The Sixth Plan. To Know Thy Enemy. (4)
“What can I do for you?”
“Please cancel that public execution. And do let others know that Charlotte’s innocence has already been revealed. Theodora—it was an accident, so please let them know that.”
As I barely spoke up while swallowing my tears, Gellerhard’s hand caressed my shoulder as if it was a means of comfort. The Duchess Dowager accepted my request without blinking an eye even though it was about reversing her own decision, which would have been done in public.
“Will that be enough?”
“Please also let them know that Charlotte, who has been tormented in the basement, got very sick and is currently recuperating ever since.”
Did she guess what I was just about to do? The dungeon was literally an underground prison and it had been the filthiest place in the whole castle. Moreover, it was cool in the summer and would be extremely cold in the winter since it had been underground. She might have already caught a cold since she was a lady of a certain County, who had always tucked in a warm place, as she had to spend several hours there. And in the North, where winter reigned completely, the cold was extremely severe.
There were many cases where a cold would soon develop into pneumonia and the victim then eventually ended up dead.
“Of course, my dear. Please tell me if you need anything else or more.”
The Duchess Dowager slowly nodded her head in agreement. Now, Charlotte’s fate would soon be depended on what she was currently holding on to.
* * *
For the past several hours, the news that Charlotte was the culprit had been circulating in public affairs and now, Charlotte’s innocence had been established instead. I, the Duchess, caught on to her as she had just about to leave and since I felt sorry for her, I immediately brought her back from the dungeon—only to realize that the poor lady was already sick with such shock.
In many ways, it was the story of a fall in the authority of the Duchess Dowager, but she had calmly accepted that kind of disgrace in response. Charlotte, who only knew the fact that her innocence was revealed as she got released, had been taken care of by the maid in the bath. As she was finally feeling relieved of her hours of exhaustion, I tried to calm my mind on the other hand.
Could I face Charlotte while keeping my calm?
‘Amanda, I’m so sorry about the child.’
Her hateful face, which had been painted over with such a pitiful expression, immediately burned hot as I recalled it. A single word—regret. Just as she didn’t feel sorry for me at all, I would then respond with something against her that I wouldn’t feel sorry for. If I could take revenge against the woman who had hurt both myself and my baby, I ought to do it sweetly even if the evil that I would do to her came back to me in the future.
As my hatred piled up right on top of one another, I instantly grew cold from my stomach. Gellerhard’s hand grabbed a hold of mine before he started fiddling with it.
“Let’s just kill them all.”
Gellerhard wanted to execute Charlotte publicly. The shame and pain that the criminals would feel had been enormous once they were stripped naked in front of a square that would be full of people from all ages and ranks before their limbs were soon tied up to four horses and getting torn to their own deaths. Only those who had committed a crime that was equivalent to treason would be executed in that manner. On top of that, the remaining pieces of the flesh would be hung on the wall and let them be eaten by crows. It was the most painful death ever imaginable, so it had been understandable that Gellerhard wanted such a public execution.
“I will have her killed. Only the method is a bit different, though.”
Gellerhard, who was still making a dissatisfied expression, eventually continued with the changed topic as he nudged his frown between his brows with his fingers.
“What happened to the maid who tried to feed me that weird drink, by the way?”
“I found her, but they said that she had just died this winter.”
“All of a sudden?”
“In a carriage accident earlier.”
“Whose carriage was she hit by? Was it really an accident?”
“Uh… yes, but I’ll find out more about that.”
Gellerhard hesitated at my question. It was clear that he had something else to hide. What was it; tell me quickly—fell across as I kept staring at his face and Gellerhard, who had shifted his gaze away from me as if he was avoiding mine, quickly gave in.
“Oh, damn it. I can’t really hide it. Viscount Bentta is the one who has been digging up the information about that carriage accident.”
“Father?”
It was such unexpected news. Unlike my mother, who had always been attached while taking care of me, I became rather curious about what he was doing during his spare time as he had been a father who only showed his face occasionally… My parents had already known about the strange drinking incident since they heard of it just recently.
“Yeah, I told him to tell me if he found out something for sure and I also told him not to say anything more because you would definitely be worried…”
“What? What else do you have?”
In the meantime, I actually had forgotten, albeit slightly, about the maid, but it seemed that they already made quite a bit of progress in return. It was also during this winter when Gellerhard had returned to the Duchy that he began to pursue the maid who had been driven out after hearing about my story. Had the person behind the previous drink incident known that Gellerhard was still after the maid, there would have been a murder that got disguised as a carriage accident. And usually, murder would always leave some evidence behind.
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