Chapter 33
｡･:*:･ﾟ★ Translated by Divine ｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
Daphne smiled slyly and started speaking.
“But, Lady Flora, I have a question.”
“…”
“How did you know there would be a party?”
“T-That’s…!”
Unable to answer, Flora’s voice faltered.
Daphne closed the distance between them, like a snake cornering its prey.
“Shall I say it for you instead?”
Daphne leaned in close to Flora, whose lips were trembling.
“Perhaps you planted a spy among the servants. That person must have informed you about the party.”
“…!”
“But there’s no way you could enter. You’ve been warned by Uncle already, so he wouldn’t allow you in. That’s why you brought Spencer along, right? You thought that with the family physician, my aunt’s doctor, they wouldn’t easily refuse you.”
“W-Well…”
“In other words.”
Daphne cut off her words, not allowing for any excuses.
She smiled and looked at Spencer, who was shaking and whose face had turned blue.
Looking at him, Daphne amiably said.
“They are on the same side. Perhaps giving Yulmu tea to my aunt-in-law was also the result of your collaboration.”
“…!”
“!!!”
Stabbed to the core, Flora staggered back with a gasp.
However, the firmly closed door did not allow her a way out.
“H-How did you…! How could, how could…!”
“You don’t need to know how I knew.”
Cutting off her curiosity decisively, Daphne bowed her head and brought her face close to Flora’s.
Her face, once smiling, had now become chillingly cold.
“Choose here. Whether you want to tell my uncles about what you’ve done yourself.”
“…!”
“Or quietly be captured by my hand and taken to the imperial family you love so much.”
Either way, it would be destruction.
Finishing her words cheerfully, Daphne smiled kindly.
Flora looked at Daphne in terror.
‘Since when?’
This c-child, when did she figure everything out?
It was terrifying. She couldn’t tell how far she had planned, but she can’t just retreat here.
‘I’ve been working so hard, all for this day…!’
I can’t let Daphne ruin everything.
“…Do I have to say anything?”
Flora gave an evil smirk.
“If you, who has done nothing except lie, accuse me, who would believe it?”
“…”
“Don’t you know? In this world, there is no one on your side.”
Then Daphne’s face slowly hardened.
Flora knew Daphne’s weakness well.
An outsider with no one on her side. Incompetent. A half-baked aristocrat with a commoner as a father.
A Peregrine in vain.
If she poked her buttons, Daphne would lose her composure and become enraged.
Create just enough chaos, call people over, and then collapse at the right moment.
Then the situation would turn in her favor again. She believed that without a doubt.
Flora smirked, “Still, you planned well. You’ve grown a lot. If I had known you were this kind of person, I wouldn’t have bothered trying to poison you.”
“…So it was you who poisoned me.”
“Yes, it was me.”
Flora laughed.
“I thought the Peregrine name was wasted on you. So I thought it would be better for you to die.”
“…”
“The child in Livnell’s belly is the same. It would be an obstacle to the future of the marquis and the twin lords. It’s only natural to get rid of it.”
As Daphne fell silent, Flora raised her hand and caressed Daphne’s cheek. Then, she muttered with a regretful tone.
“But Daphne, if I had known you were capable of such audacious plans, I should have killed you sooner.”
“…”
“I misjudged…”
It was then.
Creak.
The sound of the latch being released behind Flora was heard.
The door she had so desperately wanted to enter was now open.
‘What on earth…?’
The fleeting curiosity on her face…
“…!”
Soon turned into fear.
It was because Lyas and Cyan, with faces cold as winter snowflakes, were looking down at her.
As Flora hesitated.
Grasp.
Daphne grabbed Flora’s wrist which had been patting her cheek. Then, she smiled as if to say why did you stiffen up.
‘You thought I’d be alone?’
Confessions are supposed to have listeners.
‘Even better when it’s powerful people who no one can challenge.’
Daphne faced the livid Lyas and Cyan head-on.
Flora trembled as she looked at Lyas.
‘No way, did the marquis and the young masters?’
Flora looked at Daphne with incredulous eyes.
“H-How could you do such a thing…!”
“I’m sorry, milady.”
Daphne whispered into the shaking Flora’s ear.
“Life is a battlefield.”
She smiled softly.
It was an obvious mockery.
Flames flickered in Flora’s eyes, as if asking how someone like her could plan such a thing.
Seeing her, she was even more certain. Her gaze was that of someone who had harmed others many times.
‘So it was you after all.’
She had commissioned the assassination guild to give poison to Daphne.
The one who gave the physician the harmful powder for pregnant women, was none other than Flora Salertale.
She had a vague suspicion. Since the person who rushed over as soon as they heard about her waking up after taking poison was Flora.
After all, the culprit always returns to the scene of the crime.
