Chapter 66
Cassius spoke coldly, making Count Mers press his lips together.
“Are you daring to insult my wife?”
“M-My Lord! What I said is true! You must believe me…!”
“I heard the Yetis helped someone who was trying to kill you.” (Yetis: snow beasts)
Cassius gritted his teeth in anger.
“Even the Yetis must’ve seen you as disgusting pests, huh?”
“T-That’s not it! The Duchess definitely ordered them…! You can ask others, there are witnesses!”
Count Mers’s heart pounded. Insulting the Duke or Duchess was a serious crime—punishable by death. The North had stayed orderly for so long because they feared being hated and isolated by the capital.
‘This is exactly why I’ve been careful all this time!’
But now that he was cornered, his mind froze and his mouth just ran on its own.
There was no going back. He had to drag in everyone he could now. With trembling lips, Count Mers spoke again.
“I-I’m not the only one who saw it.”
“There are other witnesses?”
“Yes! I saw it too! The nanny and another woman were also there!”
Cassius lifted the corners of his lips.
Things were starting to get interesting. He immediately ordered a servant.
“Bring the nanny and Miss Lorencia here immediately.”
“Yes, My Lord!”
Cassius turned his cold gaze back to Count Mers.
“If your testimony turns out to be false…”
“N-No, My Lord!”
Count Mers burst into tears. The intense fear made him break down like a child. Cassius’s sharp eyes felt like they could cut his throat at any moment.
He just wanted to survive.
“Please, believe me!”
Even at that moment, Count Mers hadn’t realized something important—Cassius hadn’t called for Charlotte to come to this meeting.
Janice looked puzzled as she hurried Lorencia along. She tried to stop her from spending too much time getting dressed up, saying:
“The Duke himself called you. If you take too long, he might scold you! Just go as you are!”
But seeing Lorencia pout with her lips out, Janice could only sigh.
She tugged Lorencia’s hand.
“Hurry up.”
“Why? He called for me. It must be for something good…”
Janice glanced at the servant walking ahead and lowered her voice.
“We’re on the way to the meeting room. There’s been a High Nobles’ Assembly since this morning—all the Northern lords are gathered.”
“So what?” Lorencia blinked.
She had never been hated by anyone in her life. As the youngest daughter, she’d always been loved and sheltered—so she was completely clueless about the world.
“Lorencia, this is the Duke’s meeting room. Not just anyone is allowed in.”
“That’s why I’m special. It must be to praise us for reporting Viscount Worst and Baron Lumens.”
Realizing Lorencia wouldn’t get it no matter how much she explained, Janice just shut her mouth. Lorencia walked cheerfully ahead.
She’d understand soon enough. She’d see why Janice was so nervous.
‘There better not be some idiot making up lies…’
The tight-lipped servant walking with them said nothing. Janice sighed again.
And her fears were quickly proven right.
Count Mers was sitting in a chair, tied up by the servants.
Cassius sat on the table edge with a cold expression.
And even Miller was there—though there was no guessing why.
No one else was in the room.
Viscount Worst and Baron Lumens weren’t there either.
Janice paused.
Lorencia, finally sensing something was off, also stopped walking.
“This way,” Cassius said, motioning with his hand. “I called you because Count Mers here said something about the two of you that I’d like to ask about.”
Janice clenched her teeth and stepped forward. Lorencia followed hesitantly, walking up to Cassius.
Janice glanced at Count Mers. He was looking at them like they were his saviors.
‘You should’ve gone down alone, you bastard. Why drag us into this mess? Useless fool. Can’t even handle one simple job properly.’
If he was going to talk, he should’ve at least kept his mouth shut until the end. Janice cursed silently.
“W-What is this about?” Lorencia asked carefully, her face showing clear confusion. This wasn’t the kind of meeting she’d expected.
“And… this isn’t the person I mentioned, so why is he—”
“I caught a bigger rat,” Cassius interrupted. “But this rat said something strange.”
Janice swallowed hard. She quickly pulled on Lorencia’s hand—telling her to keep quiet and not say anything foolish to anger Cassius.
Thankfully, Lorencia lowered her head, sensing the mood.
“Strange…?” she asked quietly.
“The nanny,” Cassius said, now addressing Janice. “According to that man, Charlotte is a witch who conspired with the Yetis.”
At that moment, Janice’s whole body went cold. She finally understood why they were summoned.
‘That insane bastard!’
Yes, they had once talked about framing Charlotte as a witch. But doing it now, in this situation, was suicide.
And from the way things looked, Count Mers might’ve already been exposed as the one who attacked Charlotte.
It felt like everything Janice had worked so hard to build was crashing down.
“Well, that’s…”
Janice quickly pulled Lorencia close and stepped forward.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you’re saying, Your Grace,” she said calmly.
“Hmm.”
“Could you explain the situation a bit more clearly?”
Cassius replied, “He claims you two saw Charlotte working with the Yetis—and that Count Mers witnessed it, too.”
Janice let out a slow sigh.
“We’ve never seen anything like that, Your Grace. It seems Count Mers is mistaken. Perhaps, after being attacked by the Yetis, he suffered memory loss from the shock. He might not even remember seeing us—or the Duchess—at all.”
Cassius let out a small chuckle.
No wonder she’d survived in the duke’s household for so long—she was sharp.
Before, when she tried to frame Charlotte as a thief, Janice had backed off the moment she sensed Cassius’s discomfort—taking only the key and leaving quietly.
She was a woman who knew exactly when to retreat.
They still hadn’t figured out where the Hall of Cankas was hidden. Most likely, Janice had it.
Considering she had stolen it and then blamed Charlotte for it…
‘She must be confident she won’t get caught.’
He still didn’t know what she planned to use it for, but one day, he’d get it back.
Cassius, lost in thought while watching Janice, slowly opened his mouth.
“So, that memory of yours is wrong?”
“Yes, Your Grace. A noble lady like the Duchess would never conspire with Yetis.”
Lorencia looked a bit unhappy, but followed Janice’s lead.
“I think so too. From the times I met the Duchess, she never seemed like someone who’d do that.”
Count Mers stammered with a pale face.
“You hear that, Count Mers?”
“N-No, that’s… uh…”
“And what we found in the forest were bodies of masked humans,” Cassius continued coldly.
He had also already received testimony about it from Prince Krinini.
“According to you, your knights were fighting to rescue my wife.”
Count Mers swallowed hard.
“Masked…?”
“Your Grace…”
“Anyone could tell they were bandits.”
“Please, Your Grace…! I only acted out of loyalty! I couldn’t bear the Duchess’s wicked deeds any longer…!”
“That’s not for you to decide. That’s my judgment to make. What you’ve done is nothing but treason.”
Cassius declared coldly.
“Do you have anything more to say?”
Count Mers bit his lips hard. He couldn’t stop himself from glancing at Janice.
He couldn’t die like this—not alone. He was ready to speak the truth and take her down with him.
But when he opened his mouth—no words came out. His lips wouldn’t move.
Cassius, watching the trembling count, gave the order:
“Take him away. He will be executed tonight. And investigate everyone involved with Count Mers. They will all be punished.”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
The servants bowed deeply.
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Freya• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
If you want to support the translation and the translator, you can buy a coffee~
