EWOWMAIBTYPF Chapter 195

Chapter 195

 

⟨I came just in case, but you’re still not out of the Imperial Palace?⟩

But then everything was ruined by the sudden appearance of the Second Prince, Nicholas.

After belatedly spotting the former Marquis, the Grand Duke and Duchess, and Duke Elard, Nicholas greeted them—prompting the Grand Duke to immediately look for Adriana.

The others did the same.

No one was interested in Clara.

In the meantime, Nicholas fully explained what had happened in the Emperor’s quarters, and the Grand Duke looked at Clara with an icy expression she had never seen before.

Clara felt her world crumble as she finally realized…

The Grand Duke was not on her side.

⟨Clara, why would you do such a thing?⟩

At that moment, the former Marquis asked Clara.

Clara, momentarily forgetting her fear of him, frantically shouted:

⟨Grandfather! Please help me. There’s been a misunderstanding… a huge misunderstanding!⟩

⟨A misunderstanding?⟩

⟨Yes! I was confused—it was all a mistake!⟩

⟨…So, you’re admitting you did frame Adriana as a thief.⟩

The former Marquis clicked his tongue in disbelief and said,

⟨His Majesty has shown mercy.⟩

How could he say that?

Clara stared in shock.

But to the former Marquis, who had lived his life on the battlefield following strict military law, the punishment of quiet reflection in her family’s territory was an extremely lenient one.

Of course, for Clara, who considered even being dragged away by imperial knights a humiliation, it was practically a death sentence.

 

***

 

“Mother… please…”

Finishing her brief flashback, Clara mumbled with her bandaged hands covering her face.

Unlike her irresponsible father, who simply stormed out in anger, her mother had gone straight to the Marquis’s estate.

Though usually unreliable, Clara still hoped that her birth mother and aunt of the Grand Princess might be able to change things if she pleaded with her.

Surely the Emperor would heed the Grand Duchess more than Adriana, so if she just spoke up…

Clara tried to comfort herself with hopeful thoughts, but an ominous feeling made her shake her head quickly.

Then, bracing herself, she thought,

‘That’s right. No matter what happens, things can’t get any worse than this.’

But it didn’t take long to realize how mistaken she was.

 

***

 

“Didn’t you hear me? I said we must go to the Imperial Palace immediately!”

The tense atmosphere of the Marquis Diapel’s residence was shattered by the sudden arrival of Countess Amber.

She clung to the Grand Duchess’s arm, insisting they go and plead with the Emperor to lift Clara’s punishment.

The Grand Duchess looked at her in disbelief and responded flatly, “Why should I?”

Then, she ignored the countess entirely.

Normally, the Grand Duke would step in to mediate such uncomfortable situations, but this time—perhaps because it involved their daughter—he remained silent.

Frustrated, Countess Amber turned to the former Marquis and shouted,

“Father! Say something! Is Adriana your only granddaughter? Clara is your granddaughter too!”

“Yes, they’re both my granddaughters. And even if their roles were reversed, I would still have done nothing. The imperial command has been issued, and from what I see, more than enough mercy has already been shown.”

“What did you say?”

“So stop this and go home. Reflect. Return to your territory with Clara. Who knows, if you show some humility, His Majesty may yet forgive her.”

Reflect? Humility?

The countess shrieked in disbelief.

“What could Clara have possibly done that was so wrong? If you ask me, Adriana is the problem! If she hadn’t made such a big deal out of this, it could’ve all been handled quietly…!”

“Have you said enough?”

At that moment, the Grand Duchess stepped in with a chilling expression.

“Your daughter started this! She dared to accuse Adriana of being a thief!”

“T-that was just a misunderstanding…”

“Can’t you shut up?”

The Grand Duchess shouted sharply.

Ever since hearing the details from the Second Prince, her heart had ached beyond words.

A false accusation—of all things, theft.

Her daughter, so precious she could barely look at her without tears, had already gone through something similar before she even reunited with her parents at the Elard estate.

She had only heard about it secondhand, but imagining her young daughter enduring such things alone with no one to help her…she would wake up in the middle of the night shaking with rage.

And now, it had happened again.

Just how humiliated, how furious must Adriana have been to run straight to the palace without even telling her family?

When Lia collapsed and came home, the Grand Duchess had suspected it was from emotional pain more than anything else.

And now, just as she was starting to calm herself, she had to listen to this nonsense from her own sister—rage flared once again.

“Your daughter may not be allowed here under imperial decree, but now that you’ve come this far, the least you can do is apologize!”

“Why should I?”

“You really are shameless, raising your child like that!”

“Did you just call me shameless? This is too much! Isn’t family supposed to cover for one another and be understanding, even when mistakes are made? How can you all be so cruel?”

