Surviving as the Wife of the Swordsmanship Clan’s Troublemaker - Chapter 129

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

Chapter 129

“So what is it you want from me?”
I asked carefully, determined not to provoke his displeasure.
‘Since things have come to this, I’ll uncover who you are, what power you possess, and what your weaknesses are.’
Instead, I steadied myself with utmost composure.
If I couldn’t die freely anyway, I would extract their secrets. I had promised to save Docheop and his Family. If I abandoned that vow and disappeared, there would be no reason for my possession in the first place.
“Lara.”
Auriel brushed his hand across my face, then spoke with evident displeasure.
“I wish I understood why your soul is fractured.”
My soul is fractured?
‘Has he discovered that I’m not originally Hallara?’
Who exactly was he?
I understood he was no mere human.
‘Could Johannes possibly be… no, that couldn’t be.’
But could he manifest in human form?
His gaze held an unfathomable intensity that seemed to constrict my breath. When I averted my eyes, his gaze shifted elsewhere as well.
“An intruder has arrived. Lara, you may return now.”
​
***
​
After Hallara was dragged away by the Northern Empire’s Knights.
It was Francesca who sought out Johannes’s room.
She entered the room under the guidance of a Northern Empire Knight.
A sharp-featured face came into view.
His complexion was perfectly healthy—impossible to believe this was a patient who had teetered on death’s door after drinking Black Death poison. He even appeared to be in exceptionally good spirits.
Francesca felt wonder and gratitude anew toward the Doctor Casio’s abilities, gesturing for the Maids she had brought to enter. The ornate carriage they pulled contained rare teas and the finest delicacies.
“Your Highness Auriel.”
She bowed deeply, setting aside her pride to offer the utmost sincerity in hopes of placating the Crown Prince’s fury.
“Though I understand your body has not yet fully recovered, I have presumed to visit you.”
“It is indeed presumptuous.”
He replied in an indifferent tone, and Francesca made her request respectfully.
“I earnestly hope you will enjoy the banquet we have prepared and find it in your heart to forgive us.”
It was a plea to quietly resolve this sudden assassination attempt without further antagonizing the Crown Prince.
Johannes looked down at the bowing Francesca and nodded readily.
“Very well.”
At this unexpectedly gracious response, Francesca’s face flushed with both bewilderment and relief.
“I shall not press the matter of this grave crime against the Imperial Family.”
“I am grateful for your mercy, Your Highness.”
“However.”
Johannes’s pupils warped in a grotesque arc.
“Hallara. I shall take that woman with me. To the Northern Empire.”
“…What? That cannot be!”
Francesca’s face drained of color as she cried out urgently. Johannes twisted his lips and shrugged his shoulders.
“Then there’s no help for it. I shall expose every detail of the crime of attempting to assassinate the Imperial Family according to imperial law. Even so, there’s no avoiding a trip to the Northern Empire. There will be prolonged and brutal interrogations. Whether that delicate frame can endure it, or how it will ultimately be torn apart—I cannot guarantee even that.”
“Your Highness! Is there not a clear lack of evidence? That my daughter-in-law suddenly administered poison makes no sense circumstantially. Moreover, one cannot become a criminal merely for being present at the scene!”
Francesca countered desperately. But Johannes burst into a loud, bitter laugh.
“It makes no sense? Then do you mean to say I threw away my own life and drank the deadly poison myself? How would I know whether there was someone here capable of treating me? Are you saying I committed madness? Madam.”
It was an accusation of attempting regicide alongside insulting the Imperial Family. Francesca’s words caught in her throat.
“Furthermore, you said there was no evidence. My guards have already discovered poison identical to what harmed me in Hallara’s room.”
Of course, it was a blatant lie he had fabricated.
“That cannot be! Do you have evidence that the poison belonged to my daughter-in-law?”
“Do you have evidence that it did not?”
Johannes countered with ease. At those words, Francesca realized this was all contrived. And sensing that he knew she understood, he leaned back slowly and asked.
