Chapter 15 – Part 2

“Yes, I understand, Your Grace.”

Kristin spoke to Raphael and then turned to look at Finn Declan.

When their eyes met, Finn Declan continued his story.

“The Viscountess was known for doing a lot of good in the Empire, and since she was my patient, I wanted to treat her with all my heart. But Viscount Vernon asked me to stop the treatment temporarily if his wife was suffering too much and to make her comfortable.

So, whenever Viscountess Elesia was in pain, we paused the medication for half a day. Of course, the medicine you gave me was taken by Viscountess Elesia once a day.”

“Stop, stop it. I get it, just stop. I can’t listen to this anymore.”

Vernon waved his hands in protest and spoke to Finn Declan.

Finn Declan, looking at Vernon, then turned to Rose, who was standing next to Elena, and spoke.

“So, the Viscount’s wife has changed. The reason you came to see me back then must have been for this very reason. I had heard that Viscount Vernon had remarried, but I couldn’t bring myself to face the Viscount. I never once dared to come to the front of Edith’s mansion, so I didn’t know who he had remarried.”

As Finn Declan spoke, pushing up his glasses with his finger as they slid down his nose, Rose gave him a look as if she knew nothing.

The person most troubled by this situation was Elena.

It seemed she had grasped the situation to some extent after hearing Finn Declan’s words, as she whispered something into Rose’s ear.

Rose gently stroked Elena’s hair in response, and seeing this, Kristin couldn’t help but recall her childhood.

Kristin, unable to suppress her anger any longer over what her stepmother and father had done to thoroughly ruin her once-happy childhood, shouted at Rose.

“It seems clear that you’re also involved in my mother’s death, so are you still going to pretend you don’t know Dr. Finn Declan?”

“Kristin, I understand you’re upset, but how can we trust what this Finn Declan says? It’s been six years. In that amount of time, memories can become distorted.”

Rose showed no sign of remorse.Despite Finn Declan’s testimony and the evidence, she refused to admit any wrongdoing, leaving Kristin at a loss for words.

Then, unexpectedly, Finn Declan spoke again.

“I remember clearly. I can state with certainty everything that was said to me.”

The timid and defeated man Kristin and Raphael had met earlier was nowhere to be seen.

Rose, on the other hand, regarded him with disdain, trying to evade her guilt. Finn Declan suddenly recalled the six years of torment he had endured and spoke to Rose once more.

“I’m still in contact with the nurse who worked at our hospital. Aren’t you curious about what she’s doing now?”

“What? What did you say? Why should I care what that wretched nurse is doing now? I’ve never even been near the hospital where you worked. Stop trying to drag innocent people into this, and just take Lord Vernon. You’re accusing him of killing his wife, so why are you trying to implicate an innocent person like me too?”

Rose shouted at Finn Declan.

Her voice was so loud that the gathered servants seemed to think they could no longer remain idle, and the butler raised his hand and slowly began to walk toward them.

Kristin tilted her head in curiosity, then realized why he had stepped forward.

The butler had served in the household for decades and had witnessed countless events in the mansion.

“May I say something?”

The butler addressed Kristin, who gave a slight nod.

Sensing the growing tension, Elijah Eddington, the Baron, began to slowly back away and head toward the front gate.

Raphael ordered his knights and aides to clear a path, allowing Baron Eddington to leave without being stopped.

Raphael gestured for him to leave the mansion quickly.

Baron Elijah, after giving Raphael a respectful bow, glanced at Kristin with a look of regret before swiftly departing in the carriage he had arrived in.Seeing this, Rose angrily turned to Raphael and said,

“How, how could you do this? How could you ruin this wedding we’ve been planning so meticulously by showing up unannounced? Just because you’re a Duke, does that give you the right to arrest innocent nobles like this?”

Rose’s behavior toward Raphael was extremely rude and disgraceful.

She was so agitated that she could hardly catch her breath as she continued to glare at Raphael.

“In this situation, I don’t know if I should speak, but I’ve served as the butler of this mansion for over twenty years. My memory may not be perfect, but I do recall seeing the current Viscountess hiding what looked like a medicine box in Lady Elesia’s room after the late Viscountess passed away.”

“Butler, what are you talking about? Can you take responsibility for what you just said?”

Rose screamed, utterly shocked.

The butler’s statement was news to Kristin as well.

To focus on what he was saying, Kristin turned to Rose and said,

“Please, be quiet for a moment.”

“You?”

“What can a servant like me do in a situation like this? We can only pretend not to know, not to hear, not to see. But I couldn’t hold it in any longer, so I’m speaking up.”

“I have something to say too.”

“May we speak as well?”

As the household staff preparing for the wedding and others working in the mansion learned of the situation, they all rushed out to speak to Kristin and Raphael.

One person stood out among them, trembling in fear and unable to say a word. This was Cindy, the only person in the mansion who sided with Rose and Elena.

Even as the other servants tried to speak, Cindy remained silent, her whole body shaking.

“I… I’m Frin, Your Grace. The truth is, we all know how much Lady Kristin has suffered. After the late Viscountess passed away, the lady of the house changed everything in this mansion to suit her tastes. I remember the late Viscountess’s health starting to decline after she ate a cake that someone had given her as a gift. The late Viscountess was hardly ever sick before then. So, it seemed strange to me.”

“That’s right. That cake box—if I remember correctly, it was before the current lady moved into the mansion, but she specifically told me to deliver it to the Viscountess. She said it was a gift to thank her for using the general store,” the butler added.

It was then that Kristin realized. Her mother’s illness had been caused by Rose’s scheme.

Confronted with this truth, Kristin couldn’t help but sink to the floor. She had thought her mother had simply caught a cold at first.

Six years ago, a severe cold epidemic swept through the Empire, affecting both commoners and nobles alike.

She believed her mother had caught that cold too. At the young age of fifteen, she couldn’t fully understand the nature of the illness. All she could do was pray, desperately hoping for her mother’s recovery.

But then, her mother’s condition worsened to the point where she needed to be hospitalized, and from there, it only got worse.

Her father always seemed to be returning from a distant hospital, and Kristin would wave goodbye to him from the second-floor window.

But what she was hearing today turned everything she had known upside down.

The lies she had believed to be truths were now being revealed.

“Is it true? That she got sick because of the cake?”

Kristin asked the butler, who nodded solemnly and added,

“I’m afraid so. The cake was from a well-known place in the Empire, and since it was from the store often used by the Viscount, Lady Elesia probably ate it without any suspicion.”

If only someone had dropped that cake box. If only there had been any doubt, this might never have happened.

Kristin felt suffocated, almost to the point of madness.

Then, she suddenly recalled a detail she had overlooked at the time. Her father often spoke of a general store in the Empire, saying that the goods were excellent.

“They have clothes the servants can wear, and the owner is quite friendly. I think the owner was grateful for my frequent patronage and decided to send something.”

It was this statement.

As Kristin stood there listening, she realized how deeply those words, which she had once dismissed, had now pierced her heart like a dagger.

“Father, do you have nothing more to say?”

Kristin asked Vernon, who shook his head.

Her father seemed utterly confused by the situation, and there was a bitter look in his eyes as he glanced at Rose.

He had been so thoroughly deceived that he had unwittingly caused his wife’s death, leaving him with nothing more to say.

“Father.”

“Kristin, what nonsense have you been listening to that you come here like this? Are you trying to frame me?”

Rose said as she approached Kristin, but one of the servants stepped forward and blocked her path.

Rose glared at the servant, signaling her to move aside, but the servant shook her head and slowly spoke.

“Stop it.”