CHAPTER~49
“What did you say?”
At Julich’s words, a heavy silence once again settled over the council chamber.
“Th-That is true, Lady Artemene.”
“Why not take this opportunity to prove it instead?”
“That Reia’s condition is perfectly fine.”
“Indeed, Lady Artemene.”
The elders, who had only been watching the mood, began agreeing with Julich one by one.
Strictly speaking, it was not an incorrect argument, so Artemene could not strongly refute it.
If she simply proved in front of everyone that it was untrue, that would be the end of it.
However, if the elders were to learn that Reia was not only ill but also suffering from aphasia…….
They would surely try to strip me of my position.
Greedy as they are, they have been waiting for the right moment all along.
Reaching that conclusion, Artemene clenched her fist tightly in anger.
She bit down hard enough that she could almost taste blood.
“I cannot understand the current situation at all, elders.”
“Duke…….”
Frezen Decart, who had remained silent until now, joined the conversation in an indifferent voice.
Without changing his expression, he continued calmly.
“If such an absurd rumor were to surround Decart’s precious bloodline, would not the elders be the most furious?”
“Rather than interrogating anyone, you would first try to find the person who spread the rumor.”
“At least, that is how it usually is.”
Those who loved and cherished the bloodline so dearly.
“Yet you speak as if it were not a rumor, but an established fact.”
“As someone listening, I find that rather bewildering.”
“A little, at least.”
At those words, Artemene’s brow furrowed.
Yes, he was right.
“You go too far, Duke.”
“To slander us in such a manner is improper behavior……!”
At that moment, it happened.
Bang!
Crash!
The sound of something cracking and splitting apart echoed through the room.
“L-Lady Artemene.”
“W-Why would you suddenly break the desk…….”
Artemene glared fiercely, shouting in rage.
“So I am the only one who finds this situation strange.”
“Are you not all driving me into a corner far too naturally?”
“The Duke is right.”
“The order is wrong.”
“I will first seize the one who spread that rumor.”
Seeing Artemene look as though she would beat someone to death on the spot, the elders recoiled in shock.
It was no wonder.
Her killing intent was so overwhelming that she resembled the former Duke himself.
“Please calm yourself, Lady Artemene.”
“What if it is not merely a rumor?”
“Uncle Julich.”
“What on earth are you……!”
Julich stepped forward once more.
Artemene ground her teeth.
The fact that he had come forward personally, without bringing others, meant there was a reason.
“Of course, I do not know exactly where the rumor began.”
“But have you not been keeping it quiet for a long time already?”
“The fact that Reia fell ill.”
At Julich’s meaningful words, the council chamber grew noisy again.
It was only a single sentence.
Yet it clearly showed how much influence he held here.
Both Frezen Decart and Artemene felt it keenly.
“I hear Reia recently suffered seizures accompanied by a high fever.”
“Coincidentally, the symptoms seem identical to the epidemic currently spreading in the capital.”
“Is that really true, Lady Artemene?”
“This cannot be.”
“To think that young Lady Reia has fallen ill with such a disease…….”
“Is she not the first among the nobility?”
The council of elders had, before anyone noticed, turned into an interrogation.
The strange thing was that Julich knew an excessive amount of detail about what had happened only days ago.
First, please check whether there is anything suspicious about Nanny Grimora.
And then, let that person know that Reia has fallen ill.
Having already learned from Evlyen Leella that Grimora was colluding with a suspicious individual, Artemene narrowed her thoughts.
Could Julich be behind Grimora?
What in the world should she do now?
That viper-like man knew all of Reia’s symptoms.
He would dig into the matter no matter what.
If she continued to deny it outright, claiming Reia was not ill, there was a high chance it would backfire.
Artemene agonized over it.
Which choice was the right one?
“……”
Her gaze naturally turned toward Frezen Decart.
At the same time, the words he had once spoken crossed her mind.
Can Count Leella truly cure Reia?
I still doubt it.
You say she is completely different from five years ago, but…….
After learning of Reia’s illness from Evlyen Leella, Artemene had spoken privately with Frezen Decart.
To her lingering distrust, he had replied like this.
Please trust my wife this time.
She will succeed.
And Reia as well.
Is that child not fighting against her illness even now?
For Artemene, trusting someone was a difficult thing.
The more precious people left her, the more she was betrayed.
Trust had always turned its back on her.
