Episode 60. Stone's Provocation
Bam!
Zimmer hurriedly opened the restaurant door and rushed in.
He briefly bowed to Adele and quickly reported to Christine. He whispered something in his ear that she shouldn't hear, but his expression hardened noticeably as he listened to the report.
"Sorry. I'll get up first."
He hurriedly got up from his chair. Zimmer quickly grabbed the outer garment and rapier hanging on the wall. It was clear that something unusual had happened.
"I'm fine, so don't worry about it and just go."
Adele was curious about what was going on, but decided not to ask until he told her. There must be a lot of confidential information that he couldn't talk about because of the nature of his job.
"And you, don't ever come out."
Christine solemnly told Adele as she followed him to the restaurant door and saw him off.
"Yes. You must never come out of here!"
He repeated his warning.
"Here?"
"Hmm. Here until I send someone."
After making such earnest requests, Christine opened the door and went out. Zimmer and several guards followed her busily.
'What on earth is going on...? '
Adele lingered around the window, feeling uneasy. Then she saw people gathered around the lakeside. It was far away, so she couldn't see clearly, but it seemed like guards in black uniforms were standing in a circle, blocking people from approaching.
'Has something happened?'
After a while, Tanya and several maids came in to clean up the table.
"Tanya. What happened outside?"
"Well, I don't know. I think there was a body found at the lakeside."
"A body that fell into the water...?"
Adele muttered while looking out the window again, and one of the maids cautiously answered.
"That... was a body that was attacked by a beast."
Adele turned around with a hardened expression.
"Can you tell me more?"
The maid lowered her voice, frowning as if the mere thought was horrifying.
“That... I heard it was a corpse torn to pieces by a beast. Similar to the guard who died a while ago...”
Then another maid cautiously chimed in.
“I heard it a little while ago, too. It was exactly the same as the corpse that was said to have been killed by the silver wolf.”
Before she could finish her words, Adele ran outside in a frenzy.
***
“No one is allowed within twenty paces.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Then quickly collect the body so that no one sees it and hand it over to the coroner.”
“Yes, sir!”
“And divide into groups of five and surround the area...”
Christine, who had been giving orders in unison while cleaning up the scene of the crime, stopped.
“Damn it...!”
Adele was running towards him from afar, her face pale. Henry and Tanya followed her, but they couldn’t catch up.
The guards quickly blocked her.
“No, go back.”
Adele looked as if she was going to fight with them.
“Get out of the way! Please!”
“It’s the captain’s order!”
When they grabbed her arms and tried to drag her out, Adele squirmed and resisted.
“Please, please, I need to check something! Please!”
She was wearing a thin dress without a coat in this cold weather. The fluttering chiffon lace was torn, as if she had fallen while running, and her blue, frozen arms were bleeding from cuts.
“Everyone, back off.”
At Christine’s command, the guards all let go of Adele and backed away.
“Chris, is that true? That corpse, is that the silver wolf?”
Adele approached him with tears in her eyes.
“No. It was just the work of a wild animal.”
Christine took off his coat and wrapped it around her body. However, Adele pushed away his hands and tried to approach the body being loaded onto the stretcher.
“Let me see. I’ll know when I see it.”
He blocked Adele’s path like a wall.
“Go back, Adele. There’s no such thing as a silver wolf.”
His face, hiding his emotions, was as cold as ice.
But Adele also did not back down with a determined expression.
“That’s why I’ll see! I’ll know when I see. Whether it’s his doing or not. I’ve seen that horrible sight of my mother countless times in my dreams. So when I see...”
At that moment, the linen cloth covering the body was blown away by the wind. Then, the brutally torn body was revealed to the people.
“...!”
At that moment, Adele gasped as if she had been strangled and couldn’t breathe. With a pale face, she couldn’t take her eyes off the corpse and staggered like a person possessed.
“What are you doing? Cover it up quickly!”
As the quick-witted Zimmer shouted, the guards quickly picked up the blood-stained linen and covered it up.
However, the gruesome scene was already vividly engraved in Adele’s mind.
“Don’t come, Adele, stay there!”
“Oh my! What kind of beast could do this...”
Blood dyed the pure white snowfield dark red...
“Huh, Mom...Ma...? Mom...”
Adele called out to her mother in a trembling voice as she frantically chased after the body being carried away on a stretcher.
“Adele, come to your senses!”
Christine grabbed her arm, but she shook off his hand and muttered in a daze.
“Look, Chris. Mom is over there. It’s Mom... I have to go to Mom... Mom! Mom!”
She kept calling out to her mother until her throat was hoarse.
Like a child who had lost her mother.
Like a child whose mother was everything to her.
She had gone back to that tragedy from ten years ago.
“Please, Adele! Please!”
Christine hugged Adele so tightly that she almost fell apart.
“Let go! Let go! Mom! Mom! Aaaah! Let go!”
Adele struggled hard to get out of his arms. Angry that he was blocking her from going to her mother, she hit him, scratched him, and kicked him like crazy. But his arms and chest were tightly confining her, not moving at all.
“No, Adele. No!”
Christine was just as desperate as Adele. He was overcome with guilt for not being there for her ten years ago, and the anxiety that if he let go now, he would lose her forever.
