Chapter 117: Chapter 117 Dahlia withered without blooming (2)
A dark-haired, tall young man came in. Her gaze rested on the golden strap of the man’s imperial knight uniform. Only the captain of the knights were allowed to use that color.
“I hear you have denied all the charges.”
He was silent for a moment before moving his tight jaw line.
Francis responded immediately with a trembling voice, “Which charges are you talking about? Why are you threatening me when I’m innocent? You can’t do this to me by using your authority as the head of the imperial knights!” She shouted in anger.
Despite her strong protest, the man stared at her intently without changing his facial expression.
His ashen eyes, chilly like cold flames, made her tremble. When she realized that she would get nothing from getting angry with him, Francis suttered with a subdued voice, “Please don’t treat me like this. I think you have some misunderstanding about me… I don’t know why I’m here. So, please send me home. ”
She looked at the knight feebly. Her eyes welled with tears and trembled.
“…Well, I think I’ve got to show you first before questioning you.”
Then he put a messy piece of paper on the table. He kindly pushed it near her and nodded as if to ask her to read it quickly.
“This is … ”
On the crumpled paper stained with wetness and blood was something written in coarse handwriting.
“As you see, Joe Fisher admitted his crime. He said he carried out the assignment you requested. Please read it carefully at the bottom of the paper as it states that he was paid by you for this job.”
At his shocking exposure, Francis raised her body halfway and shouted, “I do not know such a guy! This is a set-up!”
“Don’t be too excited because you’ll have a chance to face him.”
“Please… Please believe me! ”
“Your family’s knight Sir Thomas Douglas has also confessed. He said he escorted you to Jeschuta. What a damn guy! How can he escort you to such an alley of crimes? Anyway, there is enough evidence that you instigated the current incident.”
“I didn’t do that… I just… ! ”
“Is it true that you ordered him to kill Wendy Waltz?”
“Oh my god! Kill her? No way! How can I order such a terrible thing… ! No!”
“Whatever you ordered him, Joe Fisher confessed last night that you ordered him to kill her. He said he did everything at your order.”
She kept shaking her head with a terrified face. Her pale face turned dark before turning white repeatedly.
“… I didn’t! I just told him to scare Wendy off! Yes, I just ordered him to scare her off, not kill her. I just wanted to scare her off enough, so she would leave the capital!”
He made a strange expression at her confession. There stood out a vein on his temple.
When he made a frightening look, she hesitantly stepped back.
“Well, I don’t know how many will believe what you are saying, Francis Hazlet. An innocent woman was in danger of being killed, and she was greatly injured because of you. No matter what excuses you are making, you can’t nullify what has already happened. ”
He spoke sternly without expression. She hunched her shoulders at that.
There was despair and hopelessness in her face.
“… I didn’t mean to kill her at all. I’m serious…”
“You will be tried by the court according to due process. Perhaps it will be a public trial. ”
“Public trial?”
Straightening up, Francis asked with a trembling voice. She broke into a cold sweat when she thought that she would face a trial in the presence of others. Whatever the outcome of the trial, it was clear that it would disgrace her family. She was extremely afraid of Dylan’s face if he ever came to know about this. In that case, Dylan would feel not only resentful and contemptuous towards her but also feel the urge to kill her. It would be horrible for her.
Dylan would never believe her. No matter how much she claimed that she just wanted to drive Olivia out of the capital. Most likely he would hate her most for the simple reason that she tried to expel Olivia from the capital.
“But… I do not want this trial to proceed publically. That’s what you want as well, right? ”
She opened her eyes wide and swallowed at his words. She looked at his lips earnestly.
“Let me offer you one thing, so you could avoid a public trial. You won’t avoid heavy punishment for your crime. On charges of instigating murder, you could spend up to fifteen years behind jail.”
“No way, I’ve never instigated murder!”
“So, let me help you avoid that. I mean, lower your sentence.”
She looked eagerly at him as if she grabbed a rope at the end of the cliff.
But she frowned after realizing what it meant to have her jail terms lowered.
“Do you mean that I have to spend my life in the prison in Jacquelin?”
“Oh, you don’t have to be jailed there.”
“Pardon…? ”
The man pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her.
“Leave the capital and never come back. If you come back to the capital, you will be humiliated by being sent to prison. In that case, you will have to serve full terms without any lessening of your jail terms. So, do not attempt to return here unless you are prepared to do so. ”
“Are you going to expel me from the capital?”
“Yes, exactly. It means you have to be away from the place where Wendy Waltz, the woman you harmed, is living. Please read the terms in the document. ”
At his urging, Francis held the document with her trembling hands. The thick, smooth fine paper was full of numerous provisions, and at the bottom, the captain’s seal was stamped in dark blue ink.
“…Flogging… I will get ten lashes… What is this?” She asked in shock when she pointed out the clauses one by one.
“I hear you asked Zephylin Shairas with the Eldon Information Center to find a woman presumed to be Wendy Waltz, right? When I examined your track records, I discovered that your crime last night was very well planned. In case of a premeditated attempted murder crime, the flogging sentence is added more.”
“… ”
“You had better keep in mind the last clause, in particular.”
“…I should keep silent about everything related to Wendy Waltz’s past.”
“Yes, that’s a must for the sake of you and your family.”
She raised her head suddenly at his words. Her eyes trembled lightly.
As if she brought up a taboo topic, she carefully looked around and asked, “Wendy Waltz… Do you know who she is? ”
“Sure, I know.”
“But why are you involved in this…?”
She stared at the face of the imperial knight who made an incomprehensible suggestion to her and held the document tightly. He took the crumpled document from her hand and put it on the table.
“Sign here if you are a wise woman at all. I don’t think you will miss this opportunity. ”
He then handed her a quill with a blunt nib. He opened the lid of a small portable ink bottle, put it on the table, and urged her to sign it.
“Please give me some time to think about it.”
Francis hesitated and put the quill pen on the table.
She couldn’t figure out why the man in front of her eyes was giving her such a generous offer.
She was surprised that he already knew, but she couldn’t understand why he wanted her to keep silent about it. She couldn’t figure out what he was up to, or what kind of trap he set up for her. Who was this guy trying to save her from serving jail terms?
She looked at the strap on his shoulder with a perplexed expression.
He was wearing a golden strap… There was only one young captain of the knights in the empire, but she wasn’t sure if her guess was right. Besides, he had no connection with her family, or Olivia. She spaced out with tension and fear.
“I can’t give you any more time to think about. If you don’t want to sign it, you don’t have to. This is your last chance.”
The man was impatient. He quickly reached out to retrieve the paper from her. She had no choice but to stop him. She nervously looked at the paper and the man then reluctantly picked the quill. Whatever trap was hidden in the document, she had only one choice. In the end, she signed the paper, breathing deeply.
Then, he offered another piece of paper with the same clauses and asked her to sign it. When she finished signing it, he gave her one of them.
“Keep it always and memorize it. Never forget it for the rest of your life.”
“…Why did you make this offer to me? Why are you trying to hide Wendy Waltz’s identity?”
“Let me also ask you one thing.” Instead of replying to her question, he asked her. With a scared expression, she just looked at him.
He continued, “I told you that Wendy Waltz was severely injured, but you didn’t ask how she was or how serious her condition was. Why are you so cruel? Are you sure you really didn’t want to kill her?”
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