Lucia - Chapter 106.2

Chapter 106 [part 2]: 106 [part 2]

< — Negotiation — > (2)

The solitary cell of the castle dungeon was designed with a dual structure . When you entered through the stone gates, there was a room made of stone walls and a wall built with bars to confine the prisoner to another room . Even if the prisoner was able to somehow get out from behind the bars, they would have to deal with the knights guarding the stone gates outside . It was a prison made for holding dangerous criminals .

Although Roy was indeed a dangerous character, the reason why Kwiz put him in the solitary cell was to prevent people from having access to him . There was a possibility of Duke Ramis trying to assassinate the prisoner in order to get revenge .

Roy was lying on the stone floor, using his arm as a pillow, and when he saw the man coming through the stone gate, he rose to his feet . The stone gate closed, leaving only the two of them inside .

“Are you hurt anywhere?” (Hugo)

“I am fine . ” (Roy)

Roy bashfully scratched his head . He didn’t expect his lord’s first question to be asking about his well-being .

“I heard you told Fabian about the situation at the time . Is there anything you haven’t said?”

“No, there isn’t . You really came fast, my lord . I thought you would take longer . ”

Perhaps that Roy thought he might die before his lord came back .

“Will I die?”

Roy calmly asked, as if he wasn’t talking about himself . He knew that killing David would not be an ordinary issue . When he broke the bastard’s neck, he was already prepared to die .

Killing Anita was not his initial intention . But as soon as he saw the handmaid entering the break room, he decided to kill her .

Roy’s decision was the right one . If Anita was left alive and caught, she would have slandered the Duchess with all sorts of lies . Lucia would then be inevitably tied in as one of the parties involved and would have been at the center of all kinds of speculation and rumors .

Hugo frowned .

“You won’t die . ”

Hugo thought for a moment before saying .

“If you want to keep your neck, you have to throw away your honor . Is your honor more important than your life?”

“Honor?”

Roy grinned .

“I’ve never had such a thing . ”[1]

Hugo chuckled .

“Then that’s fine . Hang in there a little longer . ”

Hugo looked at Roy for a moment, then he threw out a brief sentence .

“You did well . ”

Roy laughed playfully and called out, stopping Hugo who was turning around .

“With this, have I repaid your favor?”[2]

A ray of light flashed through Hugo’s eyes .

“You…”

Looking at Roy who was grinning widely, Hugo gave a faint smile .

“You’ll be owing me your life again, so it is far from repaid . ” (Hugo)

“Wha— Wow, how did I end up like this? I should have run away when I realized you were a swindler . ” (Roy)[3]

Hugo left the solitary cell, listening to Roy’s lamentful mutterings behind him . And when he got out of the dungeon, he called Fabian and secretly ordered him .

“Find a prisoner on death row . One with a similar physique and hair color to Roy . The physique has the first priority . ”

Fabian’s eyes shone brightly . He bowed his head in reply and moved quickly . Hugo looked at the Fabian’s receding back in the distance, then he turned his gaze to the Inner Palace that was some distance away . Now, it was time to negotiate with the king .

* * *

Katherine dropped by the Queen’s palace .

“How is Her Royal Highness doing?”

“Her Highness is lying in bed . She cannot even eat at all . ”

The handmaid replied with a cloudy look on her face . Katherine gave a small sigh before entering the queen’s bedroom .

Beth was greatly shocked by the terrible death of her younger brother and had been bedridden for several days . The palace people were afraid that something might go wrong with the fetus during the mourning period, so they were diligently running up and down .

“You have to recover your strength . You are expecting a child . ”

Katherine took Beth’s hand and comforted her . Beth looked spiritless as she gave a weak smile .

“I didn’t do much for my brother . I only said objectionable words every time we met . ”

Beth didn’t know that her younger brother would leave so suddenly . He wasn’t a brother that she wasn’t entirely satisfied with, but he was still her only blood brother . She nagged at him every time they met because she wanted him to turn out well . After her brother died, she was only filled with regret that she didn’t ever tell him that he did well, at least once .

Her father was someone who held the family as more important than his son, and her husband didn’t seem to care very much about his brother-in-law’s death . There was no one that was sincerely hurt about her brother’s death, so Beth was even more heartbroken .

“Sir . Krotin is someone that I’m also well-acquainted with . I know he has saved His Majesty’s life many times too . But why then, would he do this? Why would he do that to my brother?” (Beth)

“The truth will be revealed . There will be conclusion, some way or another . His Majesty is also very worried because Your Royal Highness has been so down . ” (Katherine)

As Katherine comforted Beth, she recalled the night of the incident . When she heard that the King was urgently looking for her, Katherine had hurried to the Inner Palace . On her way to see the king, she happened to meet Kwiz, who was about to go to a meeting, in the hallway .

“The party is still going on, what are you doing here?”

As soon as Katherine heard the king’s words, she thought something was strange .

“You seem to be busy, Your Majesty . It is not an urgent matter, so I will tell you later . ”

She angrily promised to track down whoever dared to forge a royal command and make them pay dearly for their sins . And after returning to the party venue, the incident happened right away .

Katherine testified that she came back from the Inner Palace and had been with the Duchess during the time that she was absent from the party . That is to say that the Duchess was never alone by herself during the party .

‘Falcon . I knew that poisonous bitch would do something one day . You dare to turn my break room into such a sight?’

Katherine did not know the real truth of the incident . It was handled with secrecy and her elder brother refused to tell her the specific details . However, there was some parts of it that Katherine could guess .

There was no doubt that Countess of Falcon tried to do something bad to the Duchess and things fell through .

‘That foolish wench must have had lingering feelings for the Duke of Taran . Doesn’t even know her place . ’

She could sense the feeling of a woman who had once like the Duke of Taran alone . Although she was dead, Katherine didn’t want Anita’s little schemes to result in anything, so she had actively pulled the Duchess out of the picture . Due to this, it was not known that Anita had impersonated the royal command and sent Katherine to the Inner Palace .

If Kwiz knew this, the investigation of the incident would have proceeded in a slightly different direction . The only people that used the private break room were Princess Katherine and the Duchess of Taran . With this information, they could come to the conclusion that since Katherine was sent away, the person being conspired against was the Duchess of Taran . However, since that possibility was blocked, the case had fallen into a fog .

Translator’s Corner:

[1] He says he has never had such a shell . A shell meaning an outward covering/appearance .

[2] In Chapter 99 . 2 backstory, Hugo saved Roy when they were young, and Roy promises to repay the favor . That’s what this is referring to . Hugo thought that Roy didn’t remember what happened when they were young, but this proves otherwise .

[3] Also refers to 99 . 2 .