‘Is it really me who made Adele’s mother like that?’
‘How would she react if she found out I was the Silver Wolf?’
‘Even if I didn’t kill her mother, would she still be able to fully accept me, a member of the wolf clan?’
Such a terrible beast...
In the end, Adele fainted in his arms.
Christine quickly carried Adele and ran to the Marvel Palace. Her thin dress was torn by her struggles, and blood from her fall was everywhere. Her tangled hair stuck to her wet face, making her look miserable.
But Christine stopped walking soon.
The unpleasant and disgusting smell of blood...
***
“Zimmer.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“You’ll take care of Adele.”
“Don’t worry.”
He left Adele with Zimmer and slowly turned around.
Stone was approaching with people at the end of the lake. He was neatly dressed, wearing a fur jacket, a top hat, and a captain’s hat in his hand. He looked at the scene of the crime with curious eyes, like he had nothing to do with this case.
But Christine glared at him, gritting his teeth.
This was definitely his doing.
The guard who died in the palace a while ago, and maybe even Adele’s mother...
“Wow, something terrible must have happened this morning.”
Stone whistled with a bright face.
“What’s going on here this morning, Marquis?”
“I came here to clear up the misunderstanding from yesterday, but I didn’t know I’d see such a huge incident.”
“I didn’t know, but you brought reporters with you?”
The people who came with Stone were reporters. They rushed to the corpse and the scene of the incident like a pack of lynxes. Of course, they were all caught by the guards.
“I called them to cover our reconciliation scene. But it seems that the silver wolf is more popular than we.”
“What do you mean, silver wolf?”
Christine asked as if he had never heard of it before.
But Stone laughed, poking his arm with his elbow as if he knew everything.
“Don’t pretend not to know. The rumor is already widespread. The silver wolf is walking around the palace.”
It was obvious why Stone did this.
The bastard was planning to provoke him. Yesterday, Christine was leading the wolves, so he must have suspected his identity. That’s why he’s provoking him like this to make him certain that he’s the Silver Wolf.
He’s displaying such a horrible corpse in front of the Marvel Palace, and he’s planning to blame all this on the Silver Wolf.
To make Christine, who couldn’t control his anger, show his true colors.
That’s why he had to be patient and keep his composure. If Stone found out, it was only a matter of time before Adele would know.
“I think it’s all a story made up by those reporters the Marquis brought in.”
Stone clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Hiding isn’t the only way. People have the right to know.”
Christine’s lips rose coldly.
“Is that so? Then I must protect the dignity of the imperial family.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned sharply toward the guards.
“Arrest both the Marquis and the reporters!”
As soon as the order was given softly but clearly,
“Yes, Captain!”
The guards surrounded Stone and the reporters in unison.
“What is this! Count Weiss, how dare you!”
Stone shouted as he was tied up by the guards’ ropes.
Christine approached him and declared solemnly.
“As the captain of the guards protecting the imperial family, I cannot just ignore those who spread rumors and cause chaos. So please understand, Marquis.”
“You! I will tell His Majesty the Emperor about all your tyranny! Who dares you!”
“Take them away!”
“Yes, Captain!”
***
However...
“Release Marquis Oswald and the reporters.”
Jan said to Christine, who had come to report the death of the guard.
Of course, even if it was the Emperor’s order, he could not simply follow it.
“The Marquis and the reporters have been spreading rumors to undermine the authority of the imperial family and disturb the public sentiment. We will investigate and take appropriate measures before releasing them.”
Jan’s hand, which was signing documents in front of the desk, stopped. He didn’t like him disobeying orders. And he made a face that captured that expression.
“Are you in your right mind? Marquis Oswald is a member of the Noble Council.”
“Even as a member of the Noble Council, things are done according to principle, Your Majesty.”
Jan put down his pen with a thud and smiled faintly.
“Do you really think the Marquis’ words were rumors?”
“Do you think I did it?”
Jan clasped his hands together and stared meaningfully.
“I saw the body. It was similar to your skills. It was very gruesome.”
“I don’t touch people. Of course, there were exceptions when my lord ordered me to do so, and in times of war.”
“Do you really think of me as your lord?”
“I already told you. A wolf doesn’t serve two masters. But if that master has other intentions, then it’s a different story.”
Feeling a sting, Jan picked up his pen again and pretended not to know.
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
Boom!
Christine pushed his face close to Jan’s, leaning on the desk.
“Don’t you understand? If you’re going to hold hands with Stone, you have to let go of my hand cleanly?”
“...!”
“Do you think I didn’t know? What kind of calculations did you make over my fiancée?”
He was smiling, but Jan felt a fear that he would rush in and bite the back of his neck at any moment. Cold sweat ran down his back.
However, he slowly caught his breath and changed the subject.
“It seems Stone suspects you because of what happened that day. A human can’t lead a pack of wolves. Of course, I will try to hide your identity, but I don’t know how long I can hide it...”
It was a threat that Christine’s identity could be revealed.
However, he didn’t back down either.
“Is that okay? If my identity is revealed, the truth about the death of the previous Emperor will also be revealed.”
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