The Seventh Plan. Revenge Done Right. (1)
(T/N : from this chapter onwards, Carl will be henceforth referred to as Prince Carl instead of Young Master Carl.)
After the evening of Charlotte’s somber funeral, the Duchy of DeMancier had been terribly quiet. Up till the afternoon, I could hear a few disturbing sounds as they searched for their absent colleagues, but from the moment when the pitch-black darkness loomed over the sky, I could no longer hear a single voice at all. Only the children had fallen asleep without knowing anything while the adults gathered around and shared their opinions in such soft murmurs.
Servants and maids would soon figure out the people who had vanished from their quarters before they began to whisper the reason they disappeared and how many gold coins would be found in Charlotte’s coffin. And amongst them, those with quick hands and feet would then benefit greatly.
On the other hand, my family and I were discussing the next steps. Our enemy was crystal clear and his purpose could be vaguely grasped, but his plan had been utterly unknown still. His plan, which Charlotte had known of, was supposed to be in the case where she wasn’t to be found out as the culprit. Nevertheless, Count Petrika had already intended to abandon Charlotte right from the start, so he must have planned something else instead.
“Charlotte did say that she was to poison me and take over my place right after I were to commit suicide over the loss of my Theodora. But Count Petrika must have wanted Charlotte’s crime to be revealed either way. In that manner, Mother would then be forced to leave the Duchy of DeMancier.”
The Duchess Dowager, who actually had her bags packed for leaving, nodded elegantly as she sipped her tea.
“Not only would I have to leave, but I also wouldn’t be able to meddle with the Duchy of DeMancier any longer. Then, Mandy, you would have been attacked by Count Petrika once again.”
The tricks and those malicious rumors that he took advantage of only because I didn’t really know much about the culture of the Duchy of DeMancier, the helper who had made the recommendations as well as decisions against myself and the former fiancée who just happened to appear as a candidate for Carl’s escort knight. It wasn’t that difficult to conjecture the person who was behind the attack against me, but the attack had been so subtle and indirect that I couldn’t give any response to.
Did Count Petrika want me to rely on him by attacking me again right after the shield referred to as the Duchess Dowager of DeMancier was gone? Since the Duke and the Knights of DeMancier would spend half of the year on the battlefield, the role of the Duchess here was far more important than that of any noble ladies. When I first became the Duchess, how much trouble I had already suffered just because I wasn’t able to prepare the military supplies for the winter.
After that, Count Petrika had introduced Mrs. Blone at my request. Thanks to her, the Dukedom was operating properly in spite of everything. Although they had been yielded to Count Petrika, the Knights, including Gellerhard himself, left for the war with all the items that got prepared in time and right after returning, they were able to enjoy a banquet full of alcohol as well as meat amidst the warm and cozy castle.
Even if the Duchess Dowager had left due to Charlott’s business and only I were to remain in the castle alone and even if, as the Duchess, I bore the great responsibility of preparing for the war, would I really have reached out to Count Petrika, who had my baby killed, for any sort of help at all?
“Would Count Petrika have plans to kill me then? If he were to poison me and make it up to Charlotte…”
“Don’t say such ominous things! But it does sound like a possibility.”
My mother soon gave a nod even though she was flabbergasted at my words. The fingertips of the Duchess Dowager as she put down the teacup could be seen to be trembling. Gellerhard, who was sitting right next to me, softly gave my hand a tight squeeze.
“Then, fortunately, that seemed to have failed. If the Count had made such a plan, he would have then carried it out before Count Emile’s daughter was even captured…”
“Mother was always by my side and everyone would come to my room often as well. It’s the same with Carl too…”
Besides, there was nothing else that I ever ate alone. The tea that was brewed in the teapot had been shared by everyone who participated in tea time and the food was the same too. My meals tended to disappear right into Carl’s mouth for at least one or two bites whenever I was with him and the main dishes such as that of meat which Carl couldn’t eat were usually shared with the Duchess Dowager or Gellerhard himself.
Having a little jam in my tea had always been a favorite of mine, which Carl and Gellerhard weren’t fond of, but it was the same for my mother.
“Even so, if the Count had the idea of poisoning in mind, there must have been an employee who had already gotten paid with a down payment. Perhaps it would be a good idea to find someone who has recently made a lot of money or initially needed a lot of money among all the people whom you have captured this time.”
He wouldn’t be doing all the dirty work for Count Petrika just like Baron Viette, but he would have a vague idea of how they worked since my father had also done a lot of dirty work alongside them all.
“Is there any possibility of commissioning a professional assassin instead?”
Father shook his head at the Duchess’s question.
“The only people who had been new to the castle, ever since Mandy was pregnant, were Baroness Eran and her children.”
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