Betrayal of Dignity - Chapter 17

17. The Murder of the Marchioness


The first person to discover the Marchioness's body was her personal maid, whom she had brought from Swanton. She explained the situation with a frightened face and tears in her eyes. She had already collapsed on the floor when she came in to attend to her in the morning; her face had turned blue, and she was not breathing.

“I heard you have a question for me.”

Chloe spoke to the officer with a trembling voice, looking embarrassed. Damien stood by her side with his arms crossed and a serious expression on his face.

“Can I ask my wife something?”

“That’s... I’m sorry, but I have some testimony coming in.”

“What testimony?”

The Duke's eyebrows rose sharply. Chloe opened her mouth hurriedly, not wanting to cause unnecessary trouble.

“Please tell me. I will cooperate with you in anything.”

The officer added with an apologetic expression to Chloe's calm response.

“Would you mind if I took the liberty of looking into the Duchess’s luggage?”

“What does that mean?”

When the Duke asked again, the officer in the white uniform hesitated for a moment and then opened his mouth with a helpless expression.

“It’s a formality.”

It was a situation where one could not help but suspect murder due to a grudge. Chloe swallowed dryly and opened her mouth, guessing what the officer was thinking that she could not bring herself to say.

“Of course. Margaret, open all my bags and show them to him.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Margaret nodded with wary eyes. As she took out her bags from the closet one by one, the officer and the attending doctor began to examine each item.

“Nothing special, right? This is the last one.”

It was when she opened the blue bag at the very bottom of the closet. The square bag, covered in handprints, contained the emergency medicine that Chloe had brought from Verdier.

“This is..”

One of the officers tilted his head as he watched the doctor's face change color.

“Why are you doing that?”

Chloe was the same. She remembered all the vials she had brought. But there was something that stood out among them that was definitely not hers.

“What is this?”

“It looks like arsenic. It’s the same kind of poison that came out of the Marchioness’s teacup.”

Chloe's legs suddenly gave out. The Duke frowned as he helped her up as she stumbled.

“Are you suspecting my wife now?”

“Your Excellency, I apologize.”

The officer opened his mouth with great difficulty, looking terribly troubled.

“Given the testimony that Madam showed aggression towards the murdered Marchioness Isabella, we cannot help but suspect her as a suspect.”

“Who told you something like that?”

“I can’t tell you that... to protect the witness’s identity.”

Chloe could guess without even having to hear the answer. It was probably one of those who took the Marchioness' side and got scolded by her.

“Are you serious?”

Damien muttered, glaring at the officer as if he were going to kill him. Chloe gently grabbed his arm and opened her mouth with a trembling voice.

“That thing is not mine.”

“But may I ask why it’s in your bag?”

The officer's tone was polite, but his gaze was stern. Chloe swallowed dryly and let out a deep breath.

“Someone must have put this in my... bag.”

“When?”

She couldn't tell exactly either. The maids came and went every day to clean her room, but Chloe also cleaned up just as often. The last time she packed her bags was just two days ago.

“Aren’t the only ones who can enter this room besides the Duchess and the maids?”

“I don’t touch your belongings without permission!”

Margaret raised her voice as if she was about to burst into tears. Chloe looked at the maid, who was more thoughtful and confused than she was, and realized that she had fallen into a perfect trap. Chloe's trembling eyes unconsciously turned to Damien. His unreadable eyes stared at her intently.

“I swear, my wife is not the type of person who would harm anyone.”

“Your Excellency.”

“They say there’s poison in the teacup, but the Duchess didn’t have time for that.”

“Where were you last night?”

The officer looked between Chloe and Damien with a suspicious look in his eyes. Damien spoke clearly instead of her, who was unable to say anything, just moving her dry lips silently.

“Because she was with me all night.”

“Isn’t that so?” the Duke asked her. His eyes, which were telling lies, looked so sincere that Chloe couldn’t say anything.

***

Chloe was kept in the old, disused monastery's prayer room until the trial. The news of the death of the Marchioness Isabella had quickly spread to the royal family. Normally, she would have been locked up in a cold, stone-walled dungeon, but the monk who guided her quietly said that she was being kept here because of her status as the Duke's wife. Although she was supposed to be kept there until the truth was revealed, in reality, it was no different from being imprisoned.

No one came to visit her except twice a day, when they brought her hard bread and cold soup. Chloe couldn't sleep in the unheated prayer room.

Chloe prayed for three days without stopping. She thought about that night constantly. Isabella looked at her with resentful eyes. Isabella begged Damien in the bedroom that she loved him.

Did I want to kill Lady Isabella? As the thought crossed her mind, her body began to tremble naturally, and Chloe clasped her hands together.

