The Isolated Marchioness Just Wants to Make a Living - Chapter 172
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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 172
However, Harrison couldn’t answer her. He had immediately rushed to Valerie.
* * *
In truth, Isabela still couldn’t properly understand that moment.
The Empress Dowager’s old maid who had suddenly appeared.
She had no physical abilities whatsoever, so even if controlled by dark magic, she posed no threat to anyone…
“Back away! You monster!”
What she had suddenly appeared and sprinkled on the Empress Dowager was garlic.
The Empress Dowager, who had been unharmed even by the wolf-dog’s claws, surprisingly stepped back instantly when the garlic was sprinkled.
“Are you coming to your senses? Huh?”
Valerie also couldn’t maintain her balance.
She muttered while collapsed.
“Gar…lic.”
Her voice had no strength at all as she desperately continued speaking.
“From some time ago… you removed garlic from all the food… You wouldn’t even set foot near the kitchen or food storage… You also dislike sunlight…”
Only then did Isabela realize.
At some point Valerie had disappeared from sight, and she must have gone to the kitchen to get garlic.
Then she had rushed at her and sprinkled it.
“I didn’t think much of it then, but suddenly… Ah, that monster, from some point on… started disliking sunlight and garlic, that… suddenly came to mind… I couldn’t bring sunlight, so garlic…”
Then she quietly smiled at Hilberry, who was trembling beside her.
“I… kept my promise, Hilberry. That I would help the Sears siblings once…”
After that, she closed her eyes and lost consciousness.
Harrison hurriedly completed the magic circle and then explained to Hilberry.
“She did take that energy head-on, but since she was only controlled, the side effects won’t be like Elder Brother Alpheus’s. But given her advanced age…”
Hilberry didn’t wail like Brisa. But his one remaining eye was already bloodshot.
“What’s the worst case?”
The old man’s breathing trembled as he asked quietly.
Harrison answered gloomily.
“Even if she regains consciousness, her vitality… will have greatly deteriorated.”
“Does Valerie also need to go to the Magic Tower?”
“Yes.”
Harrison nodded.
“In fact, this is a situation where all the Magic Tower mages need to work together.”
“Then.”
Hilberry’s gaze turned toward the Emperor.
“After she comes out of the Magic Tower, may I take my younger sister to the Western Region, Your Majesty.”
It was in the form of a request, but was practically close to a notification.
“Since the master she swore loyalty to is dead anyway… there’s no need to remain under the Imperial Court any longer.”
Originally, the word “dead” wasn’t an expression that could be used directly about the Empress Dowager.
However, the Emperor didn’t take issue with it.
“Do so.”
Meanwhile, Anais approached.
“Don’t we need to get to the Magic Tower as quickly as possible? Use the Imperial Palace’s exclusive warp. I’ll guide the way.”
“Thank you.”
Harrison nodded while wiping away sweat.
When he chanted the spell once more, Alpheus, Valerie, and the body of the dark mage that Alpheus had dealt with floated up.
Alpheus’s right arm had now turned completely black.
Tears flowed endlessly down Brisa’s cheeks.
“Harrison.”
She asked Harrison desperately.
“Can I go too?”
Still unable to stand up, the girl pleaded while sobbing.
“Me too, me too… me too to the Magic Tower…”
“No, Brisa.”
Harrison shook his head.
“Outsiders can’t enter the Magic Tower anyway. Even the magical power of one mage to deal with you is precious right now.”
“Then, just… can’t I just stand in front of the Magic Tower entrance?”
“I don’t want to say this either, but Brisa.”
Harrison warned quietly.
“Even the time I’m spending having this conversation with you is interfering with Elder Brother Alpheus’s recovery right now. If there’s news, I’ll send it to the Bacchan Townhouse, so go wait there for now.”
Then Brisa immediately closed her mouth. Even while dropping tears, she even stepped back.
Meanwhile, Anais spoke to the Emperor.
“…Your Majesty, I will escort the Empress Dowager to the Magic Tower.”
In the end, it meant she would hand over the Empress Dowager’s corpse to the Magic Tower for investigation.
It was also something only Anais could say in this situation. After all, Anais was both royalty and a knight.
