Upon hearing those words, the Duke of Rodian stroked his chin, deep in thought.
It was certainly an appealing proposal. But it wasn’t enough to satisfy him. The trial could only definitively punish Daniela’s limbs, not the couple themselves. Ashid and Daniela would likely slip away like eels. He couldn’t pay the vast sum Helena wanted for a result like that.
‘I need a more certain way to destroy the Grand Duke and Duchess.’
As he pondered deeply, a brilliant idea came to him.
“Very well. But for that, I can’t give you the price you want, Miss Helena. I want a way to crush them more thoroughly, so they can never threaten us or His Highness again.”
“…What do you want me to do?”
Helena asked with a tense expression. The Duke smiled a meaningful smile. “Since the Duchess has rejected your proposal, she will buy medicine from other priests and apothecaries. We will then hire someone to secretly poison those medicines with something lethal.”
“…!”
“Then, naturally, patients will begin to die one by one. At that moment, we’ll have a hired spy give false testimony that ‘the Duchess instructed them to mix a cheap, harmful substance into the medicine to cut costs for her charity work’…”
“…”
“What do you think? With this, you can get definitive revenge on the Duchess who dared to ignore you and the House of Strand, can’t you?”
“…You’re right.”
Helena, momentarily swayed by the Duke’s words, nodded with a cold expression. But she soon hesitated. “But what if something goes wrong? If the Grand Duke of Alberic finds out that I’ve done such a thing, my family and I would be finished!”
“Don’t worry. The Marquis and I will help you with all our might to make sure you are never discovered. Isn’t that right, Davies?”
“Yes, of course.”
The Marquis of Cadogan nodded. Their promise brightened Helena’s face. If that were the case, there was nothing to hold her back. If this plan succeeded, the Grand Duke would fall, and she would gain great wealth and honor for allying herself with the Crown Prince’s faction. In other words, she had to make a good impression on the Duke and the Marquis, betting everything she had.
Convinced, she said to the Marquis of Cadogan and the Duke of Rodian in a coquettish voice, “All right. I’ll trust only the two of you.”
The Marquis of Cadogan’s face flushed slightly upon seeing her. Having been constantly tormented by his ill-tempered fiancée, the sight of a pretty, innocent-looking woman charming him suddenly stirred his dark intentions.
Unaware of his nephew’s thoughts, the Duke of Rodian let out a hearty laugh, imagining the Grand Duke Ashid’s miserable downfall once the grand plan they had conceived was successfully executed.
A Fateful Encounter
In the Imperial Capital, Gloria Road.
Gray was hiding in an alley across from the Marquis of Cadogan’s mansion, his eyes fixed on the front gate and the carriage parked there. A short while later, the gate opened, and the Marchioness Helena Strand and the Marquis of Cadogan came out. The Marquis escorted Helena to the carriage and then kissed the back of her hand. Soon after, the carriage carrying Helena drove away onto the main road.
Gray whispered in a low voice to someone hidden deep within the alley. “Follow that carriage.”
“Yes.”
A man in the alley answered briefly and quickly mounted a horse. Gray confirmed that the man was following Helena’s carriage, then silently slipped out of the alley himself.
After her bath, Daniela was getting ready for bed with the help of her maid, Mella, when a knock came from outside the door.
“It’s Gray, my lady. May I enter?”
Mella shot a disapproving look at Gray as she entered the bedroom and grumbled, “It’s rude to visit my lady so late. Couldn’t you have reported tomorrow, no matter what it is?”
“It’s all right, Mella. I told him to come,” Daniela said, stopping her. She then had Mella and the other maids leave the room. When they were alone, Daniela asked Gray, “How did it go? Who did Miss Helena meet?”
“Yes. She visited the Marquis of Cadogan’s mansion and stayed there until just a short while ago.”
In the original novel, the Marquis of Cadogan was a key retainer of Crown Prince Adrian and was willing to get his hands dirty to secure his ascension to the throne. Daniela nodded, as if she had already guessed this.
“Did you find out what they talked about?”
“I haven’t uncovered the details yet, but I can guess. She must have been talking about a plan to put me on trial.”
“That sounds right. But investigate more thoroughly. We need to know exactly how they plan to corner us so we can prepare.”
“Yes, my lady. I understand.”
Gray replied in a loyal voice.
Daniela walked Gray to the bedroom door. She waved lightly to him as he went down the servants’ staircase and wished him a good night. Just as she was about to close the bedroom door and return to her bed, Daniela’s gaze met Ashid’s as he came up the central staircase. He looked as if he had just finished his knight training, with a little dust and dirt on the shoulder of his uniform.
Ashid’s eyes widened slightly in surprise when he saw her. He hadn’t expected to find her awake at this hour, and he was also happy to see the face of the woman he loved before he went to sleep. On the other hand, he was also a little worried that she was still awake so late. He took a pocket watch from his pocket to check the time and said, “You’re not asleep yet? It seems quite late.”
“Oh, it’s not even midnight yet. Who goes to sleep at this hour?” Daniela replied, shrugging. Ashid sighed softly and stood in front of her, who was still standing by the door.
“You usually go to sleep at this time. You fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow.”
“Ugh, how do you know that, Your Highness?”
She asked, looking at him with suspicion. Ashid looked down at her with an affectionate gaze and replied, “I can hear your breathing all the way from my bedroom. Sometimes you even talk in your sleep, saying things I can’t understand.”
How cute and endearing her sleeping sounds were to him. Daniela would never know that he sometimes, no, quite often, held his breath just to listen to hers. If she ever found out, she would feel burdened and scared of his intense feelings.
