Chapter 6

Heuk. Huheuk.

Nicole breathed heavily as she ran out of the small forest behind the Grand Duke’s mansion.

Before she knew it, it was dawn, and the grass that grazed Nicole’s body rustled and made a sound.

Nicole turned a blind eye to a man’s death and ran away.

‘I don’t understand. Why did he…….’

Soon, people will come in the morning.

Nicole stopped walking slowly.

She heard the maids chatter. Passing through the forest of the Grand Park, you will find a small lake and a ferry.

Although it’s called Grand Park, the location was ambiguous, so no one dared to approach it.

She saw a small boat house. Nicole walked in there.

There was an old gas lamp in the boat house. Nicole closed the curtains and turned on the gaslight.

On the other hand, emergency food was available.

‘What did he tell me to look for?’

Finally, Nicole removed the ring from her arm.

She has been messing around with the ring for a long time. Then she saw a dent in the rim.

When she touched that part, a transparent window came to mind. There was a large list of documents in it.

But the first document was opened before Nicole could touch it.

‘This is…’

It was Raul’s will, and it was the truth.

〈Observations on Freya de Yveschapel’s Death.

Freya was considered dead, avoiding the eyes of the imperial family. There was a high risk of execution if she was taken to the Imperial family.

A caregiver was sent to treat her, but she couldn’t last long and died of lung disease.〉

〈Observations on Freya de Yveschapel’s husband, Matisse.

He’s been suffering from severe depression

In addition, he’s not feeling well due to injuries incurred on his recent trip.

A doctor was sent for medical treatment several times, but he refused. Appear to have committed suicide due to depression.〉

‘Raul sent a doctor before Father died?’

In addition, he sent a nurse to Mother.

Nicole has never heard of it.

〈Observations on Jay’s death, a healer of the Yveschapel family.

Due to an accident, the patient, the Grand Duke, was in a coma. The imperial Princess Celia beat Jay, the healer, using the knights when she visited the hospital.〉

Nicole’s heart dropped.

‘If it’s Princess Celia…’

She was rumored to be engaged to Raul.

‘She killed my brother?’

Raul was injured because he was caught in the explosion.

Raul, who was seriously injured, was being treated and is in coma in a small hospital in a nearby village.

At that time, Jay had succeeded in saving Raul at the risk of his life. Strangely enough, however, Raul’s consciousness did not return.

‘The healer didn’t do his job properly! Take him and beat him up!’

It is said that Princess Celia did so with the intention of lightly punishing Jay.

However, Jay, who was already exhausted and barely breathing, was beaten by strong knights and died on the spot.

‘I… I can’t believe Jay died because of the princess.’

Why did he hide it all this time?

“Is he worried that I’m going to get back at Princess Celia?”

– It was treated as an accidental death to reduce the shock for people around him due to his dishonorable death.

– He will be given the privilege of an honorable death and be buried in the cemetery of the nobles.

– Since those who died after being convicted of crimes against the imperial family cannot be buried in the cemetery of nobles…

There were many other shocking facts.

‘If… If we weren’t taken by the Grand Duke, would we have been taken by the Imperial family to be executed or become slaves?’

And in this context, Raul seems to have prevented it

It was something Nicole learned while reading the documents.

‘But I didn’t know anything.’

And Raul is already dead.

“Ha, ha.”

Nicole cried out in despair. And she stumbled outside in tears.

Connected to the boat house was a long ferry. The lake looked very deep and dark.

‘I, I, I… It will bring me comfort. It’s nothing different from tonight’s original plan.’

Nicole walked to the end of the ferry.

A voice interrupted Nicole, who tried to close her eyes and jump in.

“Sister!”

“Isabel?”

Nicole turned her head. It was really Isabel who was standing by the lake.

“Why are you here?”

It was the moment Isabel was about to say something. Soon there was the sound of men shouting.

“There!”

“There is the wicked woman who murdered the Great Duke!”

Nicole faltered back. Then Isabel set up her nails and grabbed Nicole.

Isabel’s beautiful face sparkled in the light of the lake.

“Where are you off to, sister?”

“…….”

“It’s dangerous to fall into the water.”

Then something flew over her head. The moment she stumbled in pain, Nicole fell.

Her consolation came from the strong hands of countless men.

They were all soldiers Nicole had never seen before. And Nicole lost consciousness.

༺━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━༻

Tsak!

