Now, the only lifeline they can find for Etienne is Medea.
If they couldn't persuade her, they had to force Medea to move today, even if it meant putting pressure on her.
"Okay, let's say you think so. But, doesn't your uncle ask so earnestly?"
He stamped his foot as if the Duke had done as he was told.
"Until now, I have treasured you more than my own daughter. Everyone opposed you, saying you were a cursed child and that the bad luck that caused my brother's death would also spread to me, but I didn't abandon you!"
The Duke knew better than anyone else the fear of abandonment that was deeply rooted in his niece's consciousness.
They intervened in Medea's life and isolated her. It was for a moment like this.
Even if Medea doesn't understand it in her head, they have no choice but to give in to their demands out of fear of being abandoned.
"Your aunt took care of you over her own children. But did the affection we gave you mean nothing? Is that why you ignore your uncle's words like this? I'm really disappointed."
He exchanged a look with Catherine. Catherine recognized his signal and wrapped her arms around her husband's shoulders, pretending to stop him.
"Uncle, don't say it like that. You know that's not what I meant."
Medea's voice was still calm, but her large green eyes twinkled. Her fingertips were trembling as she held on to her dress to hide her embarrassment.
After confirming that his threat had worked, the Duke made more threats.
"No, I don't know. All I know is that Medea, or rather, our Her Highness the Princess, is a heartless person with no kinship."
"Uncle..."
"The affection between blood and flesh is a sight to behold!"
When Medea's voice faded, something suddenly occurred to the Duke.
Clink-!
The teacup that narrowly passed by the Duke shattered. The scroll tumbled out of the duke's hands, startled.
"Medea, you!"
When the Duke raised his head in
surprise, he could not help but freeze.
"Uh, how could my mother be here?"
The Queen Mother walked out from behind the large curtain. It was a blind spot that was not visible from where the Duke and Duchess of Regent were, in order to cover up the empty space that was slightly inside.
"I heard your cunning and threats very carefully!"
The Queen Mother's anger was so vivid that it felt like she was turning pale.
"Are you trying to use the King's seal like this? Are you threatening your niece to save a dirty person like Etienne? You have been viewing Medea as a very easy toy. You bad things, even God will not forgive you!"
"Mother, that's not it, you misunderstand. We will explain in detail-"
"What a misunderstanding! Are you saying that what I saw and heard with my own eyes and ears was a misunderstanding?!"
Since when has the Queen Mother been there?
It was only then that he realized it.
The parlor was spotless and tidy, the maids were standing at attention and Medea was reminded.
All of this was because there was a passenger named the Queen Mother.
"Get out! You are the treacherous people who are ruining Valdina! I don't even want to look at you! Go out and die!"
"Mother, wait!"
"Noisy. This time, why don't you say I'm an old woman who doesn't know anything about his children? What are you doing? Without kicking them out of the palace!"
The Queen Mother was furious.
Duke and Duchess Claudio were dragged away like luggage by the royal knights without even having a chance to make excuses.
"I didn't know that no matter how ignorant humans are, I wouldn't be able to recognize the dark insides of the child I conceived! How could such a monster have been mixed with Valdina's blood!"
The Queen Mother burst into anger.
"Medea, has your uncle always been like this?"
Medea lowered her head in silence. Sometimes one silence is a more powerful answer than a thousand words.
The Queen Mother's face became even more miserable.
'I thought this child got involved in state affairs with a childish mind... It may be that the things that have been done with Medea's seal so far were not of this child's will.'
It was all a ploy by Joaquin, including his niece Medea.
'Are you using my own niece as a shield?'
Who really doesn't know the affection of blood relatives? Isn't he my only remaining biological son?
"Grandma, please calm. Lord Hertos will resent me if your health suffers."
Medea handed warm tea to the Queen Mother, who was still panting from anger.
"Grandma, how about moving the Minister to a more isolated place?"
