CH 91

“It can’t be.”

“Your Highness…”

“What are you talking about… I don’t understand.”

Charelize pretended not to hear it because she couldn’t believe what she heard now.

Baron Alec opened his mouth with difficulty. “…I’m sorry.”

“Why…”

Even her slightest hope was blown away by his apology. Charelize knelt down beside the bed and grabbed her nanny’s hand.

“Nanny.”

No answer was returned. Her heart sank.

“No… It couldn’t be… Please don’t die… okay? At least one person… should stay by my side. I’m… not greedy.”

She had already lost three people dear to her. If she sent her nanny like that, she couldn’t live with a sober mind. Charelize had never experienced the death of her nanny. Still, she was afraid because so much had already changed from her previous life.

Everyone was dead because of the complacent thought that she knew the future would repeat itself. She was so anxious that she even prayed to Goddess Resina, whom she felt so resentful of because the goddess had erased people dear to her again.

Oh, Goddess. Please don’t take her. Have mercy and save her. If you do, you may take my life. I… will never deny your existence.

Even though she knew it wouldn’t be reached, she couldn’t help but be desperate. The nanny was Charelize’s last remaining ‘mother.’

“Don’t die, Nanny. Please don’t die…”

Feeling the emotion just like a person driven to the edge of a cliff with nowhere to go, Charelize begged. Seeing Charelize telling her not to die repeatedly, Viscount Rael closed his eyes in agony. Then he turned around and wiped away his tears.

“Viscount Rael.”

“…What, is it?”

“That… that’s…”

As soon as Viscount Rael heard something from the hurried servant, his face crumpled. Sending out the servant, he put on a very perplexed expression.

“Little Duchess. It said… Princess Lillian fainted after drinking a poisoned tea.”

“…Lillian?”

“Yes. She’s… wandering through between death and life.”

Charelize let out a deep sigh. Lillian’s poisoning news meant that she had to leave her nanny right now.

“Viscount Rael.”

“Please speak, Your Highness.”

“My priority is not Lillian. Even if they hold the funeral at the same time… this is where I’m supposed to be. Even if you hear the news that she’s passed away, don’t tell me.”

The trouble didn’t take long. Charelize chooses not to go. She had taken it for granted.

Although slightly surprised by her decision, Viscount Rael quickly bowed. He said that he would leave to greet Martin. Baron Alec also left without saying a word.

In the room, only two people, Nanny and Charelize, breathed in the room. An extremely calm atmosphere ensued.

Charelize knew better than anyone else what would come next. She felt like she was getting closer to reality as Viscount Rael had finished preparing to send away the nanny.

“What on earth have I sinned against… Why… why… Why is everyone leaving?”

Her mother, Lona, and Lari. The days passed by when three of them died before Charelize’s eyes.

“Or… is this how I pay for the sin of choosing my own death? Ah. My baby, a child who couldn’t even see the light of the world because of me, is it… because you’re resentful?”

She immediately remembered when she stabbed the dagger through her heart and the baby in her womb. She remembered her life so far, where she had been killing her emotions all her life. She thought it was a good life. But now she had regressed, she realized that she was just pretending it was a good life. In the end, it was all her arrogance.

A sad tear fell down the nanny’s wrinkled cheek. It took less than a few seconds for another to flow. Her back tingled, like being pricked by a hot needle. Just like she cried like a child while hugging dying Lari in her arms, she had no choice but to listen to her strong emotions.

“Here, m-my heart hurts so much. Nanny, I… what should I do? Huh? Teach me. I have no idea. If Nanny passed away… I.. really… How should I live?”

She felt hot inside. It was like something had come in and choked her throat. It was difficult for her to breathe.

“…Highness.”

“Na…nny?”

“Your Highness. Our Your Highness.”

Charelize was dumbfounded by the nanny’s voice she could hear now. She couldn’t believe it, which made her slap both her cheeks in turn, thinking it was a dream. But it really hurt.

This time it wasn’t an illusion created by longing. Her nanny was smiling. Charelize jumped up and called Baron Alec right outside. “S-she’s not dead. Na…nny is alive. Barone Alec, come take a look.”

Baron Alec couldn’t fully trust Charelize’s words. He thought Charelize was like that, perhaps because she had a hard time accepting her nanny’s death. The servants of Viscounty Rael believed that the nanny had passed away, so they all knelt down.

Baron Alec went inside to announce the death of the nanny.

