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If her father was dealt with…
Then…
‘Is my father already dead?’
Her heart sank.
A somber voice was heard.
“This girl was likely Leona Bennet.”
They’re probably talking about Maria.
Lady Bennet felt disgusted at herself as for a moment, she was relieved.
Someone else died instead of me, yet I’m relieved.
Despite how she felt, the men’s conversation continued.
“If they had just kept their traps shut, their lives would have been spared from this…”
“Threatening the Emperor, that Baron had a lot of nerve or a thick head.”
“Anyway, let’s head back. It won’t do us much good staying here long.”
“Agreed, it’d be more trouble if we were found out.”
The conversation came to an end as the sound of footsteps grew fainter.
Lady Bennet, who had been shaking inside the closet for what seemed like forever, came out from hiding after the surroundings became dimly lit.
Lady Bennet came to a dazed standstill.
All around her was a nightmarish scene. There were mangled bodies and bloodstains everywhere.
The grisly picture tormented her.
“Ha, ha….”
Anguished groaning escaped Lady Bennet’s lips.
And.
“Aaaaaaghh!”
A grief-stricken scream intermixed with tears rang out.
****
Finally, the whole story was told.
Lady Bennet paused for a long time, still shaking all over after having recounted everything she knew.
“…I see.”
After a heavy silence, each person gave a small nod.
She must have been traumatized by the ordeal.
Filled with empathy, Charlize placed her hand on Lady Bennet’s back.
“For now, stay here.”
“Can I?”
“Of course. You don’t have anywhere else to go, right?”
Charlize answered softly.
“This place is under the Duke’s jurisdiction, so as long as you don’t leave the lodge, you’ll be safe.”
“Guh, uh…”
“Raaa, raaa…”
Beastly cries escaped from Lady Bennet’s lips.
Her throat was choking while her constant tears wet the rug.
Charlize helped Lady Bennet up from her seat.
“I’ll escort Lady Bennet to a room and then come back.”
“Yes, do that.”
The Empress quietly nodded.
After doing so, Lady Bennet and Charlize disappeared upstairs.
Damian looked back at the Duke and the Empress.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’d like to hear from His Highness, the Crown Prince, first.”
“If it were me, I’d act as quickly as possible—before the Emperor finds out Lady Bennet is alive.”
“I agree with that statement.”
When the Empress showed her approval, the Duke’s eyes shone sharply.
“In that case, we should call a meeting with the noble houses right now.”
“I’m going to find a witness who can support Lady Bennet’s testimony.”
“Oh, you mean that chin-grazed knight? Please do.”
The three of them met each other’s gaze and turned around, understanding the gravity of the situation.
As of now, it was a race against time.
****
Charlize helped Lady Bennet onto the bed.
“Do you need something? Can I bring you something to eat?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“If there’s anything I can do to help, feel free to tell me.”
Upon hearing that, Lady Bennet stared blankly at Charlize.
Her narrowed eyes, brimming with so many emotions, trembled.
“I, more than that…Lady Charlize.”
Hesitating as she opened her mouth, Lady Bennet with tightly shut eyes, voiced a line that carried much weight.
“…I’m sorry.”
Her voice sounded as if her windpipe was being squeezed.
There was silence as Charlize took in what was said.
She knew too.
Lady Bennet had to go through a whirlwind of emotions before she could say that.
Charlize could give words of consolation, albeit clumsily, yet she understood one slip-up could further aggravate Lady Bennet’s sorrow.
Instead, Charlize chose to offer Lady Bennet a shoulder to cry on and a tender smile.
“You’re welcome.”
At that answer, Lady Bennet’s expression slowly sank deeper, breaking down entirely.
“Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh…”
*Constant sobbing*
Tears flowed nonstop from her eyes.
Charlize stood by Lady Bennett in silence until she cried her heart out.
****
Damian walked slowly across the hallway.
He was now at the knights’ barracks used by the Emperor’s guard.
Arriving at perhaps an opportune or ill-fated time, the large number of knights suggested they were training.
The knights he met along the hallway, each bent their backs in respect.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
“I see you, Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
Amid the countless greetings, Damian waved his hand lightly.
At first glance, the visit seemed formal.
