Nightmare Came to The Place I Escaped - Chapter 99

“Ha? He must’ve set fire to get rid of the ledgers.”

 

The Commander gave a small chuckle.

 

“He’s already burned all the important documents, so even if we put out the fire, we won’t be able to find anything.”

 

The Commander shook his head lightly.

 

It didn’t matter, the Emperor had already secured all the evidence of the Duke’s crimes. Even without the Duke’s ledgers, it won’t change much.

 

“Commander, more than that, we think there is someone in one of the rooms.”

“…What?”

“We knocked on the door, but we think they’ve inhaled some smoke since we didn’t get a response. When we tried to open the door, it wasn’t possible because the doorknob was too hot.”

“Ha, put out the fire first.”

 

The Commander frowned.

 

The floor where the Duke’s study was also where the Duke’s and young Lady’s bedrooms.

 

“Let’s hurry up.”

 

Somehow, his head hurt.

 

***

 

Tap Tap Tap

 

The servants and knights of the duchy, the ones who couldn’t escape, hurriedly carried water to help control the growing flames.

 

Their steps going up and down the stairs were hurried.

 

Bang!!!

 

“Ugh!”

 

The Commander rammed his body against the door of the room where a person was detected. At the moment, he couldn’t hear anything, even with the sound of the flames being gone.

 

Even though the presence had disappeared, the Commander kept banging on the door in case they weren’t gone.

 

Boom! Boom!

 

Several more times, then the tightly closed door broke, and black smoke poured out.

 

“Be careful not to inhale smoke!”

 

Covering his nose and mouth with his arm, the Commander walked into the room.

 

Tuk

 

Not even a few steps were taken, the Commander’s foot touched something that was sprawled on the floor.

 

“Oh, my God.”

 

As he lowered his gaze, the Commander frowned at the person he saw. It was a woman with  waist-length blonde hair and a blue dress.

 

Diane Avery, it had to be her.

 

He rushed out of the room with the woman in his arms.

 

“…Commander?”

“I just breathed in some smoke.”

 

A knight, who was hurriedly carrying the bucket of water, stopped moving when he saw the woman in the arms of the Commander. The knight’s face was filled with astonishment.

 

Then, he groaned and turned his head away.

 

“Wow! Cough! Cough!”

 

The knight inhaled some smoke when he expressed his shock, then he took off his cloak and covered the woman’s face.

 

The Commander frowned as if he couldn’t understand his action, then he moved on.

 

The Commander walked down the stairs, and put the woman on the floor.

 

Shift

 

Meanwhile, the cloak that the knight had used to cover the woman’s face slipt off.

 

The Commander frowned at the woman’s face for a moment.

 

Her face was burned to the point where it couldn’t be recognized. What was strange, however, was that only her face was burned.

 

“Commander, this woman…”

 

The knight who followed the Commander, belatedly spoke up in a muted voice.

 

“…The only woman in this castle who would wear a dress like that is Diana Avery.”

 

The Commander let out a small sigh.

 

“I don’t think it’s Diana Avery.”

“…It seems that the face was deliberately disfigured so that it wouldn’t be recognized.”

“Perhaps the reason the Duke set fire to the castle wasn’t to destroy the ledger.”

“Then the real Diana…”

 

The Commander let out a deep sigh, lifted up the flowing cloak and covered the woman’s face again.

 

“Maybe she ran away.”

 

If they were a little later, they would’ve thought this woman was Diana Avery.

 

“First, we need to identify this woman.”

“It will take some time.”

“Before that, I have to send someone to report the news to His Majesty. I can’t keep His Majesty waiting.”

 

The knight nodded at the Commander’s words.

 

“Ask the servants. I wonder if there was a blonde woman around the same age as Diana Avery among those who worked at the mansion.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“One more thing, bring the list of servants of the Duchy. Every single one.”

 

It seemed that revealing the woman’s identity would take longer than expected.

 

“From now on, access to the Avery estate is restricted. Diana Avery might still be inside the estate, so we need to find her whereabouts. All the servants who ran away also need to be found.”

“Yes! I understand.”

 

The knight who received the order hurried up the stairs.

 

“Tsk, dang it.”

 

The Commander cursed at the small hand of the woman who was lying helplessly on the floor.

 

***

 

「The Fall of the Avery Family.

 

The previous day, around 20:00 on February 4, the Emperor sent the 1st  Order of the Imperial Knights to apprehend the Duke of Avery and his aides for treason.

 

They were arrested on charges of attempted murder, forgery of documents, violation of the Imperial Security Law, embezzlement of tax money and breach of trust, according to Lord Harmond, a royal spokesman and the Emperor’s first aide. It was also announced that more charges could be added as the investigation progresses.

 

The Duke of Avery and his family have forfeited all aristocratic status, and will be sentenced according to Imperial law.

 

Imperial aide Harmond said the charges were revealed during an investigation into the Avery’s last week after the drug found in the Emperor’s teacup was linked to them.