The Countess beat her chest like a world-class victim, convinced that her sobbing and tantrums would fix everything, just like always.

But…

“Covering for you just because we’re family is what ruined you. Must we ruin your daughter the same way?”

The Grand Duchess said coldly, without moving a single eyebrow.

“H-how could you say such a thing…?”

“Be grateful that you even have a chance to make things right. Thanks to my daughter, Clara gets to reflect in her estate instead of a monastery. You should be thanking us!”

“Thankful? Thankful for what?! There’s a limit to how much someone can be insulted!”

All she had to do was say a word for her niece!

It wasn’t as if she lacked the means, and the Emperor would surely have listened gladly—yet seeing how she completely turned a blind eye, it was clear. She looked down on her.

Countess Amber, who had lived her whole life consumed by inferiority and insecurity, screamed hysterically.

“I knew it! I knew your daughter would block my Clara’s path! She should’ve died back then! What was the point of telling them when the castle would be empty, if she was just going to come back alive and well…!”

At that moment, a chilling silence fell over the room.

“What… did you just say?”

The grand duke, who had remained silent until now, suddenly rose and strode toward the Countess.

Panicking, the Countess looked to the grand duchess and the former Marquis for support, but both were frozen in place like statues.

Only then did she realize that, in her excitement, she had said something she shouldn’t have.

“I-I mean, that is…”

“You said you told them when the castle would be empty. Are you talking about me?”

The veins on the grand duke’s clenched fists bulged.

Though known as one of the gentlest people in the empire, he too had a line that could not be crossed.

As his magic leaked out from his inability to control his rage, the Countess began to hyperventilate.

“Speak the truth. Did you aid in my daughter’s abduction? What is your connection to the demon worshipers?”

“D-Demon worshipers?! I don’t know anything about that!”

The Countess screamed, her face pale as a sheet.

“I just told them you had gone to the edge of the continent for some money, that’s all! I never imagined they’d kidnap her!”

“…Money?”

The former Marquis asked with a trembling voice.

“Regina, are you saying you sold information about your family for money?”

The Countess opened her mouth, trying to justify herself, seeing how pale the former Marquis had gone.

“There were a lot of people interested in the Grand Mage… I just thought I’d earn some spending money…”

But before she could finish, a loud slap rang out.

It was the grand duchess.

As the shocked Countess lifted her head, the grand duchess slapped her again.

“How… how can a person be this selfish and cowardly?”

“S-Sister…”

“Don’t call me that! Just thinking that I treated you as my sister all my life makes me sick.”

The grand duchess backed away, shaking her head in disbelief, then stumbled.

“Wife—”

The grand duke quickly caught her, and she suddenly burst into tears.

“What am I supposed to do? How can I face Lia now? This is all because of me…”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Yes, it’s not your fault… It’s mine”

The former Marquis added with a voice thick with regret.

He couldn’t even look at the grand duke or grand duchess, and shut his eyes tightly, veins filling the whites of his eyes.

“I told Regina… She seemed unusually curious about her sister, and I thought it was sweet. I didn’t realize my child was less than human.”

This is all my sin. All of it.

Tears streamed down his cheeks, the same tears he had suppressed even when he found his granddaughter.

He suddenly remembered the first time he saw little Lia dressed as a maid in the mansion.

He hadn’t protected that small child. Worse, without realizing it, he had contributed to her suffering.

“F-Father…”

Finally grasping the gravity of the situation, the Countess spoke in a trembling voice.

But a firm voice answered her.

“Leave. From now on, I have no child like you. Never appear before me again.”

“!”

Though he had scolded her many times before, he had never spoken of cutting ties. The Countess instantly realized he was serious.

At the same time, images of the monthly allowance from the former Marquis and the Amber family’s business supported by House Diapel flashed through her mind.

The face of Countess Amber turned ghostly white as she imagined the future now closing in on her.

 

***

 

“Ugh…”

I slowly opened my heavy eyelids, feeling a sting in my upper body.

It was the now-familiar ceiling of the Marquis’s residence. Judging from the dim lighting, it seemed to be night… huh?

“Ah!”

“…Adriana?”

“Mom?”

I shot up with a gasp and was startled again to see my mother sitting beside the bed.

“Are you okay? Are you awake?”

Her gentle voice made cold sweat bead on my skin.

Because the last scene before I fainted was still vivid in my mind.

 

Thank you all for your sweet massages, comments and Ko-fis. I think it was mostly my stress making me feel that depressed especially with finals coming and all of this going on, but you all made me a lot better (⁠ ⁠˶⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ꁞ⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠˶⁠ ⁠)

I am going to post a notice after chapter 196 containing the new site I am transferring to. However, it will take time to move all those chapters. So there will be no new chapters for a weak or so. Please be patient till then~