Chapter 010
“No one in this empire is unaware that Annette loves His Highness, Crown Prince Hugo. I truly want to know when this girl, who blindly followed the Crown Prince just a few months ago, fell in love with the Grand Duke.”
“Annette realized it was time to change her mind because she couldn’t waste her life chasing someone who doesn’t love her just because she fell for him. So she decided to accept my love for her.”
Theodore skillfully navigated Cassilia’s interrogation.
Judging by her expression, Cassilia’s heart was in turmoil.
Theodore had answered her question logically, leaving her with nothing to say in return.
Besides, Theodore wasn’t someone who would do something meaningless.
The fact that he met two Cheringens in a public place like this salon meant he had evidence that they had harmed Annette, but Cassilia couldn’t even guess what that evidence was.
Theodore was adept at hiding what he held in his hand, whether it was a weapon or a weakness, so no one could touch him carelessly.
Still, she couldn’t simply admit that she was the one who hid Annette in that distant asylum.
“Annette and I love each other deeply, and I’ll do everything in my power to protect my lawful wife.”
Theodore looked at the necklace as if to say it was obvious there was nothing he couldn’t do.
Why in the Creator’s name would a significant man like Theodore care about Annette?
Or rather…
Didn’t Theodore despise Annette?
Cassilia pondered the true nature of the relationship between Annette and Theodore but couldn’t arrive at a convincing answer.
While she was thinking, her foolish younger brother poured oil on the fire.
“If you have proof that I imprisoned Annette, you should present it first. Who knows if you’re trying to deceive us or not.”
“Do you mind if I reveal it here?”
Theodore gestured with his eyes toward the people eagerly watching and listening.
Those around them were paying attention while pretending otherwise.
“I’m not afraid of anyone.”
Cassilia wanted to shut her brother’s crude mouth, but it was too late.
“Very well.”
Theodore pulled out the contents of the bag he was carrying, one by one.
Several papers emerged from an envelope labeled in large letters with the name Elysia Asylum, containing patient records, including those of a woman named “Anita,” her symptoms, and a hospitalization agreement signed by the hospital director and her guardian.
There were also forged identity cards and documents used to admit Annette to the asylum, signed by two familiar people as Anita’s guardians.
Those signatures were none other than Bjorn and Cassilia’s.
“Anita. Couldn’t you have changed her name with a bit more sincerity?”
Theodore spoke as if he pitied them.
Bjorn sweated as he looked at his signature, still bearing his habit of scribbling the last letter.
He felt his mind go blank, but he tried to offer an excuse somehow.
Right after the Marquis Cheringen’s death, they were in a hurry to lock Annette in Elysia Asylum, so they chose the quickest method possible, not the safest or most secure one.
He didn’t mean for it to be so obvious, but he also didn’t expect it to be exposed so quickly.
“You’re misunderstanding something. This was for the treatment of one of the children we care for. Anita is…”
“Stop it.”
Cassilia gritted her teeth and silenced her brother.
The documents Theodore presented were created by putting money in the hands of Mr. Walter, the director of Elysia Asylum.
If these documents, which should have disappeared immediately, were on the table, it meant Walter’s mouth had already been opened.
That useless man.
Cassilia had given him money, but it seemed he had no talent, a fool who didn’t even know that keeping that secret would have kept his life safe.
Realizing there was no way out, Cassilia decided that instead of denying it, she needed to act in a way that was beneficial.
“Annette killed her father. That wasn’t a sane act by any means. It was said she committed a crime deserving the death penalty, but she was still my niece, so I wanted to protect her. I did it because I couldn’t bear to see a child like my own daughter put her head on the guillotine’s block.”
Cassilia decided to cover the situation with the pretext of familial love.
It was an emotion no one would believe, but it was hard to deny the intentions of someone who admitted the truth after being caught.
If the situation couldn’t be resolved rationally, it had to be wrapped in the most irrational way: love.
Didn’t Theodore also insist on unbelievable words, claiming he loved Annette madly?
If Theodore wanted to claim love, he had to acknowledge Cassilia’s affection for her niece as well.
But the results she expected weren’t good.
“How dare you…”
Theodore growled in a terrifying voice.
“How dare you treat the Grand Duchess as a murderer. You’re even insulting my wife, Annette.”
Theodore couldn’t contain his rage.
The thick papers in his hands crumpled helplessly under his grip.
