anything, they couldn't believe someone would actually try to frame Al.
Bia, of course, was the most shaken. She clearly realized her position was already doomed.
She glanced toward David and Sandra again, hoping for some kind of response—but received none. Only David's sharp gaze met hers, as if silently warning her not to look their way.
"Bia!" Edward snapped, his anger rising.
Bia panicked, staring at Edward with a look of sheer terror.
"M-My Lord… that's not true. I really was harassed by the Young Master. No one told me to do anything."
She stood up and pointed at the device.
"That thing… that thing was just a coincidence… I was only wearing it by chance," she added. "I—I thought it was just a hearing aid."
"Hah! You're still trying to lie," Al said casually.
Then—
SLAP!
He struck Bia's plump cheek, the force sending the tall, large-built girl flying several meters to the side.
Even the two bodyguards standing nearby didn't have time to react.
Everyone was stunned by Al's brutal response.
"Al!" Sarah and Aurielle shouted at the same time.
"Why did you hit her?!" Sarah snapped.
"Even if she's in the wrong… she's still a woman. If someone ordered her to do this, the one you should punish is the one behind her," Aurielle added.
Edward also stared sharply at Al.
Is he finally reacting? Is he getting emotional? he wondered.
But Al's expression remained calm—there was even a bright smile on his face.
He walked toward Bia.
One of the bodyguards tried to block his path, but froze when Al shot him a sharp glance, as if warning him not to interfere.
A chilling pressure radiated from that gaze alone, enough to make the bodyguard stiffen, fear rooting him in place.
Al stepped closer and shook Bia's body, but her large frame showed no sign of consciousness.
"Wow… she's got a big body, but one slap was enough to knock her out," he muttered. "Hmph… probably the psychological shock after her lies were exposed. Her mental state collapsed."
He then turned to Sarah and Aurielle.
"Huff... As long as she was involved willingly, she's no different from the perpetrator," he said.
Then he shook his head.
"And as for hitting a woman… hm. You just don't understand how the outside world works. Just like in elite circles, where arrogance is treated as something normal—out there…"
He brushed the slightly wrinkled fabric of his jacket.
"…mercy and punishment are given only to those who deserve them. Regardless of gender or age."
He then looked at Sandra and Edward with a faint, indifferent smile.
"That's the kind of moral values I learned in the outside world. That's… how my life was out there."
Sandra and Edward could feel the sentiment behind those words.
The reality that their biological son had to live outside and grow up like that was painfully heavy for them.
Sandra could only lower her head in guilt, while Edward let out a long sigh.
"Huff… even so. Stating your moral values and expecting us to accept them in this environment isn't exactly right either," Edward commented.
"I'll let it slide this time… but you need to change going forward. Learn to restrain yourself," he added.
Al lazily shook his head.
"If Father puts it that way… I was actually restraining myself. Slapping her wasn't worth the annoying mess she was trying to drag me into."
He glanced at Bia, who was unconscious with a swollen cheek.
"Because if this were outside… broken bones, or at the very least a torn tongue, would already be something to be grateful for," he added casually.
That casual remark alone sent a chill down the spines of everyone present. They never expected such horrifying words to come from a seventeen-year-old boy.
Even so, a few of them simply assumed Al was bragging.
Ignoring most of their shocked expressions, Al looked at Edward with disappointment and shook his head.
"But honestly… I'm disappointed in you, Father," he said lightly.