The Impact Of The Villainess’ Fake Marriage On The Ending

“Are you saying that they were all members of the families that refused Marquis Tien when he asked for help?”
“Yeah. They all refused.”

Melissa’s expression grew serious after hearing what Adeline said.

Since the hypothesis of it being the same perpetrator was established, all investigations would have focused on the victims’ connections, and the Red Knights would have been eager to find that out too.
After rebuilding the family, they did not interact closely with any of the families on the list because they had refused to help, but their ancestors were different.
If they looked carefully into it, they could see that they were close to Adeline’s father, or had been trading for a long time.

“So, first, they turn the arrow to the Tien family… And used Lady Felix to clearly turn Your Grace into the culprit?”
“Yeah. I’m sure of it.”
“May I ask what kind of relationship you have with Lady Felix?”
“Rather than having a relationship…”

After pondering for a moment whether it would be easy to express it with the word relationship, Adeline sighed lightly and briefly explained what had happened with Vanessa.

“Lady Felix has feelings for His Grace. So, in the process of His Grace courting me, we had a few unintentional conflicts.”
“Ah…”
“There was also something that almost got me in trouble because of that. She’s definitely involved with me. I don’t have any animosity, but it’s definitely a situation where others can think I hate her.”

Melissa pressed her temples together as her head was throbbing.

It was a very thoughtful trap. Once someone got a whiff of Adeline, they couldn’t help but be sure it was her.

“It seems they tried to make it up as ‘they reached out to them during a difficult situation, but because they gave them no answer, they harbored wounds for a long time, so she did this as soon as she got the position of the grand duchess and had more power’.”

Adeline nodded. Adeline also thought according to Melissa’s guess.
It was perfect to create the story that she must have thought that they would cover it up if she killed someone because she had become the grand duchess.

“Who on earth would have done this?”
“Exactly. I really wonder who.”

The more she contemplated each situation, the more she was creeped out. Someone was really determined to harm Adeline.
Then suddenly, Vanessa’s story hit her.

“Melissa. Can you tell me more in detail about Lady Felix? Do you know anything?”
“Aah. There was a knight who wrote about this incident in great detail. It said the temple was the place where Lady Felix almost died.”
“The temple?”
“It said Lady Felix went to pray at the temple and suddenly fell down, vomiting blood, and when the startled priests came running and looked at her, a black rose mark began to appear around her neck.”

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Adeline focused on Melissa’s words, as if not to miss a single clue.

“Realizing this was an unusual situation, the healing priest ran over and purified Lady Felix with divine power, and as soon as he did, it surprisingly stopped.”
“…”
“She was unconscious, but at that moment, the mark faded, and her life was saved. That was three days ago.”

She had listened to her, intending to discover even the slightest clue, but she got nothing.
Rather, she could only remember Vanessa handing Adeline a yellow Freesia brooch and sending the same flowers to the north.

‘Is it a coincidence that she was the only one who survived?’

She had all sorts of thoughts. There were a lot of assumptions and doubts about whether it was a coincidence that Vanessa was the only one who survived, or if Vanessa really knew everything about her possession.

“Your Grace. Are you ready to talk now?”

While she was thinking, the captain of the knights appeared with the sound of footsteps and approached Adeline.
Looking at his grin, Adeline clenched her fists tightly.
She had to stay alert. To see the light again in this chaos.

***

The captain dragged Adeline to another room and sat her down in a chair. Melissa was also dragged along and set up against the wall.
There was also no light in this space. All there was was a small lamp on the table.

“I was going to tell you about the current situation out of courtesy, but you probably already know it. since you have someone behind you.”
“Sitting an innocent person down and recklessly presuming that she is guilty. That’s terribly disrespectful.”
“Innocent? Well, every guilty person says that.”

As soon as Adeline sat down, the captain told her the whole story.
It was exactly as Melissa had told her. The noble society was terrified because of that, and the Red Knights were ordered to investigate, and after putting together several things, they concluded that Adeline was suspicious.

“We had a hard time because we couldn’t see the connection between the victims, but when we cleared up a layer of clouds, it couldn’t have been easier. It was very clear who the culprit was.”
“Do you always investigate after making conclusions like this? It’s embarrassing if the knights carrying His Majesty’s name investigate like this.”
“Investigating after making a conclusion? The conclusion was reached as per our investigation.”

