✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Translated by: Alina
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
‘Has she fainted? She’s not responding.’
But only for a moment, Medelin soon felt a sense of disappointment.
‘Oh, how wonderful if that chandelier had fallen on that crow’s head?’
The jewelry shop’s crystal chandelier was not large, but it weighed a lot, and if it had fallen on someone, they would have definitely died instantly.
To narrowly avoid such a catastrophe, luck must have been on her side.
‘Although our jewelry shop’s reputation will be tarnished a bit because of the chandelier, well…’
Medelin’s gaze turned to the fallen Cornelia.
If she had fainted from shock, then surely the baby wasn’t unscathed.
“Blowing my nose without using my hands**—how convenient!”
『TL/N: ** a metaphorical way of saying that something has been accomplished easily or without effort.』
Anyway, since her cousin had collapsed, she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
Medelin was about to approach Cornelia, pretending to be surprised, when someone grabbed her hand.
It was Grand Madam Blant.
“Medelin, what happened? Why is that child…!”
Her face was deathly pale, as if she were truly a worried mother-in-law.
‘Oh, my future mother-in-law is truly abhorrent.’
She couldn’t lose, either.
With tears in her eyes, she replied, “I don’t know why this happened.”
As people gradually began to gather, Medelin tried to approach Cornelia.
But then the door opened, and someone rushed in.
It was Sardin, Cornelia’s slave.
“Master!”
As the knights followed, Sardin urgently spoke, “We need to see a doctor right away!”
Chester, the captain of the knights, nodded sternly in response.
“Understood. To the nearest physician…”
But before he could finish,
“Wait a moment!”
At Medelin’s words, not only the knights but the people also furrowed their brows.
“What is it?”
At Chester’s ominous tone, Medelin clenched her teeth.
‘How dare this insolent knight!? How dare a mere knight show such disrespect to me, the future Duchess!’
However, the situation called for her to guide them to the doctor she had bribed, not the nearest one.
Medelin spoke up. “Rushing to the nearest place, an incompetent quack might make the wrong diagnosis! If my cousin suffers any harm, can we hold the knight accountable?”
Unable to refute that, Chester closed his mouth.
At that sight, Medelin barely lowered the corners of her mouth that were about to rise and laughed inwardly.
‘Yes, I knew that threatening him about responsibility would make him back down.’
Medelin quickly recited the address of the doctor she had bribed. “Fortunately, there is a doctor I know nearby. If you go to 4 Bronze Road…”
But then, someone interrupted, “Then, it would be better to see the duchess’s personal physician.”
Medelin frowned at Sardin’s interference.
‘That vile slave!’
Medelin hurried to refute it, but the knights interjected as if they had been waiting.
“Then we shall escort her to the manor.”
Before Medelin could object further, Sardin picked up Cornelia and left the jewelry store.
Glaring at his retreating figure, Medelin clenched her fists tightly when the Grand Madam approached.
“Don’t worry.”
Soon, she whispered just loud enough for Medelin to hear.
“Since they said the shock absorber was properly damaged this time, if you take the shortcut by carriage, the child will surely not remain unharmed.”
The road back to the ducal residence was well-maintained, but the shortcut was different.
They would have to cross the nearby mountains. The mountains were not very high, but the roads were quite treacherous, with cliffs alongside.
‘I hope that damned crow meets with misfortune this time.’
Thinking so, Medelin was about to leave the shop when someone grabbed her.
“Um, Medelin!”
Turning around, she saw Giselle Schultz.
‘What? Why is this traitor…?’
Giselle Schultz was the beloved daughter of Count Schultz, who controlled all the medicinal herbs in the duchy.
Her family was wealthy, and she was reasonably pretty, so Medelin had thought of her as an acquaintance who wouldn’t be embarrassing to be seen with.
‘Moreover, this girl’s father had previously been groveling to my father.’
But a while ago, Medelin had been greatly offended when she saw Giselle gushing over Cornelia at a tea party.
‘Hmph, what is she trying to say now…’
That’s when Giselle pleaded in a fervent voice. “If it’s okay, may I go with you as well? Our family distributes medicinal herbs, so I might be able to help!”
Medelin had thought Giselle was begging to be accepted as a friend again, but she was only clinging to her out of concern for Cornelia.
For a moment, Medelin felt a surge of immense annoyance.
However…
‘If I refuse to accept her, the image I barely managed to salvage will plummet again.’
