I Became the Wife of the Hero Who Killed Me - Chapter 127

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#Episode 127

 

* * *

 

While the grand festival mass was in progress, the Grand Cathedral’s kitchen moved busily.

 

A banquet was scheduled to follow immediately after the ceremony ended.

 

“Everyone move quickly! We mustn’t keep the distinguished guests waiting!”

 

“Yes, yes!”

 

It was chaos everywhere with cooking, dividing food onto plates, and running around looking for missing items.

 

But Nazim was different.

 

The cathedral servant pretended to work hard while deliberately making noise and gripped the poison in his chest tightly.

 

‘If I succeed in this job, I can live luxuriously for the rest of my life.’

 

He was a typical wastrel addicted to alcohol and gambling.

 

Though he had gotten this job through a distant relative’s connections, a servant’s salary was just mediocre and nowhere near enough to cover his ever-growing debts.

 

To pay off this massive debt, he had no choice but to aim for one big score.

 

Obsessed with this conviction, he would take his meager salary and rush straight to the gambling house, only to lose it all within an hour, repeating this cycle daily.

 

But last night, as Nazim was leaving the gambling house as usual, a black carriage quietly called him over.

 

The noble lady inside made him a certain proposal.

 

‘Tomorrow at the grand festival banquet, put this medicine in the wine pitcher I designate. I’ll compensate you well.’

 

‘What kind of medicine is this? Don’t tell me it’s poison…’

 

‘Hmm? Tools shouldn’t have thoughts. There are plenty of people I could ask besides you, so if you’re not interested, you may go. You there.’

 

‘No, no! How could that be? And no matter how much you search, you won’t find anyone more suitable than me. If you pay me well enough, it won’t be a difficult task.’

 

‘Don’t worry about that.’

 

The pouch she threw as advance payment contained a hundred gold coins.

 

This alone was more than enough to settle all his debts, and she said if he succeeded, she’d give him three times more.

 

For this much money, he could even sell his soul.

 

Nazim quickly knelt and glanced up at the carriage.

 

Though the noble lady’s face was covered by a veil, the ring on her hand was larger and more magnificent than any he’d ever seen.

 

He could guess that she was no ordinary wealthy person.

 

‘As expected, these high-ranking nobles have no sense of money at all.’

 

When easy money was rolling in, how could he possibly refuse it?

 

When the excited Nazim accepted, the corners of the noble lady’s mouth beneath the veil curved up slightly.

 

‘As soon as you put the medicine in the wine pitcher, escape through the cathedral back gate. There will be a carriage waiting there to help you flee.’

 

‘Flee… you mean to a foreign country?’

 

‘It’s a bottom-feeder life anyway, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be fine to start fresh somewhere else? With the money I’m giving you, you could buy a small territory.’

 

For a moment, the faces of his wife and children flashed through his mind, but they would be better off without a household head like him.

 

He too would escape this miserable life and start anew.

 

‘Only an idiot would refuse such a profitable deal!’

 

Nazim, clutching the medicine, inwardly cheered with delight.

 

But he didn’t know.

 

That the owner of the wine pitcher he would poison was the Empress, and what awaited him wasn’t a carriage to help with his new start, but a carriage carrying an assassin.

 

Awakening from his reminiscence, Nazim once again glanced around nervously.

 

“The mass just ended! Everyone hurry!”

 

“You all start with the pre-meal bread and silver tableware. Hey there, isn’t the food ready yet?!”

 

The head chef had too much to do and seemed to have no time to pay attention to what he was doing.

 

‘The second wine pitcher from the right, he said.’

 

Nazim pretended to prepare wine for the distinguished guests while naturally shaking the powder into the wine pitcher.

 

Then he put the bottle back into his inner pocket.

 

* * *

 

The festival ceremony ended and it was finally time for the banquet.

 

The nobles who had risen from the chapel moved one by one to the banquet hall.

 

Normally this would be the timing for the atmosphere to soften pleasantly, but today there was a strange tension circulating among the nobles.

 

This was because Protestant doctrine had been mentioned during the sermon.

 

Moreover, they said that in the banquet hall, genders would be separated with men and women sitting apart.

 

This too was the Protestant way.

 

“Does His Majesty know about this? Did they get permission in advance, I ask?”

 

“Would the priests have gone crazy and done such a thing on their own…”

 

“Isn’t this being mindful of the Pavia envoys? It’s better to avoid unnecessary friction before the royal marriage.”

 

“Even so, there are limits! Why should we, the Empire’s nobles, follow their ways!”

 

Moreover, even though it was Saint Vincent’s festival day, the Holy Ministers couldn’t even attend.

