Escape from the evil lady (GL)
Chapter 156 - 17. The True Meaning

Chapter 156: Chapter 17. The True Meaning

When my older brother heard these sudden words from me, his expression changed dramatically.

— What... What the hell are you talking about?» he asked, stunned.

— .....

«Don’t tell me you still haven’t come to your senses,» the guy said slowly, «What kind of nonsense is this?»

At that moment, Yufil and I met eyes. And if there was a complete lack of understanding in his eyes, then there was absolute determination in mine. Although I knew how crazy my current statement could really sound, nevertheless, I was not ready to back down.

— Sir Hirsch... — I awkwardly turned to the man, — Could you leave us for a while?

Since it was a rather personal conversation between us, I thought it would be awkward if outsiders were present.

Although the knight of the second princess was also somewhat perplexed by what was happening, he hesitated and nodded.

— ...Yes, of course, lady.

Following these words, Selman Hirsch left the room and quietly closed the door behind him. At that moment, Yufil and I were left alone. Before I spoke again, I cleared my throat, as I was unconsciously feeling excited about this conversation.

— Brother... I have to go,» I said carefully. — I have to save her Crown Highness.

— what? — he was indignant, — What kind of nonsense do you keep talking about? Why would you do that?!

«Because...» I swallowed, «I can’t let her die.»

At that moment, there was a short pause in the room, which the heir to the dukedom soon interrupted with a hysterical laugh.

«Can’t you let her die? Really?» he repeated mockingly.

— Brother...

«Girl, don’t tell me you’ve really lost your last drop of sanity?»

«Brother, I’m serious.»

«So am I,» Yufil snorted, «so you’re saying that you’re going to save this crazy woman who destroyed our family and put us all in danger. How am I supposed to react to this?

«........»

Actually, since I didn’t have much time, I wasn’t planning on telling Yufilu about everything right now. But... It seems like if I don’t do this, then this guy just won’t let me go. So, after exhaling deeply, I still had to explain everything to him.

— Brother... In fact, then everything was not as it seems.

— what? What else are you talking about?» he asked, frowning.

— The thing is that...

When I told Yufilu about what I had previously heard from the Crown Princess herself, he, like me at first, simply could not believe these words.

So, as it turned out, a day before that fatal bloodshed in our estate, Kaena and Duke de Walt had already met. And, what was even more surprising, the Duke himself had asked for this meeting.

After the bloody massacre in the imperial palace, Victor de Walt prepared in advance and sent his son away. And then... I went to meet the Crown Princess alone. At that time, it was as much a surprise to the princess as it was to me when I first heard about it. Especially when I found out about the purpose of this meeting.

«Your Grace, why did you suddenly want to meet me so unexpectedly?» Kaena asked him then.

— Because... I want to ask Your Highness for a favor.

— what? What other favor are you talking about?

And then my father suddenly revealed the hard truth about our family, which he had previously hidden even from his own children. As it turned out, the de Walt family had been in great danger for a certain period of time. And the reason for this was not even the Crown Princess, but something that we could not even have guessed before.

It was all about the diamond mine, which was also one of the largest diamond deposits in the empire and was the main asset of the de Walt family. And it so happened that some time ago, a very influential person set his eyes on this mine. Which ultimately posed a great threat to our family.

This man was none other than Marquis Bauer, the Empress’ father. It was this man, contrary to the opposite opinion, who actually controlled most of the aristocracy, and not the emperor at all. And even a man like that, who had everything, had no limits to his own greed when he set out to appropriate our family’s mine for himself.

Since the de Walt family was quite weak and didn’t have much influence in the empire, it was quite easy to get rid of it. By chance, due to the fact that the Duke had several confidants in the Senate, he managed to find out that Marquis Bauer was going to accuse our family of treason. That would be the best excuse to confiscate all of our family’s property.

And, of course, the Duke could not allow our family’s honor to be completely destroyed in this way. However, since he was unable to fight such a person on his own, he could only continue to look for possible escape routes.

For this reason, Duke de Walt also sought to get his daughter married as soon as possible in order to protect her from the danger associated with it. However, events were moving much faster than he had expected. After all, not only the reputation, but even the lives of the family members were now under great threat.

And in the end, the duke could only think of one way out of this situation. To offer a deal to the bloodthirsty Crown Princess, who turned out to be the only person who would agree to lend him a helping hand in such a situation.

— For the sake of preserving the name of our family, I am ready to do anything. Even sacrifice your own life.

To be honest, Kaena de Ronan was quite surprised by this offer.

— Your Grace.... Do you really want to die that badly? — She smiled coldly.

