I Married a Sick Husband - Chapter 41

“Ah….”

 

Catarina, who had been dazed for a while, was horrified to realise that her father had slapped her.

 

“Father…!”

 

“Shut up! You ruined everything!”

 

The Duke of Schwartz yelled at his daughter in an angry voice.

 

“Did I not say? Don’t come!”

 

“……”

 

“Is it not enough that you violated that and even got kicked out for making such a fuss in the courtroom?”

 

“… I couldn’t help it! I was worried about mother!”

 

“Because of what your act of worry for your mother, it seems that you will never see her again.”

 

At the Duke of Schwartz’s cruel words, Catarina finally burst into tears.

 

“What is this, Father! You said that Her Highness, Empress Dowager would use her strength! Was the Empress Dowager’s power superficial enough for it to be negated because of me alone?”

 

“…..”

 

“Father, are you going to let mother die like this?”

 

It can’t be.

 

If the Duchess of Schwartz is executed, the family’s honour will fall to the ground.

 

Then his power will be severely cracked.

 

‘I haven’t even satisfied my desire yet…!’

 

I couldn’t let everything go to waste already.

 

“Don’t worry too much. Because the Empress Dowager has promised to be kind to your mother.”

 

“But…… Isn’t it confirmed?”

 

“Yes. Not even half a day has passed since the sentence was announced.”

 

“I want to get mother out of that nasty place quickly!”

 

“Stop whining! Who wouldn’t want to do that!”

 

The Duke of Schwartz shouted with an expression showing great annoyance.

 

“So please be patient this time. Don’t mess things up any more, got it?”

 

“…… I understand.”

 

“If that doesn’t work out, you should go and apologise to Meredith, too.”

 

“Father, why should I apologise to a vulgar woman! I can’t! Absolutely not!”

 

“Watch your mouth. Now Meredith is no more that little illegitimate bastard who lays dead in this mansion!”

 

“But…!”

 

“She is the empress of the empire. I can’t help it. You have to adapt to that fact now!”

 

“Eek…!”

 

However, Catarina could not abide by that absurd proposition.

 

She was, in fact, the one who barely allowed Meredith to even become her empress.

 

‘It’s unfair that mother knelt down in front of that girl, who wouldn’t mind tearing her to death…!’

 

When she thought about it again, she felt her blood gushing backwards.

 

‘Mother knelt in front of you and you looked so arrogant! Meredith, it seems you have an arrogant side to you, huh?’

 

To be honest, what’s the big deal about getting beaten up as a child?

 

‘It’s all in the past. No need to apologise!’

 

Catarina thought that the fact that they did not kill the girl who had damaged the noble Schwartz family and raised her until now was in itself a great mercy.

 

‘A woman who repays favour with being enemies! A bitch with no compassion!’

 

Catarina hurled insults at Meredith inside, but her anger slowly subsided.

 

Because in the end the fact that her mother was sentenced to death remained a reality.

 

“…… Just as father said, I will wait patiently this time.”

 

“Please do. Unless you want things to get worse here.”

 

“Okay. I will trust Her Highness and wait for you.”

 

She will soon become her mother-in-law.

 

After all, she had faith that her soon-to-be in-law would not let her mother die like this.

 

‘Everything will be fine.’

 

So, without incident, this situation will end safely.

 

‘And you, Meredith… I will become the empress and repay the disgrace I received today a hundred, no a thousand times.’

 

Katarina gritted her teeth and vowed to avenge her.

 

***

 

Unlike prisons where all criminals were gathered, underground dungeons of the palace were places where only aristocrats who committed serious crimes were locked up.

 

They were usually disposed of by the imperial court, and the prison was also located inside the imperial palace.

 

It was impossible to keep a vicious criminal in the imperial palace for long.

 

For this reason, a prisoner imprisoned in the dungeon had to have his sentence executed within a week after the verdict came out.

 

According to this statute, the Duchess of Schwartz was also destined to stand before the guillotine within a week.

 

By the way…..

 

“Since it is the birthday of the former emperor, the execution of all sentences will be postponed for ten days.”

 

There was a custom not to carry out the execution of the death sentence before an auspicious event.

 

Thanks to that, the execution of the Duchess of Schwartz was delayed by ten days….

 

“Is there any news yet?”

