She Became My Friend’s Mother-In-Law - Chapter 112
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 112. Murderer! (2)
“Dowager Duchess!”
Margaret’s piercing scream tore through the Manor.
She collapsed to the floor and pulled Elise’s body into her arms.
“Open your eyes! It’s me! It’s Margaret!”
Her trembling hands fumbled across Elise’s cheek.
But the limp body remained motionless.
The same shock that had claimed Cecilia’s life at twenty-seven.
There was no way the frail Elise could have survived it.
Elise’s face was contorted in terrible agony.
“No… you mustn’t… you can’t do this…”
Margaret’s voice fractured with despair.
The Servants rushed in from all directions.
Some covered their mouths in shock, while others shouted urgently for the Physician.
“What’s happened?”
Cecilia appeared at the far end of the Second Floor Corridor.
She looked down below the Staircase.
“Good heavens!”
At the horrific sight, Cecilia covered her mouth with her hand.
Rosena, who had been standing at the top of the Staircase, trembled violently, her face drained of all color.
“Murderer!”
Still cradling Elise, Margaret stared at Rosena and wailed.
Her face was already streaked with tears.
“No, no… I didn’t…”
Rosena stumbled backward.
Her heart pounded wildly.
A murderer.
She had only been trying to grab Elise.
It was just an accident that happened when she was trying to snatch the medicine bottle.
“That murderer!”
But Margaret’s resentful cry echoed out again.
And the sharp gazes of the crowd turned increasingly toward Rosena.
‘I have to run.’
If she were caught like this, she would face execution just as her father had.
That could not happen.
Rosena spun around and bolted into the Room.
She heard Cecilia’s footsteps pursuing her.
“Rosena!”
“Stay back! Come any closer and I’ll kill this child!”
Rosena roughly seized Jeremy, who lay limp on the Bed.
And immediately, she grabbed the dagger from the side table and pressed it against the child’s throat.
The silvery blade touched tender skin.
Cecilia’s footsteps, which had been rushing into the room, froze.
“Rosena, put the knife down.”
Cecilia raised both hands, her teeth clenched.
Of all times, Evan was away on business today.
Rainer had also left the manor on company matters.
And now Elise had been reduced to this state.
She was the only one who could salvage this situation.
“What you’re holding right now is your own child.”
“Shut up!”
But Rosena’s eyes had already lost all reason.
She was in no state to listen to reason.
“Move aside right now! Unless you want to watch me slit the child’s throat.”
Rosena pressed the blade firmly against Jeremy’s throat.
A thin crimson line appeared across the delicate skin.
“You…”
Cecilia felt as though her breath had stopped.
Wendy and the other maids who had followed retreated, frozen in place.
The Rosena before them now seemed capable of killing even the child she had borne.
“Don’t follow me.”
She backed away while cradling Jeremy in her arms.
She headed toward the staircase at the end of the Second Floor Corridor that led to the Garden.
“Rosena! Give up! It’s already over!”
Cecilia cried out, but—
“Shut up! Leave me alone!”
Rosena instead swung the knife wildly.
The servants screamed and retreated.
“Everyone, stand back!”
Rosena gritted her teeth and thrust the blade forward.
One more step and she would be outside the manor.
The arm holding Jeremy tensed with effort.
“Whimper…”
She felt Jeremy’s small body trembling in her embrace.
In that moment, Rosena’s calculation became clear.
‘Taking him and running will only be a burden.’
She would have to hide from people’s eyes.
If the child cried, she would be discovered immediately.
And now, surrounded by all these people—
she needed a way to escape.
Rosena’s eyes twisted with fury.
“Ugh! Take this brat!”
She hurled Jeremy toward Cecilia with all her strength.
Screams erupted from the crowd.
The child’s light body cut through the air as he flew.
“Jeremy!”
Cecilia threw herself forward.
My heart lurched, but there was no time for anything else.
I stretched my arms out desperately.
