“Your Highness, please stop this already.”
Despite Chester's pleading, Eric remained unmoved.
Finally, Chester spoke the words he had been holding back all along.
“You know, there's no chance that the lady is still alive!”
Before he could finish speaking, Chester's body hit the ground.
In an instant, Eric was pinching his throat.
"silent."
Seeing this, the other knights quickly tried to calm the Duke down, but the overpowering aura emanating from Eric made them too afraid to even try.
Then Eric muttered under his breath.
“She can't be dead.
Because...”
The moment he lowered his gaze, Chester's form transformed into that of Cornelia, lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to her head.
She spoke with blood seeping from her head.
Eric blinked in shock.
“Your Highness?”
He called out to Chester, who rose to his feet.
But Eric didn't seem to hear his voice, standing there motionless.
Why am I looking for you?
Her image appeared in his mind.
She smiled, accepted the flowers, and took a handkerchief.
Her eyes widened, and she blushed as she handed over the handkerchief.
And…
After remembering her face wet with tears, he soon remembered his brother's face.
Finally, Eric clenched his fist hard.
That's right, she's my brother's wife.
You must be alive.
I swore to keep her safe until my brother returned.
– In a salon in the capital.
It was not the most upscale salon, where only nobles of the highest rank gathered.
It was just an ordinary salon frequented by petty nobles, decadent aristocrats, and wealthy merchants.
However, the conversation between the ladies was no less exciting than that in the more elite salons.
“Have you heard the news?
Grandlady Brant and Mademoiselle Arjène have conspired to try to kill Duchess Lbrandt!”
“The grande dame of Brant claims she was taking menopause medication, right?”
“Oh, menopause, what a lame excuse.”
“If you think about it, the daughter of the Marquis of Argens was also suspected of harming the Duchess in their shop.
Could it be that she wanted to eliminate the Duchess and become her daughter-in-law?”
“Honestly, wouldn’t that be the case?
Constantly visiting her cousin’s house, claiming to be her husband’s childhood friend, is not rational.”
Conversations in the capital's salon were always provocative.
With these thoughts, a brown-haired woman got up from her seat.
'I must go back.
'This is not good for the development of the fetus.'
As she was about to head towards the exit.
“By the way, with all this noise, what is Duke Brant doing?”
“Ah, I heard he's still searching the river for the Duchess's body.”
At these words, the brown-haired woman's steps faltered.
“I honestly don't understand.
After he ignored the Duchess like that, he suddenly became so interested...”
The Duke of Brant was once the most handsome and admired man in the Empire, but current public opinion of him is far from favourable.
“Well, that's obvious, isn't it?
Since there's no way to prove his mother's innocence, he should be trying to get a reduced sentence for the eldest lady in the upcoming trial.”
“But it's not that simple, is it?
They say he was by the river, acting like a madman every day.”
"Who knows?
Maybe he now regrets everything."
The brown-haired noblewoman laughed hollowly.
Oh, engaging in useless gossip...
It's just someone else's story.
You don't have to worry about it; Let it go in one ear and out the other.
As she was about to head towards the exit again, she suddenly bumped into someone's bag, causing it to fall.
“Ah, I wasn't looking where I was going.”
She hurried to pick up the bag and was about to apologize, but the other person spoke first.
“I apologize, Baroness Carden.
I rose suddenly and must have startled you.”
"Oh, no!
I didn't panic at all.
It was my fault for not looking where I was going!
Here, take it!"
As she was handing over the bag, the noblewoman glanced at the other person and was surprised.
With her charming blonde hair and delicate features, she was undoubtedly a woman of exceptional beauty.
A beauty like that...who could she be?
Confused for a moment, the blonde beauty quickly pulled the veil attached to her black hat over her face.
Black hat?
Soon, the noblewoman noticed the woman's widow's uniform.
Then I remembered something I heard recently.
Ah, now that you mention it, there was a widow who received lands and properties as a reward from the Emperor for her late husband's accomplishments on the frontier, right?
This widow was said to be a stunning beauty with blond hair, always dressed in black robes.
“Um, excuse me...?”
The noble lady was about to greet her and inquire about her identity, but...
"Thanks for picking up the bag.
I'll apologize now."
The beauty bowed her head slightly and haughtily left the salon.
Soon, she approached the handsome man with chestnut hair who was waiting outside.
"my lady."
“Have you waited long?”
"No, not at all.
But, are you okay?"
She smiled and responded to the man's words.
“I have no reason not to be okay, do I?
Sardine.”
Despite my unhesitating response, Sardin continued to look at me with a skeptical expression.
Well, that's understandable.
After all, I am the unfortunate one who, throughout our marriage, has never received love from her husband.
I, Duchess of Brant, daughter of the Emperor, fell into the machinations of my mother-in-law and cousin and became the subject of tragic gossip, torn on all sides.
He must be worried that, given my disposition, I might be frustrated with the current situation.
But contrary to Sardine's fears, I was actually okay.
I assumed a new identity, disguised myself, and only changed the color of my hair and eyes, but it felt like this whole situation was someone else's business.
The fact that the Grand Madame and Madeleine have been arrested and are currently under house arrest, and the fact that Eric is frantically searching the river to find my body—all of this was deliberately orchestrated by me.
“It's not like I'm dead, so it doesn't matter, right?”
“We can't say it's completely irrelevant.”
At these words, I frowned and said, “That's right.
It could have been completely irrelevant, but because of the mistake I made, a tail was added to us.”
That's because Janet overheard the conversation between Sardine and Landon in the office.
“Someone else might be listening to our conversation, so I hope you will pay more attention from now on.”
Apparently touched by my remark, Sardin sighed and changed the subject.
“Are we heading to the One Flower Workshop?”
I could have continued to pester him, but I decided to go with his lead.
“Yes, it's time to start preparing for the move.”
As we were about to leave, a woman dressed as a maid entered the carriage.
It was Janet, the “tail” I mentioned earlier.
“Ma’am, surely you weren’t planning to leave me behind while I was buying snacks, were you?”
In fact, I wanted to leave her behind, but I couldn't do it.
After all, Janet played a huge role in the success of this endeavor.
The day I said I wouldn't need her company, Janet came to me and revealed everything, saying:
Given the circumstances, I could have either eliminated Janet or accepted her as a colleague and kept her under close surveillance.
In fact, eliminating Janet would have made things easier.
However, because of the kindness she showed me in my previous life, I couldn't hurt her in any way.
In time, I needed someone to play my role, giving me time to disguise myself and escape from Twinkle.
Someone who is able to survive and jump off the wagon that the Grand Lady ruined.
That meant that he had to be at least skilled in using aura.
So originally, I was planning to hire an expert from the Assassins Guild, but since Janet had already figured out my plan, it seemed better to use her instead.
That's why I appointed Sardin to watch over her...
Not only did she take me in perfectly, she remained silent about everything that happened to Eric.
But I still can't trust her completely.
Before I came back, Janet had been kind to me and protected me, but that was only because I was the wife of Eric, her master.
Honestly, I doubted how many people would do this out of pure intention.
But well, thanks to her, things went smoothly, so I have no choice but to keep her.
And if Janet were to confess everything to Eric, that would be a problem too.