Chapter 90

"Prince Shin Midland, who said he would 'protect you,' has changed completely since the start of the school year. He fell for the heroine right away, even carrying her to the infirmary when she fainted at the opening ceremony. Looking back, that was the flag for the game to begin. Celia, Shin's fiancée and a duchess's daughter, regrets not being able to do anything but watch."

And now, at the graduation party, Celia found herself at the center of a public denunciation.

"Are you listening, Celia?"

"Yes, Prince Shin."

In this supposedly harmonious graduation party, Shin suddenly gathered the student council members to start a denunciation, which, despite being part of the game, seemed utterly out of place in reality. Celia thought about how powerful the game's influence must be.

Not only the prince, but also the vice president, Fried Black, the eldest son of a marquis, the secretary, Hartis Kepler, the third son of a baron, and the treasurer, Lins Brover, a baroness's daughter, were all involved. Celia couldn't help but wonder how much scandal this would cause later on...

"Such bullying is despicable and cannot be tolerated, not only as my fiancée but as a student of this school!"

Celia was disappointed. The prince had become cold towards her ever since he met the heroine. He was still diligent in his duties and student council work, but Celia no longer had a place by his side. Instead, Lins, the heroine of this game world, always stood by him. Celia felt nothing but loneliness...

"Prince Shin, I have never bullied anyone. I have no recollection of it."

"Are you trying to act innocent? I have plenty of evidence."

"Then please show me the evidence."

Shin laughed mockingly.

"Are you sure? You're cutting off your own escape route. If you apologize sincerely, I might have only broken off the engagement."

Lins Brover, the heroine, who clung to Shin's arm, looked up at him with teary eyes.

"Prince Shin, I don't want such severe punishment. I don't intend to come between you and Celia. I just wanted you to understand..."

"But now that I've heard it, I can't let it go. I know it will be embarrassing for you, but I want you to endure this. Hartis!"

"Yes."

Hartis Kepler, the student council secretary and a known acquaintance from the literature club, stepped forward. It was painful for Celia to see him on the opposite side, supporting Shin.

"First, this piece of paper. It was stuck on Lins' back shortly after she started school."

Hartis, wearing gloves, unfolded a crumpled piece of paper and showed it to everyone. It read, "I am a former commoner."

"That's right. The handwriting looks like Celia's. No, it must be yours!"

"...It's not my handwriting."

"Hmph, I thought you'd say that. Let me show you the decisive evidence."

Shin looked at Hartis confidently.

"Do you know what fingerprints are?"

The audience looked puzzled.

"Fingerprints?"

"Look at your fingers. You'll see swirling patterns on the tips."

Everyone looked at their hands.

"Really."

"I never noticed..."

"Come to think of it..."

"Fingerprints are unique to each individual and finger. In our country, some commoners still use thumb prints as a form of identification. This can be used to identify individuals, and it has been applied to criminal investigations. By dusting for fingerprints, we can visualize the prints left by the perpetrator. This method has been adopted by the royal guard, increasing the arrest rate by three times."

Hartis was explaining, but the original idea was Celia's. She never thought it would be used against her.

"First, the fingerprints on the paper were the prince's."

Hartis cleared his throat.

"Of course. I was the one who removed it from Lins' back."

"Separately, there were other fingerprints... They are small, like those of a child or a woman. It's likely a woman put it there."

The student council members glared at Celia.

"Now, Celia, we've already taken your fingerprints from your desk. After comparing them..."

The audience held their breath.

"They didn't match Celia's."

The audience murmured in surprise.

"What, what, what? What do you mean?"

"They don't match Celia's. She didn't prepare this paper."

Of course not. Celia had no memory of doing such a thing.

"Then whose fingerprints are they? I ordered a thorough investigation, Hartis!"

"Indeed, I conducted a thorough investigation. These are Lins' fingerprints."

"Lins'?"

"Yes, we took fingerprints from Lins' desk. They match Lins' fingerprints. There's no mistake. They are so clearly visible."

"But it was stuck on Lins' back. It's not strange that Lins' fingerprints are on it..."

"Wait a minute!"

Pikar Baljean, the son of a baron, spun around and appeared. He was wearing a specially tailored tuxedo with even more dazzling accessories than usual.

"Powell, you were there, right?"

Powell Hargan, the eldest son and captain of the royal guard, nodded.

"Yes."

"Lins didn't notice the paper on her back, right?"

"Yes."

"Shin was the one who removed it, right?"

"Yes."

"Then Lins' fingerprints shouldn't be on it. If they are, it means she knew and left it there, which is also strange."

"..."

Everyone was surprised by Pikar's unusually logical argument.

"Next, next!"

Shin hurriedly moved on.

"What? Are you giving up on this? We need to verify it properly..."

