The Cold-Hearted Grand Duke Obsesses Over Me After My Death - Chapter 139

Chapter 139. Irreversible (3)

“Your Excellency, knights from the imperial palace have arrived.”

“Knights? Why?”

Not long after the butler’s urgent report, knights in black uniforms stormed into Lina’s bedroom.

“Marquess Ned Carrion, you are under arrest for treason.”

Alex’s thunderous voice echoed through the bedroom and corridor. At the word ‘treason,’ the marquess’s body froze.

‘Treason? Did I hear that wrong?’

Two months ago, after Duke Berthe and Emilia were driven out, Louid had told him he was a trustworthy subject and asked him to assist at his side. And now he was calling him a traitor?

“T, treason? Sir Alex, that can’t be. There must be some mistake.”

“It is His Majesty’s order.”

Even when he protested, the commander of the imperial knights only glared at him with a stern expression. The new Emperor trusted him the most and loved Lina, so he couldn’t understand what this meant.

“Lina’s funeral hasn’t even been completed yet. As you know, Lina was meant to become Empress. There must be some misunderstanding.”

“His Majesty was never even engaged to your daughter. What are you talking about? Are you planning to defy an imperial order?”

“They weren’t engaged, but still….”

“Take the criminal away.”

Before he could finish speaking, Alex gave another loud command to his subordinates.

“Yes!”

“L, let go. I am the Emperor’s father-in-law… no, I was to become his father-in-law.”

The Marquess of Carrion resisted, but his arms were seized by the imperial knights, and he was dragged away.

‘Damn it.’

His face twisted in panic. He should have fled to the Kingdom of Billiot earlier. It was a mistake.

On the day the late Emperor died, Louid had summoned him, worried about Lina and asking about her condition. He had assumed that once Lina woke, he would marry her, and he had let his guard down. It was his own fault for being complacent, delighted at the thought of becoming the Emperor’s father-in-law.

Only now did he regret it, but time could not be turned back.

‘How did this happen? The black magic Della cast shouldn’t have broken… why did things change when Lina died? Could Lina have been the vessel?’

If that was the case, then it was serious. The Emperor’s memories had returned.

He had realized Louid was under black magic when he saw that he couldn’t remember the events of that night and pinned the poisoning of the late Emperor on Duke Berthe and the former Crown Princess. But he had never imagined that the magic would break when Lina died.

The spell Della cast had been sealed within Lina’s body, and when Lina, the vessel, died, the seal was naturally released. Della was meticulous and rarely made mistakes, but it seemed she had hastily sealed it into Lina in a desperate situation.

‘What do I do now….’

Dragged outside, he was forced into an escort carriage without being able to resist.

Early in the morning, the place the marquess was taken to was an underground interrogation room in the annex of the imperial palace. There, he was subjected to various interrogations by the knights until late at night. When he was exhausted from the long questioning, someone approached him with firm steps.

“Gasp, Your Highness… no, Your Majesty. Please spare me. I am innocent. You know that as well, don’t you? The treason was committed by Duke Berthe and the former Crown Princess, and the trial has already ended, hasn’t it? And Lina passed away at dawn today. So….”

When the Emperor appeared, the marquess pleaded tearfully. Louid had trusted him and treated him well all this time, so he thought that if he brought up Lina, who had died, and appealed to his emotions, he might be released.

“Listen, criminal. Your mistress and your daughter are blood-related mother and child, and you repeatedly sent assassins after the Crown Princess. And when suspects tried to reveal it, you used black magic that made them cough blood and die. Do you admit it?”

But what returned was only the Emperor’s cold words and a furious glare.

“Gasp.”

How does he know that? The marquess swallowed hard, shocked by how precisely the Emperor knew.

It couldn’t be something he learned the moment his memories returned. He had said he was investigating him before conspiring with Prince Ian, so it seemed he had uncovered far more than expected back then.

“Did you conspire with Prince Ian and poison the tea that the late Emperor and I drank?”

Louid’s sharp interrogation continued.

“N-never.”

The marquess denied it for now.

“There is a witness. Bring them in.”

“…?”

A moment later, the person dragged into the interrogation room was Jack, Lina’s guard knight.

