Chapter 87

Chapter 87

As silence passed, I lowered my head and stared at the floor. Have I ever been so servile to Princess Hermia or anyone else here…?

Tears welled up in my eyes.

‘If this doesn’t work, then I…’

“Amazing.”

I raised my head stiffly as Hermia’s voice was heard.

“Cassius Brudenell once told me about it. That the Young Lady will come looking for him.”

“….”

“At that time, I wondered what this madman was saying… It seems that he knew the Young Lady better than I thought, don’t you think so?”

“Your Highness the Princess.”

At her words, I grabbed Hermia in a hurry.

“Lord Cassius… he said I would come?”

“Yes.”

Hermia nodded her head.

“Do you want me to tell you something interesting? The Lord asked me to refuse the Young Lady’s visit at all cost.”

“….!”

My body stiffened.

‘…He expected everything.’

Cassius Brudenell knew in advance how I would move. If that was the case, that was really what was happening. Still, in the current situation, I couldn’t feel that kind of idle impression.

‘…I have to meet Cassius somehow.’

I swallowed dry saliva.

It was because the handwriting of Cassius, who had written something that was completely unbelievable, came to mind.

Just a few hours ago.

I obtained Cassius’ will… More precisely, a copy of the will.

Contrary to the worry that there was no other way than to go to Cassius himself, it was easy enough to see it. The Duchess, his direct family, had access to the will, and although it was impossible to modify or alter it, it could be copied.

However, the moment I opened the cover of the copy of the will, I just froze. It was because the long and elegant sentence, written in outspoken handwriting, contained only one meaning. The only heir to inherit Cassius Brudenell’s enormous fortune and high position…

…It was me, Evelyn Garneid.

My mouth went dry.

‘Is this possible…?’

It would have made the situation a little more realistic if he had said that it was his fiancée, Evelyn Garneid. Nevertheless, I broke up with Cassius. So by not being his fiancé, Evelyn Garneid had nothing to do with this absurd will.

Regardless, the heir specified in the will was just Evelyn Garneid… Evelyn Garneid, not Cassius’ fiancée.

‘…This is crazy.’

I closed my eyes.

Even before I read the will, I had some thoughts. But that was me as the heir to the fortune, not me as the heir to the entire Duchy of Brudenell.

‘So, he’s trying to give me the Duchy of Brudenell.’

All of a sudden, the urge to laugh out loud came up.

Me, Duke Brudenell…!

Cassius was so thorough that he forbade the possibility of the entire Dukedom being confiscated by the Imperial Family as punishment for his crimes.

‘…According to this argument, even the Emperor can’t put his hand into this matter. That means that he has to keep his eyes open and watch as the Ducal family passes over to me.’

I checked the date the will was last amended.

‘….’

One side of my chest throbbed.

…It was the day Cassius killed Kitty.

The day I received all kinds of resentments, the day the relationship with me was completely cut off… He wrote a will bequeathing everything to me.

I closed my eyes.

The stiffening of my eyes seemed to be the result of a lot of stress lately. In particular, I never thought Cassius would have done such an absurd thing.

As I thought so, I quietly reflected on it inwardly… Was there really no way for Cassius Brudenell? Even if he couldn’t help his father being poisoned, couldn’t he have saved me and himself from the aftermath? Only Karthus would know the truth, but one thing was certain…

I had to meet him.

…I had to meet him and set things straight.

I had to stop this crazy plan to get me to inherit this vast legacy that I never wanted. It was all the more so since it was a plan that would succeed only at the price of Cassius Brudenell’s life. Because of that, I immediately went to visit Princess Hermia, and now…

‘Why am I crying?’

I clenched my teeth.

…It’ll never be because of Cassius Brudenell. There would be no need to shed tears for a cold-blooded man who even gave up his life for me on the subject of no blood or tears.

Suddenly, I could hear Hermia’s absurd voice.

