When I Stopped Being Your Shadow - Chapter 110

*Prior to Ryan’s death.*

 

“Lady Jason.”

 

Marquis Usher, facing Charlotte, smiled viciously.

 

“Are you going to leave the Countess of Brierton alone?”

 

“….What do you mean?”

 

“Lady Jason knows better that the Countess is running wild, saying that she’s the only one who’s good.”

 

Marquis Usher suddenly reached out to Charlotte.

 

“What do you say about collaboration?”

 

The two seemed to be quite good partners at first.

 

Although the specific purpose may have been different, Charlotte and Marquis Usher were both aiming to destroy Ines somehow.

 

Marquis Usher brought in Count Hanson and created a bribery charge to accuse Ines.

 

Also, using Felix, a gift document with a forged signature was produced to prove that the bribe was given.

 

Charlotte played the role of accuser.

 

However, the accusation, which seemed to go well at first, took an unexpected turn when Ryan intervened in the middle.

 

Ryan realized that the gift certificate was false and threatened Charlotte.

 

Charlotte was blinded by her greed and killed Ryan.

 

“Well, you’re gonna help me, right?”

 

In the end, Marquis Usher had no choice but to help Charlotte.

 

However, somehow, the Gott and Brierton family were close to each other, collaborated to autopsy Ryan’s body.

 

Thus, it was revealed that Ryan was murdered and the security forces flocked to rescue Felix who had been hidden in the countryside.

 

Marquis Usher and Charlotte had a hunch that things were wrong.

 

“!”

 

The two tried to flee the country but it was too late.

 

The shrewd security forces caught Marquis Usher and Charlotte, as well as all the witnesses involved in the incident.

 

Charlotte and Marquis Usher were behind bars with no possible escape routes.

 

So now, a trial directly presided over by the King.

 

Charlotte, the president of the Art Association Marquis Usher and Count Hanson turned against each other like crazy to relieve even a little sin.

 

“Would you have expected the daughter of Baron Jason to kill the young master of Gott?”

 

Marquis Usher raised his voice.

 

“I’m a victim, too! I had no choice but to help lady Jason because she threatened me!”

 

“Victim?”

 

Charlotte, angry at the voice, glared at the Marquis.

 

“In that case, Marquis Usher didn’t have to lie in the first place that the Countess of Brierton had taken bribes!”

 

Charlotte pointed her fingers at the Marquis.

 

“You’re the reason that made my life worse!”

 

“Me? Are you done talking now?!”

 

“Did I say something I couldn’t say?”

 

The two completely forgot that they were now in a court and began to argue.

 

Edward, the King who seemed to be invisible to them, shouted in a solemn voice.

 

“Everyone, be quiet!”

 

“…….”

 

“…….”

 

Marquis Usher and Charlotte were startled and shut up but they did not remove the gaze that were glaring at each other discontentedly.

 

In the meantime, Count Hanson quickly opened his mouth.

 

“The Marquis gave me a chance to pay off my gambling debt……he helped to sell my land.”

 

“Count Hanson!”

 

The frightened Marquis Usher stared threateningly at Count Hanson, but the Count did not even look back at the Marquis.

 

Instead, he looked up at Edward and begged earnestly.

 

“Your Majesty has mercy. I owed Marquis Usher so I had no choice.”

 

Edward tilted his chin in rapt attention.

 

Encouraged by the gesture, Count Hanson quickly continued.

 

“Marquis Usher said the Countess of Brierton had chosen my estate as the school site. Once the school is built, infrastructure will be built around it and then I can sell the land where the price has risen and pay off the debt. I was just cooperating with the proposal.”

 

“No, how can you ungrateful say that!”

 

Marquis Usher yelled at Count Hanson, stopping him from speaking but was quickly suppressed by the security guards.

 

“It was a proposal with no refusal. And he presented the document with a signed signature…”

 

 

Count Hanson rolled his eyes and glanced back at Marquis Usher.

