Chapter : 156
“Prince Taylor!! Duchess!!”
At the sight of Duke Taylor and the Duchess charging toward Hazel, Hetviga screamed. Then, she met eyes with Gale, who was standing behind Hazel.
‘What will we do if they bring this person here!!’
Hetviga glared at Gale as if scolding him, and Gale wore a helpless expression.
‘I couldn’t stop them.’
Meanwhile, Hazel roughly brushed off the hand of Count Saxon, who was lunging at her like a hungry beast. She then shouted at the four who were charging toward her.
“Are you saying that I killed Rosette Taylor and Jack Saxon?!!”
“Yes!!!”
Hazel glared fiercely at the Countess of Saxon, who was growing red in the face.
“Why would I?”
“…Why would I?”
“Do you have proof?”
“…You son of a…!”
Hazel gave a bitter smile, glancing alternately at the Saxon couple.
“Please, explain to me why you think I killed the Count’s son. You need a motive for action, don’t you? Did we have a fight?”
“……”
“I’m disappointed. I thought I did enough for Saxon…”
Hazel’s gaze shifted beyond the four toward Hetviga. She glared at Hetviga, muttering harshly.
“I did everything I could, gave everything I had, and received what I deserved.”
“……”
Hetviga turned pale and fell silent, while Hazel turned her attention back to Count Saxon. She spoke loudly, as if addressing the whole chapel.
“Listen carefully, Count Saxon. I did not kill the Count’s son. If you want to claim that I did, bring evidence or, at the very least, explain what I stood to gain by killing him.”
Then Emma pointed at him and shouted.
“You!! You hate the union between the Taylor family and the Saxon family, don’t you!!”
Hazel shook his head as he looked at Emma, who was tightly holding the Countess of Saxon’s hand. She could be this stupid, even when trying to act clever.
“You think we didn’t know that you wanted to devour our entire family?! You think we didn’t notice your vile schemes?!”
“By uniting our two families, you thought you could stop us from deceiving you anymore!! That’s why you killed Rosette, didn’t you!!”
At John and Emma’s continued remarks, Hazel clicked his tongue in disdain and muttered quietly.
“Rosette Taylor… how tragic.”
Emma’s eyebrows twitched at his words.
“What…?”
She released the Countess’s hand and walked toward Hazel Chernin.
“Say that again.”
“I said Rosette Taylor is pitiful.”
Like an animal, Emma lunged at Hazel Chernin, swinging her hand at him. But Hazel easily caught her hand, and when she swung her other hand, he caught that too. Sighs escaped from the onlookers.
Just as Emma tried to struggle, Hazel whispered softly, so only she could hear.
“How pitiful that she doesn’t even know who her parents’ murderer is.”
“…?”
“And even worse, she’s comforting the murderer. Don’t you hear your daughter’s wails?”
“…?!”
At that moment, John, who had been silent, yelled loudly.
“You bastard!!! Can’t you let go of her hand?!”
Hazel easily released her hand, but Emma grabbed him by the collar and whispered.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Rosette Taylor, I didn’t kill her. Think about it. Do you think your daughter would have gotten into the carriage I sent without suspicion?”
“……”
“If someone sent the carriage, would she have gotten in without suspicion?”
“……”
“Did Jack Saxon love your daughter? Did your daughter love him? Really?”
The devil’s whispers entered her ears. Emma remembered Rosette’s voice.
‘Really, I don’t want to marry that man! Do you know Jack Saxon thinks I’m not worth even the dust on the road?! And how about the Countess of Saxon?!’
“Why did he want to marry Rosette Taylor?”
At that moment, a sharp voice rang from behind.
“Duchess Taylor!! Don’t listen to the whispers of such a wicked person!!”
“You bastard!! What are you saying to the Duchess!!”
But Emma didn’t move. Hazel whispered into her ear again.
“Maybe he needed the inheritance rights.”
“Duchess Taylor!!”
“Hazel Chernin, can’t you get away from the Duchess now?!”
Despite the commotion behind her, Emma asked.
“Then, you didn’t need to kill my daughter.”
“Instead, didn’t they tell you to bring Grace Taylor?”
