When Shioana returned to the bedroom, she threw up everything she had eaten. Sophia patted her back, full of worry.
"It seems lunch didn't agree with you, Madam."
Shioana, wiping the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief, spoke in a tired voice.
"It's okay now, Sophia. I'm going to rest, so will you let me be alone?"
As soon as she was alone, Shioana burst into tears she had been holding back.
"...Sob sob."
She sobbed with the blanket in jer mouth so as not to be caught, and all kinds of sorrow washed over jer.
"How could that happen?"
She had known for a while that Etienne had changed, but she never imagined something like this would happen.
'Why, could it be that you're actually pregnant?'
Etienne's eyes scanned her entire body, and Shioana was instantly tormented by a terrible sense of humiliation.
He also said that he would not acknowledge the child she gave birth to.
'I don't think people would believe it even if I said it was his child.'
Because Etienne always believed that she was trying to seduce Raul or another man.
'How did things end up like this?'
She rubbed her eyes, which were dry from crying for a long time, and sat up.
"What difference would crying make?"
Shioana, having wiped away her tears completely, stood in front of the dressing table and looked at her face.
"I expected this kind of ending anyway."
There was no reason to be so sad.
No one wanted Shioana to stay here.
"I guess I really acted so cluelessly, just like Etienne said."
With swollen eyes, she fumbled around the corner of the closet. From there, she took out a maid's uniform and a headscarf that she had hidden away.
"I'm going to see Martha and Harriet."
Shioana's face was slightly flushed as she muttered, and her eyes were severely bloodshot. Without the slightest hesitation, Shioana crossed over to the connected Duke's bedroom.
Then she found the divorce papers and placed them on the bedside table. To leave a note, Shioana simply used a pen to hold the papers in place so they wouldn't fly away.
"...Etienne."
Shioana bid a lonely farewell while gazing at the empty bed.
She turned around, gathered the laundry, and came out holding it tightly. She deliberately hung her head low and bent her back slightly.
'...Please.'
The man standing guard in her bedroom glanced at Shioana, but soon withdrew his interest from her, who was dressed as a maid.
After passing through the hallway and entering the passageway used by the employees, she was able to get outside quickly.
She succeeded in getting out of the mansion, but there was a problem.
"I don't know where Martha is."
Perhaps because she overexerted herself while feeling unwell, she was burning up with fever, and her vision kept blurring.
“I have to go.”
She whispered weakly and saw Martha waving from across the street.
“...Martha!”
It was when Shioana was hurrying to cross the road.
Hehe!
Just as the sound of a horse neighing was heard, Shioana's world soon went dark.
***
It was the afternoon when the trial was just one day away. Cedric, who was rummaging through documents, asked the Duke, who was sighing.
"Your Excellency. Is something wrong?"
"What is the Duchess doing?"
"They said she was taking a nap because she wasn't feeling well after the walk."
It was his fault that Shioana's condition had worsened. Etienne spoke in a heavy voice.
"Did you get a medical examination from a doctor?"
"It seems she hasn't fully recovered from getting caught in the rain the other day. Your Excellency, by the way, will Marquis Calix's side make a move tomorrow as well?"
"Since an official summons has been issued, I suppose it can't be helped."
Etienne meticulously set up a plan to make Katrina and the Marquis suspect each other.
He bribed the people working under the two people one after another with money and kept leaking false information.
"How do you feel right now?"
"...Well."
For someone on the verge of avenging his family, his expression was remarkably calm. However, inside, he was rotten beyond words.
The powerless young boy who witnessed his family's tragedy could do nothing.
'Let's grant Edwin's wish."
And so, he closed his ears, sealed his mouth, and lived as a slave of the Caspian Empire. Thanks to that, he survived and stands here today.
"Maybe I should be grateful."
Cedric flinched in surprise at the terrifying flames in the Duke's red eyes. There was always only one person who could elicit such a reaction from him.
"...Are you referring to the Duchess?"
"Yeah, thanks to her, I got such a great opportunity."
If Shioana hadn't betrayed him, he might have forgotten about revenge or enemies and lived happily in Regbell for the rest of his life.
'Maybe that would have been happier.'
The ordinary life he tasted, even if only for a moment, was so excessively sweet that it was fatal. Because that sweetness seeped into his tongue, making him unable to taste anything else.
"Handle it carefully until the very end."
Cedric bowed his head at Etienne's plea.
***
The area near the courtroom was bustling with onlookers from dawn.