And when the Queen Mother's anger seemed to have subsided a little, Medea made a suggestion in a calm voice.
'I shouldn't be the one who separates the minister and my uncle.'
Medea still had a lot of work to do in the future. She couldn't reveal her entire identity just to smite the minister.
It had to be at least after Peleus returned for Duke Claudo to realize her true nature.
The Queen Mother raised her eyebrows.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Lord Sissair told me that the Minister had been using his hands to send messages to my uncle even while in prison. There were quite a few people who came to visit the minister."
"Ha! Do you mean someone who has been referred to military law? Do you think he's recuperating in prison?"
The Queen Mother's expression was distorted.
"Grandma, please understand uncle. As a long-time friend of the minister, it would have been difficult to ignore his situation."
Duke Claudio's speaking style of highlighting the pitifulness of others while pretending to care for them is not something that only Duke Claudio can do. As Medea calmly pointed out the error and showed understanding toward her uncle, the Queen Mother's eyes softened.
"Count Etienne had many followers as Minister of the Palace. Even my brilliant uncle is so swayed by his emotions. Wouldn't the minister's people be even more so?"
The Queen Mother nodded at the point that made sense.
"I get it. This old woman will take care of it."
***
The Queen Mother's decision was implemented immediately.
"What, where are you taking me!"
After being dragged out, Etienne was isolated in a special prison where only violent criminals were imprisoned.
Among them, is the deepest and darkest solitary confinement.
The prison he was in before was almost fainting, but the place he was moved to was the worst, almost like it was him.
All the guards were changed, and no access was allowed because he was an executed prisoner. The passing pipes were also discovered and confiscated.
It was normal for Etienne to get beaten up just to kill time, and with the guard's harsh harassment added to it, Etienne felt like he was going crazy.
Days continued with no one looking and no one coming.
Duke Claudio, who was banned from even entering the palace due to the Queen Mother's anger, did not even know that Etienne had been moved in complete secrecy.
The shadows he controlled tried to infiltrate the royal prison cell several times, but Sissair strengthened surveillance.
As a minister who had no idea about the situation outside the prison, he had no choice but to feel anxious as news suddenly stopped.
The bell rang, signaling midnight.
It was the time when the gatekeepers guarding the prison were changing shifts.
Etienne opened his eyes.
'Really... Sir, was he right?'
If there is no news like this until the day of execution, he has no choice but to be dragged to the execution site without even having a chance to do anything.
'If Claudio wants to get rid of me, there's nothing more convenient than this.'
But Etienne quickly shook his head.
That can't be possible. He holds a weakness that can paralyze the Prince Regent and his entire force.
'And the Prince Regent knows that too.'
Unless he had become senile and lost his mind in his later years, he would not have tried to pretend so openly.
It was such a cold night, when Etienne, who had been going back and forth between emotions and reason, quickly fell asleep.
“Kukkeokkuk!”
He was out of breath.
As his hand groped his neck, he felt a rough, hard rope. Someone was trying to strangle him by wrapping a rope around his neck.
"Kukkkeok! Wow! Kill me, kill m.. Kock!"
He couldn't even moan properly.
There were red fingernail marks on his neck as he struggled to pull off the rope.
The minister raised his head high and saw a man wearing a black mask.
The leash became tighter.
"Who, who kkeokkkeok, see, yiu kkeokkkeok."
"Save, give, give, I can give you more, money, whatever."
The minister tried to persuade the man somehow. He took out all the gold nuggets he had hidden in his underwear and threw them away.
Degururu.
The sound of yellow gold, which glowed even in the dark, rolling on the prison floor rang out, but the other person did not move.
'It's not something you can just buy.'
This guy has a purpose.
Even as he was going between life and death, the minister's eyes sank deeply. Perhaps his purpose was...
"Die. Only then will you keep your mouth shut."
"Kukkkeok!"
Silence my mouth with death!
There is only one person who wants to shut him up now.
'Duke Regent! You're the one after all!
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