After the Wicked Wife Leaves

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Translated by: Alina

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

 

The knight sensed something peculiar about Erich’s unfamiliar appearance.

The liege he knew, the Duke of Blant, was never one to get agitated; he always handled matters rationally and meticulously.

But now, Erich’s eyes in front of him were relentlessly fierce, like a raging beast.

 

‘This doesn’t look like the Lord at all.’

 

That’s when Erich’s voice rang out again.

 

“I told you to answer me!”

 

The knight swallowed hard before speaking.

 

“Your Grace, there was an accident while the Grand Madam, the Young Lady Arzen, and the Duchess were returning together. The carriage lost its wheel, causing it to slip and crash.”

 

His heart was pounding ever more vigorously. 

No, it can’t be. Nothing bad could have happened.

Erich thought this to himself.

Perhaps the carriage just broke down, or there were some injured parties, so they came to request assistance.

But the knight’s next words dashed Erich’s hopes.

 

“And in the process, the duchess fell over the cliff.”

 

Thud!

At that moment, his mind went completely blank.

 

9. 
   After That Wretched One Departed

 

After Cornelia’s carriage fell, the remaining knights were doing their best to find her.

 

“She’s not over here!”

 

Chester furrowed his brow.

 

‘It will be more difficult to search once the sun sets.’

 

Two knights left for the mansion and the palace, respectively, leaving only three knights behind.

Honestly, this manpower was not enough to conduct a proper search, but he had descended to the riverbank below the cliff to continue the search.

However, there was no trace of Cornelia.

As the day grew darker, Chester felt despair creeping in.

They had requested reinforcements, but searching would become difficult once the sun went down.

That would mean a delay in time, and the chances of Cornelia staying alive would diminish further.

 

‘No, we can’t let it end like this…’

 

And watching this scene, the Grand Madam anxiously nibbled her nails unconsciously.

 

‘Is she really dead?’

 

Medelin approached the Grand Madam’s side.

 

“Our Cornelia, she’ll be alright, won’t she?”

 

Although she was pretending to be sad, the Grand Madam instinctively knew.

Medelin was happier than ever.

 

‘What’s this? Could it be that she wanted to get rid of Cornelia?’

 

Of course, the Grand Madam had also planned to drive Cornelia out someday.

She was a troublemaker and failure of the imperial family, utterly unsuitable for her son.

But still, she never had the intention to kill Cornelia simply because she was the Emperor’s daughter.

 

‘Who knows what the Emperor might do with this incident as an excuse? And that impostor…’

 

At that moment, Medelin hugged the Grand Madam and whispered.

 

“Grand Madam, what will you do if you still have the poison?”

 

Hearing that, it made sense.

As Medelin stepped back, the grand madam bit her lip.

 

‘Yes, this may become a problem someday…’

 

So the grand madam searched for an opportunity to secretly get rid of the poison. But…

 

“Grand Madam, are you feeling unwell?”

 

Because Giselle was speaking next to her, the grand madam couldn’t dispose of the poison.

 

‘Why on earth is this woman following me around?’

 

Trying to pretend to be sad, Grand Madam Blant sighed involuntarily.

 

‘But for now, the knights seem preoccupied with searching for Cornelia, so I can carefully conceal the evidence, including the poison.’

 

As the Grand Madam contemplated these thoughts,

 

“Where is she?!”

 

A sudden voice rang out, not very loud, but the dark emotions imbued in it made the listener’s blood run cold.

And when the Grand Madam confirmed the owner of that voice, she involuntarily drew a sharp breath.

The fake son, who should have been in the north, was here in the form of a demonic presence.

 

‘How could that wretch be here…?’

 

The grand madam, flustered for a moment, began to tremble involuntarily.

 

‘What if he finds out what I’ve done?’

 

She was afraid. Afraid of how the fake son might react if he discovered the truth.

That’s when Erich spoke again.

 

“I asked where. Where my wife fell.”

 

His piercing blue eyes, brimming with a frenzy akin to madness, radiated a chilling brutality.

As everyone remained silent, unable to respond to the terrifying presence of the Duke of Blant, someone finally spoke up.

It was Chester, the captain of the Duke of Blant’s knights.

 

“It’s right here.”

 

Chester bowed his head and clenched his fists.

 

‘I have no words to defend myself from whatever punishment the Duke may levy on me.’

 

He had descended to the riverbank, but had abandoned his search due to the darkness. Now, the Duke, whom they believed to be in the north, was here, searching for his wife. He couldn’t bear to face his lord.

 

“I failed to protect the madam. Please punish me.”

 

Even as Chester knelt, confessing his failure, Erich’s gaze remained fixed on the cliff.

As a master swordsman, or at least a user of ‘Aura’, he should be able to descend safely, but…

 

‘It’s too high.’

 

He tried not to think about it, but the ominous possibilities of what might have happened after she fell kept surfacing in his mind.

Erich, who had never lost his composure even in war, now felt an urge rise within him—to throw himself off the cliff and follow her.