Water splashed on Nicole’s body.

“You witch! How dare the descendants of traitors kill the Grand Duke! You won’t even die easily.”

Nicole was chained up.

Her body, which had been whipped dozens of times, could not move at will. Nicole’s blood flowed on the wall and floor, and her skin was torn all over.

‘He’s really dead…….’

Nicole, who thought blankly, raised her head.

“Where is this witch looking at people?”

Tsak. The guard slapped Nicole in the face. But she didn’t avert her eyes.

“Pweh. She has a visitor today, so let’s stop here.”

Nicole raised her head weakly. The guard let go of the chain.

“Ugh!”

Nicole knelt down on the floor.

‘What happened to Isabel? Why was she there?’

She felt pain again all over her body as she fell to the floor.

Nicole shed tears. It was physiological tears. When she looked up, Nicole found someone standing in front of the iron bars.

The first thing that caught her eye was light pink silk shoes. Nicole seemed to know who owned this pretty foot.

“Isabel?”

“Sister!”

Isabel, who clenched the iron bars tightly, looked down at Nicole with a worried look.

“Why are you here? You shouldn’t be involved in this?”

There were many questions on her mind, but Nicole checked her safety first.

Nicole’s love for her family was absolute.

“Well, I’m fine. Sister is the one—”

“…….”

“It looks great, right?”

Before she knew it, Isabel said in a calm voice. Nicole, kneeling on the floor and barely supporting herself, saw Isabel’s wrist at that moment.

Isabel was wearing a bright red dress made of silk. The design has no sleeves, so her white arms are revealed.

And Isabel’s wrist was very clean.

“When we last met, you had a bandage with blood stains on your wrist, right?”

Isabel, who looked at Nicole’s expression, caressed her wrist.

“Oh, this? You’re so naive. Do you really think I cut my wrist? You’re such a fool. I know. Why–”

“…….”

“You’ve lived so far without knowing what’s going on?”

Nicole’s eyes got wider. Isabel leaned over Nicole.

“What a silly woman. I made many opportunities for you to commit suicide, but you missed all the opportunities and became an unlucky girl who couldn’t even get into her coffin.”

“Isabel, what are you talking about?”

Isabel, who is always sweet and friendly. Isabel who sings like an angel.

Tiny, pretty, my family’s treasure. Isabel, who is full of healing talents…….

Everything is falling down.

The reality that Nicole knew was shattered in her head.

“What do you mean? Now I’m saying what I want to say. Oh, father’s been easy, but you’re really… You’re something else.”

“Father? Is Father’s death related to you?”

“Father had a conscience. He thought it was a nuisance that he was alive, so he left beautifully.”

Isabel leaned over. And she whispered a secret into Nicole’s ear.

“I went to Father and sold him. He’s incompetent, he’s not protecting us, he’s putting us in hell. He’s a coward hiding there under the pretext of not being able to leave Mother.”

“How was that possible? We were under constant surveillance. After we came to the Grand Park, we kept…….”

“You’re so gullible! Stupid. Grand Duke Valentine was worried about his wife’s father. He tried to take Father to a safe place. So no wonder he let me go!”

Raul was really worried about my father. That’s why he sent Isabel to bring Father.

As if she wanted to confide, Isabel spoke.

“But I rather persuaded my father. Since mother’s lineage is already a problem, if father’s status is revealed, sister will not be treated as a Grand Duchess for the rest of her life and will be insulted. Father said suicide would reduce the harassment and abuse sister receives as the Grand Duchess. Aren’t you thankful? Thanks to you, our troublesome father died.”

Nicole couldn’t even tell what the truth was anymore. Isabel complained that Raul kept an eye on them like iron barrels and treated them like slaves.

Was it real?

“Father was suffering from depression after Mother died. To someone like that……. How can you say that? Father always did his best to protect his family.”

“Who protects who? Our family?”

Isabel laughed for a long time.

“So you wanted to imitate Father? You pretended to be my guardian because you felt sorry for our parents, right? Ahaha, it’s so funny. You idiot. If you really wanted to be of help to me, you should have given me the Grand Duchess position! You still don’t get it?”

Isabel put her face close to the bars and said.

“If it weren’t for you, I would have been the eldest daughter. And I would have been the Grand Duchess.”

Nicole’s eyes shook. Isabel’s words were just as shocking.

“That’s why I secretly informed the imperial family of where we’re living in hiding.”

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