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Chapter 126

-Chapter 126-

Killian

"Lady Edith did not assist the Rigelhoffs in their dastardly deed; I saw it with my own two eyes; rather, it was her who was most assaulted by them!"

Duke Ludwig had already heard my testimony and realized his own misunderstanding, but he wanted to hear more from the man who had ridden ahead of the knights on the day of the kidnapping.

"Tell me in detail."

"On that day, I heard that there had been an attempted assassination of the Emperor at the palace, and that all parties in the capital had been stopped because of it. I had a bad feeling about it, so I told Sir Gordon that we'd better go and see the Duchess. I was in a hurry, so I set off first."

It was the same story we heard from Gordon, the knight who guarded the mansion.

"From a distance, I saw three women in gowns being dragged away by men in black. Two of them had already fainted and were being put into the carriage, but the third resisted to the end. Having succeeded in pulling away from the captors, she did not run away, but fought to free the Duchess, who was being carried up into the carriage."

Renon recalled the moment with a somber expression. The moment when he had felt so helpless.

"Our knights were closing in fast, and if she had held on a little longer, the kidnapping would not have been so easy, but one of the men got out of the carriage and beat her mercilessly. The woman who fell had reddish-brown hair, and the man who beat her was unmistakably...... Shane Rigelhoff."

"Are you sure?"

"I swear on my honor."

Puzzlement flashed across the Duke's face.

If it was true, he should be treating Edith like a hero, not a sinner.

But for me, who was listening, the more important question was where and how Edith was injured.

"Do you remember where and how Shane hit her?" I asked.

"He punched her in the face with his fist, kicked her in the stomach with his foot......"

"How could he hit such a fragile woman? Not to mention she's his sister." The Duke asked in surprise.

"I was so surprised that I ran over, but the mercenaries were more numerous than I expected, and I was quickly surrounded. While I was struggling with them, Shane managed to escape with Lady Edith in the carriage."

I gritted my teeth. "Damn it......"

I couldn't imagine where or how badly Edith was hurt.

"Why the hell did she get treated so badly? No matter what, she's still a blood relative......"

"I think it's because Lady Edith has completely turned her back on the Rigelhoffs. She was very much looking forward to going down to the Ryzen estate, and had dreams of developing it; there is no way that someone like her would have betrayed House Ludwig."

"You mean she did......" Duke could not finish his words, a regretful look on his face.

I felt my heart sink. I wondered how long Edith had been looking forward to that day, mulling over her plans for the estate.

And I felt so foolish for not knowing any of that, for thinking only of what would happen if she went to Ryzen estate and whined about being cold.

"So, you came running as soon as you woke up because you were afraid Edith was going to be executed?" I asked, smiling faintly.