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Adeline spoke, glaring at the captain who was smiling.

“Are you saying I’m taking revenge for the Tien family?”
“Doesn’t that seem to be the case? The motive is very clear.”
“The motive is clear, but there is no direct evidence that I killed them. I was in the north when they died. You know better than anyone how many people are a witness to that.”
“Haha, I don’t know. How they died has nothing to do with the location of the murderer.”

Despite Adeline’s rational words, the captain didn’t even pretend to listen.

“What does that…”
“Because the curse of darkness killed them. Once the culprit shakes the curse’s hand, it’s over. The black mark is proof of that.”

Adeline’s face crumpled.

“Haha. I don’t think you understand. It didn’t come in the newspapers, but they all died of black magic. Their hearts stopped at once.”
“Then, find someone who wields black magic. Don’t capture someone innocent.”
“You’re not innocent.”
“Where is the evidence that I wielded black magic? How could I use black magic when I never even had magical power?”
“To be precise, it is the black magic of the curse. The curse that the cursed person carries on their body is transferred to the target. The death contained in their own body passes to someone next to them.”

Every word he uttered was nonsense. Adeline barely suppressed her rising anger, emphasizing every syllable she uttered.

“I am not cursed.”
“Sadly, that’s not the case. You tried to hide it, but you failed.”
“What on earth do you m…”
“Have you not already received that designation from the retired priest in the north?”

Hearing the captain’s words, she remembered something she had forgotten about for a moment.

[It’s a curse! She is cursed! She will destroy the North! There is a wicked curse behind her!]

She immediately remembered the words that the old priest had uttered as soon as he saw her.

‘How did that…’

It was something that happened in the north. It was pretty chaotic, but it wasn’t news to reach the capital this quickly.

Adeline looked at the captain with an expression that seemed like the situation made little sense.

“He is a priest who has lost his mind due to old age. I heard that’s why he retired. I know he was a revered priest because of his strong divinity, but he’s no longer…”
“It was already verified in the temple. They can figure out whether the priest’s divine powers are intact or clouded by his insanity.”
“Then they must have seen it. The fact that the priest is not in his right mind.”
“No. Surprisingly, that was not the case. The priest’s divine power was still strong and clean, Your Grace.”

Adeline couldn’t help but be bewildered by the captain’s words. The opinion of the north and the verification made by the temple were too different.

“That’s impossible. Did you say the temple verified it? Priest Simeon…”
“Let go of your expectations of Priest Simeon. He left two weeks ago for asceticism. He’s not in the capital.”

Adeline gripped the skirt of her dress tightly.

If Simeon had been in the temple, he would have never sat idly by without taking action. The priest’s insanity had already been testified to by several doctors in the north.
How could they not discover this fact in the temple? Someone had manipulated it, and it was clear that they used the fact Simeon was absent to make it up perfectly.

“It’s such a perfect condition. There’s a curse on your body and you can place it on others, so you can deal with the traitors who caused you to have a hard time. Ah, and also deal with women you don’t like.”

Adeline’s stomach boiled with frustration and anger.
She wanted to grab him by the collar and ask him to tell her right away who had made that up.

“The sooner you admit it, the more your punishment will be reduced. There will also be less damage to the Grand Duke. Grand Duke Inver is also very pitiful. The wife he welcomed in such a bustling manner turned out to be a murderer.”
“I did not do that. I swear.”
“Didn’t I tell you? That’s what everyone says. Are you going to be so uncooperative?”

The captain clicked his tongue and beckoned at one of the knights behind him.

“Argh!!”
“Melissa!”

Then, the knight struck Melissa in the face. Melissa, who couldn’t overcome the shock, dropped to the floor.

“What are you doing right now?! How dare you touch my handmaid!”
“I can’t interrogate Your Grace directly, can I? So, I will interrogate that handmaid instead until Your Grace admits to it.”
“Stop! I’d rather you interrogate me. Your goal is me anyway, isn’t it?”
“Didn’t I tell you? How can I…”

The captain shook his head, and as the knight tried to hit Melissa again, a new set of footsteps was heard.

“Do what she wants. If that’s what the Grand Duchess wants, you should do it.”

It was the emperor. The emperor appeared in front of Adeline with a fishy smile on his face.