The Search for the Duchess’s Husband - Chapter 113

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

In Search of the Duke’s Husband – Episode 113

Though Artia had insisted she was fine, her reassurance brought no comfort to Frigia.
The very next day, Frigia returned to House of Elisium with her daughter in tow.
She could not bear to remain indebted to Artia any longer.
“Sigh…”
Artia exhaled deeply, her breath heavy with resignation.
After that, she had not contacted Frigia once. Marigold claimed Frigia was simply too occupied to meet with her, but…
“Perhaps she simply does not wish to see me?”
Even during the trial, Frigia had not sought punishment for Count Elysium.
Whether she despised him or cherished him, he remained precious to her.
It was only natural that her heart would be troubled—her husband entangled with Artia, imprisoned, and now facing sentencing.
‘Should I petition to reduce Count Elysium’s sentence for Frigia’s sake?’
But Artia quickly shook her head.
He had been a contemptible wretch to both me and Frigia alike. I could not bring myself to show such a man even a shred of mercy.
‘Yet if things continue this way, I may grow distant from Frigia…’
No matter how much I deliberated, no clear answer emerged.
Artia chewed on a carrot stick absently, her expression troubled and uncertain.

* * *

Inside the dimly lit prison.
Count Elysium crouched on the cold floor, his entire body trembling uncontrollably.
A gaunt face with protruding cheekbones, darkened eyes, and a thick, unkempt beard.
All traces of the handsome man who once set the hearts of High Society women aflutter had vanished, and he muttered ceaselessly.
“P-please… save me…”
Even after several days had passed, the phantom of the black panther that had attacked him refused to fade, and he remained trapped in the terror of being mauled to death at any moment.
Thud.
At the sound of footsteps in the darkness, he jolted upright and let out a scream.
“Ahhhhh!”
The black panther had come to kill me again!
But the figure that appeared beyond the iron bars was not the black panther. It was Frigia.
My beautiful and gentle wife…!
Hope flickered in his eyes—eyes that had been filled only with despair—as if he had glimpsed a goddess herself.
Count Elysium grasped the iron bars and called out his wife’s name.
“Frigia!”
“…”
“Y-yes, I knew you would come. I knew… I knew you would never abandon me…”
“…”
“I won’t be angry anymore about you trampling on my honor. So please, persuade Edenberg right now and make him say I’m innocent. Get me out of this terrible hell!”
When Frigia offered no response, Count Elysium grew anxious.
He cried out with an agitated expression.
“I am your husband! I am Elizabeth’s father! Are you really going to leave me branded as a criminal?”
Frigia’s lips, which had been pressed firmly shut, parted.
“That’s right. That’s why I tried to forgive you. I wanted us to continue living together as a family. But you… you did something to my friend that should never be done.”
Clear anger resonated in Frigia’s voice.
For the first time, Count Elysium felt fear toward her, and his face went deathly pale. Soon, regaining his composure, he spoke.
“S-so what are you going to do about it? Surely you’re not going to abandon me? You won’t break the bond sworn before God, will you?”
Frigia was a woman of deep faith. She could never forsake the marital bond sworn before God.
His reasoning was correct.
“That’s right. We are husband and wife. We must cherish and love each other until one of our lives comes to an end.”
But the words that followed were not what he expected.
“So I will beseech the judge again and again. I will ask for the longest sentence possible to give you.”
“W-what did you say?”
“And I will ensure that House Elysium provides the maximum compensation possible to the Duchess of Edenberg. It is the only way I, as your wife, can atone even slightly for the terrible crime you committed.”
Unwavering resolve gleamed in her beautiful green eyes.
Only then did Count Elysium grasp the gravity of his situation, and he cried out in anguish.
“I-I was wrong. I was wrong!”
“I only hope that you will sincerely repent for the sins you have committed, there, for all eternity.”
With those words, she turned away.
“Frigia!!!”
Count Elysium’s anguished voice echoed through the dark prison, yet she did not slow her pace.

* * *

The judgment regarding Count Elysium fell to Calvin.
He had determined that the crimes Count Elysium committed against Artia were connected to the previous trial.
Frigia came to Calvin.
“Esteemed Judge, my husband Austin von Elysium has committed an unforgivable crime against the Duchess of Edenberg. I beseech you to deliver a fitting punishment so that he might atone for his sins, even in the smallest measure. I ask this as his wife and mistress of House Elysium.”
“Punishment for atonement need not be limited to imprisonment alone. We may also demand reparations from House Elysium.”
“I welcome it.”
That was not all.
Letters written by noblewomen arrived by the dozens each day.
These missives, burning with fierce indignation toward Count Elysium, urged that his crimes be punished severely so such atrocities would never occur again.
Calvin muttered with an exhausted expression.
“I never knew noblewomen could curse so eloquently.”
His mother, Chloe, brought him tea and replied.
“The Duchess of Edenberg has become a hero among the noblewomen these days. It’s only natural they’re furious that someone dared to lay hands on her.”
“Do you feel the same way, Mother?”
To Calvin’s question, Chloe whispered something in her son’s ear instead of answering.
“That Elysium bastard, XXX XXX, XXXX, XXXX.”
“…!”
The profanity was so crude that even compared to the curses Calvin had heard in courtrooms over the years, it was scarcely less vile, and his jaw dropped.
Calvin’s eyes widened as he spoke.
“Mother, I didn’t know you could say such things.”
“Hehe, I refrain from such language to maintain a lady’s dignity, not because I’m incapable of it. So don’t dismiss the women’s anger as mere sentiment—take their words seriously.”
But that was not the end of it.
Even Prince Killian von Orpheus was watching this case closely.
Days earlier, he had personally dragged Count Elysium before the court and hurled him to the ground, his golden eyes gleaming as he spoke.
“Impose the most excruciating punishment this dog could possibly endure.”
The threat was clear: fail to comply, and Calvin himself would face the most excruciating punishment.
Yet Calvin was an impartial judge.
He was neither swayed by public opinion, nor did his resolve weaken at his mother’s words, nor did he cower at the prince’s threats. Instead, he delivered a cold and measured verdict befitting the crime.
“Count Elysium stands guilty of assault against his wife. Despite receiving a merciful sentence, he showed no remorse. Instead, he kidnapped and assaulted the Duchess of Edenberg, who had aided his wife. For his failure to repent despite receiving clemency, and for threatening the person of a noblewoman through personal vendetta, I hereby sentence him to ten years imprisonment in Sibelin Prison.”
For a nobleman—those who could typically buy their way out of nearly any charge with bail—to receive a prison sentence was an extraordinarily severe punishment.
Count Elysium’s face, already gaunt from the past few days, twisted in anguish.
“I cannot accept this verdict!”
“Do you deny the charges?”
The evidence and witnesses were all irrefutable. So instead of denying his guilt, Count Elysium uttered different words.
“I am Count Elysium!”
Nobility were not subjected to severe punishment unless they committed treason or crimes that shook the very foundations of the realm. Such was the privilege of the noble.
“If you impose such excessive punishment upon me, I will not take it lying down.”
Calvin tilted his head with a grave expression.
“Who will?”
“Why, the other nobility… House of Elisium….”
“Count Elysium, it seems your understanding of the situation has suffered from your confinement within prison walls.”
“…?!”
“Had there been anyone willing to stand with you, they would have declared their position long ago. Yet no one has made such a move.”
Calvin continued.
“In this Empire, you have no allies.”
Count Elysium collapsed to the ground. Despair had reached its zenith—so profound that even tears would not come.

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