 

During a search of the Avery estate, there was the shocking discovery that Diane Avery had fled. The Imperial knights said that they would continue searching for Diane Avery. The Commander of the 1st Imperial knights asked the local governments to report to him immediately if they’ve seen Diane Avery. The Imperial family had offered 300 gold coins as a reward to anyone that finds Diana.」

 

Ian read the newspaper that Harmond handed over.

 

The end of the Avery’s was reported in the headline.

 

The woman who died in Diane Avery’s room hadn’t been identified yet, but Ian had the report published in the newspaper anyway.

 

The woman couldn’t have been Diana Avery.

 

The Duke seemed to want to buy his daughter time to run away, but Ian had no intention of playing to his wishes.

 

“Hmm…”

“We’re following after the testimony of those who have seen the lady, so Diana Avery will soon be arrested as well.”

“Yes, good job Harmond.”

 

Ian said as he put down the paper.

 

There was no reason to care about Avery anymore. With this everything was over, at least for today, until the former Duke of Avery was sentenced.

 

He would probably be sentenced to death, the highest punishment according to Imperial law.

 

If caught, Diana Avery would also receive the heaviest sentence.

 

“But Your Majesty, are you still concerned about something? You don’t look well.”

 

There shouldn’t be anything to be worried about.

 

“I’m a little concerned about Diana.”

“That’s what you’re so worried about now, Diane Avery, who has no family power?”

“That’s right.”

“It’s only a matter of time before Diana Avery is caught.”

 

Ian nodded at Harmond’s words.

 

Even if Ian was worried, there was nothing he could do until she was found.

 

“Your Majesty, more than that…”

 

At that time, Harmond cautiously called out to Ian.

 

“Avery, he claims to be the one who ordered the medicine that was poured into Your Majesty’s teacup.”

“What?”

“It looks like he’s trying to take on Diana’s sins as well.”

“Tsk, you’re bothering me for nothing.”

 

Ian shook his head slightly in annoyance.

 

“The maid and Avery’s statements are strangely at odds.”

“Avery seems to be thinking of reducing his daughter’s punishment at least a little.”

 

Ian nodded at Harmond’s report, folded the newspaper, and pushed it to one side of the table.

 

“First of all, do your best to apprehend Diana Avery. We will have to arrest her and get her to confess.”

“Yes, I understand.”

 

Ian ran his hand through his hair, and looked at the envelopes Harmond had handed to him earlier.

 

Then he picked up the letter with the Oates family seal on it. For a moment, Ian stared at the envelope with the Duke’s handwriting on the outside.

 

He expected it to be from Rachel because it had Oates’ seal on it, but unfortunately it was a letter from the Duke.

 

“Regarding preparations for the Imperial marriage, related letters were sent to other countries. A reply will likely arrive as early as next week.”

“Okay.”

 

Ian nodded as he looked over the letter.

 

“I think you can set the exact date later and send a letter of invitation to… Your Majesty?”

 

Harmond blinked at Ian’s sudden smile. Harmond cautiously spoke to Ian, his face had hardened at the news of Diana, but he finally had a smile on his face.

 

“Oh, I’m listening.”

“Yes, I will take care of things so that all the people of the Empire can celebrate the Imperial marriage.”

“…….”

“The Avery family, who originally had a bad public reputation, caused another problem. All of the people have turned against them for threatening His Majesty’s safety.

“…Yes.”

“There will be no problem with the execution of the sentence, but it takes a bit of time to organize the ceremony in such a chaotic situation.”

“…Right.”

“So I think it would be better to make a ruling on Avery as soon as possible, and later turn the people’s attention to the Imperial wedding.”

 

Harmond hastily cut off his words, since he’d already noticed that Ian wasn’t paying any attention to his report on state affairs.

 

Looking at his raised mouth and sparkling eyes, as if he was looking at something affectionate, it seemed to be a letter from Lady Oates.

 

“Your Majesty, you seem to be busy, so I’ll call it a day.”

“Yes. Good job.”

 

Ian told him to go, but couldn’t take his eyes off the correspondence in my hand.

 

“Oh, Harmond. What’s the schedule like in five days?”

“There are some documents that require approval, such as documents that you need to approve regarding the Imperial Army.”

“Well, push it forward if possible. In five days, please empty the schedule for that day.”

“Lady Oates, is she coming up?”

 

Ian nodded softly at Harmond’s question.

 

“Yes, then I’ll leave the schedule empty the day after tomorrow.”

 

Harmond gave a small nod to Ian, who seemed excited.

 

“On the Friday of the week when the lady comes up, I’m going to invite Lady Rachel and Master Mike to the Imperial palace, so prepare for it.”

“Yes, sir.”

 

Harmond looked at the wan smile on Ian’s mouth, and nodded hurriedly.

 

Ian Dakendov. He never imagined the day would come when he smiled like that. Harmond realized that Ian and laughter went well together, contrary to his previous thoughts.

 

***

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