How the Villainous Consort Avoids His Death Ending - Chapter 108.1
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A little over a week had passed since the witch commotion occurred. During that time, the individuals suspected of being the instigators of the riot were locked up separately in the dungeon, and the estate residents who caused the commotion by claiming they had seen demons were gathered together and isolated in the village warehouse. There were not just one or two of them, so it was impossible to lock them all up in the dungeon of the Grand Ducal Castle, and for my part, I did not feel the necessity to do so anyway. This matter was closer to an accident, and it was not something that should be resolved with such severity.
It was for the same reason that I did not interrogate them right away but allowed time to pass and waited.
“Raise your heads. Do I still look like a demon to you even now?”
“……Your Highness, Grand Consort. The thing is……”
With the Grand Duke flashing his eyes right behind me, there would likely be no estate resident who could answer that I still looked like a demon. It might seem as though I were pressing them to just give a predetermined answer, but my intention was a bit different.
Approaching a step closer to the peasant who was prostrating flat before me while trembling all over, unable to even lift his head, I soothed him gently.
“I am not trying to interrogate you. Hurry, look up. Is there not something that has changed?”
“Your Highness, Grand Consort……”
The peasant, who had only been rationed a bit of oats and water throughout the entire duration of his isolation to barely stave off his hunger, hesitated and raised his upper body. His heavily terrified eyes and my gaze met quietly in midair.
“Uh……”
A somewhat sluggish reaction erupted from the man. By his side, where he was blinking his lips as if startled, a middle-aged woman who had been crouching extended her head and stole a glance at me.
“That person is the G- Grand Consort, Your Highness?”
And then, after fumbling about as if shocked, she ended up falling backward. While sitting down just like that, the woman murmured with a dazed face. The knight guarding my side furrowed his brow and stepped forward.
“How dare you……”
“No, leave her be. There is no need for everyone to bow down so much. Everyone, look at me.”
At my words of restraint, the estate residents straightened their waists, which they had bent as much as possible, and stealthily looked up toward me.
I gaped at them without a word, giving them time.
It did not take long for the murmuring voices to grow louder. Bewildered, the peasants began to open their mouths one by one in confusion.
“Was the Grand Consort, Your Highness, that kind of person? Where did the devil’s horns…… and the sharp tail go?”
“The eyes were definitely a glaring red color. I certainly saw fangs that reached down to the chin!”
“Then who was the demon that was giggling while flying around on a broom during the last full moon? That person definitely said at that time that it was the Grand Consort, Your Highness……”
“Is that so? Who said such a thing?”
When I naturally chimed in and asked, the estate residents talked among themselves, this person and that person, without even realizing it was my voice. Checking my glance, the knights adjusted their grip on their swords and corrected their postures.
“Who was it again…… Was it Thomas from the mill?”
“No, why are you falsely accusing an innocent person, old man? It wasn’t me. At that time, surely……”
“Ah, I remember. Didn’t Letian’s mother say so? Letian’s mother served closely with the Grand Consort, Your Highness, so she saw him often.”
“That is right, indeed! Letian’s mother was the wet nurse of the Grand Ducal Castle, right?”
Tristan, who had been sitting on the chair and listening quietly, stood up.
Startled by the sudden movement, the estate residents, every single one of them, tightly shut their mouths and scrutinized his mood. Tristan’s command fell upon the knights.
“Arrest the wet nurse of the Imperial Grandson and all of her family members.”
“Yes, Your Excellency!”
The knights who had been waiting in advance moved in perfect order and scattered. Not knowing what was going on, I looked around slowly at the terrified peasants and fell into thought. From where should I start bringing it up?
As expected, it seemed that just blurting it out bluntly would be the answer.
In the end, I scowled and sharply raised my voice toward them.
“When I distributed the batatas, I clearly instructed you. I warned you not to touch the sprouts on the roots or the fresh green parts, but did you not violate this?”
The peasants flinched at the sudden reprimand and looked at one another’s reactions. Among them, an elderly man hurriedly bowed his head and replied.
“Ah…… No, that is not it, Your Highness! How could we possibly violate the command of Your Highness, who is like the sky?”
“Do you dare to speak falsehoods when the situation has reached this pass?”
There was no way they would readily admit it. Even as I subtly smiled inwardly, I drove them into a corner even more fiercely.
“If you had not eaten the leaves and sprouts of the batatas, you would not have been caught in the demon’s curse and caused such a commotion!”
In an instant, the peasants stirred. In their simple eyes, fear and confusion began to mix in. A woman asked, stammering with a trembling voice.
“Pardon……? A- A demon’s curse? Then, are you saying it is true that you distributed the devil’s fruit to us?”
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