Chapter 99………………………….
It had been only an hour ago.
An hour since he had barely held back the laughter that threatened to burst out as the baron’s coffin was lowered deep into the ground.
After years of careful planning, everything had finally come to fruition.
So why—why was a new will suddenly appearing now?
“Chad, what is the meaning of this? Why is that woman the heir—”
“Quiet… just be quiet, damn it!”
Chad’s whole body trembled as he glared at Joanne, who was pestering him for answers.
Then, in a sudden outburst, he tore the will in his hands to shreds, shouting that it was invalid.
Everett shook her head slowly and looked toward Heinz.
He took a thick stack of documents from his bag and handed them to Chad.
“I thought you might be angry, so I prepared some extras. Go ahead and tear these too. If it helps you calm down, all the better.”
Chad wanted nothing more than to storm forward and rip Everett’s hair from her head.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught the glint of a dagger sheathed at the waist of the knight blocking his way.
Maybe he should pull it out.
Kill them all.
Then he could become the new heir.
Everett, noticing where Chad’s frantic gaze had fallen, spoke in a quiet voice.
“If there’s something you want to do, you should try it now.”
“What?”
“Didn’t you just think about stabbing me with that dagger?”
“……”
Everett accepted a sword from a nearby knight and held it out to Chad, hilt first.
“Even if you kill me and somehow make yourself heir again—do you think you could actually spend the money, with this many witnesses watching?”
Chad’s breathing grew ragged, his face flushing a deep, angry red.
“You already have more than enough punishment waiting for you,” Everett continued calmly. “Don’t add to it.”
“Punishment? What are you talking about?”
At that, Alfred stepped forward.
“Chad Pa. You are under arrest for the murder of Allain Kind Kestarican and Dora Kestarican. And for driving Lady Eliza to her death, for weakening the baron’s mind, and forcing him to sell his estate and lands—”
Everett raised a hand, cutting him off.
“There’s no need to list every crime here. We’d be here all day. Just take him away.”
No sooner had she spoken than the men threw back their dark cloaks—revealing the blue uniforms beneath them.
They were knights of the Blue Order, enforcers of Bartmann’s law.
Chad’s eyes went wide, almost bulging from their sockets.
“No! It’s not true! I didn’t do anything!”
He tried to bolt, but the knights had already surrounded him.
He screamed and thrashed, but was soon forced to the ground, his face pressed into the dirt.
Joanne, trembling and pale, was also arrested for the murder of the Baron of Kestarican.
The two were quickly locked inside a prison carriage and taken away.
Everett handed a small, tattered notebook to Alfred.
“It’s the baron’s diary. Every crime Chad and Joanne committed is recorded in here—dates, times, everything.”
Alfred flipped through it, clicking his tongue in disbelief.
“This isn’t just a diary. It’s solid evidence. More than enough to convict.”
“He couldn’t have done all of this alone,” Everett added. “Money flowed to Baron Akkot. He must have been covering for them.”
“Then we’ll need to move quickly—before he does.”
Alfred nodded and left with the knights. Soon, Everett was the only one standing in front of the mansion.
“Everett.”
Kyle emerged from inside.
“I did as you asked… but I can’t tell if it was the right thing.”
His expression was uneasy as he looked at her.
“You couldn’t have intervened directly, my lord,” Everett said gently. “Everyone knows Alfred and Lady Sharlotte are like family to you.”
“But still…”
Everett Gronge—the young lady who had just inherited the vast fortune of the Kestarican family.
Her name would spread quickly.
And that meant she would become the next target for those who had once coveted the baron.
“It’s better for suspicion to fall on me than on you,” she said lightly, smiling as if to reassure him. “It’ll buy us time.”
Kyle shook his head slowly.
“Sometimes, Everett, you confuse me.”
“How so?”
“I can’t tell if you’re brave… or just reckless.”
Meanwhile, Baron Akkot paced restlessly in his study.
“Why hasn’t that bastard Chad contacted me yet? He said he’d have the mansion sold immediately!”
The date when he was supposed to receive his payment had long passed, but there had been no word from Chad.