Squeak squeak. Beyond the quiet prayer room, a rat's cry could be heard. It was a sound that seemed to be eating away at her mind.

No, I didn't think about it like that.

Chloe chewed her lip painfully, trying to gather her wits. It was true that she had ill feelings for the Marchioness Isabella, but it wasn't to the extent that she wanted to kill her. And it wasn't she who poisoned the Marchioness either.

If she really had disappeared from this world, if she had hoped to never see her face again, wasn't there someone else who was actually there?

“The Duke has come to visit.”

Chloe raised her head with a gaunt face. As the door to the prayer room opened, she saw the Duke standing in the hallway beyond the bars. It had been three days.

“Please give me some space.”

“I’m sorry, but you cannot enter.”

“Do you think I am so blind to reason that I would break the law?”

“Please forgive me.”

As he sharply spat out, the sentry quickly saluted him and quietly disappeared. Before the sound of his footsteps could even fade away, the Duke had already removed the lock on the bars. Chloe blinked silently as she watched him stride into the narrow space, his own words nowhere to be found. The mere fact that someone was in the prison-like room where she had been alone for three days made her feel a little connected to this world. Could she go out into the outside world?

“I heard you’re refusing to eat.”

“I just didn’t feel like eating.”

“Then die.”

The Duke spat out in a dry voice. Chloe looked at him with sunken eyes.

“Then the hangman’s work will be easier.”

The Duke looked straight at her as she whispered as if she had emptied her mind, and asked back.

“You talk like you really want to die.”

“If I say I want to live, will that happen?”

“It depends on the trial results.”

Chloe clenched her fists as she watched the Duke still answer calmly. Something inside her chest welled up.

“I did not kill the Marchioness.”

“The officer must choose between my testimony that I was with you that night and the evidence from your bag, which conflicts with my testimony.”

Neither of these was true, but there was no way to prove her innocence.

“Is there any chance that the police will accept your testimony?”

“It’s unlikely. You were woken up alone in the bedroom by Margaret, and I was in the study when the butler came running. It would be unreasonable for a couple who spent the night together to wake up in different places.”

Chloe's silence grew longer. Damien continued speaking slowly, in a low voice.

“Of course, there must be a strong suspicion that I am taking my wife’s side and telling lies. There is also someone who testified that you have been secretly aggressive toward the Marchioness. I can guess who it is, but revenge is something to think about later.”

In the end, the police had no choice but to accept the evidence from her suitcase. Chloe's voice trembled slightly.

“The evidence found in my luggage was clearly tampered with by someone.”

"When."

“...Perhaps, the night the Marchioness died.”

“Where were you that night when you left the room empty?”

Chloe hesitated for a moment at Damien's question before opening her mouth.

“I felt stuffy, so I went for a walk.”

“All night?”

“Of course not. I returned to the castle and went to bed before midnight.”

Damien looked at her and gave her a low scolding.

“That’s not what Gray Wilson told me.”

He looked at Chloe, who was hurriedly looking down without saying anything, and asked again.

“Why didn’t you tell the officer that you were with him in the stable-keeper’s cabin until daybreak?”

Chloe couldn't help but bite her lips.

“Gray Wilson came to me and started causing a commotion. I had a hard time calming him down, because he was ready to run to the police at any moment, saying he could prove the Duchess’ alibi.”

Chloe stood up from her seat with a pale face, looking at the blue veins on the back of the Duke's hand.

“He’s just trying to perjure himself for me. Gray did nothing wrong.”

“I have been thinking during the three days you kept your mouth shut. I have a crucial witness who can prove that you were not in the castle during the time the Marchioness was murdered, and I have been wondering why you have not uttered even a single word of his name.”

“No master would be happy to have a scandal with his servant.”

“Is that all?”

The Duke's blue eyes stared at her intently. Chloe's brow furrowed.

“Aren’t you worried about the safety of the stable manager who spent secret time with the Duchess?”

“Your Excellency.”

“Or are you worried about what will happen after I divorce you for your adultery? Are you worried that I will withdraw from all my businesses in Verdier and demand that you pay me back the debts I have paid?”

Chloe looked away from the Duke, who seemed to have read her mind, and covered her pale face with her hands. Just imagining innocent Gray and her father getting hurt because of her made her feel like all the blood in her body was pouring out onto the floor. She closed her eyes, feeling dizzy, and heard his cold voice coming closer.

“Answer me, Chloe.”

Chloe opened her eyes with difficulty and continued speaking.

“I have not sinned. I have not done anything wrong.”

“Then I guess I can call Gray Wilson a witness. It might be inevitable that we’ll have to divorce because of the scandal, but it might save your life.”

Chloe's eyes were filled with tears. She desperately wanted to be proven innocent at trial, but she couldn't sacrifice anyone for that. Her father would be buried in debt and never recover. Gray might end up serving time for the crime of insulting his landlady. Then his life would be over.