As expected, the Emperor nodded this time too.
“Do so.”
At the same time, Harrison chanted the spell once more. Soon the Empress Dowager’s severed body floated up.
Isabela stared intently at the Emperor. He was someone who made rational decisions in front of others, but didn’t make decisions first.
The situation where his mother had transformed into a half-human, half-beast in front of the Empire’s nobles.
Even so, he had nothing to say about it.
She thought that was also impressive in its own way.
“Duke Backhun, unfortunately we must end the banquet here.”
The Emperor looked at Duke Backhun and spoke quietly.
“Follow me for a moment. I still need to hear about what happened in the Northern Region.”
Having thus announced the end of the banquet, the Emperor looked back at the pale Empress and Crown Prince.
“From now on, the Empress and Crown Prince are under house arrest.”
The Emperor warned ominously.
“You must have things to say. You should have things to say.”
It was a practical arrangement of the situation.
First, following Anais, Harrison and the four floating figures left the banquet hall.
The Emperor, Duke Backhun, the Empress, and Crown Prince also disappeared along the path behind the special seats. Then sighs burst out from here and there.
Brisa was silently continuing to shed tears while looking in the direction where Alpheus had disappeared.
The wolf-dog was quietly guarding beside the girl, but it didn’t seem to be of much help.
It was when Isabela was about to go toward Brisa.
“…Princess.”
Maximus, who had approached her at some point, spoke with a trembling voice.
“Princess, did you secure the ring?”
“Yes, I secured it.”
Isabela looked at Maximus’s face with suspicious eyes.
Perhaps because his close friend had collapsed before his eyes, his face was deathly pale.
“Your Highness, are you alright?”
“How on earth could something like this happen to Alpheus? Huh?”
To his muttering, Isabela answered devastatingly.
“Alpheus… committed the act of truly listening to the voice of his own heart.”
Sacrificing himself to protect the future of those he loved. It was exactly the kind of thing Alpheus would do.
Maximus muttered while holding his forehead.
“…This is a nightmare… Right, Princess?”
His voice, filled with sighs, trembled.
“If I wait a little, I’ll be able to wake up, right? How long do I need to endure?”
“Until the end of my life.”
Isabela replied halfheartedly. She didn’t have the mental capacity to deal with a panicking prince as well.
“Wait eagerly until then. Now, I’ll be taking my leave…”
“Wait a moment. Princess, did you see that monster earlier… I mean, the Empress Dowager?”
As Isabela tried to wrap up the conversation, Maximus lowered his voice and whispered urgently.
“I was hiding and saw her from behind, very late… really very late…”
Isabela looked at Maximus with a somewhat puzzled expression.
‘Isn’t that whole situation over now? Why does he look so frightened?’
The monster was dead, after all.
As Isabela tilted her head in confusion, Maximus raised his eyebrows and continued speaking.
“It wasn’t a black bird, but rather like a bat, wasn’t it?”
Suddenly, an ominous thought flashed through Isabela’s mind.
She quickly turned around to look at the Imperial Family’s crest.
The shape she had believed without doubt to be a black bird suddenly overlapped with the Empress Dowager’s black wings that had taken flight.
“The first Emperor, Daxion Bebiano, was recorded as a bird because he disappeared across the sea with black wings… and said he would return to this noble (High) place…”
Maximus muttered in a panicked voice.
“But if it were a place for a bird to return to, shouldn’t the capital’s name have been Highnest?”
Isabela felt as if she had been struck in the head.
The capital’s name was Highroost.
Roost was a word used for the dwelling of bats, not birds.
“The first Emperor also disappeared after becoming such a being. Since he was the brother of the dark mage who cursed the Four Families.”
Though Isabela had only just learned this fact, she tactfully didn’t interrupt his words.
“Perhaps this experiment is much older than we thought… The first Emperor seemed anxious about bringing the Four Families to their knees using only Sears’ special ability.”
“Then…”
“Yes.”
Maximus came to a conclusion with a grave voice.
“We may have to face the first Emperor from 800 years ago, who has returned in the same form as the Empress Dowager…”
Here, he shuddered once as if the mere thought was horrifying.
“We might have to face the first Emperor from 800 years ago.”
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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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