The Seventh Plan. Revenge Done Right. (4)
I softly added with acceptance to the fact that Carl had been sick.
“Yes. He was. However, it is truly common for young children, like the Prince himself, to get sick all of a sudden. Anyone who has ever had a child will absolutely know of this fact.”
Men who simply deferred childrearing to their wives and nannies would be unaware of it. There was a beat of silence once again and Gellerhard exhaled heavily through his nose as if he had been terribly displeased. The room was so quiet that I could clearly hear his snort.
“Are you claiming that Carlos is in danger just because he was sick once? Count Petrika?”
When he asked again with a snort, the Count insisted once more yet through someone else’s mouth.
“There is a rumor saying that the fever of such unknown cause was actually an attempt to poison Carlos instead.”
“Really? Who would even dare to harm Carlos?”
In response to my question, there was not a single man who burst out in excitement and said, ‘wasn’t it you who tried to poison him?’. Instead, they all looked at a single man who was sitting at the Round Table. Even Count Petrika’s gaze was directed at him. A sole man with a slightly grayish beard held his head slightly upwards.
“Recently, I heard there’s an accusation that a diabolical woman has been trying to harm the poor Prince.”
“Is that so? Who is that woman then?”
At my question, the man instantly looked at Gellerhard and spoke out.
“If the Duke were to promise that there would be no retaliation against the accuser and that he would protect the accuser—if you were to promise me that, I’d like to read the accusation written by the accuser itself.”
A young man who appeared to be his attendant held up the box politely with both hands. A letter of accusation must have been contained in that box that looked like it had already been lifted up. It was something that Charlotte did before and I became curious as to what might have been written on it and what had been put against me.
“Count Decca. The things that you’ve been doing have been pretty nosy since a while ago. Shall I cut the Count’s tongue off and read the accusation myself instead?”
“How could the Duke offer to do such a confidential thing? I will read it myself.”
The man who was seated to my right, who had given me his seat at Gellerhard’s cold words, soon helped out. Count Decca’s face looked to be full of confusion. He glanced at Count Petrika as if he was trying to ask for help from a few of them, but everyone turned away from his gaze. And unlike them all, I held out a warm hand instead.
“Gellerhard. It’s all for Carlos, so what of it? If someone were to try and harm Carlos, we must absolutely catch him.”
At my words, Gellerhard nodded his head. He pursed his lips and let out a snort of anger before responding to Count Decca.
“I will guarantee the safety of Count Decca and the accuser. However, if you point out the wrong person, you will not be able to escape the punishment. And yes, if both you and the accuser are incapable of identifying the culprit of the attempted poisoning of Carlos properly, I will then have you punished in the same way as the attempted murder of the Prince.”
“That—”
As his words got cut off, he turned his head to the man who was currently sitting to his right and continued to ask.
“If someone tried to murder the Prince within DeMancier itself, what punishment would he then face?”
“If you are a noble, your title and estate will be confiscated while your entire family will be beheaded.”
“Okay. I should be prepared to receive such punishment and point out the culprit. Now, go ahead and read the indictment.”
If I were Count Decca, I would have immediately jumped out at this point since I would have sensed that something was wrong, but he didn’t make a stop. It was obviously impossible without strong convictions about the identity of the accuser and to what he was accusing or even the belief that someone would have spared him if he did this. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter at all. I had never tried to harm Carlos, so the one whose head would be blown off would clearly be Count Decca himself.
Count Decca cleared his throat once before he began talking about how long his family as well as his ancestors had been the faithful vassals of the Duke of DeMancier for generations. It was a fairly old family as I had heard, but it was really unfortunate. The ancestor of Count Decca, who was said to have saved Gellerhard’s great-great-grandfather at the cost of his own life, must be weeping in his grave by now.
Bang! The Round Table grew absolutely galvanized and cut off Count Decca’s long introduction.
“The letter of accusation.”
Gellerhard did not lengthen his speech at all. Count Decca tossed a complaint at his words and kicked the Round Table with a very annoyed face. It seemed that he wanted to imprint his loyalty by unraveling his past with the DeMancier family in every single detail…
“I-I got this accusation letter just a few days ago. Baroness Eran is the accuser. She is a weak woman as well as a mother of two and she can’t stand it any longer.”
“Baroness Eran…”
She was Theodora’s wet nurse. It was an unexpected accuser and my face hardened in response. Count Decca explained who Baroness Eran was before he eventually read the accusation.
“Baroness Eran. She is the hostess of Barony Eran, which is just next to mine, and has been known as a very virtuous lady. She was the nursemaid of the Duchess when the Duchess of DeMancier had given birth and because of that, we were able to witness all sorts of secret goings within the Duchy.”
The Count looked at the faces of those who were seated at the Round Table and said so. A few of them nodded slightly in agreement.
Want to read more chapters and support us? Please consider becoming a patron to read up to 7 chapters in advance!