Gradually, Erich gritted his teeth.

 

‘No. That’s impossible.’

 

She was a stubborn woman. She was troublesome enough to torment anyone who approached her.

Over the years, she has remained by his side, despite his disregard.

So there was no way she could have died so meaninglessly.

Surely, she would survive and wreak havoc in her own way.

Just then, someone’s voice interrupted Erich’s thoughts.

 

“It’s odd, no matter how you look at it.”

 

It was Marquis Philippe who had come to inspect the carriage.

 

“What are you doing, Marquis Philippe?”

 

At Erich’s low call, the marquis bowed his head and then looked up. The middle-aged man, who had seemed indifferent just moments before, now had a serious and grave expression. 

 

“Forgive me for interfering, Duke. But this is a situation where I have no choice but to interfere.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“As the commander of the Central Knights, overseeing the capital’s police, defense, guards, and investigation units, I cannot ignore this situation that might involve the murder of a royal.”

‘Murder of a royal? Someone tried to kill her?’

 

When he first heard the news of the accident, he had only thought of coming here as quickly as possible.

But now, realizing that someone had tried to kill her, an uncontrollable rage welled up inside him.

 

‘Who on earth could it be?’

 

Erich gazed at everyone present: the knights who had always disliked Cornelia, Medelin, who had subtly tormented her, and the Grand Madam, who had bullied and harassed Cornelia.

All of them were suspicious.

The moment he realized this, Erich felt the urge to kill everyone here.

Sensing the sudden change in Erich’s demeanor, Marquis Philippe swallowed hard.

 

‘The Duke’s murderous aura… is directed at everyone here.’

 

Erich’s nickname on the battlefield was the “Grim Reaper of the Battlefield.”

If the Duke of Blant was determined to kill, he could slaughter everyone present.

 

‘He is beyond what I can handle, but I cannot let him run amok.’

 

Marquis Philippe remained on alert, prepared for any eventuality.

However, contrary to his expectations, Erich slowly released the tension in his fist.

The reason was that a dreadful scene from the nightmares he had constantly tried to ignore had resurfaced in his mind—the image of Cornelia putting a gun to her own head right before him.

 

‘That was just a dream.’

 

Erich’s gaze shifted towards the cliff, in the direction where she had supposedly fallen.

Suddenly, a single thought crystallized in his mind:

 

‘She must be alive. So I have to…’

 

With that, Erich hurled himself off the cliff toward where Cornelia had fallen.

 

“Y-Your Grace!” 

 

Everyone present was stunned by the duke’s sudden action.

But soon after, they were relieved to see the duke running down the cliff as if it were level ground.

Marquis Philippe let out a small sigh.

 

‘It’s an order from the Emperor, but I can’t do this twice.’

 

That’s when Chester spoke up.

 

“Marquis Philippe, I’d like to hear more about what you said earlier.”

 

Marquis Philippe nodded.

 

“When I inspected the carriage, I noticed something strange about the wheel joints.”

 

As he spoke, the marquis approached the carriage and removed the left wheel to show the joint and the interior.

 

“Normally, after an impact, the wheel assembly would show wear and tear from friction, and dust would come out like this from the wheel assembly. Just like this. However, the right-side wheel of the carriage…”

 

Marquis Philippe inspected the right wheel.

 

“One side is missing, and it’s evident that someone cut this side with a tool to tamper with the assembly joint.”

 

The Marquis, examining the joint of the right wheel, raised the corner of his mouth.

 

“Look, there’s no dust residue on this side.”

 

Seeing the stunned expressions on the people’s faces, the Marquis continued.

 

“And typically, under such a high-quality carriage, there’s a shock-absorbing spring suspension system to cushion the impact. However, the suspension system of this carriage suffered damage akin to a saw cut.”

 

The Marquis’s gaze sharpened.

 

“If the suspension system had been intact, even if a wheel came off and the carriage suddenly braked, the Duchess might have been unharmed. But someone had tampered with the suspension, leading to this tragic accident. Can this really be just a coincidence?”

 

Hearing the Marquis’s explanation, the knights clenched their fists.

 

‘So, someone intentionally attempted to harm the Duchess?’

 

At that moment, someone interjected.

 

“Isn’t it too hasty to draw such a conclusion based solely on that?”

“Are you saying you don’t agree with what I’m saying, Lady Arzen?”

“Yes, because under normal circumstances, Cornelia wouldn’t have used this shortcut, and if she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have fallen off the cliff. I don’t understand how this could be deliberate murder.”

“Are you implying that this was just an accident, Lady Arzen?”

“If there’s no clear evidence of someone’s plan, yes.”

“Evidence… Then would you be convinced if I brought evidence?”

“Yes, of course.”

 

Just as Medelin nodded her head, a gray owl flew up to the Marquis.

Reading the letter tied to its ankle, Marquis Philippe immediately hardened his expression and glared at Medelin.

 

“In that case, I have the grounds to arrest you, Lady Arzen.”