Chapter 183

Rosemond lost her mind once she found out that the assassins had confessed to her orchestration of the whole scheme, and that the trial would soon take place to decide her punishment. She anxiously wandered around the prison cell, like a person that had lost all her senses. “What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?”

There was nothing she could do now that there was a confession. The Emperor was not on her side, and there was no way the Darrow family would help her. Therefore, there was only one possibility that she could come up with.

“I need to ask Duke Efreni for help!” She quickly called for the prison guard, as if she had forgotten that Duke Efreni was already aware of this situation.

The prison guard asked her with an irritated expression on his face, “What is the issue?”

“I have to write a letter. Bring me a paper and pen.”

“Her Majesty the Empress has ordered for nothing to be allowed in, other than food. Absolutely not possible.”

“Please, it is a request! Is that not even possible?”

“It is not possible.” The prison guard repeated her words just like a parrot would, and when she realized that her last hope had faded away, Rosemond made a look of sheer desperation. But then, she had an instant thought flash through her mind.

“I have to go out.”

“Absolutely not possible.”

“My younger brother has died! The Young Master Efreni has passed away. I have to go out.”

She was planning on using the dead Young Efreni. Rosemond tried to appear as pitiful as possible and begged the guard, “Let me just attend my younger brother’s funeral. Can you not relay it like that to Her Majesty the Empress?”

“…”

The prison guard, who looked unwilling as he stared at her, let out a sigh and replied, “I will bring this up to her, but it will probably be difficult for a felon.”

“You can at least ask her about it.”

“Please wait.” The jailer disappeared, leaving only those words.

Rosemond hoped that her request would be granted, and believed that it would be unless something unusual had happened. No matter how big the crime was, it was customary to send felons to their family’s funerals in the Marvinus Empire. Moreover, she had not yet been convicted!

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“Allow her to attend a funeral?” After hearing the words of the prison guard, Patrizia had a dissatisfied expression on her face. Patrizia could clearly see Rosemond was turning the wheels in her head, but the more irritating thing was that she did not have any appropriate grounds to refuse the request. She had not been convicted yet, and even if she had been, the law of the Empire allowed her to attend the funeral of a member of her family. She sighed. “Well, it should not make a difference.”

“I was told that the Duke and Duchess Efreni were arguing yesterday, Your Majesty,” Mirya came to Patrizia’s side quietly and reported the news in a quiet whisper. “I think it must be because of that mistress, and her child, since there is no successor that can inherit the Duke title of the Efreni family now?”

“If Duchess Efreni finds out that the mistress is connected to Marchioness Ethyller, it would be difficult for even the Duchess to tolerate the mistress further. It is important to reveal the relationship between the two women.”

“Do not worry about that. I already have this in my hands,” Petronilla said casually, while reading a book next to Patrizia. “Most likely, the Duchess will discover the truth today, that the two people were scheming together, and also… She will find out why she married Duke Efreni in the first place.”

“Duchess Efreni’s shock should be significant.”

“Of course it will be.” Petronilla quietly nodded and added on. “Duchess Efreni’s life has been quite a rough one.”

Patrizia thought Duchess Efreni really had been through a lot. When everything unfolded, Patrizia would not be able to compete with Duchess Efreni, as her unfortunate life would drop even deeper. Patrizia felt this was unfortunate as she told Mirya, “Grant her permission to attend the funeral. But I am going to stick four or five guards with her so she does not try to escape.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. I will tell that to the prison guard.”

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After Mirya left the room, Petronilla asked Patrizia. “What if Duke Efreni throws Madam January out of the house?”

Patrizia replied in a clear voice to the hypothetical question. “Then, January’s side will be the one to first reveal Duke Efreni’s shameful secrets. Either way, we will not receive any sort of damage.”

“When do you plan on telling this to His Majesty, Lizzy?”

“…” Patrizia paused for a moment at Petronila’s question, but soon opened her mouth again. “If things go well, I will not have to bring up any of this. It is not good content, after all.”

“Alright.” After giving her brief consent, Petronilla seemed to worry about something. “More than that, you look tired.”

“Indeed.” Patrizia replied with a sigh. “I am tired.”

“Should you not rest a bit?”

“It is not so much a problem of not resting…” Patrizia replied in a dry voice. “It is just that this whole situation is cumbersome and difficult.”

“…”

“I want this to be over quickly, so I can rest.”

“You… then…” Petronila seemed to have caught on to something and rubbed her lips together as she released a few words, but in the end, it did not result in a complete sentence. Patrizia did not try to fill in the unfinished sentence, and remained silent. Petronilla completed the sentence in her mind, but could not bring herself to speak it.

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Translated by Haeli

Edited by RED