Growing impatient, the baron had sent people to look for him—but none had seen him since the baron’s funeral.
Nervous, the baron gnawed at his fingernails, waiting for his butler.
“Lord Baron! Lord Baron!”
A frantic voice echoed down the hall before the door burst open. The butler stumbled in, gasping for air.
“What is it? Have you found Chad?”
Still bent over and wheezing, the butler shook his head.
“No, my lord… but they say Chad is to be executed. He’s being transported to the gallows right now.”
The color drained from the baron’s face.
“The gallows? What do you mean, the gallows?”
It had only been a few days since Chad had confidently declared he would sell the Kestarican estate.
He hadn’t been worried about Chad’s safety—he’d been waiting for the money.
“At the funeral, everything seemed fine… How could this happen…?”
Finally catching his breath, the butler flinched as the baron barked at him to ready the carriage at once.
All the way to the execution grounds, Baron Akkot’s mind raced.
If Chad really died, what would happen to all of Kestarican’s wealth?
What if relatives came forward, each claiming their share?
He’d already spent the money he was supposed to send to the eastern nobles—how would he explain that now?
The short road to the square felt unbearably long. The baron tapped his cane irritably against the carriage floor.
“My lord, the streets are crowded—we can’t go any faster,” the driver called back.
Cursing, the baron yanked open the window.
Indeed, the road ahead was choked with carriages and people.
“Why are there so many people?”
“They’re going to see Chad’s execution, my lord.”
The baron’s brows furrowed deeply.
“They say he’s been revealed as the true killer of Baron Kestarican and Lady Dora.”
Just like on the day of Eliza Kestarican’s execution, the streets were packed with spectators.
The butler kept talking, but the baron barely heard him.
“My lord, the prison carriage is coming up behind us. We won’t be able to move any farther.”
The baron leaned out the window.
Through the parting crowd, he saw the wagon carrying Chad approach.
When the condemned man appeared, the onlookers erupted into shouts and curses.
“Kill him!”
Rocks began to fly. One struck his forehead, blood trickling down—but the wounds from torture had already left his body a ruin.
The prison carriage passed beside the baron’s coach.
Seeing Chad’s bloodied, staggering form, the baron clicked his tongue in disgust.
Perhaps because of his lingering stare, Chad spotted him through the gaps in the wooden bars.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
A gag bound his mouth, but he forced out desperate, muffled cries.
He leaned forward, twisting his bound body toward the baron’s carriage, silently begging for help.
The sudden commotion drew the crowd’s attention to the baron’s coach.
Bang!
Startled, the baron slammed the window shut.
Chad’s feral scream tore through his gag, echoing through the street.
One of the guards, losing patience, rammed a long spear into Chad’s stomach.
“Ugh—!”
Without even a proper scream, Chad collapsed forward, his head striking the carriage floor.
Large, hot tears rolled down his face.
By the time they reached the square, the execution grounds were already packed.
Chad thought there were even more people now than when Eliza had been executed.
Curses and jeers rained down from all sides.
For a moment, a surge of bitter anger flared within him.
Who are you to judge me?
Born as one of many useless sons of a petty baron, all he’d ever done was struggle to survive.
Eyes blazing, he glared at the mob, baring his teeth like a cornered beast.
The crowd only screamed louder.
When he was forced to kneel upon the scaffold, the rage drained out of him, leaving only cold emptiness.
The beastly growls turned into quiet sobs.
In moments, this world would be gone for him.
Through tear-blurred eyes, he tried to take in every last sight.
And then, in the crowd, he saw a face he’d forgotten.
Eliza?
It couldn’t be.
He had seen her die—seen her head fall with his own eyes.
You’re… smiling? At me?
As she raised the corners of her mouth in a chilling smile, the crowd erupted.
“Waaah!”
A thunderous cheer.
Before he could feel the cold touch of steel, his head fell.
Even as his body toppled from the scaffold, his lifeless eyes remained fixed on one spot—
on Eliza, who now smiled wide enough to bare her dark, bloodstained teeth.
Eliza… you’re the one who did this to me.
His final, inaudible curse echoed faintly inside the wooden box where his severed head came to rest.
