Chapter 167

Chapter 167 – Shameless Coward

Translator: Atlas / Editor: Regan

Annette bid farewell to Celestine and returned home, her eyes bright with happiness. It was purely because Raphael was waiting to greet her at the door, lingering in the entry while she was gone like a hound awaiting his master.

His face was expressionless as he raked his fingers through his long black hair, his eyes searching the dark for her, but there was a strange, wild beauty about him, even when he was dressed in the fine clothes of a nobleman. Perhaps that explained her dangerous attraction to him. Suddenly, her heart was pounding.

“Raphael?”

He had turned before she finished saying his name, and his face lit up at the sight of her. The dangerous man disappeared instantly, replaced by a handsome man beaming at her.

She couldn’t help laughing as he suddenly caught himself and covered his mouth, his fingers rubbing the traitorous lines of his smile as if his expression had escaped his control. Lately, he seemed to have some difficulty managing his face in front of Annette.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” he said.

“Why? Is something wrong?” Annette asked, angling her head, but as it turned out, it was good news.

“That doctor who attended you. She said she wants to confess. Everything.”

“Oh.” Annette paused, then shrugged. It seemed Eucaly’s conscience had gotten the better of her more quickly than expected. How odd that it had been so slow to trouble her when she had been poisoning Annette, and yet it had taken all of two days when she herself was the one ingesting poison.

But it was good, nonetheless. Perhaps she would learn something valuable.

“Would you like to hear it with me?” She asked.

“Of course. I was just waiting for you,” Raphael answered, frowning. Quickly, Annette caught his hand before he could start upsetting himself with alternatives.

At once, his eyebrows drew apart. His hand squeezed hers as if he never meant to let go again, and though she was about to go back down to that subterranean prison, it didn’t feel as cold with Raphael by her side. How strange.

Downstairs, they found Eucaly clinging to the bars of her cell.

“Lady…” She called out to Annette, her face pale. She looked pitiful. Annette said nothing, only noting the traces of vomit in one corner of the cell. It seemed Eucaly had been to thirsty to resist the water, only to throw up because of the poison.

Annette’s mouth curled in contempt. She had taken that poison for five years in her last life, but Eucaly couldn’t bear it for a few days. What a shameless coward.

Quietly, she took her seat before the bars of the cell, and Raphael moved naturally beside her, like a black panther coiled protectively, like a queen with her ferocious guard. Eucaly’s eyes twitched.

“I heard you wanted to talk to me,” Annette said lightly, nonchalant. “What is it?”

“Lady, I did…I committed a terrible crime. I shouldn’t have done it, but…I can’t disobey His Majesty’s command. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, please forgive me.”

Tears filled her miserable eyes, and Raphael’s teeth gritted audibly at this admission of guilt. He looked as if he wanted to tear the woman apart. Gently, Annette stroked his hand.

“So it’s true that it was ordered by His Majesty,” she said, continuing the interrogation. “Do you know why he wanted to kill me?”

“I don’t, I swear! Why would the King tell something like that to me? I just did as I was told, I never asked why.”

“Perhaps,” Annette said. “Except that His Majesty chose slow poison, to ensure that I took a long time to die. Maybe he told you why such a method was necessary. Am I wrong?”

“I don’t, I really don’t know anything! I only did what His Majesty told me to do…Lady!”

Annette had risen, as if she would waste no more time for such nonsense. And it was true; if Eucaly didn’t know anything else, there was no point in lingering. But as she turned away, the doctor screamed with terror.

“I’ll talk! I’ll guess!I’ll tell you everything!! Please, don’t leave me here, my lady…!!!”