The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 70

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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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【Chapter 70】

 

“The lady has left?”

 

“The lady left the mansion without saying a single word to us…”

 

The people of Novantium confirmed Rianel’s absence only when evening had nearly arrived.

 

Soon Asil would return from work, so they went to her room to ask about her dinner intentions, only to find no one there.

 

Even Rianel’s few belongings had completely disappeared, confirming to them that this wasn’t a simple outing, and they fell into deep despair.

 

But none of them suspected Hulbert.

 

Hulbert hadn’t openly rebuked Rianel in front of others.

 

“Perhaps she thought our ducal house was a hopeless place and left?”

 

Then someone proposed a hypothesis.

 

‘That makes sense!’

 

Everyone agreed.

 

Since Joseph had been embezzling the ducal house’s assets for decades, the scale was considerable.

 

Of course, considering the wealth of House Novantium, that amount of loss was nothing more than a speck of dust.

 

‘What she figured out at a glance, we failed to notice for decades, so she might have thought this was a house full of completely incompetent people…’

 

Perhaps Rianel was a two-eyed monkey who first came to a village of one-eyed monkeys, and they were a group that didn’t know they had been living as one-eyed all along.

 

‘But is that our fault?’

 

Arms naturally bend inward, and humans are animals that justify their own mistakes.

 

‘We weren’t the ones who embezzled!’

 

‘All of this is because of that Joseph bastard who got greedy even after making it big!’

 

This was why they went to find Joseph, who was locked in the underground prison.

 

Joseph, who thought his life was over and was waiting for the day he’d be sent to the labor camp, shed tears of injustice when the servants suddenly swarmed him and grabbed him by the collar.

 

“Why are you doing this! What did I do! What? That woman left?”

 

Then at the news that Rianel had left, he brightened up.

 

Every time he saw Rianel, who had exposed his embezzlement in detail, he felt like he was being dissected alive.

 

That woman had disappeared from the mansion!

 

“Is that really true, gah!”

 

The price for showing his joy came immediately.

 

“B-but why is that because of me?”

 

I’m locked up in prison so I couldn’t do anything!

 

“That woman didn’t even come this way!”

 

Of course, Joseph had cursed Rianel from prison.

 

But that’s something any human could do, isn’t it?

 

Moreover, even if she knew this fact, Rianel would say ‘Curses have no possibility of realization and are inefficient acts that only cause emotional waste,’ and she wasn’t someone who would be frightened by such things.

 

“Think carefully. There must be someone that woman met last. That person is probably the cause.”

 

Naturally, the servants knew the correct answer.

 

‘What ridiculous slander.’

 

They exchanged glances with each other and began kicking Joseph.

 

“Is this old fool trying to sell out his master again to save his own skin?”

 

“How can a person be so consistently shameless!”

 

“Ow, ow!”

 

Joseph became deeply sorrowful.

 

How could he know that the last person Rianel met was Hulbert?

 

However, humans tend to show ingenuity when pain and oppression are applied.

 

“Yes, yes! It is because of me! So I’ll solve it! If you release me, I’ll bring the lady back—”

 

The servants weren’t competent enough to detect Joseph’s embezzlement, but they weren’t incompetent enough to fail to see through his scheming.

 

“Stop talking nonsense!”

 

“What kind of lie that wouldn’t even fool a child!”

 

“Keh!”

 

As expected, this was too obvious.

 

Though it was a scheme he pulled while prepared for pain, it wasn’t painless, so Joseph trembled all over.

 

Then a commotion was heard from upstairs and a servant came running down.

 

“What are you all doing here! The lady has returned!”

 

“What, the lady?”

 

“Is that really true?”

 

“Why would I lie about something like this? If you don’t want to get scolded later for poor hospitality, come out quickly.”

 

“Yes, we should.”

 

The servants hurriedly left the underground.

 

The empty underground.

 

Joseph, left alone, couldn’t understand the situation.

 

‘So why did I get beaten!’

 

* * *

 

The servants came up to greet Rianel, then screamed when they saw their master’s injury.

 

It wasn’t just because of the arrow embedded in Asil’s calf.

 

The problem was his behavior.

 

“Ugh…”

 

The man who hadn’t changed expression even when an assassin’s blade pierced deep into his abdominal cavity was now groaning with a pale face and burying his face in Rianel’s nape.

