NOVEL NEXT Chapter 110
“As of today, I will never see the Count again. When I told Cesare to let me see you, it was to warn you one last time. Don’t ever appear before me again. Your punishment will be handed down by the Emperor, and you will get what you deserve. Now live your life quietly, and don’t throw dirt on my life.”The Count bowed his head.With his arms crossed, I looked down at Count Peliard.He seemed to have given up now.There was really no way out.But it was all his mistake.“Daphne, you ungrateful bitch!”“Ugh!”The Count ran towards me.Just as he was about to grab me by the hair, Cesare kicked him out of the way.The Count wrapped around his stomach and rolled around.“Ugh!”The Count couldn’t even breathe and was panting.Cesare looked at me.“Are you okay, Daphne?!”My heart was pounding, but I nodded.The knights who had just arrived surrounded the Count.Cesare ordered in a terrifying voice.“The Count is a gold digger who doesn’t even know how to be polite. We don’t have to lock a non-human in a room. Detain the Count right now in the dungeon.”“Yes!”“Let go, let go! Daphne, this damn thing! you will regret it, you will regret abandoning and betraying your father!”As he was being dragged away by the knights, the Count shouted loudly.Eventually, one of the knights struck the Count on the neck, knocking him out, finally quiet.He didn’t even say a word of apology.I felt bitter and at the same time I thought it was better.If the Count had pretended to apologize with tears in his eyes, I would have been more upset.I sighed and shook my head, making eye contact with Camilla.“Come on, you don’t mean to imprison me in the dungeon too. Daphne?”It was funny to see her trembling and asking.She’d been so vicious, and now she looked like a toothless beast.Cesare caught me as I approached Camilla.“It’s dangerous.”“It’s okay.”I smiled brightly at him.It is clear that Countess Peliard’s momentum has been completely broken, but what?“What could be dangerous with Cesare by my side? I just have something to say.”Cesare seemed concerned, but eventually let me go.I walked over to the Countess.I bent over and whispered softly to her, who was trembling.“Countess.”“Ye-Yes. Daphne.”“Did you kill my mother?”Camilla’s eyes widened. She was astonished and groaned.“I, I didn’t. Daphne. I didn’t. I didn’t touch your mother.”“Everyone in the world said that. And I knew. That you are poisoning my mother.”“Poison! I would never do that! It wasn’t me!”“Then, it was the Count?”“No-not him!”I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows.I thought she’d bite the Count’s hand to get out of this situation.Are you defending the Count because you truly love him? If so, you two are meant to be together.But what followed was enough to surprise me.“It was someone else, someone who had your mother drugged!”“… Someone else?”“Yes! If you want to test the efficacy…”Countess Peliard snapped.If anyone could have killed Daphne’s mother, she thought, it would be the Countess at best.She wanted to take the Countess’s place, but there was already a woman in it, and she wanted to get rid of her.I thought that motivating myself would be enough.But who else was in charge?I had a gut feeling that there was something more.I grabbed Countess Peliard’s shoulder and asked impatiently.“Who is it? Who is that person?”“I, I can’t speak. If I tell you, I will die.”“Did you ever think that you could die at the hands of Cesare now?”Cesare eyes lit up at the right moment.The Countess hiccuped in surprise.“If you speak properly and cooperate, I will make sure you return home safely.”“Ha, but….”“And this is a mansion owned by Burstoad. I don’t know who you are afraid of, but you can’t get in and out of here. Rather, it would be quicker for Cesare’s hand to reach your neck. So, wouldn’t it be better to risk your life and leave?”“Em-Empress…”“I beg your pardon?”“The Empress made me do it.”The fact that the Countess, who was trembling, was honest it’s enough to surprise me.Cesare, who was listening behind, raised his eyebrows as if surprised.I questioned the Countess.“The Empress killed my mother?”“Yes. There is a woman she wants to kill… She said she didn’t know how much drug she would need to get her to die naturally…”A womanNot a man?My hands trembled.This was a story that even I didn’t know.It seemed that her son wasn’t the only one the Empress killed. ***** Eilish was a princess of the Kingdom of Kestia who had married in the Hylister Empire.She was going to become the Empress.As the widow of the now-deceased former Crown Prince Franz, this was a natural future for her, unless something happened.However, her husband, Prince Franz, had a major flaw as heir to the empire.He couldn’t have relations with women.He was congenitally incapable.Eilish has been alone since the first night.She wanted to complain, but her homeland was a small kingdom that couldn’t rebel against the Empire.Still, she endured while looking at the future of becoming an Empress.However, problems began to arise when her husband, the former Crown Prince Franz, fell in love with another man.The opponent was the teacher who taught the Crown Prince.Eilish had seen him in the act.A man who had never had sexual desire in his life was making a manly voice with his face burning hot.I wondered why he wrapped his master like that.An unholy affair had occurred in the palace they shared.Eilish felt insulted.It was a disgrace to her homeland, the Kingdom of Kestia.On that day, Eilish completely gave up her feelings for the Crown Prince.Even her dream of becoming an Empress became uncertain.Rumor has it that the Crown Prince is trying to reform the law to put his lover in the position of Empress.Eilish was determined to take revenge on the Crown Prince for insulting her like this. ‘Poor thing. I’ll help you.’ It was then that the Empress called Eilish.The Empress was experiencing political conflicts at the time.It was the perfect time for a group of nobles to rally around the crown prince, whom she liked and was close to, because he had a reputation for speaking well.The prince’s teacher was very unhappy with the Empress’s relative, the Marquis Gallard, who had taken control of the palace.And he argued that the Empire would develop only when talented people were hired from various places, not from the ranks like Marquis Gallard.The Crown Prince, who wanted to escape from his mother’s arms, also agreed with this, and they gathered forces to pressure the Empress.Corruption involving the Marquis and Empress was about being revealed.You never know when it will rise and strangle the Empress.Rumors were swirling that she might be forced to abdicate and go into exile.But the Empress was not one to be taken lightly by her own blood.The Empress handed Eilish the medicine. ‘Give this medicine to the Crown Prince. Then I will make you the only companion of the Crown Prince and the Empress.’ What the Empress wanted was to put the Crown Prince in a state in which it would not be strange if he died soon.She wanted him to be breathing and alive, but unrecognizable, so that she could wield unchecked power as his deputy.While the Emperor was still alive, he was old and would soon abdicate in favor of the crown prince.In fact, the promise to make Eilish an empress meant that she would only display her as pretty as a doll.But if there was one thing the Empress didn’t understand, it was Eilish’s state of mind.She wasn’t just discouraged by the crown prince’s behavior.She hated him and wanted to kill him.The Empress’s proposal was nothing short of a threat, but Eilish accepted it.She fed the former Crown Prince Franz with water on the hunting grounds.The former Crown Prince Franz, who developed an allergic reaction, took medicine and developed shortness of breath and seizures.She placed the pillow on his face, which was short of breath, and pressed it with all her might.Former Crown Prince Franz, who twisted his body, eventually died.The servants were changed, and the Prince’s teacher met a mysterious death after that.Some rumored that he committed suicide following his lover, the former Crown Prince Franz.No one knew the truth about his death.What is certain is that from that day forward, the Empress’s power grew stronger, and more of her relatives were appointed to positions of power.Even after the death of the Crown Prince, the successor to the throne, the Empress’s family seemed unaffected to it.