“I want to ask you something. Young lady, why are you trying to meet Cassius Brudenell? He’s a dangerous man, and besides, didn’t the Young Lady also dislike him? Wouldn’t you rather want him to disappear like this into the dew of the executioner?”

“Dew of… executioner?”

I pursed my lips.

As I couldn’t believe what I had just heard, I couldn’t do anything but act stupid like this.

“Yes.”

Meanwhile, Princess Hermia nodded her head. I dared not lift my head. It was because if I looked up and saw her expression, I felt like I would have to face reality as it was as she continued.

“We haven’t decided on an exact date yet, but it was planned to do it before the end of the year.”

“…There are less than two months left this year.”

“You know exactly.”

Saying so, Princess Hermia waved her hand gracefully.

“I intend to carry out the sentence quietly as he’s of the status. Still, it’d be a good example… the end of a criminal who betrayed humanity like this…”

“Please let me meet the Lord.”

When I couldn’t bear to listen any longer, I cut her off abruptly.

“I don’t care if the Lord wants it or not! Why are you trying to fulfill the request of such a heinous criminal?”

“The case is a little different this time.”

Hermia had an apologetic face.

“Normally, I would give priority to the Young Lady, but… In exchange for stopping the Young Lady, Lord Cassius agreed to make a statement.”

“What statement…?”

“It’s a statement that he murdered his father.”

Hermia answered calmly.

“The prosecution would have been very difficult had it not been for the evidence presented by the Lord himself. There was no proper evidence, only a confession, so it could have been overturned.”

I wasn’t even surprised anymore.

Cassius had been faithfully planning his own death… just for me.

“…You can ignore him. He got everything he wanted anyway.”

“Huh?”

Hermia frowned.

“Young Lady, I’m also a person with a conscience. The Lord and I made a deal. He kept his promise…. So, how can I break my promise?”

“….”

As I kept listening to her words, my headache worsened. I didn’t even know where Cassius was now. Right now, the only way to approach him was Princess Hermia. If I missed this opportunity, Cassius would disappear by the dew of the executioner, just like Hermia said.

‘…I can’t do that.’

I gazed straight at the Princess before opening my mouth.

“Your Highness… Is there a way for you to grant me my request without breaking your promise?”

“I don’t think there’s such a thing.”

Hermia sighed indifferently.

“Give up, Young Lady. I don’t know why the Young Lady is doing this all of a sudden… though it’s rather a good thing. Didn’t the young lady hate Lord Cassius, too?”

“….”

As she paused for a moment, it felt as though she was holding back on something uncharacteristic of her. And after a while, completely unexpected words flowed from Hermia’s beautiful lips.

“It’s not like I can’t figure out why the Young Lady is like that. I could say I contributed to that, too.”

“….?”

“The Duke of Brudenell… He asked me to bridge the gap between the Young Lady and the Lord. A few times, too.”

“Your Highness…”

“So, it can be said that the feelings the Young Lady has for Lord Cassius right now are quite natural. The Young Lady is just a victim of a ruse, so forget about the feelings you have right now. It’ll disappear someday.”

My lips twisted.

Hermia would never lie. After hearing this, there were situations that led me to various things.

But, even so…

Was even this feeling I have for Cassius Brudenell a lie?

It wasn’t a grandiose feeling called love. It also wasn’t the ticklish feeling of admiration or excitement, either. It wasn’t even the natural feeling that it was humanly likeable… To put it mildly, it was more like a very instinctive feeling that I couldn’t let him die for me.

“It doesn’t disappear.”

I opened my mouth slowly.

“If Lord Cassius dies like this… I’ll never be able to escape from the Lord for the rest of my life.”

For some reason, my voice trembled like a swaying tree branch. Maybe this was what Cassius wanted… to die and leave a scar on my heart that would never go away.

“Your Highness said that it was better for me. But, meeting Lord Cassius would be better for me.”

Hermia stared at me as I finished my words. While her green eyes narrowed, she immediately seemed to understand.

The next moment, her lips parted slowly.

“Then, the Young Lady should also make me a promise.”

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