But his scarlet eyes glistened sharply like blades.
The knights began getting uneasy without realizing it.
‘What is His Highness, the Crown Prince doing here?’
‘He usually doesn’t come here, but…”
That they were the Emperor’s guard further compounded this.
The relationship between the Emperor and the Crown Prince was an open secret to all the people of the empire.
As a result, interactions between the guard and the Crown Prince became almost nonexistent.
What brought about this unannounced visit?
However, Damian’s behavior hinted at no intention of resolving the knights’ puzzlement.
After looking around for a while, Damian narrowed her eyes.
A knight stood at the end of his gaze.
Clink, clink.
The sound of boots hitting the floor resounded continuously.
After a while, Damian stopped in front of this peculiar knight.
The knight had gauze attached to his chin.
“Sir Roman, is it?”
“Yes, Your Highness, but…”
Still stiff, the confused knight nodded slightly.
Damian scanned the knight from top to bottom with his piercing gaze and then…smiled.
It was a befuddling smile.
“You’re coming with me.”
The knight had a knee-jerk reaction and flinched the moment Damian said that.
The knight quickly responded, saying, “ Th-that is impossible.”
“Why?”
“I am guard to His Majesty, the Emperor. I cannot leave my station without His Majesty’s order…”
“Well, are His Majesty’s guards free from murder?” Damian vaguely asked.
That question alone was enough to freeze all the knights in the vicinity.
A silence so cold it could make one’s blood run cold passed.
Murder?!
No one dared open their mouths lest the grievous transgression come out.
‘How did this happen?’
‘I-I don’t know!’
‘Does anyone know anything?!’
The knights desperately began eyeing each other for the slightest reaction.
Among them, only one person moved.
That person was Sir Roman.
“Shit!”
Sir Roman, who had been chewing that profanity in his mouth and spat it out, turned around and tried to make a break for it.
However, his escape was cut short after only five steps.
Damian grabbed Sir Roman by his arm, pinning him to the floor.
“Thwack!”
“Raaaa!”
A suppressed scream erupted from Sir Roman’s mouth.
Gently pressing the knight’s face to the floor, Damian spoke softly.
“Sir Roman, I did not allow you to run away.”
“Ack, Ahh!”
He struggled wildly against the Crown Prince.
Yet he did so in vain. Damian’s iron-like grip didn’t budge.
With another hand, Damian removed the gauze from the pinned knight’s chin.
Sure enough, Sir Roman’s chin had a long fingernail-caused scar.
***
In another place, at the same hour.
The Duke of Rochester was facing the nobles gathered before him.
The nobles had sensed it was something serious and refrained from speaking.
Eventually, the Duke politely addressed them.
“I’m sorry to have you all come here on such short notice.”
Lowering his head, the Duke continued in a bold voice.
“It is a matter so urgent, it couldn’t be helped.”
“For the Duke to issue a council so haphazardly, just what is this matter you speak of…”
“Rather than explaining it, it would be better for you to listen to the source speak.”
Having said that, the Duke opened the door to a small room connected to the conference room they were in.
“Come in, Lady Bennet.”
Flabbergasted, the nobles were wide-eyed at the surprise of an unexpected name.
“La-Lady Bennet?”
“Impossible! She died in the massacre!”
The room was in an uproar as the nobles muttered to each other.
However, the buzzing stopped the moment they saw the woman who entered the conference room.
Notably, when they saw her features.
A pale complexion, a face that had lost weight from immense sorrow.
Even her eyes shook aimlessly with fear.
The woman before them was Lady Bennet, the lady who was said to have been murdered.
“Please, feel free to speak.”
At the Duke’s words, Lady Bennet struggled to say something, opening and closing her mouth as she bit her lips, still heartbroken.
“My family…”
For a moment, a venomous look flickered in her eyes.
She lost everything.
All she had left was her own life.
What was left to fear in her situation?
“…They were massacred by knights sent by His Majesty, the Emperor.”
The resoluteness in her voice shook the people present to their core.
But Lady Bennet’s words were not yet finished.
“The day when the Rochesters’ library was opened, I witnessed His Majesty’s men setting the fire.”
At the colossal statement, all were left stunned, unable to speak.