TDATD

LXXXlll

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ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 83

Bustling of busy hands filled the bedroom. Judith’s eyes that were reflected in the mirror were unfocused. The maids, silent beside her, dressed her in a black mourning clothes.

Her pupils, unable to focus at the present, wandered somewhere within the events that happened two weeks ago.

The first knight to awaken after Hannibal’s magic had taken effect was Sir Horton, who discovered the blood-soaked chaos within the villa.

“Madam!”

In the garden, littered with vile blood and rough sand, the Duchess sat frozen, frail and trembling. Sir Horton, running with his sword drawn, slowed his steps upon seeing two fallen figures.

“What is this…?”

The Duke, drenched in blood from head-to-toe, lay still. A bit further away, Sylvia Wirrel, who had clung to the Duke’s marriage like a persistent aphid, was also sprawled out and soaked in blood.

Faced with the brutal scene, Sir Horton was at a loss for words; his mouth gaping and closing silently. Quickly regaining his composure, he went and checked their pulses—

None.

Their hearts had already ceased.

Sir Horton quickly turned to Judith. The Duchess’s hand, resting on the ground, was sickly pale and trembling. Countless pellucid tears flowed down as she was sobbing silently.

“Madam, what happened here?!”

Sir Horton didn’t know why he had fallen asleep or what had transpired during that time. But the scene before him was enough to deduce that something dire had occurred.

An enemy attack? No, why was Lady Wirrel here in the first place? And when did the Duke, presumed to be in the capital, return?

Amid the chaos in his mind, only one clear thought emerged: The Duchess needed to be taken to safety.

“Are you alright? But first— …Madam!”

At that moment, Judith’s barely upright body slumped to the side. Her long silver hair trailed forlornly as she fainted.

When she awoke, two days had passed. As soon as she regained consciousness, Judith searched for Derrick and ignored the maid’s pleas to rest. She ran barefoot around the villa in her negligee, as if to deny the reality of what had happened two days prior. The villa was as clean as it had been when they first arrived.

“Madam, please calm down. Think of the baby…!”

It was the doctor, hurriedly brought in while Judith was unconscious, who informed her attendants of her pregnancy. A maid supported the staggering Judith as she gazed blankly at the garden, now restored but still vividly remembered for the devils’ battle that had occurred there.

“My husband, my husband…”

“When we found him, he was already beyond help.”

The maid’s tone was somber.

No one but Judith remembered what happened that day. Everyone was shocked, horrified, and deeply suspicious.

Though outsiders might not have known, those who served the Duke and Duchess were well aware of the rumors about Derrick and Sylvia. The scandal and the fact that Judith was the sole survivor led many to suspect a crime of passion.

There were too many unanswered questions, but Judith seemed too mentally shattered to explain.

The real chaos began when Judith returned to the Duke’s mansion in the capital.