Medelin reluctantly nodded and spoke gruffly, “Fine, follow me. Time is of the essence.”
Sighing, Medelin calculated the benefits of taking Giselle along.
‘Yes, having an additional witness won’t hurt. I’ll need someone to testify about how well I cared for Cornelia if she had a miscarriage.’
As they exited the jewelry shop, Cornelia’s slave was just boarding the carriage.
“Hurry up!”
At the slave’s call, the coachman nodded and snapped the reins.
“Hyah!”
As Cornelia’s carriage set off, the knights followed behind.
Soon, the Grand Madam’s carriage arrived, and Medelin approached it with Giselle.
“Grand Madam, this is Giselle Schultz. She’s worried about Cornelia, so I agreed to let her come along.”
The Grand Madam briefly furrowed her brow, but then, as if she shared Medelin’s thoughts, she spoke.
“Very well, let’s be off.”
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Clunk!
The shortcut route was as treacherous as expected.
Even carriages without shock absorber issues were shaking violently, so one can only imagine how Cornelia’s carriage was faring.
‘She must be suffering now.’
Curious, Medelin wanted to open the window and look outside, but she restrained herself.
That’s when a scream rang out.
“Aaah!”
The coachman appeared to have seen something, and he was horrified.
“Huh!”
The carriage lurched and shook violently.
Thud!
Eventually, the carriage crashed into something and came to an abrupt stop.
The Grand Madam regained her senses and yelled at the coachman. “What on earth is happening?”
The coachman replied frantically, “Oh no, a terrible thing has happened! The carriage in front hit a large rock… The coachman was thrown off, and he crashed into us.”
“What? Then what happened to the carriage in front?”
“Th-that’s…”
Sitting next to the door, Giselle quickly unlocked it and opened it, only to be greatly shocked.
Cornelia’s carriage, with one wheel missing, was teetering on the edge of a cliff, about to fall.
“Hurry, attach the hook to the carriage!”
The knights, riding alongside, desperately tried to attach a hook to a rope to stop the carriage.
Ordinarily, just five of them would not have been enough, but they were exerting all their strength.
“We must protect the madam at all costs!”
The carriage consequently came to an abrupt halt after becoming precariously caught on the cliff’s edge.
Screech!
The problem, however, was momentum.
Thud!
The carriage barely stopped due to the force pulling from the opposite side, but the two people inside were thrown towards the cliff along with the door.
Splash!
“No!”
“Madam!”
They both screamed, without anyone going first.
This was because the grand madam did not intend to kill Cornelia; the knights failed to properly protect the duchess; and Giselle, who happened to witness the scene, was terrified of it all.
But even in that moment, Medelin was smiling brightly.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Erich had covered the distance that would normally take days on horseback to arrive at the capital in less than a day.
‘I’ve finally arrived.’
Throughout the journey to the capital, he kept feeling the urge to check on Cornelia’s condition. That was part of the reason he had rushed here.
‘But the report comes first.’
Erich quickly went to the palace and reported to the Emperor about what he had found.
Instead of his usual irritated response of “I see” and dismissing him, the Emperor spoke softly. “Duke, I would like you to discuss the matter with the commander of the central knights and the Krithan spy.”
To fulfill the emperor’s task, he went to Marquis Philippe, the commander of the Central Knights.
“Duke, if it’s alright with you, I’d like to go to the Blant’s residence to further investigate the recent battle with Krithan in the North.”
Although it was annoying, there was no reason to refuse.
Erich could not tolerate the possibility of a further delay in his return.
“I will accept.”
Erich, returning to the Blant Ducal Residence with Marquis Philippe, first looked out the window of Cornelia’s room.
‘The light is out.’
Seeing Erich and his guest arrive by carriage, the butler Landon was flustered and asked, “My lord, why have you returned so early?”
“There was an unexpected development. But where is she?”
“Ah, the madam went out earlier today with the Grand Madam and Marquis Arzen’s young lady…”
The unusual combination puzzled Erich.
‘They went out together, the three of them?’
Just then, a knight came riding hurriedly to the manor.
“What’s the matter?”
“It’s about the madam…”
The knight couldn’t finish his sentence, panting heavily, and when he saw Eric, he was utterly shocked.
“Y-your Grace!”
“What happened to her?”
The knight’s inability to answer, tightening his lips, made Erich clench his fists.
He had an unsavory premonition, like the day he lost his brother.
Erich drew his sword, aiming it at the knight’s neck.
“Answer me at once! Where is Cornelia?”
