Chapter 120: Chapter 120 Don’t come to the coronation at noon (1)
The countess ordered them, trotting back and forth down the corridor. The servants, who moved Francis on the stretcher, bowed their heads to her and carried it more carefully.
Laying on the stretcher, Francis was constantly moaning.
“Move her this way!”
When the servants moved Francis on the bed as pointed by the countess, the maids wiped her sweat. Her moaning got louder at their mere touch.
“Where is the doctor?”
“He is coming right now.”
The countess clenched her teeth when she saw the red blood stains on the fabric near Francis’s hips. Flogging! How cruel they were!
She shivered with unbearable humiliation and felt hurt as if her limbs had been cut off.
There had not been a moment she didn’t feel terrible since Francis was arrested.
“Has there been any news from Max yet?”
The countess opened her eyes wide, asking the chief maid about any update on her servant Max, who went to escort the earl back home from his estate.
The chief maid freaked out and said there hadn’t been any news.
“Did you already inform Daddy about me?” Francis asked feebly.
As she heard her daughter’s voice for the first time after she was released, Mrs. Hazlet bent her knees beside her with a thrilled expression.
“Honey, how do you feel? Be patient a bit! The doctor will be here soon. ”
“What did you tell Daddy about me? … Please don’t escalate the situation… Please!”
“I’ll take care of this case, so you just focus on recovering your health. I won’t forgive those who punished you like this! ”
At her mother’s decisive words, Francis shook her head and stared at her. Her red eyes were filled with sorrow and repentance, but her mother took it only as a trace of pain and wiped the cold sweat from Francis’ forehead.
“I don’t know how Olivia had tempted the knight, but I won’t give her a pass on this.
Don’t worry, I will certainly make sure that those who punished you will pay the price for their cruel actions.I will bring her here and make her kneel before you by all means.”
“… Did you meet the captain of the knights? ”
“Yes, he threatened me without batting an eye.”
“It’s not a threat… He is serious about translating his threat into action… So, please do nothing.”
Francis begged. Listening to her silently, the countess let the servants and maids out of the room. As the door closed, she lowered her voice and whispered, “There are plenty of ways to get revenge on Olivia even if I don’t mention her name. It’s important to get your honor back before that. I will make sure you can come back to the capital! Oh sweetie, this is not your end! ”
Holding Francis’s hand, she tightened her grip every time she spoke emphatically.
Francis moaned with a tired expression, looking at his mother.
“…I feel cold. Please close the window. ” She shivered, shaking off from her mother’s grip.
With a sigh, Mrs Hazlet pulled the blanket over her. Then she jumped up and walked to the window. There was a bell ringing in the afternoon outside the window.
Dang, dang, dang, dang…
The sound of the bell was ringing inside the room now.
“Damn it! The bell ringer must be crazy. How many times had he rang the bell?”
Long past noon the bell kept ringing without any sign of stopping.
As if to blame the bell ringer who forgot any sense of time, the countess clicked her tongue several times. The sound was quiet only when she closed one window.
“Wait a minute! ”
The countess trembled as if she was hit by a lightning bolt.
His eyes opened wide.
“Francis! …Honey, have you counted how many times the bell has rang? ”
When Francis didn’t respond to her asking, the countess urgently brought in the maid.
As soon as the chief maid who had just gone out came back, she asked in a hurry, “Do you know how many times the bell has rang?”
“Well… I was absent-minded at the moment, so I’m not sure if I’m right…”
“Tell me right now!”
“I think it was thirteen times, all told.” The maid answered with a pale look.
“Thirteen, thirteen times…! ”
Without finishing her words, the countess looked out the window far away.
She saw the pointed royal bell tower over the tall tree.
“…If that’s true, does it mean that something bad happened to the emperor? Is that correct?”
“… I think so.”
Thirteen o’clock was a time that did not exist in the Benyahan empire. Death stayed in the time that didn’t exist. A time of sadness that one could never accept. Thirteen bell rings meant the emperor’s death.
Black flags rose all over the Benyahan Empire, announcing the death of the emperor.
The emperor’s sudden death saddened the whole people of the empire. Vatist von Benyahan, who became the emperor at the age of 18 and ruled the empire for 41 years, defended the empire by winning in two large and small wars and restored the glory of Benayhan in its early days by reclaiming the former territories of Baltazar. His peace treaty with Carloen brought peace to the empire that was stricken with the terror of war. He was an emperor respected by all.
His sudden death was suspicious since he had no major health problems. However, the state funeral took place as scheduled, and all the people mourned. The hours of sorrow passed by.
“He passed away just one day before the new law was announced! He was so strong… How could we not be suspicious of his cause of death?”
Dylan Lennox spoke to his senior knight with an unusually loud voice. Before heading to work, Badge Enos, who was checking his weapon, sighed while looking at him and said, “Of course, I do suspect. The problem is we can’t find any evidence, no matter how thoroughly we investigate.”
“Isn’t the evidence enough that Duke Auguste Engre had a sole meeting with the emperor on the day before his death?”
“Shush! Lower your voice. There are so many around us that could overhear us!”
Surprised by Dylan’s dangerous words, Badge quickly looked around.
“…The Crown Prince suspected Duke Engre first more than anyone else. It was with his permission that the 1st Knights interrogated Duke Engre. But you can’t produce the evidence that doesn’t exist. What’s important is the evidence of his involvement in the emperor’s death. What would you do? Besides, if you attack Duke Engre without any specific evidence, you will give him the excuse to strike back. You won’t get anything good. That’s why everybody is keeping quiet and refraining themselves from any provocative actions.”
The atmosphere subsided heavily. No one understood the emperor’s sudden death. To the imperial knights the emperor’s death was the most tragic and dishonorable.
“Let’s go. It’s our job right now to make sure there won’t be any disruption in the crowing of the crown prince as the next emperor.” The badge spoke, breaking the subdued atmosphere.
For the coronation of the crown prince the next day, the 2nd Imperial Knights were bending over backwards to check the overall security of the ceremony.
As Badge went out first, Dylan followed him, holding his sword. He saw a black flag far away. The flag fluttering in the breeze seemed very bleak. Dylan’s face was filled with sorrow.
“Are you sure the crown prince wants me to attend his coronation?” Wendy asked, looking at the colorful paper of gold leaf on the table. The wax paper was engraved with the seal of the imperial.
“… I couldn’t refuse his request. As the crown prince was in great distress because of his father’s sudden death, I wanted to do as he wished.”
Lard, who was resting his chin on his two clasped hands, spoke and released his hands. As he knew her difficult position, he couldn’t tell her to follow the crown prince’s order unconditionally, but he also couldn’t refuse the emperor’s request.
Contrary to his usual appearance, the prince looked like a different man for the past several days. It was all because of the emperor’s death. Even the top-ranking officials were embarrassed by his unusual behavior as he mourned the death of the emperor so deeply.
They vaguely thought that given his preference for queer behavior, the crown prince would accept the emperor’s death a bit differently. Every time he reported the updates on his investigation of the cause of the emperor’s death, even Lard found himself unable to continue when he saw the crown prince overwhelmed by sorrow.
“Yeah, I understand how difficult of a time he is going through right now.” He murmured.
He felt as if he was in the same situation as the crown prince.
It seemed that not only the prince, but also Lard was feeling a sense of big loss because of the emperor’s death. Although he pretended not to show it to others, Wendy could clearly feel his sadness. That’s why he probably could not refuse the prince’s request.
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