CH 62

“How can we be sure this person born from the womb of a lowly woman is my brother’s son! You did this to attack me!”

When I had rushed to the third floor, I could hear Count Melaton’s booming voice echoing in the hallway. 

“Ahh!”

And the screams of the employees. 

When I heard it, I had a sinking feeling I was a second too late. 

Rupert stood in the middle of the room, his sword drawn. However, Melaton was choking himself and vomiting blood before Rupert could even attack.

“Ugh… Cough, cough.”

His face was purple, a sight I had seen once before. 

Rupert didn’t panic when he saw it but stood still, fixing his angry gaze on Melaton. 

“Huuu… U-ugh…”

He watched closely as Melaton vomited until his blood pooled on the floor, eventually collapsed on the spot, and died.

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Rupert lowered his sword only after confirming that Melaton was completely dead. If he hadn’t died, Rupert would have killed him himself.

My body froze at the terrible sight I saw as I stood outside the door, but I mustered up my courage and walked slowly into the room, one step at a time.

Rupert seemed too angry to notice I was coming inside. His sword was pointed at Eliana, trembling in the corner. 

“I won’t say it twice. Did Melaton poison my father?”

Eliana licked her lips but didn’t say anything. 

“A-ah… Um…” She stared at Chloe, looking completely terrified of her.

“Have you been poisoning my father all this time with Melaton? If you tell the truth, I won’t be able to save you from your sins, but I can give you an easy death.”

“Hicc, ah… P-poison…” Eliana still looked at Chloe, her expression not changing.

I didn’t know why, but I instinctively walked over to Eliana and hugged her tightly.

“Erin!” Rupert shouted, but I patted Eliana, ignoring him.

“It’s okay. Calm down and close your eyes.”

“Ma…dam?” 

After seeing Eliana’s mouth open, I pulled her away and made eye contact with her. “How are you? Are you feeling better?”

Eliana nodded slowly, looking a bit dazed and confused. Even I who asked this question did not know the reality of this power.

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“Tell us then.” I turned Eliana to Rupert and everyone else. But Rupert was already looking at me, not Eliana.

“What’s going on here? Weren’t you… weren’t you leaving?”

He looked really embarrassed. Did he know I was leaving and did this on purpose to take advantage of my absence? 

Why?

“…I didn’t want to show you this.” He mumbled, and it struck me how unfamiliar to see him act that way. 

Meanwhile, Eliana, who managed to calm down, spoke in a clear voice, “The medicine Count Melaton gave me isn’t poison.”

“But I saw him administer the drug, and now Father is dead. Then he committed suicide? What more do you need to say?” 

Rupert concluded that Melaton’s bloody death was suicide.

“If it’s not poison, what kind of drug is it?”

“That…” Eliana glanced at me, and I was at a loss.

Before coming here, Enoch told me not to talk about the Duke becoming undead. I also objected to mentioning it since it could reveal my identity, regardless of the seriousness of the matter.

I shook my head slightly, and Eliana bit her lip and lowered her gaze. 

“Tell me, if it’s not poison, what kind of drug is it? Or try drinking it yourself. You didn’t stop him from taking the drug, so you’re an accomplice.”

“That…!”

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Rupert was about to kill Eliana as well, so I had no choice but to do it. I sighed and walked out in front of Eliana.

Rupert faltered and stepped back. “Erin.”

“It’s not poison.”

“Father is dead.”

Eliana screamed urgently, “He was already dead before he even took the medicine!”

“Who would believe that?” Rupert also exclaimed in frustration.

After a moment’s hesitation, I grabbed the medicine bowl on the side table.

“Erin, what are you doing!”

“Look.”

My hand holding the bowl trembled slightly. 

Please, I hope I have some really special powers. If not, what will happen to me after that? Will I become undead?

I had countless thoughts in my head the moment I hesitated. But, when Rupert came to steal the bowl, I swallowed it in one breath.

“Erin…!”

The drug, which seemed to be very useful, surprisingly had no taste at all.

After I showed everyone that I had emptied the bowl, I put it back on the nightstand. 