Yet her usually taciturn nephew, who had never spoken such words in his life, had asked her to trust someone.
When she lifted her eyes after setting her thoughts aside, Frezen Decart’s gaze was unwavering.
It was as though his eyes were saying that he would follow whatever choice she made.
The reason was likely that he trusted Evlyen Leella that much.
After long deliberation, Artemene finally hardened her resolve.
“Since Uncle Julich speaks in such detail, I cannot even offer excuses.”
“Very well.”
“……Reia is ill.”
“With that so-called epidemic.”
She chose to reveal the truth.
At Artemene’s shocking declaration, gasps of disbelief rippled through the room.
“This must be a curse from the gods.”
“A curse, without a doubt!”
“How could Reia fall ill with such a disease!”
“She must be isolated immediately.”
“If it were to spread across the entire North……!”
“But it is merely called an epidemic.”
“There has been no mention of it being contagious.”
“And my granddaughter will recover.”
At her confident words, Julich immediately shot back sharply.
“How can you be so certain of that, Lady Artemene?”
“How are we to trust the words of someone who kept it hidden for fear of it being discovered?”
“That is right!”
“She will recover.”
“My granddaughter will.”
“I did not raise her to be so weak as to succumb to a mere illness.”
Artemene answered firmly, refusing to yield to Julich.
Her confidence, entirely different from before, left the elders speechless.
What was the source of that confidence?
As Julich watched her with a puzzled expression, Frezen Decart spoke in a powerful voice, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Then Reia should attend the upcoming family banquet.”
“Would that not serve as the ‘proof’ the elders desire?”
“Very well.”
“Let us do as the Duke says.”
“If our Reia safely attends the banquet, that will settle it.”
Artemene readily agreed and then began walking toward a certain place.
She drew the sword from the waist of a gatekeeper knight.
The razor-sharp blade gleamed coldly in the light.
“At that time, it would be acceptable to cut down those sewer rats who wagged their tongues recklessly.”
“Would it not?”
No one among the elders dared to object to Artemene’s murderous glare.
She was more than capable of doing exactly that.
* * *
After the council meeting ended, Julich left the chamber together with Anselmus and his followers.
Unlike their earlier arrogance, their expressions after the meeting were noticeably subdued.
Anselmus spoke first.
“That was unexpected.”
“I never imagined Lady Artemene would act with such confidence.”
“Indeed.”
“She has always been confident by nature.”
“That aside, for a woman to possess such strength is truly impressive.”
“She must clearly have something she firmly believes in.”
“……Could it be the Duke?”
“The exchange between the two of them did not seem ordinary.”
“No, that cannot be.”
“Aren’t they on rather bad terms?”
“I heard that just days ago, she even had a major altercation with Count Leella in the glass greenhouse.”
As the elders’ heated conversation continued, Julich, who had been walking silently at the front, suddenly stopped.
“Enough talk.”
“Let us part ways here.”
“From this week onward, you will all be busy with invitations to the family banquet.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
After parting from the elders, Julich headed straight for his office.
Anselmus followed him inside.
“About Lady Artemene.”
“Is it truly fine to leave her be, brother?”
“……No.”
“We cannot leave her alone.”
“It is the perfect opportunity to drive her out of her position.”
At Anselmus’s words, Julich, who had maintained a smiling silence until now, suddenly scowled.
She will recover.
My granddaughter will.
I did not raise her to be so weak as to succumb to a mere illness.
As the elders had said, Artemene clearly had something she believed in.
That should not have been possible…….
As he wondered, the words of his subordinate suddenly came to mind.
It is not certain, but according to what Nanny Grimora overheard, Count Leella knows how to handle medicine.
Could it be true?
Did Count Leella truly know how to deal with medicine?
No.
That could not be.
She was a woman who could do nothing but cry and bow her head low, earning nothing but scorn.
Unless a person could change completely in the span of five years.
Before long, Julich dismissed the thought and issued a cold command.
“Tsk.”
“Go to the nanny at once and relay this.”
“Anselmus.”
“Under no circumstances must Reia appear at the banquet.”
“Y-Yes.”
“Understood.”
After Anselmus withdrew, a chilling silence lingered in the office.
Clutching his throbbing forehead, Julich sat down.
Then, looking at the letter placed on his desk, his expression hardened.
“You were quick to contact me.”
With those words, Julich broke the family seal embedded at the center and opened the letter.
The sender was the Lopenter Marquis family.