What? That bastard? He just testified at the Crown Princess’s trial, and now he’s testifying again?

The marquess’s eyes widened.

“State what you know.”

“Marquess of Carrion was trading Serot poison with the Kingdom of Billiot.”

Kneeling near the chair where the marquess was bound, Jack smoothly recited the crimes the marquess had committed.

“No, my daughter treated you so well, and you betray Lina?”

The marquess forgot he was before the Emperor and shouted in agitation, then suddenly realized something and shut his mouth with a flustered expression.

Damn. I practically confessed.

His face flushed red with panic. But it was already too late.

Jack listed each incident that had happened to Emilia since she was designated as Grand Duchess, revealing that the mastermind behind them was the marquess and Lina, and even confessed the suppliers and methods of trading Serot poison.

“Arrest all the merchants he mentioned.”

“Yes!”

Louid ordered Alex, “Bring in the next witness.”

After Jack was dragged out, the next person brought in was the marquess’s aide.

No, when was he captured?

The marquess’s eyes widened at the sight of his aide. The aide had been working beside him until just before he was arrested today.

He’ll at least testify in my favor.

His aide was loyal and absolutely obedient to his orders. There was no way he would tell the truth.

“State what you know,” Louid commanded solemnly.

“Before the incident at the Prince’s Palace, Prince Ian and the Marquess of Carrion met in a secret location.”

The aide began his testimony without hesitation.

“When exactly?”

“It was about a week before the late Emperor passed away. That night, the three of them held a family meeting in the secret underground room of the marquess’s residence.”

“A family meeting? Was the marquess’s daughter present as well?”

“Yes, she was. The marquess’s mistress, Lina’s birth mother, was also there.”

“So you conspired with the prince of Billiot.”

“That is correct.”

“Your Majesty.”

As the aide revealed everything, the marquess called out to the Emperor in terror. His body trembled violently like a leaf.

“Do you still need more evidence?” Louid said, looking at him with contempt. It was a gaze as if looking at a worm.

“I was wrong, Your Majesty. Ugh.”

The moment the Marquess of Carrion spoke, Louid’s hand seized his throat.

“Gasp, ugh. Hah.”

In an instant, the marquess’s body was lifted into the air, struggling with bound hands and feet. But he was no match for Louid’s strength.

“Ugh.”

After a moment, the marquess’s limp body dropped heavily to the floor. Foam dripped from his mouth, his tongue hanging out, and only the whites of his eyes showed.

“Throw him into the beast cage.”

“Yes.”

At the Emperor’s command, the marquess was dragged away in a half-conscious state. The punishment he ordered was a horrific one. The criminal would be hung in a cage, then wild beasts would be released so that his lower body would be torn apart. It was a torment where he couldn’t die even if he wanted to, forced to suffer endlessly.

“How dare you attempt to assassinate the Emperor and frame the Crown Princess. I’ll make sure you die in the most painful way.”

Louid slammed his fist onto the desk and ground his teeth. He wanted to hack him to pieces and kill him immediately, but he intended to make the marquess suffer as much as the late Emperor and Emilia had.

“Ha….”

Staring at the door the Marquess of Carrion had been dragged through, he let out a self-reproachful sigh.

“Emilia.”

His face twisted with regret and sorrow. Before the incident at the Crown Prince’s palace, the investigation into the Marquess of Carrion had nearly been completed. If he had acted just a little sooner, his brother wouldn’t have died, and Emilia wouldn’t have suffered. Everything was his fault.

***

“Bring Rosie, the maid from the Berthe ducal estate.”

Late that night, after returning to the main palace, Louid gave the order to Alex.

“Yes, understood.”

According to Jack’s confession, Rosie had taken money from Lina and committed vile acts against Emilia, and she was currently imprisoned in a jail near the capital for a different crime.

There were things Louid wanted to ask Rosie about Emilia. He had heard that Rosie worked at the Berthe ducal estate and had been Emilia’s personal maid. Then she might know about Emilia’s childhood.

According to the investigation conducted before the incident at the Crown Prince’s palace, there were no servants at the Berthe ducal estate who had worked there for a long time. Even those who had worked for several years were dismissed by the duke over trivial faults. Rosie had already been fired from the ducal estate at the time of the investigation.