I Became the Wife of the Hero Who Killed Me - Chapter 128
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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 128
“Hey, quickly call a physician!!”
“I suspected it, but it really is poisoning. Who on earth would do such a thing…”
The pro-Lombard nobles frantically demanded that the imperial physician be summoned, while several others threw down the food they had been eating with suspicious expressions.
Mariana also shot up from her seat.
“My niece has been poisoned! Lock the cathedral doors immediately and find the culprit!”
I glanced at Rosalind amidst the chaos.
She was alternately staring at me and Mariana with an expression that seemed to ask what on earth was happening.
That expression seemed to say, ‘Mariana was the one who administered the poison, so why is she the one coughing up blood?’
Especially since, no matter how much the dosage was increased, it wasn’t the type of poison that would cause someone to immediately cough up blood like this.
‘Phew, I’ve done everything I can. I’ll have to leave the rest to Edwin and Sir Gareth.’
Fortunately, my quick thinking worked and I managed to prevent Mariana from being poisoned.
I let my arms and legs go limp, pretending to have fainted.
Whether it was the aftermath of staying up all night, drowsiness began to wash over me as soon as the tension was released.
Behind Edwin’s back as he left the banquet hall, the people’s clamoring gradually grew distant.
* * *
Before the meal began.
Mariana had felt uneasy throughout the entire festival ceremony.
She knew Rosalind had a selfish personality, but she never imagined she would go so far as to try to poison Elisia.
The imperial court’s schemes ran so deep that if Rosalind’s target had been herself or Joseph, they would have been helplessly caught, she thought.
She felt a renewed sense of fear.
“Your Majesty, are you alright?”
Perhaps noticing his mother’s anxiety, Joseph, who was sitting beside her, called out to her.
Thinking that she had worried her young son, Mariana quickly relaxed her expression.
“Today’s ceremony was long, so I’m a bit tired. Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
His answer was dignified.
But soon, as if something he wanted to say came to mind, he began rolling his eyes and moving his lips.
Mariana stroked Joseph’s back and whispered.
“Is there something you want to say?”
“Last time, I promised to play hide-and-seek with Sister Elisia, but I haven’t seen her in the palace lately.”
“…”
“Can I play with Sister after today’s ceremony ends?”
Mariana was momentarily speechless.
Elisia had been banished from the court by the Emperor’s arbitrary decision.
But she couldn’t directly tell a mere six-year-old child about Imperial Father’s ruthlessness, so she was hesitating about how to explain when it happened.
The Emperor, who had been listening to their conversation from the side, clicked his tongue.
“How do you educate your child?”
“….”
“No matter how young he is, you must strictly choose the company he keeps. Do you intend to turn the prince into a fool who doesn’t know his place?”
Though he didn’t say more, he clearly disapproved of Joseph growing close to Elisia.
It was obvious fault-finding, but there was nothing good to come from going against the Emperor’s mood.
As Mariana was about to apologize, Joseph, who had been reading the situation, stepped between them.
“I, I did wrong! Please forgive me.”
“Joseph?”
“It’s because I’m lacking. Father, Mother has done nothing wrong.”
Mariana was shocked by her young son’s behavior.
He didn’t even know what he had done wrong… No, in fact, he had done nothing wrong at all.
Because his mother had lived habitually bowing her head, even the child had learned to read others’ moods.
Seeing this, Mariana felt her heart would tear apart.
Finally unable to bear it, she spoke up.
“Your Majesty, there are many watching eyes. It would not be good to raise your voice now.”
“What?!”
“Or do you wish to let everyone hear our conversation? There are already rumors that Your Majesty persecutes your only nephew, and I wonder what others would think if they knew you spoke to Joseph this way.”
It was her first act of resistance since marrying into Baldin.
The one who had failed at child education was not her, but the Emperor. One only had to look at Rosalind to see that.
Mariana steeled her heart and comforted the frightened child.
“Elisia was worried about you. She said you had promised to play hide-and-seek but couldn’t keep the promise.”
“Mother….”
“Since the Lombard mansion is close to the Imperial Palace, it would be nice to visit together with Mother next time.”
She could feel the Emperor’s piercing gaze from behind, but deliberately ignored it.
‘My throat is parched, perhaps from tension.’
She hadn’t even taken a sip of water yet, having been busy taking care of Joseph’s meal first.
It was the moment Mariana naturally picked up her wine glass.