“Should I make you run away?”

Damien whispered. In fact, she wanted to do the same. She wanted to live like this, hidden away, where no one would look for her. But Chloe didn't answer and just looked at him.

“If there’s anything you want, just tell me.”

No matter how many times he asked, the conclusion was the same. Chloe was someone who couldn't sacrifice those she loved to live. What was more frightening than dying was not being able to meet her mother in heaven with a proud face, waiting for her.

“Your Excellency, do you truly believe that I did not kill the Marchioness?”

“If I didn’t believe you, I would have no reason to give a false alibi to save you.”

“Then can I ask you one favor?”

Damien approached her slowly.

Yes. Beg me, Chloe. Cling to me to save you. Damien slowly lifted her chin as she lowered her head with a haggard face. The smooth leather gloves gently cupped her cheek.

“You should beg me to spare your life. I have the power to save your life.”

“If Your Excellency has that much power...”

"Yes."

Hot tears silently wet her small face. The sentry's footsteps could be heard coming from afar, but Damien did not move.

“Please keep the execution private.”

Damien’s face hardened into a cold sculpture. As he turned around, Chloe sank to the floor with a thud. His back blurred as he walked out, the bars slamming open. Chloe knelt down with her elbows pressed against the cold floor and prayed. Please, her father would not suffer the pain of sending his child away first. May Alice, who had run away, never know of her death.

***

The trial took place on a clear afternoon, with the winter sun streaming through the stained-glass windows. Chloe took a deep breath of fresh air, the first she had felt in exactly two weeks.

“You must go now, Duchess.”

The Duchess, whose hands were tied with rope, was not given a cane. Chloe dragged her feet on the floor as she slowly walked toward the chapel.

“Madam! It will be okay!!!”

Chloe turned her head to look in the direction of the sound. Eliza, who had pushed through the crowd and reached the front row, was shouting loudly with tears in her eyes.

“God protect you!”

The little boy holding her hand stared blankly at Chloe. When Chloe smiled faintly, the boy buried his face in Eliza's skirt. It was good to see him healthy. Chloe thought sincerely.

The Duke was the last of the assembled nobles to stand as a witness that day. Damien’s face, as he laid his hand on the Bible and swore to tell only the truth, was so calm that it was hard to believe that the suspect in the murder case was his wife.

“Do you have any change in your testimony that you were with the Duchess from midnight until about six in the morning on the night the incident occurred?”

"Exactly."

“Do you have any witnesses who can prove that?”

The Duke asked him back as the judge from the royal court asked with a serious expression.

“I would like to ask you if there is any reason why you do not believe my testimony.”

“According to the testimony of Margaret, the Duchess’s personal maid, the Duchess said that the Duchess was definitely alone in the bedroom that morning.”

Margaret's face showed impatience as she spoke only the truth, but the Duke remained calm.

“What does that have to do with my testimony?”

“Wasn’t the Duke in the study this morning?”

“So does that mean I committed perjury?”

As the Duke's tone became slightly sharper, the judge's expression became a little more stern.

“Don’t jump to conclusions, Duke of Tisse. That means no one has ever seen the two of you together. The last time you were seen was the evening before the incident, outside the Marchioness’s bedroom. Do you want the maid who witnessed the incident to speak out publicly?”

A silent murmur spread through the room, and Margaret lowered her gaze as if to stop it. Chloe shut her heavy eyes tightly. Margaret's story of the situation at that time would obviously serve as strong evidence to support Chloe's motive for murder. Damien, who could not have been unaware of this fact, remained silent for a moment before finally opening his mouth in a low voice.

“I request that you call Gray Wilson, a servant of Birch Castle, as a witness.”

Chloe lifted her head silently. Her pale complexion grew even paler as she watched Gray walk into the chapel.

“Do you swear before God that you will tell only the truth?”

Gray looked at Chloe, whose hands were tied with rope, bit his lips hard, then opened his mouth in a clear voice.

“Yes, I swear.”

Chloe's eyes froze with an uneasy foreboding. Gray was definitely with her that night, but she couldn't say anything. It was obvious that the moment Gray opened his mouth, not only she, but also Gray and her family would be dishonored.

“Gray, no.”

The moment she shook her head and whispered his name, the judge struck down his wooden gavel.

“Gray Wilson, please testify.”

“That night, the Duchess was definitely with His Excellency the Duke.”

“Why are you telling me that now?”

When Gray hesitated, the judge urged him.

"Witness?"

“Because I... committed the sin of spying on the Duke and Duchess’ intimate moments.”