— That’s not the point.

— Then why did you suggest this particular option in the first place?

The Duke took a deep breath.

— My death will only be a maneuver to divert attention and weaken Marquis Bauer’s vigilance.

«What do you mean...?»

— After our family publicly falls, this person will certainly step up to take over all the property of our family. This is the only sure way to trap him.

Based on Victor de Walt’s plan, which he told the Crown Princess, his intention was to mislead the Marquis about the collapsed protection of the de Walt family. It was nothing more than a manipulation to make such a powerful man, who had connections throughout the empire, weaken his defenses. And at this time, conduct a secret investigation to gather evidence of the Marquis’ involvement in the attempted misappropriation of the mine. It would be the best way to punish this man according to the laws of the Empire and at the same time clear the reputation of the de Walt family.

And the only person who would have enough power and influence to do this was the Crown Princess of this Empire.

However.

— Offering me this deal... What makes you think I’m going to do it at all?

The Duke’s answer was simple.

— Because this man is the Empress’ father.

— ......

— Don’t you, like me, want to get justice from these people?

Valencia Gross de Ronan, who has always boasted of the noble name of her family, including in order to make the life of Caena’s mother in the palace unbearable. And it was the Duke’s words that had given her that idea. Instead of just killing this woman, why not at the same time push her family to the very bottom, which would be, perhaps, an even greater blow to her?

«But death...» Kaena said slowly, «are you really ready to do this?»

Even in such a situation, the Crown Princess had hesitation when it came to this. After all, she still remembered that conversation with Camille, when the girl bluntly said that she did not want her relatives to die. And although Kaena didn’t quite agree with that, she still didn’t want to go against her will.

Nevertheless, Duke de Walt replied without hesitation.

— Marquis Bauer’s connections in this empire are like a spider’s web. It will be extremely difficult to deceive him. And if I really don’t die, then sooner or later this person will figure it out. Besides... Since I have nothing else, I can only offer you my life as payment for your help.

— ......

— I’m not that young anymore. So if I’m going to die anyway, at least I’ll do it for a good cause.

Caena de Ronan thought about his words for a while before she asked a question:

— Your Grace... Are you really sure about this? — She frowned.

«After my death, the de Walt family and my children will be in a precarious position,» the duke sighed heavily, «so I dare to ask you only one thing... Please save the lives of the innocent.

«All right,» the woman nodded, «if that’s your last wish... Then, so be it, I will fulfill it.

So, here’s what really happened that fateful evening. When I told my brother what I had previously heard from the Crown Princess, he was in a state of shock for a long period of time after that.

— ...What?» he finally asked, «What do you mean by that? That this crazy woman and our father were actually in cahoots?

— It’s true, — I confirmed. — To save the name of our family, my father had to sacrifice himself.

«......»

In fact, when I first heard about it, I couldn’t believe it either. But gradually, with the realization of this, some things seemed to fall into place.

Finally, I understood the true meaning of the villainess’s words when she talked about some «special» preparations for our wedding, which were about to be completed... As it turned out, it was about investigating this case, which was supposed to lead to the legal punishment of the Bauer family and the restoration of our family’s name.

«And why is that... Did I find out about it so late?» — this thought involuntarily pricked my heart.

Meanwhile, Yufil also continued to be in a state of shock. He couldn’t believe that his father, whom he knew, could actually do such a thing.

All his life, Duke de Walt had been unquestioningly loyal to the imperial family, and it was really difficult to believe that he could actually do something like this by making a deal with the Crown Princess, who was the enemy of not only the imperial family but also the entire aristocracy.

«........»

For a while after my words, Yufil continued to silently open and close his mouth like a fish.

— me... I still can’t believe it so easily,» he muttered, «What if it’s just another manipulation by this crazy woman?»

Although this remark sounded quite justified, I already had something to answer it with.

«If these people end up really alive, then that would be the best proof of her words, wouldn’t it?»

In fact, considering the current situation, I also didn’t see the need for the Crown Princess to continue lying even at such a moment. And did it even make sense? For some reason, unconsciously, I trusted her completely.

The silence that hung in the room again, this time was full of tension.

«That’s why I said I had to save her,» I said hoarsely.

As it turned out, I had actually misunderstood the princess’ intentions all along, and now that I was finally able to find out about it, I couldn’t help but be filled with regrets. I absolutely wanted to get a chance to fix everything.

— .....

Meanwhile, my older brother remained silent.

«Do you understand now?»

After my words, the heir to the dukedom looked away. I just smiled bitterly, speaking more to myself at that moment.

«If I don’t do it now, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.»