‘I can’t let him fall!’
Fortunately, I managed to catch Jeremy in my arms.
Thud.
As Jeremy collided with my chest, my breath caught for a moment.
But I tightened my grip and quickly pulled the child close.
I gasped for breath as I looked down at him.
“Jeremy! Are you alright?”
Jeremy couldn’t even cry—he simply trembled uncontrollably.
Crimson blood seeped from a shallow wound on his neck.
Cecilia immediately pulled out a handkerchief and pressed it firmly against the wound.
It felt as though I myself had been wounded.
While I checked on Jeremy’s condition,
“The murderer is escaping!”
Leaving someone’s cry behind,
Rosena bounded down the Staircase two steps at a time.
The cold night air lashed against her face.
Her skirts billowed roughly in the wind.
Once her feet touched the ground, Rosena ran without looking back.
“Get out of my way!”
“Oof!”
Rosena shoved the Servants patrolling the Garden aside roughly.
They stumbled and fell without even understanding what was happening.
But Rosena did not stop.
She was determined to sweep aside anything that stood in her path.
“Seize her!”
She heard others chasing after her from behind.
But the distance between them was already widening.
Rosena gritted her teeth.
‘Who would think I’d be captured like this? I can’t end it this way. Never…’
Rosena bit her lip hard.
And soon she vanished into the darkness beyond the Garden.
* * *
Elise Hays died instantly where she stood.
When Cecilia returned after laying Jeremy in his bedroom.
The servants had already covered the corpse with white cloth.
Beside it, Margaret wailed and thrashed about.
“Dowager Duchess! You cannot leave us like this! Dowager Duchess!”
….
“No! This cannot be! She cannot have passed! Dowager Duchess! Please, open your eyes!”
At the ghastly sight, everyone fell silent.
Not a soul dared speak, swallowing only shallow sighs.
Cecilia too watched in silence.
Elise Hays.
A woman who carried royal blood and had always stood at the pinnacle of power and society.
Yet her end was unbearably agonizing and hollow.
Who could have imagined she would meet such a pitiful fate?
‘It was all her own karma, after all.’
Cecilia’s gaze lingered briefly upon the cloth-covered corpse.
Then the servants who had chased after Rosena returned, hesitant and uncertain.
“Did you capture Rosena?”
“My apologies, Duchess. The night obscured our vision, and she was so swift that we lost her.”
Ha.
A short sigh escaped Cecilia’s lips.
Using her own child as a shield to escape.
And ultimately casting the child away.
But anger was a matter for later.
“Report this to the Guard at once. We must apprehend Rosena, even if we must issue a warrant for her arrest.”
Yes!
“Preserve the Dowager Duchess’s remains carefully. They will be needed for investigation.”
Yes, madam.
The servants carefully moved the corpse.
Margaret sat collapsed, her mind utterly vacant.
“Dowager Duchess….”
The voice of Elise asking her to fetch medicine moments before seemed to echo in her ears.
Her mistress, always so dignified and composed, had become a cold corpse overnight.
Having devoted her entire life to serving Elise, standing faithfully at her side.
Margaret felt as though her entire existence had crumbled to dust.
“This cannot be. This is impossible….”
Margaret murmured vacantly, her fingers fumbling across the floor.
Yet no one approached her.
The others avoided her gaze and quietly withdrew from the room.
Within the Manor, a deep and heavy silence descended.
For a long moment, only her fractured voice echoed through the emptiness.
* * *
The next day, wanted posters bearing a crimson seal were plastered across every Town Square, city gate, and shop bulletin board throughout Brisen.
「First-Degree Murder Suspect—Public Manhunt」
Name: Rosena Hays
Status: Spouse of the Viscount of House Hays
Distinguishing Features: Red hair, petite stature, slight and lean build
Reward: 1,000 Crown
Anyone who sights this individual or possesses relevant information is urged to report immediately to the Brisen Guard.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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