“……!”
“Maybe he wanted to humiliate Duke Richmond? Or perhaps from the start, he preferred Grace Taylor over your daughter.”
“……”
“‘Get revenge on Hazel Chernin, and bring Grace Taylor from the Richmond family.’”
Hazel Chernin’s icy gaze turned to the Saxon couple and Hetviga beyond Emma.
“Who told you all that?”
“……”
“If you don’t believe me, go ask them now. You’ll be shocked.”
Hazel moved slowly away from Emma. The chapel was engulfed in a cold silence, and all eyes turned to Emma.
Emma blinked slowly, then turned around as if enchanted. She locked eyes with the Countess of Saxon, who had been watching her anxiously.
Suddenly, not long ago, memories resurfaced.
The Countess of Saxon sneering while pulling a pin out of Rosette’s hair. Her constant disapproval of Rosette, hiding her contempt.
Emma had always had a question in her heart.
Even though she disliked Rosette, why did she force her into marriage with him?
Emma, stopping just before the Countess of Saxon, asked.
“Did you kill my daughter?”
In that instant, the Countess of Saxon’s eyes and mouth opened wide, and her pupils wandered aimlessly.
It was a fleeting reaction, but Emma noticed her hesitation. An unexplainable instinct flashed in her mind.
Emma grabbed the Countess’s hair in an instant.
“Ahhh!!!”
“Honey!!!”
“Duchess!!”
Duke Saxon and Duke Taylor rushed to stop her, but Emma used superhuman strength to shake the Countess of Saxon by her hair.
“Is it true?! Did you kill my daughter?!! And then you comfort me?!”
“Ahhh!!!”
“Let go of her hand!! What are you doing?!”
“Honey!!”
“Duchess Taylor!!”
Hetviga joined in, trying to separate Emma and the Countess of Saxon, but they couldn’t separate the enraged Emma.
Hazel Chernin raised an eyebrow and took a step back as the noblemen who had been mourning were now distracted, discussing the chaos. The chapel became very noisy.
Eliza, who had just entered the entrance, frowned and muttered.
“What a mess.”
Lady Isaac also shook her head.
“What are we going to do?”
“What are we going to do? We didn’t come here unaware of the mess. We need to do what needs to be done.”
The Richmond Duchess, dressed in a black dress with a stiff collar, did not even glance at the bickering Saxon Countess and Emma. She simply passed them by, like a river flowing around a rock in the middle of a stream.
As the nobles began to notice Eliza, they gradually fell silent, and the chapel began to quiet down.
Hetviga and Hazel Chernin’s eyes followed Eliza.
Emma, who had been shaking the Countess of Saxon’s head as if she was going to pull it off, also stopped when the strange atmosphere settled. Taking advantage of that moment, the Countess of Saxon freed herself from Emma’s grasp.
The Countess, who had raised her head to scream at Emma, paused as the air in the chapel changed. People were all looking at the same spot, and the Countess of Saxon followed their gaze.
At that moment, Eliza arrived at the coffin. The priest who had been waiting respectfully bowed to her and offered a white flower. Eliza gracefully accepted the flower and walked toward Jack Saxon’s coffin. She then placed the white flower on top of the coffin and raised her head to look at the statue of the god.
The god looked down on her with an indifferent expression.
Eliza did not speak to the deceased or the god. She quietly turned and, as she did, her eyes met Hetviga’s, who had been staring at her anxiously.
Eliza sneered inwardly.
What a fool. How could she be scared of such a small thing?
Rather than sitting on the prayer bench, Eliza walked toward them. Then she spoke to the Countess of Saxon, who looked pathetically disheveled.
“I don’t know what to say to comfort you.”
“……”
“Even if a child dies of illness, that sorrow reaches the heavens. But losing them unjustly, that sorrow and pain tear through the body and gut, far worse than any flesh wound.”
Eliza smiled sadly.
“I guess it was my pride. If I hadn’t been so arrogant, I wouldn’t have sent three away.”
“……”
“One of the priests who comforted me said, forgiveness would bring peace to my soul. But, you, who share the same pain as I do, will understand.”