“No… this, what…”

He widened his eyes when he saw the nanny, who was still weak but definitely breathing. Baron Alec quickly took the nanny’s pulse. It was a completely different reaction from the last time he checked. Her running pulse gradually stabilized.

“Herbs, hurry and bring me the herbs!” He shouted to bring the herbs he had personally obtained from Kallon Mountains.

A maid near him brought out some herbs. Baron Alec managed to calm his trembling body. He tore the herbs with a cautious gesture. Then he mixed the juice from the herb with the medicine he was taking and fed it to the nanny. Surprisingly, the nanny’s complexion was slowly getting better.

“Viscountess… Real is alive. For now… she has overcome the big crisis.”

Baron Alec continued to say something unbelievable even to himself. It was the first time he had experienced this while living as a doctor.

The nanny, whose vitality was feeble as if her time was running out, was beyond to be saved. Even when he entered the room, he kept rolling the death sentence in his mouth. He thought dozens of times about how to bring that out of his mouth.

“Goddess Resina seems to have given her a blessing. This… is a miracle.” Baron Alec commented with a very dazed expression that it was a miracle from the goddess.

Charelize stayed with the nanny until late at night. She rose up when it was dawn and the sunlight was bright. The nanny, who had just woken up, held Charelize’s hand, who was about to leave.

“Your Highness… When you want to cry… just cry. Instead… this nanny… will make sure no one sees it.”

Charelize nodded, took her nanny’s hand, and placed it on her forehead. She closed her eyes and murmured, ‘Thank you.’

* * *

Returning to the Marsetta Duchy, Charelize received strange stares. There were whispering voices among them. When she looked that way, they hurriedly lowered their heads.

“You’re home, young Master.”

“What about Lillian?”

“She is the His Grace bedroom.”

Charelize moved slowly to Duke Marsetta’s bedroom.

“Why is she still not opening her eyes?”

“I’m sorry. To be honest, Princess Lillian is in a very serious situation right now…”

“It looks like you’re saying it because you really don’t know it!”

The conversation she heard inside made it clear that Lillian was more dangerous than Charelize had thought.

“What poison did she drink?”

“G-greeting to the little Duchess.”

“Enough with the greeting. Just answer me.”

“Even though she drank a small amount of poison…”

“…Stop.”

Duke Marsetta interrupted the doctor from answering Charelize’s question. He sent the doctor out with a firm expression.

“Where have you been?”

There was sadness in his eyes as he looked at Lillian. But there was anger when his gaze moved to Charelize.

“I was at Viscounty Rael.”

“Do you think I’m asking because I don’t know that? You must have heard from Viscount Rael that Lillian had fainted…”

“I heard she drank poisoned tea. What happened?”

The voice of Duke Marsetta, who was criticizing Charelize, rose. She didn’t bother arguing with him, so she asked the point.

“The tea leaves were poisoned. It was Lipecha from your tea box.”

Charelize was stunned by the words of Duke Marsetta, who accused her of being the culprit.

“Doesn’t Lillian… have to check if the tea is poisoned before drinking it? We didn’t drink it together in the first place, and as Your Grace knows, how can I poison her when I was in Viscounty Rael?”

Charelize looked at Lillian’s face. She was pale as she had been poisoned. It made her remember what Iris had said about Lillian could drinking poison to bring her down. Even though the timing was a little earlier, Lillian was still handling things the same way.

“Get out of here. Now… I don’t want to see you.”

“…That’s what I’m going to say. It would be better if I didn’t even see Lillian.”

“Charelize!”

“Your Grace, there are few things you should know. First, I’m not good enough to send her comfortably with poison. Second, I’m not stupid. I know many of Lillian’s crimes, so I’d rather send her to trial court than this. Third, Lillian is not worth much for me to risk using such a lame method.”

“What…?”

“Because Lillian can’t even be my opponent.”

“You really—”

“I don’t know where to start pointing out the problem. Lillian, who did it recklessly… And as expected, Your Grace is following along… Both of you are the same, so there’s no need to say who’s at fault.”

“So… You’re saying that Lillian drank the poison herself? Aren’t you the one who made such absurd assumptions about her who is at a crossroads between life and death!”

“The speculation I’m thinking now refers to what Your Grace is currently doing. Is there any reason for me to kill Lillian, who can’t have any influence on my path… rather than becoming a threat to my successor position?”