That lethal force was directed at Cassilia and her brother, but his eyes sent fear through the people around them.
“How dare you accuse the Grand Duchess of being a murderer?”
“It’s not an accusation; it’s a fact. She held the gun that shot my brother. Otherwise, why would she flee without attending her father’s funeral?”
On the day the Marquis Cheringen died, a gunshot was heard in the Marquis’s room.
The startled servants rushed in and found the master dead with his eyes still open, and beside him was Annette, holding a gun and covered in blood.
No one saw Annette fire the shot, but everyone assumed she was the culprit.
“She was holding a gun. Why would a noble lady possess a dangerous weapon like that?”
“The gun belongs to me.”
“What did you say?”
“Annette suspected the Marquis Cheringen was in danger and consulted with me, so I gave her a gun because of her trembling concern. Annette didn’t kill the Marquis; she was trying to protect him.”
“No… that’s impossible.”
“Why are you so insistent that it’s impossible? Sir, you’re acting as if Annette had a reason to be the culprit.”
“That’s not…”
When Bjorn stammered, Cassilia intervened.
“Is that weapon really yours?”
“If you take it to the workshop where I keep my guns, you’ll find out immediately. I gave it to her because I anticipated this kind of danger, but I didn’t know it would be used as evidence against my wife.”
“If you anticipated an assassination, you should have informed the Cheringen family and stopped it instead of giving Annette a gun.”
“I would’ve been treated as a madman if I told you that without clear evidence. It’s still the case now.”
A subtle glance passed between Theodore and Cassilia.
Even if it was forced logic, it had to be acknowledged as true, and if there was a gap in the truth, it would be exposed as a lie.
“Perhaps my poor wife acted a bit strangely because she was so terrified by the scene of her father’s death, but that’s due to the trauma of losing her father, not because she’s insane. Rather… if she had acted normally in such a situation, that would’ve been strange.”
Theodore looked directly into Cassilia’s eyes.
Even while sitting calmly, his eyes gazed at Cassilia—who was middle-aged—with a haughty, arrogant look.
It was a warning from him to back off at this point.
“Don’t make me put another gun in the Grand Duchess’s hand. The next gun I give her might not be for self-defense, but for attack.”
Cassilia admitted that her plan to hide Annette had completely failed, and the results were disastrous.
“Now Annette’s legal guardian is me, her husband. If she needs a guardian, I’ll play that role, so you must not try to approach Annette in the future.”
Theodore rose from his seat with a final warning.
* * *
Theodore climbed into the carriage waiting for him outside the salon.
Hans, who had been dozing inside for a while, woke up.
He looked particularly exhausted.
“I was the one dealing with those black-hearted people, so why do you look so tired?”
Hans glared at Theodore with resentful eyes.
“Clearing a guilty person is much harder than condemning an innocent one. I’m doing all the hard work.”
“I’m paying you a lot of money to do that.”
Hans had been running day and night trying to find out who admitted Annette to the asylum.
No one in the Cheringen family stood by Annette, and with so many enemies, it was hard for him to identify the mastermind.
Of course, Bjorn and Cassilia were likely the ringleaders, so they were the focus of the investigation.
Bjorn wanted to take the Marquis title himself instead of his deceased brother, and Cassilia saw an opportunity to bring her son into the Cheringen family.
Hans found all of Annette’s enemies and identified the culprit, while also searching for evidence of her innocence.
It was his responsibility to forge evidence that condemned Annette as a murderer, including suppressing the servants who witnessed the incident.
Hans threatened Walter with revoking the asylum’s license as bait and put in a lot of effort to uncover the truth about the documents that imprisoned Annette.
But his master, as always, didn’t appreciate his hard work.
Hans sighed, touching the dark circles under his eyes.
“I still haven’t received that money. And this Miss Annette—what in the Creator’s name did she do to earn the position of Grand Duchess?”
“I’m the one who earned her.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
Hans felt frustrated and wanted to pound his chest.
This was the first time, since working with Theodore, that his master did something like this without giving any reason.
He wanted to hear a solid reason explaining why he had to risk his life for Annette Cheringen.
It clearly wasn’t an ordinary reason, but Theodore didn’t open his mouth at all; instead, the strange demands only increased.
“What about the thing I asked you to look into?”
“Here it is.”
Hans’s tired eyes suddenly lit up.
“It was exactly as you said. Where did you get this information? If you found someone else besides me to bring information, please tell me quickly.”
