SPMB - Chapter 37

Rattle!

The iron cage closed in front of Kanna's eyes. Kanna stared at the iron bars for a long time and sighed.

'I'm really trapped.'

Amelia is said to be dead.

The cause of her death was poisoning. Kanna, who was recently treating her, was framed as the culprit.

"They arrest me without clear evidence."

Kanna grumbled and sat down in her seat.

'No matter how much it is, to be dragged into a place like this by a word of a person in power.'

This is all because she is a Duchess who only has a facade. She doesn't have the strength to defend herself.

'Because there is no one to protect me.'

Also, this world is scary. She realized it many times, but she need strength to live properly. Only her own power.

It was then.

Rattle!

Kanna heard the sound of iron bars shaking. Kanna, who was lost in thought, raised her head. It was the Empress.

"You!"

The accompanying knight opens the prison door. The moment it opened, the Empress rushed at it like a beast.

"You killed my daughter!"

It must have scratched her fingernails, and blood was dropping down.

"I entrust my daughter's treatment to you! But, you killed her!"

Unlike usual, the Empress had completely lost her temper. Even though the knights and the guards were watching, she screamed like crazy.

"I trusted you! But you! You!"

However, the knights were not surprised. Rather, it was a look of sympathy, as If it were the natural reaction of a mother who had lost her child.

"You killed my daughter!"

Kanna tightly closed her eyes. She tingled as if her cheek had been torn, and tinnitus started ringing in her ears.

"I didn't do anything."

"This, you still can't get your head around it!"

Slap! Slap!

Kanna clenched her fists to hold on to the slap that followed.

"The food the imperial family eats at every meal is served after completing a poison test! So, if Amelia is poisoned, the only medicine you gave her is the only one!"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Then, who? Who? And how could he poison Amelia? The only person who can do that is you! Only you!"

The Empress grabbed Kanna by the collar, shook it, chewed it ferociously, and spat it out.

"Admit it, and apologize! Apologize to my daughter who dies for believing in you!"

"I didn't do anything!"

"You!"

The Empress's hands tremble and shed tears.

"For killing my daughter brazenly..."

But the next moment, she quickly wiped away the tears. As if trying to regain her cool, the Empress took a deep breath and ordered.

"From now on, stop giving this prisoner a meal or a sip of water!"

When the Empress left, Kanna was completely exhausted and lay down on the floor.

'She's like a violent woman. I knew, of course, that she was terrifying by nature.'

It's bitter.

It stings.

It's throbbing.

'....Sad.'

Oddly enough, her heart hurt more than her body. Beaten like a beast, she was treated worse than an animal.'

'It's completely different from when I was beaten with a cane.'

She didn't feel this way when she was whipped by her mother-in-law, Josephine.

'Why? It was worse when I was beaten with a cane. Right now, it's just a few hits.'

Strangely, however, it was more sad now. More miserably.

'It hurts.'

...Mom...

If Mom knew she was beaten like this, she would be surely upset. Her weak-minded father will surely cry. Seonhong is angry than her and is going to run wild all the way. And her boyfriend...

'No.'

Suddenly, a sense of sadness comes over her. Kanna quickly suppressed it.

'No, let's not look for the family. Don't even look for a boyfriend. They don't even know I'm Kanna anyway. So don't look for it.'

So let's not think about it. When she thinks about it, it makes her weak.

'Hold on tight, Kanna. The only thing I can trust in this world right now is myself. It's all over when I collapse.'

Wasn't that what to expect anyway? So there is no need to be caught up in resentment. '

Everything will be fine anyway.'

Really.

'I will be fine.'

***

After meeting Kanna, the Empress headed straight for Amelia.

It was to check if Amelia was really dead?

Really, really, really dead.

She had to see it with her own two eyes. Maybe it's the doctor's misunderstanding. However...

"Oh, My God!"

She knew it. Tears fell from the Empress's eyes. Amelia, her daughter.

"Why isn't your heart beating, Amelia?"

The Empress sat down under the bed, sobbing. She grabbed Amelia's hand which was still warm.

"I'm sorry.. I'm Sorry.. I'm sorry that I only hurt you with my thorny words. Sorry... So please..."

"Empress."

A voice coming from behind. Although she had already noticed his presence, the Empress didn't look back.

"Is Amelia really dead?"

It was the Emperor. He looked down at Amelia, whose heart was not beating.

"Our daughter is dead. Hey... It's my fault. Your Majesty, to the Duchess Valentino..."

"I heard the story."

There was a hint of anger in the Emperor's muttering voice.

"How could you do something like that, Empress?"

The Empress was genuinely absurd. Entrusting the treatment of the royal family to someone who is not even a doctor. Even to Kanna Valentino, whom everyone shuns!

"I am... I must have been insane. I must have been momentarily insane at the thought of curing Amelia. This is all my fault, Your Majesty."

The Emperor was not comforted. It was because he had agreed with the Empress's words in his heart. Would she have done such a foolish thing if she hadn't gone mad?

'The Empress is not a foolish woman.'

She was cruel and venomous, but she was not stupid. The Emperor did not love the Empress, but he knew very well what she was like. That's why he was very shocked by this accident. Because she did something unbecoming an Empress.

'But it happened anyway.'

The Emperor looked to see if there was any disadvantage he could derive from this mess. Seeking profit was as natural as breathing for him who had lived as an Emperor. And he found it.

"The trial will be held tomorrow."

"... Yes?"

The Empress looked up blankly at the Emperor. 

As if the Emperor had already finished the calculations in his head, he spoke calmly.

"Luckily, the Duke of Valentino and the Duke of Addis are now in the Black Fog. They will be completely cut off from the world in the meantime, so you better finish everything before their return."

"But..."

"The Princess was murdered. That's enough of a reason for you to push her hard."

What is he talking about? The Empress stated at the Emperor with that expression.

"I will hold a trial and sentence Kalla Valentino to death."

The Emperor was not the one to miss the opportunity that came to him. Even if it's an opportunity owed by his daughter's death. He was a man who rose to the position of Emperor because he had lived like that.

"Kanna Valentino murdered the royal family. Neither the Valentino nor the Addis family will be free from that sin."

Valentino and Addis. Descendant of the Holy Knight. A lineage that is sometimes considered more noble than the imperial family. Their presence was a thorn in the eyes of the Emperor for the rest of his life. However...

'But the West continent needs them.'

They can never be destroyed,. It would be nice to embarrass them once in a while.

If so, the imperial family and the whole world watching this will know. Who is the owner holding the least of the lofty paladin family? This was an opportunity to tarnish their honor and raise the imperial family's dignity. To do that...

"There will be a public trial."

A public trial is open to the public. There is no stage better than that.

"I will entrust my authority to the Empress. Let the Empress attend and supervise."

"...Me?"

"Exactly. However, do not hold Valentino and Addis family guilty, and sentence only Kanna Valentino to death."

"..."

"Don't worry. I'll tell the Supreme Court judge."

He will make a joke about the eldest daughter of the Addis family and the Duchess of Valentino family in front of the common people. That alone was enough to insult the two families. 

The Emperor tapped the Empress on the shoulder.

"Cheer up, Empress. Doesn't the Empress still have Prince Crescent?"

"..."

"Hasn't Princess Amelia suffered for a long time? Think of her as an unfilial daughter and forget her. That would be good for the Empress, Crescent, and even the imperial family."

With that said, the Emperor left. The Empress stared blankly at his back. Meanwhile, thick tears flowed down her cheek.

Drop, drop...

Previous                                                            Next

Next chapter will update tomorrow!

Support Novellate!