Everyone turned to me. 

Before long, Enoch also arrived and leaned on the door. I averted my gaze from his stiff expression.

Rupert, who came in front of me, was furious.

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“What are you doing? What if you die!”

“…If I die, I die.” I sighed and sat on the bed. The Duke, his expression serene, was lying behind me.

Thump, thump–.

I pretended to be calm, but I was also nervous. I was afraid that the result wasn’t what I expected, so I focused on the sound of my heartbeat. 

While silence filled the room, people removed Melaton’s body. I narrowed my eyes at him. 

Perhaps the reason he died… 

I turned to Chloe, and our eyes met. She seemed to stare at me curiously. 

After seeing the body being removed and the blood being wiped off, I got up from the bed and walked forward.

“So, don’t I look fine?”

“You, Erin… Are you okay?” Rupert’s voice trembled as he walked to me.

“As you can see, I’m fine.” I took a step away from him and looked at him proudly. “So, stop talking about the Duke being poisoned… He was very ill and died.”

I didn’t detail the process, but it was true. And there was a person by Rupert’s side who knew better than anyone that it was.

I was almost certain that Rupert knew and just pretended not to know. Suddenly, my fingertips felt cold. 

“Before I leave for the capital, I am here again because I have something to tell you.” I had to say what I had to say, so I looked at Rupert with all my contempt. “Last night, when I was greeting the Duke, he told me something.”

It wasn’t something I wanted to say, especially in this situation, but I couldn’t distort the words and wishes of the deceased.

So, I tried to speak as calmly as possible to convey what I heard. I breathed in briefly and exhaled. 

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“This is absurd… To my son, Rupert, I pass on both the title and territories to you. His Grace said he entrusts the work of the next generations to his heir.”

Rupert stood frozen at the words I spoke, and everyone held their breath.

I held my tongue and looked at him. I wanted it to sink in that the Duke already thought he was his real son and that all of this was unnecessary.

He must have felt like a fool because Rupert held his head with one hand as he threw his sword. Then he ran away from the room.

Richard looked at the Duke, his expression unreadable, and Chloe stared at me with a mixture of suspicion, curiosity, resentment, and envy.

“It’s really…” At that moment, a calm voice broke the silence. “It’s a pity that Duke Clifford, the pillar of the Empire, passed away. But I don’t know what to tell His Majesty what I saw today.” 

I walked to Enoch and muttered, “Let’s go now, Your Highness.”

Enoch nodded but glanced at me in reproach. I feigned ignorance at the look and walked ahead. 

He was probably concerned and wanted to rebuke me for swallowing the medicine. I also thought what I did was risky.

When we reached the first-floor lobby, he asked, “Aren’t you going to the funeral?”

“…I already said goodbye privately. I think that’s enough.”

Erin Spilet had already bid him farewell personally. However, enacting the role of the Duchess of Clifford, the hostess of this duchy, was now out of the question.

“Let’s go.” I accepted Enoch’s hand and climbed into the carriage, stopping myself from saying, ‘Before someone catches me.’

As soon as Enoch got on the other side, the carriage departed. 

When I glanced back, I saw Rupert, who had followed me belatedly as expected, watching the carriage moving away.

I quickly turned my head forward again and closed my eyes. 

Although Rupert succeeded in finally getting the title, Melaton revealed his birth secret and made several people aware of that disgrace. 

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Even if they kept their mouths shut for a while, it would still eventually spread. Not unless he killed everyone present at that time.

But Richard was there, and so was Enoch, so that would be impossible.

In this age where blood was valued above all else, rumors would probably follow Rupert around like a target.

Rupert was guilty of turning a blind eye to someone’s evil deeds for his own benefits, so I thought he should bear that much.

Melaton hadn’t been poisoning the Duke either, but it was like feeding the Duke a more dangerous drug than that, so he paid the price with his life.

‘Only one of them didn’t commit a crime.’

I opened my eyes again to see Enoch sitting in front of me, smiling softly at me. I smiled back.

Once I’ve left this castle and reached the capital, I’ll finally go through the divorce proceedings with Rupert.