“Where were you at the time of the incident?”

“I was at the racetrack.”

“Anyone to confirm that?”

The names that came out of Cedric’s mouth were prominent nobles and high-ranking officials.

Jane scribbled those names in her notebook. If Cedric was at the racetrack, not far from the hotel when the Duke of Alanca died, he would testify. It was obvious.

“Who managed the duke’s medicine?”

“Mother did it, the butler did it, and these days, it’s Catherine.”

Cedric knew from long experience that it was better to be reserved in talking to the police.

“Does it change frequently?”

“It didn’t change frequently, and Mother and the butler did it for several years. Then, these days… Catherine is doing it because she has a lot to learn.”
“Are you serious?”

At this point, Cedric held back his words. After all, everything he needed to say was already out.

“Father thought that taking care of such matters was a virtue of the empress.”

Jane Tellot, in response, made a facial expression that clearly indicated she had no idea why that would be a virtue of the empress. Cedric nodded with a tired expression.

“Yes, that’s what I mean. Anyway, Catherine did well diligently, but lately, she seemed distracted.”

“How was she distracted?”

Cedric chuckled dryly. In the past few months, Jane had quickly realized that this man had gone through quite a lot.

“Her name went up and down in the newspapers, and because she was a bit tired, if she behaved passively at the wedding, her ranking went down, or something like that. Her parents are pushing her to become the empress.”

“It seems that Lady Kyung dislikes becoming the empress.”

“I just don’t like being forced to do anything. Catherine could have been distracted.”

Cedric, with indifferent words, conveyed many things he had witnessed while busy with work.

Mother, who pushed the tremendous tasks of the duchess onto her daughter, even though she had to learn more to become the empress, and a father who scolded her for not doing enough even though she was already managing the house, taking care of the medicine, handling costumes, and even putting ingredients for cosmetics she used into empty medicine bottles that her father used.

“While managing the household, taking care of the medicine, and even managing costumes, how could she forget that she put the preservative she used in my father’s empty medicine bottle for a moment?”

“Lady Kyung said so.”

Jane thought of Alanca Duchess, who cried loudly blaming herself for not taking care properly and fainted pale. So, Jane had to endure the stares of the people in the ducal house again.

“Even if I did worse things, I think it was enough to do that. Catherine had a hard time. She had to go out several times a day without proper sleep and with reduced food intake.”

The new Alanca Duke sighed and buried his face in his hands.

“Why did my father swallow it without knowing it was a preservative? It must have tasted strange.”

It was a frustrated tone. Jane imagined the duke who took medicine, took lavender syrup after bathing, and even swallowed the preservative after using it.

“He probably swallowed it in one go.”

She thought that was probably the answer. It tasted strange because he had already swallowed it.

Even with the death of Duke Alanca, the emperor did not postpone the hunting competition. The nobles had already gathered in Bellua.

The death of Duke Alanca was the business of the Alanca Duchy. Above all, hunting the beasts targeting the autumn harvest was very important, so the hunting competition was held immediately.

The emperor buried the death of Duke Alanca and the consecutive tragedies that struck that household.
“For three days, we will rank based on the hunted prey. However, using magic is not allowed. Utilizing supernatural beings is also prohibited.”

With the strict explanation of the Gungjeongbaek, some nobles who enjoyed hunting left first.

Those who preferred to sit down gathered in small groups, discussing who would win this hunting competition, who the emperor currently favored among the nobles, and what would happen to the Alanca Duchy.

“Wouldn’t it be difficult for Lady Alanca to become the empress?”

“Considering the situation, it’s rather pitiful.”

“Pity, and she becomes the empress?”

“We can’t ignore expressions of sympathy.”

“Anyway, it’s a terrible accident. How could she confuse a preservative with syrup!”

“It happens sometimes. My grandfather used to confuse hair dye and syrup.”

Dreadful! Oh my goodness! Though voices of surprise floated around like ghosts, it was a very sunny day. It was an excellent day for hunting.

Lu silently watched the hunters and hunting dogs rush out, holding her shotgun. Loading it was still somewhat tricky, but the guns of the Perseta Empire, where magic had disappeared, were far more advanced than Kaletta’s. Today, she planned to test her skills.

‘Why on earth do I have such feelings for Hayden?’