Therese hurriedly headed to the Ingelger family mansion, terrified.
Dennis wanted to accompany her, but she prevented him:
“If the prince comes himself, it will turn into a huge scandal.
Let me deal with it as a family matter alone.”
Dennis seemed worried about sending her alone, so he asked her again and again.
But she stubbornly insisted.
“Be careful.”
Dennis stood bidding her farewell until her carriage disappeared from sight.
As her carriage drove through the night streets towards the palace, Thérèse's feelings were complicated.
She had always thought that this relationship would only end with the death of one of them, and now here was the Marquis, unconscious.
With this surprising picture...
Therese clenched her hands tightly.
When she arrived in front of the Engelger Palace, the palace was illuminated throughout.
Some servants were loitering outside in confusion and confusion, while some passers-by stood looking curiously near the main gate.
I got out of the carriage without an escort and ran quickly into the palace.
The butler saw her and exclaimed in astonishment:
“Her Highness the Princess!”
“Where is the Marquis?”
“In his room.”
I went up to the Marquis's bedroom on the second floor.
Richard was talking to the doctor.
When he saw her, he shouted:
“Therese!”
“What happened, brother?”
Richard brought the doctor out and then told her:
“He was shot in the chest.”
"What?"
Therese doubted whether she heard right.
“And the left eye too...”
Richard stopped talking.
“…He lost his eye.”
“How…”
Therese was so stunned that she couldn't close her mouth.
Fire injury?
And why the eye too...?
“Fortunately, the bullet missed the heart, but he fainted from the impact of the bullet, and it seems that the scoundrel... dug out his eye.
The wound is large, and he is now in a coma.
We provided first aid, but they cannot guarantee his life.”
Richard said annoyed, crossing his arms and furrowing his brow.
Thérèse approached and looked at the Marquis's face.
She saw his face and chest wrapped in bandages, looking like a dead sleeper.
“And the culprit?”
“In the middle of the night... it seems that catching him is not easy.
We informed the police, but...”
“And you know very well, he is originally a person who has many enemies.”
Richard's words made her very upset.
“I will handle this case.
Return to the palace, Thérèse.”
“I can’t, brother.
If the killer aims to harm the prince through my father, this makes it even more impossible.”
Therese gave Daniel her instructions:
“Stop publishing the news in tomorrow’s newspaper.”
“Okay.
I will.”
It would have been better to prevent the news from being published before the matter was completely clarified.
“And call Jack to conduct a separate investigation into the incident.”
"Yes."
What more could she do?
“My brother, tighten the guard on the palace.”
“I already ordered it and called Max as well.”
Therese clasped her hands to hide their trembling.
“Aside from being miserable, isn’t it cruel for no one to attend his father’s dying moments?”
Therese did not answer Richard's words.
“Max Engelger.”
The second son of the Marquis Engelger.
The famous spendthrift and miscreant, even in Valois.
He had been virtually non-existent in Valois since his adulthood.
He spent most of the year homeless.
Even when he comes back sometimes, he doesn't come to the palace, he just meets his friends and then leaves.
In essence, Therese and Max were incompatible.
Max was free-spirited, speaking and acting as he pleased.
His impolite words often annoyed her.
In addition, Max had a lot of bad friends that she detested.
The last time she saw her second brother was six years ago.
Her engagement day.
Max left abroad without even attending the engagement party.
It seemed that attending the engagement party was the limit of his tolerance.
“That is true for an ordinary person.
I will stay by the Marquis’s side, so you can rest, brother.”
“No need, I better do that.
Go and rest a little in your room.”
“I will be back at dawn.
You must take over the mission from tomorrow, so just rest.”
“Okay, then I’ll leave it up to you for a little while.
If there’s any problem, let me know right away.”
“Yes, rest quickly.”
Knock
With the door closed, Thérèse pulled out a chair and sat beside the Marquis's bed.
When all the noise suddenly died down and there was silence, Thérèse felt that this situation was unreal.
She doubted that the person lying on the bed was really the Marquis Engelger she knew.
Who could have imagined all this?
It's like a dream.
Therese's feelings were mixed and complicated.
She always wished that her father, who had tortured and abused her, would die.
But now, as he stood on the threshold of death, she began to hope that he would wake up safely.
She looked around at the duke's familiar room.
When she was very young, she would sometimes go into her father's room to play.
At that time, her relationship with the Marquess wasn't that bad.
“Why did you do that to me, dad?”
Thérèse asked the Marquis, who would not hear her.
The bruises on her cheeks from her father's beating had just disappeared.
There are still many wounds inside her that have not healed.
Why were you so cruel to me alone?
Am I really a useless daughter?
Therese wanted to ask the Marquis that.
She thought that a day would come when she could ask.
But now he lies like this...