 

Would that have been any good for the Duchess of Schwartz?

 

“Have you heard that His Majesty retracted the sentence?”

 

“No, how many times have I told you.”

 

Every day after the trial, several times a day, the Duchess of Schwartz was asking the jailer about the rescinding of her sentence.

 

But there was no news whatsoever.

 

Tired of her repeated daily questions, her jailer gave her a blow.

 

“Stop it now. His Majesty will never rescind the sentence.”

 

“No no! It can’t be! You promised, but you promised to rescind the sentence….!”

 

“Stop dreaming and enjoy the rest of your time, Duchess Schwartz.”

 

There will be no words like those that caused her anxiety.

 

What’s the point of enjoying an end-determined time!

 

Ten more days were given, but it only served to maximise the anxiety of the Duchess of Schwartz.

 

“Get me out of here! I can’t die yet! Call Her Highness Empress Dowager! The promise is different!”

 

“If you continue to make a fuss, I will give you a sedative.”

 

“You dare, do you know who I am…!”

 

However, the screams of the Duchess of Schwartz soon came to an end.

 

It was because the jailer, annoyed by her repeated screaming, ended up giving her a sedative.

 

The Duchess of Schwartz managed to part her lips and spit out her words as her mind gave into the drowsiness.

 

“If I go out…… I won’t leave you alone….”

 

After saying that, the Duchess of Schwartz collapsed on her side.

 

***

 

In fact, what Meredith promised Blair was the reduction of the Duchess of Schwartz’s sentence.

 

However, there was nothing clearly stated about “when” it would be done.

 

Shouldn’t the sentence be rescinded only before the death penalty is executed?

 

With this logic, Theodore was postponing the rescinding of the sentence.

 

During that time, it was obvious how anxious the Schwartz family was.

 

Ten hellish days passed like that.

 

“Duchess Schwartz, you are to leave.”

 

The time had finally come to carry out her sentence.

 

“Today is the execution day.”

 

“What? Say it again!”

 

“You must go to the execution ground now.”

 

“Nonsense! Absolutely nonsense! I cannot die!”

 

She was the Duchess of Schwartz, exhausted physically and mentally from her 15-day imprisonment.

 

Even so, at this moment when her own execution came before her eyes, she could not help but rebel strongly.

 

“Has His Majesty really not said anything about rescinding the sentence? Are they going to let me die like this!”

 

“Take the sinner away!”

 

“I am the mother of the empress! You can’t let the emperor’s mother-in-law die like this!”

 

In the end, she tried to save her life by using Meredith, whom she hated so much.

 

“Please follow me quietly!”

 

“How dare you touch someone! Do you think you will let off easily?”

 

The Duchess of Schwartz struggled desperately not to get out, but she couldn’t beat the stalwart soldiers.

 

“No! Help me! I don’t want to die! Aak!”

 

In the end, it was a time when she was about to have a seizure due to fear of death.

 

“Wait a minute! Wait!”

 

Someone shouted and entered the prison.

 

The soldiers who were trying to drag the Duchess of Schwartz outside looked at the person who entered the room with curious eyes.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“I have come at the orders of His Majesty the Emperor.”

 

He was Felix.

 

When he showed his identification card revealing that he was an attendant of the Central Palace, the soldiers waited for Felix’s next words with puzzled expressions.

 

“It is an order that the sentence of the Duchess of Schwartz be changed to exile as an act of mercy from Her Majesty the Empress.”

 

“Well, then…!”

 

As soon as Felix finished speaking, the Duchess of Schwartz asked in a trembling voice.

 

“I, I… Am I going to continue living?”

 

“Extreme sentence has been cancelled.”

 

Felix nodded his head.

 

“Until you leave for exile, you will continue to stay here.”

 

That, too, was not very good news, but it was akin to a voice of salvation for the Duchess of Schwartz, who was facing her immediate execution.

 

“Ah, such a relief….”

 

Perhaps relieved then, the Duchess of Schwartz let go of all her tension and passed out.

 

The bewildered soldiers quickly helped the Duchess of Schwartz, but Felix shrugged his shoulders without the slightest hint of surprise.

 

“Then, keep up the good work.”

 

After leaving a short greeting, Felix hurriedly left the dungeon as if he had done his job.

 

It’s like he didn’t want to spend another second with that nasty woman.