“I hear the woman was a commoner.”
“Why do you ask that?”
“Do you truly know what that woman was doing before she entered the Bloodmere Domain?”
At his barbed mockery, Francesca’s pupils trembled violently.
She knew Hallara was rumored to be a seductress in the dominion. That was why she had initially refused to bring her into the family.
But the Hallara she had seen was at least not a woman of poor character. Therefore, what she had done before entering the dominion mattered little. Her fists trembled.
“…What exactly is your relationship with Hallara that you would do this?”
Francesca demanded, her voice tinged with suspicion.
“Why, the moment you arrived at this castle, did you insist on poisoning none other than my daughter-in-law? First, clarify that reason.”
At that question, Johannes’s face, which had been composed, suddenly hardened with terrifying severity. It was the moment Francesca flinched at the sinister gleam in his eyes.
He leaned abruptly toward Francesca’s ear and whispered softly.
“If you do not wish to see your entire family burn to ash because of Hallara, you would do well to obey my will. Madam of Bloodmere.”
“Your Highness…! What do you—”
“That woman.”
He whispered with a sneer in his voice.
“Is Brinihanta.”
Francesca’s breath caught sharply.
Brinihanta.
Mere association meant annihilation.
It was then that Francesca, seized by shock and confusion, staggered and collapsed.
“Ho.”
Johannes’s pupils suddenly turned toward the castle gate beyond the window. A fierce and savage aura cutting through countless demons, rushing forward with mad intensity.
Docheop had reached the gates of Bloodmere Castle.
Sensing that aura, Johannes let out a cold sneer.
“So there is a reason they wish to destroy Bloodmere first, after all.”
He extended his hand lightly toward the empty air.
In an instant, the sky beyond the window began to crack grotesquely, as if glass were shattering.
A colossal gate to the Demon Realm, swirling with blood-red energy, yawned open with a sickening sound.
​
***
​
At that very moment.
I, who had been dragged back to my room by the Knights after finishing the meeting, came to an abrupt halt.
“Huh….”
The Northern Empire’s Knights who had been gripping both my arms suddenly staggered, and as if by prior arrangement, they crumpled to the floor one after another. Soon, the faint sound of snoring reached my ears.
“What?”
Startled, I was about to stumble backward when someone suddenly burst forth and seized my wrist.
“It’s me.”
Before my astonished eyes stood Elise. Fine powder was scattering from her fingertips.
“Lady Elise? Did you put the Knights to sleep?”
“Yes. So stop wasting time and come with me now. My magical gate isn’t fully restored yet, so I can’t teleport us all at once, but I’ll find a way to get you out of this Castle at least.”
Elise, her expression grave, urgently pulled me along.
“Lady Elise, wait….”
“I know you’re not the kind of person who would commit such a crime as poisoning.”
Elise cut me off decisively, her eyes shining with unwavering, steadfast trust, devoid of any jest.
“I want to repay you for the meals you’ve made for me. So don’t be stubborn and let’s go now. Once we escape, I’ll find a way to prove your innocence.”
At Elise’s earnest plea, I stopped in my tracks.
This wasn’t how I’d hoped to receive help, but at least my effort in cooking for her had borne fruit.
I smiled with gratitude and offered Elise, who was gripping and pulling me firmly, a soft and warm smile.
“Thank you so much for believing in me, Lady Elise.”
“Hallara. We don’t have time for this.”
“No. I won’t run away. If I flee from here, it will be as though I’m admitting to my crime.”
I gently grasped the hand that held my wrist and pleaded earnestly.
“If you stay here, you’ll really die! From what those Northern Empire Knights said, they’re planning to pin the assassination charge on you for real!”
“That may be true, Lady Elise.”
“How can you be so calm about this!”
“If you truly wish to help me, I ask that you trust Lord Docheop’s words completely and support him to the very end.”
“But you’ll be in immediate danger….”
“And.”
I met Elise’s gaze directly with unwavering eyes and spoke with conviction.
“Please complete the gate. Lord Helbeorn will likely bring more magical stones soon. When he does, please—make it as quickly as possible.”

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