You Said I Was a Persecuted, Terminally Ill Grand Duchess? - Chapter 43
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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 43
As soon as dawn broke, Jenos headed straight to the reception room where the servants had gathered.
Then he received complete reports on all testimonies related to yesterday’s incident.
“So… according to everyone’s testimony here, Katarina Hugo deliberately tried to harm the Duchess.”
“Yes, yes! That’s correct, Your Grace.”
“That’s what they say. Do the young ladies still feel the same way?”
At that question, the young ladies exchanged glances among themselves.
“Your Grace, actually…”
Just as the green-eyed woman seemed to have made up her mind and was about to speak.
Bang!
“Jenos!”
Katarina, looking disheveled unlike usual, hurriedly burst open the reception room door.
Then she immediately approached Jenos, who was sitting at the head seat, chattering non-stop.
“I simply cannot believe this! All of them are trying to frame me as an attempted murderer. What is this…”
“Shut your mouth.”
The quiet anger froze everyone present.
Though it wasn’t a loud voice, the rumbling low tone had the power to make everyone tense up.
But Katarina’s momentum showed no signs of subsiding.
“Ha! Do you believe such lies? I couldn’t possibly do such a thing. I’m the Duchess’s one and only maid!”
Katarina ranted and raved, venting her indignation.
It was quite a disgusting statement.
Jenos immediately sneered with sharp eyes.
“And you hated that Duchess terribly. The only one who doesn’t know this fact is probably the Duchess herself.”
“That, that’s… Oh! Lilian, say something!”
Having lost her words, Katarina caught sight of Lilian and pounced on her.
Startled by the sudden call, Lilian shook her head repeatedly.
“Me? How could I…”
“Ugh! Then why are you here?! Really, you’re useless from start to finish!”
Katarina screamed at the top of her lungs as was her usual nature.
But there was something she had overlooked.
The situation had completely changed from before.
“…”
The expression instantly drained from Lilian’s face.
It was the same for the other young ladies.
“Your Grace, let me tell you the story we couldn’t finish yesterday.”
Without even glancing toward Katarina, Lilian opened her mouth directly to Jenos.
While Katarina was inwardly flustered by Lilian’s cold expression she had never seen before.
A relentless confession followed.
“We came to Celeste at Lady Katarina’s request.”
“What, what?”
Even as Katarina asked back with a bewildered face, Lilian didn’t stop talking as if she couldn’t hear.
“It was to humiliate Lady Rene and make her painfully aware of what kind of place the social circle is. Essentially, it was about giving her a big humiliation.”
“Lilian!”
Just as Katarina, beyond bewildered and now furious, was about to rush toward Lilian.
“Don’t move!”
“Kyaaaah! What is this, let go!”
Knights who had surrounded them at some point dragged Katarina and brought her before Jenos.
Then they bound her hands and made her kneel.
“How can this be! I’m a Count’s daughter! Don’t you have any chivalry? How can you treat a lady like this!”
“Quiet. If you make any more noise, I’ll have you gagged.”
“…Huh, this is ridiculous!”
“Continue.”
Cleanly ignoring Katarina’s whimpering, Jenos turned his gaze back to Lilian.
Gulp.
Lilian swallowed her dry saliva and opened her mouth again.
A careful testimony followed.
“From when the marriage news began circulating as rumors, Lady Katarina has hated Lady Rene terribly. Even at the banquet halls we often encountered each other, and in the letters we exchanged, there were always only words of hatred toward Lady Rene.”
“It’s true. I have plenty of evidence in my drawer too. All the young ladies who were close to Lady Katarina would have the same.”
Julie and Serena, who were sitting nearby, also began to agree.
“But I thought it would just remain as complaints. How could Lady Katarina possibly stop a marriage arranged by His Majesty the Emperor himself?”
“But Lady Katarina actually went as far as becoming the Duchess’s maid. Constantly watching for opportunities there, saying she would reclaim her position. Even then I thought it wasn’t normal, but…”
As the story kept getting longer, Jenos interrupted to get to the point.
“Getting back to the main point, I’ll ask all the young ladies. What do you think about Katarina Hugo trying to harm the Duchess?”
“We didn’t witness it directly, but given the circumstances, I don’t think it’s entirely groundless.”
“That’s right. Lady Katarina’s anger was greater than we thought.”
“No! What are you all really saying! I just wanted to humiliate her a little! That’s all!”
But no one listened to Katarina’s desperate outcry.
“Moreover… Lady Katarina was originally prone to vanity and boasting. It was even our job to go along with this.”
Lilian calmly confessed her inner thoughts.
Confessing wrongdoing wasn’t easy, but she had no intention of stopping her testimony.
It was because Rene’s upright face came to mind.
Lilian revealed the facts she had been denying to herself and began to acknowledge them in her heart.
“It’s shameful, but honestly, there were many benefits to being by Lady Katarina’s side.”
Because everyone paid attention when you were with Katarina.
Pretty, well-versed in fashion. And her family was even House of Hugo, one of the wealthiest in the Empire.
Until now, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the social circle revolved around Katarina.
“What?! You disgusting things! When did you stop calling me friend and whatnot! Do you think I really considered you true friends? You’re just supporting actors!”
“To keep putting on airs until the very end! Lady Katarina, come to your senses. Understand the situation!”
“Please behave like a noble!”
Because the four young ladies were arguing with each other, the atmosphere in the reception room became even more hostile.
“Enough.”
Due to the continuous noise, Jenos grabbed his throbbing head and spoke.
As his single word fell, the voices that had filled the room instantly disappeared.
Everyone in the reception room felt pressure so overwhelming they could barely breathe.
They must not forget.
That man was the Grand Duke of Celeste.
A person with power and military might second only to the Emperor in this country.
If he set his mind to it, he could control the lives of everyone here.
“Y-Your Grace.”
Lilian, clasping her trembling hands together, knelt down toward Jenos.
Julie and Serena, who had been watching the situation, did the same.
“Please show mercy. We too feel great guilt and responsibility for thinking too lightly of this.”
“Now we… we only hope that Her Grace the Duchess will wake up safely.”
As the situation gradually turned unfavorable, tears welled up in Katarina’s large eyes.
“But I really didn’t harm Her Grace the Duchess! This is all slander from those who have ill feelings toward me! Who was it? Was it you?”
But there wasn’t a trace of remorse in Katarina’s attitude.
Katarina, who had been quietly watching the situation from behind, grabbed the skirt of a young maid and shouted shrilly.
“Kyaah!”
The maid stepped back in shock.
“L-Lady Katarina pushed Her Grace the Duchess… Everyone here saw it…!”
The maid spoke in a crawling voice and hid behind the knights.
That’s when it happened.
Thud thud thud!
The sound of urgent knocking on the reception room door was heard.
“Your Grace!”
Soon, a middle-aged couple with faces as pale as Katarina’s burst through the door in haste.
“…Count Hugo?”
They were Katarina’s parents, Count Hugo and the Countess.
Surprise flashed across Jenos’s face.
Count Hugo’s estate was located quite far from Celeste.
‘I expected they would come personally, but I didn’t think they’d arrive this quickly.’
Worried about their precious daughter’s safety, they must have ridden through the night as soon as they heard the news.
“Mother! Father!”
Tears began pouring from Katarina’s eyes like a flood.
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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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