Chloe blinked rapidly at Gray's unexpected testimony. Unlike Chloe, who couldn't understand what Gray was talking about, Damien simply raised an eyebrow.

“You should be more precise, Gray Wilson.”

Only after Damien opened his mouth sharply did Chloe vaguely guess what was going on. Gray had been secretly talking to the Duke. Her hands, bound in ropes, were trembling.

“It is a well-known fact to all the servants of the Tisse family that the Duke and Duchess take walks around the ducal residence. That day, I was tired from receiving guests, so I tossed and turned until the night, when I heard a noise in the middle of the night and went out to see the Duke and Duchess having a small... argument.”

“Can you tell me what it is?”

“It sounded like a normal argument between a married couple, stemming from a misunderstanding regarding the Marchioness.”

There was a silent ripple in the courtroom. The scandal between the Marchioness and the Duke was secretly known to everyone, so Gray Wilson's words were believed.

“Hmm. Go ahead.”

“The argument didn’t last long.”

“Why is that?”

As Gray paused, the judge urged him sharply.

“Witness, tell me why.”

“Because the master kissed the madam.”

While awkward coughing sounds were heard here and there, Damien just listened to the witness with a calm face.

“Be quiet!”

The judge banged the gavel, and Gray continued his false testimony. Chloe looked at Gray, gasping for breath.

“The two of them headed to the icehouse, which is not far from my cabin. And I couldn’t resist my curiosity and ended up committing a sin.”

“What sin are you talking about?”

“I’m sorry for secretly spying on my Master and his wife’s intimate moments.”

That's ridiculous.

"Gray...!"

Chloe called out to him without realizing it. If his lies were accepted as testimony, it was obvious that Gray would be hurt. But Gray only shrugged and did not turn his head in her direction.

“Are you saying that you kept your mouth shut until now just to cover up that little mistake?”

When the judge looked incomprehensible, the Duke, who had been silent, opened his mouth.

“In the recent situation where two servants were kicked out of Birch Castle, losing a job that they barely managed to get in disgrace may not be as light a matter as the judge thinks. For them, it is a matter of not only their immediate livelihood but also their future. It may not be a story that resonates with someone who does not have to worry about where they will sleep tomorrow.”

The servants who had come in as spectators swallowed dry saliva as if they were deeply sympathizing with the Duke’s words. Seeing the judge’s wrinkled face turn slightly red in an instant, the Duke gave him a chance to excuse himself.

“Of course, I am also one of those who cannot understand them, so I plan to deal with his crime separately. After this trial is over.”

The judge tried hard to gather his authority, trying not to let the Duke, who was looking straight at him, take the initiative.

“However, since the Duchess’ alibi alone is not enough to close this case, I think it would be best to postpone the verdict for ten days.”

“So you mean to throw my wife back in that cold prison? I fear that the cold of Tisse has cooled the judge’s reason, if not frozen it.”

“Be polite to the royal messenger!”

“I tried my best to be respectful to the royal family, but I can no longer do so.”

“What does that mean, Duke?”

“I call on Tisse’s personal doctor, Lord Brown, as a witness.”

As Damien spoke sharply, the attending doctor who had been silently standing up stood up. Damien confirmed his identity instead of the judge.

“Are you the one who pronounced the Marchioness dead?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“You will remember that I reported that something was found in the mouth of the dead body.”

“Yes, that’s right. The Duke told me to keep that fact a secret from the police.”

The judge's wrinkled eyes were distorted.

“What on earth is the reason, Duke?”

“I will now begin my speech. The Marchioness’ maid, Rachel, please stand.”

Rachel, the maid who first noticed the Marchioness, rose from her seat. The Duke stared at her intently and opened his mouth lowly.

“Why are your clothes different from the other maids?”

“Because members of the royal family are given separate clothing!”

Rachel's voice rose with tension as her name was suddenly called.

“Does that mean you belong to the royal family?”

“I was the exclusive maid of His Majesty the King. He asked me to take good care of his old friend, the Marchioness, and I am deeply sorry that I have not been able to do so.”

The Duke walked over to Rachel and stroked her wrist, startling her. He tore a button from her sleeve and dropped it before the judge's eyes.

“Lord Brown. Present your evidence.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

The button the doctor found on Isabella's body was exactly the same as the one Damien had just removed.

“It would seem fitting that this trial should now be held at the Swanton Palace.”

The judge was now in a state of great agitation.

“That can’t be true!”

As the maid screamed, the policeman came and restrained her arms. Only then did the judge understand why the Duke had hidden crucial evidence until the very end and made matters difficult. He tried to stop the Duke’s words with a pale face, but it was too late. Damien’s clear voice, looking at the audience that filled the courtroom, echoed through the courtroom.

“The suspect in the murder case was His Majesty the King’s exclusive maid.”

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