The maid was bound to be weaker than the Duke’s, and her body collapsed in an instant. Patrizia calmly observed him to see what he would try to do.
“This is the main culprit who dared to both of Your Majesties.”
“SOB SOB.”
The maid was crying, and Patrizia asked him again.
“What do you mean, Duke?”
“This brat dared to go against Lady Phelps’ will, and acted arbitrarily, Your Majesty.”
“Duke Efreni, are you saying that to be believed right now? How does a maid even have enough money to hire an assassin?”
The Duke of Witherford fired at the Duke of Efreni as if it was ridiculous, but the Duke of Efreni simply just introduced another person into the room with a casual look.
“Come on in.”
At the end of Duke Efreni’s words, a man came into the room and walked to the side of the Duke of Efreni with an awkward gait, then knelt down. Lucio asked.
“Who is this man?”
“He is Baron Daiwadi, Your Majesty. He shares a close relationship with Baroness Phelps’s father, Baron Darrow. He has confessed to committing this cruel act, knowing that Lady Phelps would become the Empress if he assassinated Her Majesty.”
“It is false, Your Majesty! Baron Daiwadi is rumored to have a lot of debt. How can such a person have money to hire an assassin!”
“If Lady Phelps becomes the Empress according to his wishes, such a debt could be paid back quickly. He confessed that the money he used to hire the assassins was also part of a debt.”
At the words of Duke Efreni, Duke Witherford glared at him with murderous eyes. Patrizia was unable to hide her frustrated expression.
‘Darn it all, if this happened…’
“Then, are the two witnesses saying different things now?”
Lucio’s words made the whole room suddenly quiet. Now the choice was his. Either raise the hand of Patrizia or raise the hand of his mistress, Rosemond. Truthfully, the answer was already decided.
“Duke of Vashi.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“It is inevitable that the testimonies are contradicting one another. I will have you take over this case to investigate.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I will do my best to investigate.”
Patrizia’s hand fell down slumping. ‘Damn, as time went on, it would become a tough fight for each other.’ She intuitively felt that things were going wrong.
It was again Rosemond that stood at the center of the whole vortex. She was locked in the prison and was drinking the tea she had elegantly requested from the guard, with no expression of concern. With a laid-back face, she was drinking her favorite rosemary tea and thinking about the future.
Probably by now, everything had been sorted out. It would have been better if Lucio raised her hand and it ended with such a simple happening, but it didn’t matter if he didn’t.
Duke Efreni was not stupid, and he would give his all to help her. That was why there was no reason for her to worry. At the very least, she would not die from this, and even if she was hit with some consequence, the worst would be losing the Baroness title.
That was why she had no concern whatsoever. This was because if she became the Empress, that mere Baroness title could be given to a dog. So only her body was in the prison, while her mind seemed to already be back at the Vain Palace. It was then that a guard approached her and relayed the situation to her.
“Lady Phelps, the meeting concerning you has just ended.”
“The results? What happened?”
“The testimonies were conflicting, and His Majesty deferred the sentencing. The Duke of Vashi will start the investigation over.”
“Hmmm.”
Rosemond nodded her head to show her understanding, and the guard returned to his post. Rosemond did not think that anything would go wrong. The cards she held in her hand were much more than one thought. That was why he would not work sloppily.
If she died, at the very least she would not be the only one to disappear like the dew on the guillotine.
When Patrizia returned to the Empress Palace, her expression of fury showed her anger had not subsided. Petronilla noticed something was wrong with the state of her sister, and carefully asked her a question.
“It didn’t work out well, Lizzy?”
“Duke Efreni plans to completely be on the opposing side of me. If that is not the case, he could not act in this manner.”
Patrizia muttered to herself in an angry voice. Duke Efreni definitely must have recruited or threatened a lower class noble to create this situation. If everything continued to unfold this way, she would be on the losing side. The Emperor loved Rosemond, and if things turned out ambiguous, it would be the end with him raising her hand.
Patrizia crumpled her face in dismay. Her life was on the line with nothing to be earned in this dangerous situation. During this, Petronilla made a strange expression. Patrizia noticed this and asked her.
“What is it?”
“But why did he choose her, wondering about this.”
“…”
It was a reasonable inquiry. Why did he choose her? She received the Emperor’s favor but was a lower noble’s daughter. He was a Duke and valued bloodlines over anyone else. Someone like him chose Rosemond over herself, and this didn’t make any sense.
Patrizia was suspicious about her not knowing something, and regretfully, the problem was that there was no way for her to find out. She let out a sigh and spoke.
“I do not even know that reason.”
“A secret affair or something of that sort is not it.”
“Those words will create trouble.”
Patrizia shook her head back and forth. If her words were true, then the Duke of Efreni would not be able to avoid being punished for touching the Emperor’s woman. Rosemond’s status was not so high that he would be ruined, but when viewed from the Emperor’s affection for Rosemond, there was a high probability of being punished with that level of equality. Patrizia scratched her forehead a couple of times before muttering.
“What happens now?”
“It can’t be helped, Lizzy. We have done all that we can do. Another piece of evidence can’t be introduced now. We just have to leave it to Heaven’s will.”
‘Heaven’s will.’ Patrizia sighed briefly, thinking those were very comforting words. However, what made her sigh even more was the reality that, as Petronilla had said, she was forced to entrust it to the will of Heaven. She asked Mirya for her favorite strawberry juice to cool down her complicated head. She thought that she had to first cool down and think again.