"We need to sweep away all those vermin."
Katrina leaned back in the carriage seat, her red-painted lips crooked. She buttoned her black dress all the way up to her neck and secured her hair, styled in a single bun, with a jeweled pin.
"How dare you make a spectacle of me!"
Etienne, sitting on the chair across from him, glanced outside with an indifferent look. A crowd that seemed to number over a thousand cheered for the carriage.
"Why do we have to sweep?"
At the Duke's question, Katrina opened her mouth while flicking her long fingernails.
"Listen carefully, Duke. Nobles and commoners are fundamentally different. We were born to reign over those fools, and for that reason, we have the right to wipe them out at any time. Do you understand?"
"...Ah."
"Anyway, is that really appropriate attire for going to court?"
Katrina, with her elegant figure, criticized him for his disheveled appearance.
"I had an important appointment at night, so I stopped by and came straight back; I didn't have time to change."
"To think you're attending a banquet right before a trial..."
Katrina seemed displeased, but she kept quiet. Etienne turned his head toward the window, barely suppressing a sneer that was threatening to break out.
'It looks like you've drowned in alcohol.'
His clothes were heavily wrinkled, and his hair was disheveled. It was the perfect outfit for a play stage like today's.
Katrina got out of the carriage, went straight into the courtroom, and stood in the plaintiff's seat.
'Shameless bastard.'
Katrina gritted her teeth as she glared at Marquis Calix, who was seated in the defendant's dock across from her.
'You must not show any weaknesses.'
She knew better than anyone just how cunning Marquis Calix was. So, as soon as she was accused, she responded by immediately filing a counter-accusation against the Marquis.
'Do you think I would fall for such a foolish trick?'
To reach this position, she hid the things she didn't want to do and willingly endured even the things she shouldn't have done.
‘God is on my side’
Katrina's eyes were filled with unwavering faith.
"Now that both the plaintiff and the defendant are in their seats, I will begin the trial."
At the sound of the voice announcing the start of the trial, the faces of the nobles filling the bench grew quite serious. The ducal and marquisate families of Bernhard and Calix were highly prestigious households in the Empire, and enormous repercussions were expected from the outcome of this trial.
Usually, only nobles and priests attend trials, but today is a special case, so even His Imperial Majesty is present in the courtroom.
The principle of the trial was to render a judgment after hearing the arguments of both sides based on the documents.
"As today's trial concerns a conspiracy to treason, I urge everyone to handle the matter with caution."
Following the priest's explanation, the documents were handed to the judge. They were accompanied by evidence supporting the claims of both sides. Next, the plaintiff and defendant were introduced.
"I am Katrina of the House of Bernhard. I swear to the Goddess Diana that I have never once thought of or spoken of rebellion. The evidence I have submitted will prove all my claims."
When it was Marquis Calix's turn, he bowed to the Emperor and the judges with a relaxed expression.
"I am Jonathan of the Calix family. Only God will prove my loyalty to His Imperial Majesty."
The judge examining the documents grew increasingly grim as the two men stood in stark contrast. No falsehoods could be found in the documents supporting each other's claims that they had avoided treason.
Even after several hours had passed, the judge could not reach a conclusion, and then the Emperor rose from his seat.
"I am well aware that these two families are distinguished households that have stood together since the founding of the Empire. Therefore, I believe that fairly determining guilt based on evidence is the way to uphold the family's honor. However, the evidence submitted today alone is insufficient to identify the perpetrator of the heinous crime of conspiracy to commit treason."
The Emperor's words were imbued with solemnity, and everyone attending the trial had no choice but to listen attentively. Surveying the crowd, the Emperor continued speaking.
"Therefore, by the authority granted to me, I order a court duel between the two families."
The courtroom was in an uproar at the conclusion reached by the Emperor. A court duel was a sacred procedure for restoring honor, and above all, a ritual that guaranteed a fair outcome.
However, it was rarely officially approved due to the resulting bloodshed on one side.
"I would appreciate your understanding if I could use a representative."
Katrina submitted the letter that she claimed to have burned to Marquis Calix as evidence that he had committed treason.
The letter contained the fact that a conspiracy to commit treason had been plotted, using the family seal and the Marquis's handwriting.
'Even so, do you dare doubt me?'
She wanted to slap the Marquis right then and there, but she held back with difficulty because she was in front of the Emperor.
'But as always, God will be with me.'
Katrina held her head high, her face beaming with confidence.
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