“Aaah!!”
With the sound of a chair toppling over, Elisia’s scream rang out.
Startled, Mariana put down her glass.
‘It’s the signal.’
Elisia’s acting of coughing up blood was truly natural, like the real thing.
But what was more surprising was Duke Lombard.
Though he couldn’t possibly not know this was an act, the Duke’s face turned deathly pale the moment he saw Elisia’s blood.
Even the hands that held her were trembling as if convulsing.
Like someone who was terrified of losing the woman he loved and didn’t know what to do.
‘Is this even possible through acting?’
If even Mariana was surprised, it went without saying for those who didn’t know the situation.
People were so shocked by the Duke’s unprecedented behavior that they couldn’t even suspect this incident was staged.
Anyway, now it was her turn to step forward.
“My niece has been poisoned! Lock the cathedral doors immediately and find the culprit!”
Mariana, who had risen from her seat with a furious expression, commanded next.
“Summon the imperial physician immediately. I will personally oversee this incident.”
“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress!”
“….”
Despite the chaos in the banquet hall, the Emperor only let out an indifferent sigh.
He seemed to think that since Elisia had many enemies from the start, one of them must be the culprit.
It didn’t appear that he knew about Rosalind’s crime in advance.
However, it seemed he no longer had any intention of even pretending to care for his niece. Saying that seeing blood had ruined his appetite, he left first, leaving the people behind.
Just then, the imperial physician arrived.
She briefly bowed to the head table, then reported what she had confirmed.
“Your Majesty the Empress, I have just examined the Duchess of Lombard.”
“What are the results?”
“Poison was detected in the Duchess’s blood. She has definitely been poisoned!”
At the imperial physician’s declaration, the banquet hall that had barely calmed down erupted once again.
“Poison…!”
“Who is it? Who on earth is the culprit?!”
As Mariana tried to calm the anxious crowd, the imperial physician continued speaking.
“However, I’m concerned whether the poison was only in the Duchess of Lombard’s food. Therefore, I would like permission to test all the food placed here for poison.”
“…?”
Mariana narrowed her eyes in puzzlement.
This was not part of the plan.
The imperial physician before her was Mariana’s long-time close retainer, and she had sent her to the scene to help Elisia when the tournament accident occurred.
Since she was a trustworthy person, there was a high possibility she had heard the full story of the incident from Elisia.
‘Is this also Elisia’s idea?’
If so, there was no reason to refuse.
As Mariana was about to accept the proposal, Nigel interjected with a deliberately cautious expression.
“I think it would be proper to handle this matter quietly. Making the incident bigger would not benefit the imperial family’s honor.”
“That’s right!”
Rosalind, who had been awkwardly rolling her eyes, immediately chimed in.
“Sister Elisia has always done many things to earn resentment. Everyone knows that, right? The deeper we dig, the more it will only tarnish sister’s honor.”
“Both Your Highnesses speak correctly!”
“Your Majesty the Empress, please consider what is truly the right path for the imperial family.”
When Nigel and Rosalind stepped forward, even the pro-imperial nobles who had been reading the situation joined in, urging not to escalate the incident.
However, the opposition from other nobles was equally fierce.
Isabella was the first to express her opinion.
“It’s true that the Duchess of Lombard has many enemies. But that’s no different for everyone present here. In a court where all kinds of interests are entangled, would it be possible not to make enemies?”
Since she, who was respected by intellectuals, opened the floodgates first, voices of agreement immediately followed.
“I believe we should conduct a thorough investigation even if the incident grows larger.”
“That’s right! If we downplay the incident for the imperial family’s honor and another victim appears, how could you bear the responsibility?!”
Many people threw down their food in anxiety after seeing Elisia’s blood.
Since everyone expressed extreme unease, even the pro-imperial nobles could no longer raise their voices.
Though they had followed Nigel’s lead, they too felt equally uneasy and anxious deep down.
Mariana, who had suppressed Rosalind’s attempt to rebel again, commanded.
“Test all the food in the banquet hall for poison.”
“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress. I shall obey your command.”
The imperial physician first examined the Emperor’s food. A brief silence passed, but there was no change in the test paper.
Now it was Mariana’s turn.
He applied the test paper in the same manner as before, and the people who had been quietly watching suddenly widened their eyes.
“Po, poison!”
“It really is poison. There’s poison in Her Majesty the Empress’s wine!!”
The test paper had turned black.
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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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