"There's a torn textbook!"

"Unfortunately, that won't be evidence."

"Just show it!"

Reluctantly, Hartis presented a torn history textbook.

"This is Lins' history textbook. As you can see, it's torn to pieces. Clearly, it's a prank. We checked the fingerprints, but only Lins' and Shin's were found."

"Celia, you did this, didn't you!"

"...But there are no fingerprints of mine. How can you say I did it?"

"This is a history textbook. It's about the royal family. Tearing it is a serious act of disrespect. There are only a few people in this school who could do this!"

"I understand it's limited, but that doesn't mean it was me, a duchess's daughter."

Celia thought it was too far-fetched.

"...But it is. I heard you were the one who suggested using fingerprints for criminal investigations to the head of the royal guard. You are one of the few students in this school who know that fingerprints can be used as evidence. You're the only one who could have worn gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints."

"Can't you consider the possibility that I wasn't involved at all?"

Celia was exasperated.

"Now, everyone, look at this textbook."

Hartis opened the torn pages and showed them to everyone.

"See, there's a small drawing in the corner of the page?"

Everyone gathered around to see.

"This, when you flip the pages like this, it moves! It's amazing and fun! Lins drew this!"

"Wow, amazing."

"Is this an apple? A black cat jumps out and wags its tail..."

"Wow, it's really like the drawing is moving."

The audience was impressed. Lins blushed, a sign that she hadn't been paying attention in class.

"What does that prove?"

Shin was confused.

"I checked the trash can and collected all the torn pieces."

"Then Celia's fingerprints might be on them!"

"They weren't. I confirmed this with the head of the royal guard."

"...What are you trying to say, Hartis?"

Hartis laid out the remaining pieces on the table.

"Look, the torn pages don't have the continuation of the moving picture, known as a flip book. The flip book was only partially drawn. It's a shame. I would have liked to see the end."

Everyone looked at the laid-out pages. Indeed, the torn pieces had no drawings in the corners.

"This means the person who tore the book knew about the flip book and only tore the pages without drawings. They didn't want to destroy the flip book they had drawn."

The audience fell silent. There was only one person who could think like that.

Everyone looked at Lins, who turned pale.

"That's not evidence! It could be a coincidence!"

Shin shouted.

"That's why I said it wouldn't be evidence from the beginning..."

Hartis shrugged.

"What about the torn dress?"

Shin, in a panic, moved on to the next piece of evidence.

Hartis nodded and presented the torn dance practice dress.

"The torn dress of Lins."

"Right, you must have torn this too!"

Celia was exasperated by his insistence.

"Prince Shin, I didn't do this!"

"We have evidence! Hartis, this time, it's up to you!"

Hartis nodded and held up the torn dress.

"Look, it's not just torn but cut with scissors. It takes a lot of strength for a weak woman to tear a dress, so the perpetrator used scissors. The perpetrator is likely a woman."

Shin looked smug.

"From this, we can determine the characteristics of the scissors. The scissors used are the ones provided by the school for handcraft classes. The perpetrator is a female student."

"Of course."

Celia didn't understand why she was being accused.

"Now, the cut marks on the dress. Under a microscope, we can see a small chip on the blade, about two finger-widths from the tip. This chip was likely caused by cutting something hard, like a pin. We checked Celia's handcraft box with a teacher present."

Shin looked at Celia with a smug smile. Hartis showed everyone Celia's scissors.

"Look, Celia's scissors. They are in perfect condition with no chips. They weren't used to cut this dress."

The audience murmured in surprise.

"Wh-what, Hartis? That's not right?"

"It's not. Can't you see?"

"Then who cut Lins' dress?"

"I don't know who did it, but we checked all the female students' scissors with a teacher present. Lins' scissors have a chip in the same spot, two finger-widths from the tip. We can conclude that Lins' scissors were used to cut the dress."

Hartis showed everyone Lins' scissors, which indeed had a small chip.

"Let's test it with these scissors. Like this..."

"That's not evidence! Someone could have taken Lins' scissors or made the chip later!"

"How could anyone have faked the exact same cut marks on the dress, which no one thought would be evidence until now?"

"Gr... There's more evidence! Next, next!"

"Okay... Do we really need to test it? Fine."

Hartis, a bit disappointed, moved on to the next piece of evidence.

"Next, Lins was also doused with water on the second floor of the school..."

"Prince Shin Midland, I Will Not Break Our Engagement!" is available from April 2nd from Ichijinsha. Special SS (Saran's story) will be distributed at participating stores.

"Book-Off, Honyado/ Manga King Club and others (excluding some stores)"

The first volume includes a new episode about Lins and the black cat, Crow, and is 320 pages long. Ichijinsha is really providing a lot of content...

"Rejected Plot 3A" to be continued in the next part.