 

“…… Marquis Usher said that I had to make it like I really bribed the Countess of Brierton. The Marquis would pay me back.”

 

“When did I?!”

 

Marquis Usher had another fit.

 

Regardless, Count Hanson only smiled servilely at Edward.

 

“Also, I thought the revelation that Lady Jason made every day was to put a little pressure on the Countess of Brierton.”

 

“Pressure?”

 

“Yes! The Marquis said that the Countess of Brierton would not keep her promise to buy my estate. So I did what I had to do.”

 

To sum up Count Hanson’s long-running argument, ‘he was also a victim deceived by Marquis Usher.’

 

Count Hanson finally squeezed out all his appeal and said,

 

“I wasn’t involved in any of the transactions. The actual deal was done by Marquis Usher. I know so well in the first place because I was only in debt with the Marquis and I wasn’t that close to him.”

 

But then.

 

A loud voice rang out.

 

“That’s a lie.”

 

In an instant, people’s attention was drawn to one side.

 

Standing at the end of that gaze was a little boy.

 

Perhaps the eyes that were on him were burdensome, so the boy shrugged his shoulders reflexively.

 

Still, he continued firmly.

 

“Marquis Usher and Count Hanson were very close together…… I saw it.”

 

“Fe..Felix?”

 

Marquis Usher unknowingly called out Felix’s name, closed his eyes tightly.

 

He shouldn’t have done that.

 

He should have avoided knowing Felix as much as he could!

 

Felix glanced sideways at the Marquis, then soon straightened his back.

 

“I am the apprentice of Marquis Usher…….”

 

Felix’s throat moved strong with tension.

 

Nevertheless, Felix did not stop talking.

 

“……I’m the person who forged the signature of the Countess of Brierton.”

 

The audience gasped in shock.

 

“Oh, my God, forgery of a signature…….”

 

“It must really be true that the Countess of Brierton was framed.”

 

People began to murmur.

 

At the same time, Felix wet his dry lips with his tongue, opened his mouth with a voice as clear as possible.

 

“I will begin to testify now.”

 

After that,

 

Felix spoke in a calm tone of voice about everything he had seen and heard so far.

 

Marquis Usher and Count Hanson had been friends for a long time.

 

The relationship was more than just a debt relationship and seemed like close friends.

 

Then one day, Marquis Usher called Felix and had him copy Ines’ signature on the document.

 

Although he didn’t know exactly what the document was about because he didn’t learn how to read or write, he was sure that at least 50,000 gold was written on it.

 

Then he seemed to be getting nervous day by day and suddenly he even locked Felix up in a deserted countryside…….

 

“That’s all a lie!”

 

Marquis Usher cried out in a fit but no one listened to him.

 

It was because Felix stepped down and the next person appeared.

 

“That person!”

 

The faces of Charlotte and Marquis Usher turned pale side by side.

 

Because he was the person who gave him Ryan’s death certificate.

 

“I’m the first medical officer to look at the body of the young master Gott.”

 

The doctor opened his mouth with a stiff face.

 

“Marquis Usher asked for a document stating the cause of death was drowning. From what I looked at, there was no fluid in the airways that any drowned person could find in the body of the young master Gott’s body…….”

 

The doctor closed his eyes tightly.

 

“Marquis Usher handed me a substantial sum of money to state the death was from drowning and I accepted the offer.”

 

“What nonsense is that?!”

 

“That’s nonsense, he’s trying to frame us!”

 

Marquis Usher and Charlotte screamed in protest.

 

But they knew better.

 

‘It’s all… over.’

 

Charlotte bit her lips to the point of bleeding.

 

There was pre-collected evidence on the table in the distance.

 

Among them, a diamond bracelet came into view.

 

It glittered as if it were teasing Charlotte.

 

Unable to face the light, Charlotte closed her eyes tightly.

 

The dark vision seemed like her future.

 

[T/N: that was awesome]