 

Edwin and I arrived at the banquet hall while listening to the complaints the nobles whispered.

 

At the head table were seats for the direct Imperial Family, with nobles’ seats stretching out long on both sides.

 

“Oh my, look over there. It seems Princess is going to sit at the head table too.”

 

“…”

 

I turned my gaze following someone’s voice passing nearby.

 

Rosalind had lost the right to sit at the head table during religious events when she converted to Protestantism. Nevertheless, she was brazenly occupying the seat next to the Emperor.

 

She ignored not only Orthodox regulations, but even Protestant laws that required seats to be separated by gender.

 

‘It seems she’s really decided to go all out now.’

 

I had already suspected this from her idea of making me take infertility drugs, but seeing it directly with my eyes felt different.

 

The current Rosalind had no brakes, and someone had to stop her rampage before greater damage occurred.

 

Though it was annoying that it happened to be me.

 

‘Should I thank her for removing even my last remaining hesitation?’

 

Actually, there had been no hesitation from the beginning.

 

But since the classics I’d read usually said this before revenge, I tried imitating it once.

 

How many opportunities does one get to personally carry out revenge in life?

 

“Elisia….”

 

“I’m fine, so don’t worry too much.”

 

We needed to part ways now to take our seats, but Edwin couldn’t bring himself to let go of my hand.

 

A few passing elderly nobles looked at us with dim gazes.

 

I gently comforted him as he was reluctant to leave, then turned away first.

 

After all the nobles took their seats, a High Priest who had organized the gathering offered a prayer of gratitude. Finally, the Emperor raised his glass and the banquet began.

 

I pretended to eat while thinking.

 

‘I wonder which of these has the medicine in it….’

 

We had found the servant bribed by Rosalind, but we couldn’t know at what timing he would add the medicine.

 

Of course, those watching him had agreed to immediately notify me if they discovered any suspicious behavior, but even so, we could be too late if we weren’t careful.

 

‘Rather than wait for the poison to come, I’ll go to the poison!’

 

I pretended to drink wine while naturally pouring the medicine I had prepared beforehand into my glass.

 

Now I just needed to wait for the right timing to begin the performance.

 

As I rested my chin on my hand, calculating when would be good, a servant carrying a silver tray quickly approached.

 

This was the person who had agreed to notify Edwin and me if the bribed servant poisoned the food.

 

He naturally set down the food and whispered quietly.

 

“Duchess, this is terrible.”

 

“Did he add the poison?”

 

“Yes, but….”

 

Why was he making such a fuss when this was all planned?

 

I was pretending to listen to the food ingredients with an indifferent expression when I suddenly froze.

 

“The target wasn’t the Duchess. The real target was the Empress.”

 

“…?”

 

“It’s the aperitif.”

 

There were too many eyes watching to talk for long.

 

As the servant turned away, I raised my head.

 

Mariana, sitting at the head table, had been busy taking care of Joseph’s meal and was just about to drink her aperitif.

 

‘No.’

 

I didn’t know how this had happened. But there was no time to think about it.

 

I dropped my glass and shot up from my chair.

 

“Ahhh!!”

 

“…!”

 

With a crash as my chair fell backward, I screamed.

 

The Grand Cathedral was designed to amplify even small sounds. Countless gazes immediately focused on me.

 

Mariana was the same.

 

Confirming that the startled Empress had put down her wine glass, I screamed with relief.

 

“My throat feels like it’s burning! My stomach, my stomach hurts so much…!”

 

“Elisia!!”

 

While the flustered people only looked around nervously, Edwin from the opposite side of the banquet hall understood the signal and hurriedly rose from his seat.

 

Isabella, who had been dining at a nearby table, also rushed over to me urgently.

 

“Elze, are you alright?!”

 

I clutched my stomach and collapsed under the table.

 

Almost simultaneously, Isabella pressed the animal blood pouch she had prepared in advance to my lips and burst it.

 

Cough—

 

The fishy liquid flowed down between my lips.

 

“Oh my goodness, Elze!”

 

“Kyaah…! The Duchess is coughing up blood! Someone, please help!!”

 

Marquess Rufina, who had been sitting next to me, screamed in horror.

 

Grand Duchess Heidelberg, who was unaware of the situation, was also startled by the mention of coughing up blood and jumped to her feet.

 

“Elisia, I’m here! Stay conscious!!”

 

At the same time, Edwin, who had run across the banquet hall, hurriedly lifted me up as I crouched on the floor.

 

Thanks to this, my field of vision rose dramatically, and everyone could see the blood that had spread from my lips to the front of my dress.

 

Anyone could see it was poisoning.

 

After that, chaos broke out as expected.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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