In order to make sure everything was handled properly.
‘Besides, Flora has immense backing from the royal family and the temple.’
She had the wealth and power to commission the assassination guild.
However, there was no concrete evidence that she was the culprit. So, I intentionally leaked false information.
Flora, who sincerely wanted to become a Peregrine, had no choice but to fall into her trap.
Since there was no pretext, I thought she would stick to Spencer, who was on the same side, and indeed, she came with Spencer.
‘And checkmate.’
Flora confessed to all her crimes.
And that confession was conveyed in its entirety to Lyas and Cyan, who were waiting inside.
“This, this is ridiculous…”
Flora, who was fumbling with an aghast face, desperately grabbed Lyas’ arm and pleaded.
“Milord.”
“…”
“Please listen to me. This was all for you!”
Flora cried out desperately.
Hoping that he would understand her heart.
“…Presumptuous.”
But all she received from him was a gaze full of ruthlessness.
“You deceived me well while doing such filthy things to my family.”
“…”
The suffocating pressure felt like it was crushing her entire body.
Flora could barely make a sound, as if her throat was being choked.
Lyas, who had been looking at Flora with contempt, suddenly spoke to the arriving knights.
“Take Flora Salertale and Spencer to the dungeon. If the royal family and the temple inquire, report that she attempted to assassinate Lady Peregrine, and even threatened an unborn child of the Peregrine family.”
“Yes, sir!”
The knights then approached Flora. Flora and Spencer trembled in fear.
She knew how terrible Peregrine’s dungeon was. The face of Mentis, who had become a drooling madman, flashed through her mind.
‘That must not happen. That must not…!’
Feeling the threat to her life, Flora desperately tried to resist. But the knights stopped her.
“Milord, please show mercy. Please, please–!”
Flora struggled and twisted, but she couldn’t overpower the strong knights.
Bound up, she was dragged away by the knights.
As Flora passed by Daphne, Daphne whispered.
“Goodbye.”
Hope we never meet again.
With a gentle smile, Daphne watched as Flora’s contorted face let out a scream of rage.
But it was just a futile struggle. The sound grew further and further away.
After the sound completely disappeared, Daphne could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
She had succeeded, but she couldn’t be sure. There were always variables.
‘I’m glad I suggested we have dinner together.’
Admiring her past decision, Daphne suddenly raised her head at the ensuing silence.
Lyas remained tight-lipped with his face distorted.
‘What is wrong with him… Ah.’
Daphne immediately understood the reason.
Flora, the cause of all this, had said it was all for him. He must be feeling intense guilt.
“I…”
Lyas slowly opened his mouth, but no words followed.
There was no apology that could undo what had happened.
Because of him, his only niece Daphne was known to the world as a child who had taken poison and attempted suicide.
‘Cyan and Livnell as well…’
The pondering Lyas suddenly looked up.
Just now, Flora had said this.
“The child in Livnell’s belly is the same. It would be an obstacle to the future of the marquis and the twin lords. It’s only natural to get rid of it.”
“…Doctor.”
Lyas muttered blankly.
“Bring me a doctor. Right now. We need to check on Livnell, no, the child’s condition… and immediately test the toxicity of the tea Livnell was drinking!”
Losing his composure for a moment, Lyas stumbled.
“Brother, brother!”
Cyan stopped the crazed Lyas.
“It’s okay. Another doctor has already finished the examination. Livnell and the child are fine.”
“…Finished?”
Lyas asked dazedly.
“Yes, that’s what Livnell said. Yesterday, Daphne suggested getting examined by someone else.
“Even if it’s the same illness, it can be diagnosed differently depending on the doctor’s judgment. It’s not a bad idea to find another doctor instead of relying on just one.”
Livnell thought Daphne had a point. She conveyed this to Cyan, who brought another doctor to check on Livnell’s condition.
“Everything is normal. The child is also unharmed. We’ve passed the dangerous phase.”
Lyas said with an incredulous look.
“But she kept drinking that tea…”
“Oh, that…”
Daphne unconsciously spoke up.
When Cyan and Lyas’ gaze turned to me, I awkwardly smiled and said, “I gave her something else instead.”
“…Something else?”
“Yes. It was mixed grains…”
The grains she encountered had a lot of sugar so the taste was distinct, but the powder was not. When mixed in water, it would taste pretty similar to porridge.
“One of the maids is knowledgeable about crops, so it wasn’t difficult to obtain. It’s not harmful to the body, so you don’t have to worry.”
“…”
“And although Yulmu is dangerous for pregnant women, it wasn’t consumed for a long time, so there’s no need to worry too much. Aunt-in-law is fine…”
As Daphne continued her explanation, she suddenly realized that both of them were staring at her blankly.
‘Did I say something wrong…?’