Her heart, which had lost the object of its hatred, was lost and confused.
Therese looked at the Marquis silently.
At the same time
Fabrice was very pleased.
Because Gaspard brought him the eyes of the Marquis.
“How was the implementation?”
“The bullet penetrated his chest.
It is difficult for him to stay alive.”
Fabrice answered happily after hearing Gaspard's words.
“Well done!
Well done!
I sent the reward in abundance, so check it out.”
“Okay I will.”
Gaspard bowed to Fabrice and then disappeared like the wind.
Fabrice opened the carefully wrapped item as if it were a gift and looked at it.
I like it.
Then he started laughing like crazy.
Therese stayed at the Engelger Palace until dawn, then returned to the palace at dawn.
When she returned to the palace, Dennis was standing tensely, as if he had been waiting for her the whole time.
His eyes were red, indicating that he had not slept even a nap.
“What happened?”
“He is still unconscious.”
Therese answered him coldly as she saw him enter her bedroom behind her as a matter of course.
"Are you well?"
“He'll be fine.”
“My concern is not for the Marquis.”
Thérèse clasped her hands and replied:
“I'm fine, thanks for worrying about me.”
"Did you sleep?"
"no."
“Have you eaten?”
“No, too.”
“What are you doing then, for real?”
Dennis took her hand and led her into the dining room.
“I'll do it myself.”
“You won't do it alone, so I must help you.
Isn't that a husband's duty?”
Therese objected in a faint voice to Denise's words:
“I do it well, but you only see me when I don't.”
“Really?”
Dennis said, crossing his arms.
“Then I will be watching you today, so do as you always do, eat and go to sleep.”
"What?"
“Let's just see, wife.”
His looks said that he would not accept any objection.
“And what about your official business...”
“Okay, it will be fine.
I will entrust him to Silbang.”
Therese remembered Silbang's face, which had recently looked pale.
“That doesn't sound like a good idea, Your Highness.
Silbang has been looking tired lately.”
“This is not fatigue, but because of wounds... separation.”
Therese asked him anxiously:
“Did Silbang break up?”
“It is not a separation, but a situation that will lead to this...”
Dennis seemed to find it difficult to continue talking, so he changed it.
“Anyway, don't worry about Silbang, he's doing fine.”
"Good."
“Just take care of yourself.”
Dennis's eyes were warm as he said this.
Therese suddenly felt shy, so she answered in a low voice:
“Okay.”
“Do not weaken the princess’s prestige by becoming hungry and homeless.”
“Okay.
Don’t worry and get back to work, Your Highness.
Don’t you have a meeting today?”
“Don't turn the whole topic around and get some sleep, Thérèse.”
Dennis immediately realized she had diverted the conversation and advised her again.
“I will do it.”
“Very good.”
Dennis said, then patted her on the head, and stared at her silently for a moment before leaving.
Therese was able to pretend to remain still in front of Dennis with difficulty, but she felt her cheeks redden as soon as he left.
“Her Highness, this is Danielle.”
“Come in.”
Danielle entered carrying the morning newspaper and began speaking directly:
“There is no news about the Marquis incident in the morning newspapers and an independent investigation into the incident is ongoing.”
“This is a relief.
What is the progress of the police investigation?”
“No significant lead.
But given the professionalism of the execution, it is believed that he may have been a hired killer.”
"bravo."
Therese recalled Daniel's words in her mind.
A random crime can be ruled out as a possibility.
So who is the instigator?
Thérèse thought as she tapped her fingertips on the chair handle.
“Investigate both possibilities together.
First: the crime with a personal motive against the Second Marquis: the crime with the aim of discrediting the prince.”
Therese said this even though she downplayed the second possibility.
Unfortunately, the Marquis had accumulated hatred from all classes over the decades.
In addition, the Marquis's relationship with Denis is not good, which is a well-known matter even in Le Perne.
If the goal was to specifically attack Denise, wouldn't it have been better to kidnap the princess (wife) or choose another method?
“And what is the weather in the capital?”
“The rumor has not spread, so no exceptional atmosphere is observed.”
“If anything interesting comes up, tell me right away.”
“Well, Your Highness, don’t you have to eat?”
Daniel's facial expression was worried.
“It seems that there are a lot of people who remind me of my food today.”
“You haven't eaten a full meal since yesterday lunch.”
“Then bring me something light.”
"Good."
Dennis returned to his office after seeing with his own eyes her safe return.
After Therese went to Engelger's mansion yesterday, he sent special investigation forces to investigate the details of the incident.
The problem was the lack of evidence.
“It seems like a professional job.”
Silbang said
And Dennis was OK with that.
“It looks like he won't contribute easily.”
He went to the street where Marquis Engelger was shot, but it was clean without any trace of blood.
Who was the killer?
Dennis took off his glasses like someone having a headache.