The Seventh Plan. Revenge Done Right. (2)
Baron Eran was one of the vassals of the Duke of DeMancier and his wife also gave birth to a baby around the same time as mine, so she had eventually gotten chosen as Theodora’s nanny. She would not have been a professional assassin, although she was left in disgrace after Theodora’s death.
“If you are not allowed to enter the castle under the disguise of a new person, the only way then will be to break in from the outside…”
My father slurred his words as he looked at Gellerhard who was holding onto my hand tightly before he raised his head slightly and spread his chest wide. Indeed, there was the feeling of intimidation from being the strongest knight in the whole country.
Gellerhard had, of course, been very strong, but the knights whom he led were always made up of the best as well since they had always been on the battlefield. During the winter, when such people were staying, the Duchy of DeMancier would be utterly invincible.
“At this point, we can safely say that the assassination attempt on Mandy is now over.”
Charlotte couldn’t have killed me openly since there was no one to blame her for it. Gellerhard sighed in relief right next to me.
“However, we still need to be careful about the poisoning, which can be disguised as suicide. Therefore, it would be good to keep some people around just like right now.”
The words that soon followed made Gellerhard’s body become tense once again. I nodded at my father’s words and the Duchess Dowager offered me an escort in return. He, too, had no reason to refuse, so he nodded his head as well.
“Now, how do you think Count Petrika will turn out later on?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. Hah. Count Emil’s daughter had died due to pneumonia and the Duchess Dowager is still by your side. Of all the plans that he made, only one had come true…”
“Theodora’s death.”
“Okay, then. Perhaps the Count hasn’t known that we have the evidence, but at least, he would have already realized that we suspect him of being behind all of this…”
What would it be like if I only had the conviction that Count Petrika was behind the murder of Theodora, but no evidence had been found at all? Even without the attestation, Charlotte would have insisted that Count Petrika had instigated her anyway. If I tried to interrogate Count Petrika with a very dubious witness who would certainly commit a great crime, I would have been broken at all costs.
“Anyway, you have been the one who raised the Prince and in fact, Mandy, you are the current Duchess as well… Even if he did something that is just irreversible like this to you…”
Father’s words soon grew less. My father, who really loved all four of his children, was not able to understand Count Petrika, who had behaved harshly towards the woman whom he should have been grateful to for raising his only grandson. And to top it off, what if that woman were to abuse his only grandson instead—wouldn’t that be a sting to put in front of his eyes? Fortunately, I wasn’t that kind of person and I had raised Carl with such overflowing love until now. Yet, I still couldn’t understand Count Petrika’s attitude at all.
“This will not be the end yet—for sure.”
Everyone agreed with what I had said, but none of them could really guess what Count Petrika would eventually decide to do. The answer to our lingering questions was Margaret, who had returned home from work just a few months earlier.
[ My kind friend, Amanda.
Please do understand that this letter to which I am only sending after such a long time is simply a lump of mess.
Count Petrika had stated that you tried to poison Prince Carlos while saying something that was outrageous and quite difficult for me to write.
They are currently gathering some opinions that he, the maternal grandfather, instead should have been the one to protect the Prince as the Count of Petrika.
Amanda, I know very well that the Prince is simply happiest with you.
My husband won’t ever be joining that stupid kind of thing.
The Count had queried this issue to Baron May as well.
Missing the smiles of both Amanda and Prince Carlos,
Margaret. ]
*
Baroness May said that whenever Count Petrika had asked about Carl, she would naturally respond to it. Baroness May, who ultimately questioned what was wrong with that, had a pink pearl earring embedded in her ear.
“Count Petrika is the Prince’s maternal grandfather too… so, he must have been worried about his little grandson in many ways. I thought that it would be okay to let him know about the Prince’s health and growth. Still, I didn’t tell him about the Duke’s circumstances or anything like that.”
Just as though she was talking about it according to her own behavior, she raised her right hand and began to fiddle with her earring.
“You get the riches just as well though.”
At my sarcasm, she lowered her hand from her ear angrily at once like she was suddenly on fire. Thanks to that, I could clearly see the brilliant pink hue of her pearls. Since pearls had originated from the sea, they were actually rare treasures in the far North.
“This—this was given to me by the Count for my hard work of taking care of the Prince.”
She raised her chin again and spoke confidently, but her voice was rather unconvincing. I let out a big sigh and the Duchess Dowager’s cold words collected together to reprimand the Baroness.
“Since the baby whom you have been looking after is a child of DeMancier, you should be paid for the trouble you sustain from the DeManciers then.”
Baroness May’s face instantly turned white at the words of the Duchess Dowager. In fact, as Baroness May had just said, the child’s relatives on his mother’s side could give the nanny a gift for her trouble, but still, the child’s health condition and growth process were reported without the knowledge of the paternal family at all. That was a bit too much. Plus, the Duchess Dowager had drawn a line by saying that Carlos was solely a DeMancier’s child and the fact that he didn’t even have to pay anything for the trouble.
Want to read more chapters and support us? Please consider becoming a patron to read up to 7 chapters in advance!
