WPVMVA Chapter 36

“Your Majesty, may I be so bold as to speak on that matter?”

At that moment, Daniela cautiously opened her mouth. The emperor immediately turned to her and said,

“Speak.”

“In fact, I have material evidence proving that the Marquess of Linburton’s family has long been obtaining and using the extract of Saint Polana’s flower.”

The banquet hall erupted once more at her words. The emperor widened his eyes in shock and asked,

“Unbelievable. Is that true?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I discovered letters exchanged between my late father and the Marquess of Linburton. In those letters, there is a passage where the Marquess mentions having sent the extract to our family.”

“……!”

“In other words, Miss Emily Linburton, being the daughter of the Marquess, would have had access to the extract whenever she wanted.”

Daniela continued, glaring at Emily.

‘Even if you hate me… to go so far as to try to kill me like this?’

It was unforgivable. She wanted Emily to pay dearly for her crimes. She was willing to do anything to make that happen.

Hearing her words, the emperor let out a dumbfounded laugh. Then, with a cold tone, he gave a command.

“Grand Duchess Alveric, you are to send those letters to the Imperial Palace immediately upon returning to your townhouse tonight.”

“I shall obey, Your Majesty.”

“Once we verify the authenticity of the letters, we will determine the punishment for Lady Emily Linburton and all others involved in this matter. Captain of the Guard, escort Emily Linburton and that maid to the west tower at once!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

The captain of the guard gave a solemn salute. At his signal, the guards grabbed Emily and her maid by both arms and began dragging them out of the banquet hall.

“No! I didn’t know anything! Your Majesty!”

Emily struggled and screamed until the very end, but no one paid heed to her pleas. She looked desperately at Duke Rodion, but he turned away coldly, pretending not to see her.

Right now, all he could think about was how to contain the fallout so that neither Adrian nor himself would be harmed by it.

After Emily and the maid she instigated were dragged out of the banquet hall, the emperor ordered the cancellation of the banquet celebrating the hunting festival and left.

In a situation where the crown princess-to-be had been caught attempting to frame the Grand Duchess using a maid, it was the emperor’s judgment that continuing to enjoy the festivities was impossible.

The empress and Adrian hurried after the emperor. The remaining royals and nobles in the hall buzzed with gossip about what had just occurred and began preparing to leave.

“……Phew.”

Daniela let out a sigh of relief. She felt both the liberation of having the culprit revealed and the relief of having survived unscathed.

“Why are you sighing?”

At that moment, Ashid, who had been observing her closely, spoke to her. Daniela reflexively turned her head toward his voice—and found their faces barely a hand’s width apart.

“……!”

Daniela inhaled sharply. Seeing his already handsome face so close made it even clearer and more vivid.

Only then did she realize she was still sitting on Ashid’s lap, and her face turned crimson.

“Um, I—I’ll get up now! I’m fine, so you can let me go!”

Flustered, Daniela tried to get up. But as she stepped down from the platform, her vision blurred. Her body swayed dangerously.

Startled, Ashid quickly stood and pulled her into his arms just as she nearly tumbled off the platform.

“‘Fine’, my foot. A person who can’t even stand properly claims to be fine?”

Ashid tightened his grip around her and spoke in a slightly sharp tone.

It wasn’t like he had rushed her to get up, nor had he touched her with any ill intent. Yet here she was, so desperate to get out of his arms that she nearly got seriously hurt. His frustration boiled over.

Daniela, embarrassed, stammered out an excuse.

“……I-I didn’t expect my vision to go blurry like that. But I’m really fine now.”

“This is driving me insane. Can you please stop saying you’re fine? What makes you so confident that everything will be okay? Even this incident—what kind of nerve did it take to drink tea given by someone so suspicious?”

Ashid spoke with clear frustration.

She had nearly died, and yet she remained so casual. He didn’t even know what thoughts had gone through his mind at that time, but her unconcerned attitude was infuriating.

Not knowing his thoughts, Daniela snapped back, her voice rising.

“Then should I have rejected a child’s kindness? I wouldn’t have drunk it if I knew it was like that! And it’s not just me who says everything’s fine! You’re exactly the same!”

“What, me?”

“Yes! When you returned from Lesinia, and even at the Enchanto residence! Who kept saying they were fine even though they were clearly injured and in pain? Who said that? And even today…!”

Daniela’s eyes suddenly landed on Ashid’s left arm, covered in blood. A long gash was still oozing fresh crimson.

She gasped, eyes wide in horror, and abruptly stopped speaking. Then she grabbed Ashid’s arm with both hands.

“W-What is this? When did you get hurt?”

“……Ugh!”

Ashid let out a groan, his brow furrowing. Her touch made him finally feel the pain.

Daniela quickly pulled her hands back, as if burned, then looked around in panic and shouted,

“S-Someone get a doctor right away…! Lord Raedle!”

“……No need to make a fuss. Just applying medicine back at the townhouse will suffice.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! What if the wound gets infected before that? You might have to lose your arm!”

“The Grand Duchess is right, Your Grace.”

As Daniela scolded Ashid, Raedle suddenly interjected. He approached the two with a wry smile and continued,

“Please calm yourself, Your Grace. The antidote I provided is only a temporary solution. To fully recover, you’ll need steady medication and complete bed rest.”

“……Ah, yes.”

“See? I told you.”

“……And the same goes for you, Your Grace. As the Grand Duchess said, if you don’t receive immediate treatment, you could lose the use of your arm.”

Raedle gave his warning to both of them in turn. Ashid scoffed.

“If I were weak enough to lose an arm from a wound like this, the former empress wouldn’t have had to go through so much trouble trying to eliminate me.”

“……!”

At that, Ashid suddenly scooped Daniela up like a princess. She shrieked and yelled at him,

“Put me down!”

“Didn’t you hear what the man just said? You need complete bed rest to recover.”

“A-And you?! Did you forget what he said about you possibly losing your arm?!”

“I know. That’s why I’m trying to get treated quickly. Carrying you like this is faster than helping you walk when you’re staggering.”

“……Ugh!”

“I’ll let you down once we get to the carriage, so bear with it until then.”

With that, Ashid gave Raedle a nod and briskly left the banquet hall.

Ashid placed Daniela in the carriage waiting at the entrance to the forest, then summoned his attendants and knights.

Soon, the carriages of House Alveric departed.

When the carriage arrived at the townhouse of the Grand Duchy, the butler, upon seeing their condition, turned pale and guided them straight to Ashid’s bedroom. Then he rushed out to call the family physician.

Shortly after, the physician Martin entered the room with the butler.

After briefly hearing about the day’s events from Ashid, he first examined the latter’s left arm. As he tore away the bloodied sleeve and inspected the wound, his face grew grave.

“…Oh no. It’s already starting to fester. We must treat it immediately.”

Martin poured disinfectant onto Ashid’s arm and began cutting the skin with a sharp blade, scraping away the pus.

Let me know if you want the next part translated as well.