I Became the Wife of the Hero Who Killed Me - Chapter 140
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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 140
* * *
After Edwin’s visit, day and night had completely reversed.
It wasn’t that my sleep schedule had changed, so a lifestyle pattern of falling asleep at dawn and waking up late in the afternoon was established in just one day.
‘Is this what the taste of deviation feels like?’
Today I also read books until dawn. They were new publications that Edwin had prepared for me.
How does he know my taste so well—
Even as my eyes were closing from drowsiness, I repeated “just ten more minutes, just a few more pages” several times before finally falling asleep like fainting after the sun had completely risen.
“Move aside! This is His Majesty the Emperor’s order to transport the Former Duchess to the plaza!”
“Do you think we’ll step back obediently?!”
“Madam, Madam! The Imperial army has come!”
How much time had passed?
I opened my eyes wide at the shouting that echoed throughout the prison.
My head was foggy from waking up so suddenly. I couldn’t distinguish whether this was a dream or reality and just blinked my eyes.
Gareth and Stefan were confronting armed knights, and Berry was urgently shaking my shoulders.
At that moment, Edwin’s words came to mind.
‘I’ve discovered the identity of those who framed Elisia as a heretic. The Emperor has recruited some of the chosen ones.’
‘The chosen ones from the Holy Capital?!’
‘Yes, the Emperor intends to make Elisia a heretic using them. Borrowing the form of a heretical trial… But you don’t need to worry about anything. Please trust me.’
Looking at the clock, I had only slept for about two hours.
Being cornered made my mind clear, but my body was heavy like lead from fatigue. Even the simple motion of turning my head made my vision sway.
But even in the midst of this chaos, I steeled my heart.
‘Edwin told me not to worry.’
A heretical trial.
It was a situation I feared even in my dreams.
The Iron Maiden shaking violently with its door closed, the terrible screams echoing from inside, the thick red blood seeping through the floor cracks.
The scene I saw as a child came back vividly.
Yet strangely, I wasn’t afraid.
Having composed myself, I shouted firmly toward the armed knights.
“Everyone stop… Cough!”
My plan to make a grand entrance ended the moment I tried to get up from the bed.
My legs gave out and my knees buckled.
I instantly collapsed and hit my chin on the stone floor.
“M-Madam!!”
Berry, who had been about to join the fight by pulling out an iron bar, hurriedly ran over to support me.
“Are you alright?! You’re bleeding!”
“Ugh…”
The moment I unconsciously touched my chin, my fingertips became sticky with sharp pain.
I wished it had been drool from sleeping—though that wouldn’t have been particularly good either—but unfortunately it seemed my chin had been torn when I fell.
It stung terribly.
But without time to think further, the situation near the stairs became urgent.
“I’ll handle this! Sir Gareth, please escape with Madam!”
“Can you hold out until the end?”
“W-wait!!”
Since prisoners couldn’t possess swords, Gareth and Stefan had no weapons.
Thanks to Berry pulling out an iron bar for them, they were wielding it like a spear, but they were gradually being pushed back by the swarming Imperial army.
Stefan alone wouldn’t be able to hold out for long.
Most importantly, escaping now would actually be a choice that would make things worse.
‘It’s okay. Edgar told me not to worry.’
Only when the situation had reached this point did I realize that I trusted him much more than I had thought.
Like clothes getting wet in a drizzle, I had helplessly crumbled before his pure and direct affection.
‘I’m not usually the type to trust others so naively…’
To think that I, who had distrusted others my whole life, would stake my life on someone’s words.
Supported as I stood up, I walked toward the Imperial army.
“Madam, you shouldn’t come this way!”
“I’m not a criminal and have no reason to run away.”
“But…!”
“Take me away. I only hope that your choice now won’t be shameful before God’s name.”
My boldness instead brought silence among the Imperial soldiers.
Eventually, the enemy commander with a distorted face shackled my wrists.
Then the two guards were shackled for the crime of preventing the arrest, and Berry was also shackled after very strongly insisting that she be taken along too.
* * *
People shocked by the news that a heretical trial would be held immediately flocked to the plaza.
Shortly after, a woman captured by knights appeared.
It was the Former Duchess.
“Oh my goodness…”
“What on earth happened in the prison?”
Everyone stamped their feet in pity.
She was still beautiful and her expression was graceful and dignified like a great noble.
But there were dark shadows under her eyes, her gait was somewhat unsteady, and dried bloodstains remained under her chin.
It wasn’t difficult to guess that she had endured harsh imprisonment.
Moreover, as if the prison hadn’t even provided proper clothes to wear, she was dressed only in a worn robe roughly thrown over a blood-stained white nightgown.
“Stand in the center.”
“Ugh!”
The Former Duchess, pushed by the Imperial army, collapsed weakly on the ground.
“Such unchivalrous bastards…!”
Sighs flowed from the citizens’ mouths at this sight.
Right behind her were three guard knights who appeared to be quite skilled, but they were all bound and couldn’t exert much strength.
“What on earth is happening?”
“Shouldn’t we step forward even now?”
“But there are too many soldiers…”
Soldiers stood surrounding the plaza in a circle.
But they didn’t look like Imperial knights, nor did they seem like low-ranking soldiers either.
Though they covered most of their faces with helmets, the eyes and jaw lines that were partially visible gave off a strong exotic feeling.
‘Could it be that the Emperor even brought in foreign armies to prevent civil unrest?’
Even greater anxiety sprouted in the citizens’ hearts.
Just then, the Emperor appeared in the plaza.
“His Majesty the Emperor arrives!!”
The soldiers surrounding the plaza all prostrated themselves in unison, and the Emperor nodded as if it were only natural as he walked up onto the platform.
People held their breath as they looked back and forth between the Emperor and the Former Duchess.
* * *
I should have read books in moderation.
I knew that impatient personality would bring trouble someday.
After being dragged out to the plaza having stayed up all night, I couldn’t withstand the force pushing my back and ended up falling.
“Madam, are you alright?!”
Seeing me collapsed on the ground, Berry shook off the Imperial Army soldiers and ran over.
She hurriedly helped me up while checking my condition.
After confirming I was unharmed, Berry looked around nervously then carefully showed me her wrist.
“Madam, what should I do? The handcuffs are completely broken.”
“…?”
I looked down at Berry’s wrist with questioning eyes.
The thick chains were indeed split open like paper. It seemed to have happened during her scuffle with the Imperial Army soldiers earlier.
“Uh… good job for now. But try to hide the broken chains by keeping them as low as possible so they’re not visible.”
“Like this?”
Berry did her best, but the more she moved, the more the chains broke apart.
I eventually advised her to just not do anything.
Clank clank—
Gareth and Stefan were straining to try breaking their wrist chains like Berry had.
But it didn’t seem to be working at all, so I decided to just pretend I didn’t see it.
Just then, the Chief Chamberlain who had stepped forward shouted.
“His Majesty the Emperor approaches!!”
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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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