 

“Q-quickly this way…”

 

The servants didn’t know this was Asil’s act. To see through it, one would need to be like Roberts, who had been through all kinds of hardships both inside and outside the ducal house.

 

Joel, the ducal house’s physician, was the same, and he gasped as soon as he saw Asil.

 

‘Seeing that he can’t walk properly, the crossbow must have been poisoned!’

 

Joel supported Asil’s other shoulder, the one not being supported by Rianel, and moved him to his room.

 

After laying Asil on the bed and examining the wound, Joel was shocked.

 

“This is incredible…!”

 

Hulbert, who had rushed over in a panic hearing his grandson was injured, was startled by Joel’s reaction and asked.

 

“Is the wound that serious?”

 

“No, it’s because this is the first time I’ve seen such perfect first aid.”

 

Hulbert twisted his eyebrows.

 

‘Just because of that?’

 

“The most common mistake made in the field is pulling out the arrow and creating excessive bleeding. But the master fixed the arrow well with cloth instead of removing it. This follows the basics of first aid, preventing the arrowhead from going deeper and worsening the condition.”

 

Only then could Hulbert also admire it.

 

When Joel said Asil would heal without aftereffects thanks to that perfect treatment, gratitude toward Rianel welled up.

 

Contrary to his personal feelings, she was only doing things that benefited the ducal house at every moment.

 

“In a month, there should be no major problems with daily life.”

 

It was a recovery period considering that Asil was a healthy adult male.

 

“Is there anything special to be careful about?”

 

“At the current stage, you must be most careful of infection, and you should also guard against the wound reopening or bleeding recurring from vigorous movement. And…”

 

Joel, who was about to continue listing precautions, made eye contact with Asil.

 

He was constantly glancing at Rianel and sending some kind of signal.

 

Joel noticed the meaning and smiled freshly to himself.

 

With such obvious hints, Joel wasn’t ignorant enough not to know where his master’s heart lay.

 

“Since movement will be inconvenient for a while, it would be good to receive assistance from others during recovery.”

 

And.

 

“If possible, it would be best to have someone like this young lady as a caregiver—someone with medical knowledge who is calm in all situations and can provide stability to the patient.”

 

Satisfied with his physician’s customized service, Asil slipped jewelry into his sleeve.

 

He deserved to receive this.

 

Just as Joel was about to examine the jewelry he had gathered in his arms.

 

His sleeve was firmly grabbed.

 

“Providing money or goods for private purposes is a clear illegal act.”

 

Hulbert was dumbfounded.

 

‘Normally, shouldn’t she be angry about his scheming?’

 

Seeing Rianel set aside personal feelings and recite dry legal provisions, he couldn’t help but be amazed.

 

‘She’s truly ruthless!’

 

* * *

 

Nevertheless, Rianel remained by Asil’s side.

 

Just a few days ago, Rianel had been in the bed with Asil beside her.

 

Now their positions were reversed.

 

Asil watched his expressionless master, reading her mood. He could tell she was feeling low.

 

“Did I make you uncomfortable by forcibly holding you back?”

 

“No.”

 

Rianel calmly denied it.

 

“I was planning to provide nursing care anyway.”

 

Rianel had a smaller range of emotions than others, but she wasn’t completely emotionless.

 

She had enough conscience not to abandon someone who was injured protecting her.

 

“Then why…”

 

“It’s because of this.”

 

Rianel held up the documents she had secured from the orphanage.

 

Since there had been a fire, half of the documents were burned away, but some parts remained.

 

As scholars are the type who enjoy forming hypotheses through reasoning from small clues, Rianel had found the answer.

 

“Based on the medication records and progress reports being connected, it’s presumed that the Temple conducted illegal experiments.”

 

At the same time.

 

Hulbert was pacing in front of Asil’s room.

 

‘I still can’t trust this.’

 

Young men and women are supposed to laugh just from making eye contact.

 

Not to mention Rianel, but Asil only knew how to scheme and didn’t know how to romance, which worried him.

 

‘Maybe I should take a little look.’

 

Hulbert, who had approached thinking he might be able to help.

 

Was horrified to see Rianel coldly reciting words like ‘death’, ‘side effects’, and ‘experiments’.

 

Even a military officer giving a battle report would probably speak with more emotion than that.

 

‘Is this really a relationship with potential?’

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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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