Chapter 249. The Proof of Blood, Part V

"If I stretch out my hand, you come to hold it; that's happiness." He held out his hand proudly, and she grasped it naturally. He was happy.

Killian pulled the hand and put his lips on the back of her hand and swore, 'I will never let anyone shake this happiness again.'

He sat Julietta on the sofa and told her, "We decided that we would not put the Duke of Kiellini's illegitimate child in front until the poison case is resolved."

Kilian's words shook Julietta's eyes.

"Yes. No matter how many times I have thought about it, it would be doubtful that the Duke of Kiellini committed suicide without leaving any letter or message to his beloved daughter, in particular, since it is rumored that the princess is a fake."

Julietta lowered her gaze calmly, because it was something she had been thinking about.

"The Duke's illegitimate child should show up before the investigation team for Tilia returns to the capital. We need to make sure that the Duke of Kiellini committed suicide to claim his innocence in this unfair incident."

Julietta raised her lowered head. "Yes, let's do it if we have to. For Phoebe's sake, the Kiellini family must be found innocent."

'I'll use anyone if I have to.' There was no more Julietta shaken by compassion and hesitant with worry.

Killian noticed the change, and stroked her hair and comforted her, "Everything's going to be fine. I promise."

"Yes."

"I won't let anyone you care about get hurt.""Yes. Promise me." Julietta's soft green eyes grew so strong that he felt almost impaled.

But Killian thought she looked lovely even so intense. As long as she wanted it, he would try. 'I'll do anything for happiness with you.'

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Dian was embarrassed and hung out in front of Regina's bed, since Regina had a fever.

Two days ago, as planned, Dian, Regina, Regina's nanny, an attendant, and two knights from Bertino set out together. Originally, they should have urged on horses and gone straight to Bertino through the Magic Square, but as soon as Regina got out of Tilia and entered Baden Territory, she began to get sick. Eventually they were forced to stay a day in Baden Territory.

Dian hesitated to send someone to Tilia to report about it, but she decided not to. Dian was in charge of this matter, so the servant and the knights took hold of the inn and stood guard over her. She didn't want to disappoint Sir Caden and Count Adam, who had entrusted her with this important task.

But the situation was not good. She couldn't even call a doctor because their identities could not be revealed. She was just waiting impatiently for Regina's fever to go down.

Regina, who had been suffering from a high fever for hours, managed to come to her senses. She found Dian looking down at her with her hazy eyes and closed her eyes again. She didn't want to accept the fact that she had to be sent to Bertino and live in captivity all her life. They didn't even want to allow her to live safely in her family mansion.

When she visited Sir Caden to protest her sudden departure, Count Adam merely replied. "Miss Regina, if the Duke of Kiellini hadn't done such a thing, you could have lived in this Tilia for the rest of your life. But the Duke of Kiellini kicked the opportunity His Highness gave him and joined hands with Prince Francis, and that led to innocent people dying. His Highness Killian will not give you a second chance."

Regina thought of the flowerpots in the room. After Prince Killian's minions seized Tilia and they were driven out to the annex, the Duke handed Regina a note with the family's secrets. She made poison in her room according to the secret recipe on the note.

The closely watched Duke could not manufacture poison. So he left the job to his daughter, who was relatively freer than him. But as she failed several times, the Duke had to take a different approach. That was why he was killed.

Adam looked at Regina who was gasping with anger. "What would you do if you had safely extracted the poison from the plant you grew in your room?"

Regina looked at Count Adam in astonishment. She was still growing a poisonous plant left for the last in her pot.

"Did you think that I would not know? Princess Kiellini told me about the plant you grew in the dark room. Of course, you raised the poisonous herb because you made your aunt drink the strange tea. So I figured it out."

"She is not Princess Kiellini! I'm the one who inherited that noble name. How dare you call that vulgar bastard Princess Kiellini in front of me?"

Adam didn't pretend to hear the protests of Regina, who was screaming hysterically.

"The poison that Duke Kiellini spread to the capital is the poison that killed your mother. But her daughter has been working hard on the poison that killed her mother, without noticing that."

"... the poison that killed my mother?"

To the shocked Regina, Adam spoke coolly. "We don't know what else you'll do if we leave you like this, so we will send you to Bertino and keep you locked up for the rest of your life. And with the certificate of the biological child you received, another person will greet His Majesty as the Duke's illegitimate child."

After hearing the shocking story, Regina left Tilia like that. The more angry she was, the more she thought about the fact that the poison she had made while hurting her health was the poison that had killed her mother, and the more she became angry that it was her father who had killed her mother. He told her to break her will, and she didn't believe she could stand the future of going to the strange land of Bertino and living a lifetime there.

In the meantime, she found something strange. Dian, the only maid, was treated politely by the knights, as if she were a noble. "Why do the knights use honorific language to a humble maid like you?"

Dian flew into a rage at Regina's caustic remark. "I am the cousin of Count Valerian. Please watch your language."

Regina then looked carefully at what Dian was wearing. She had probably bought the best clothes in the village, but it was hard to pretend that they were the clothes of a lady, a relative of Count Valerian, who was the relative of Prince Killian. Nevertheless, Dian put on airs in the dress, and so Regina laughed at her. "You're from a brothel, but are you saying that you are a cousin of Count Valerian? A dog passing by would laugh. I can't believe that such a humble maid like you put on airs!"

Dian screamed at the word 'brothel'. "I didn't receive customers even when I was in the brothel. I am different from Phoebe. If Phoebe is going to be the Duke's illegitimate child, why shouldn't I?"

All she wanted was to live happily with Julietta, but considering Phoebe's work, she was envious.

"Who became the Duke's illegitimate child?"

"It's Phoebe. She's from the brothel in Lebatum like me."

Regina lost the strength to be angry at the embarrassing fact. The illegitimate daughter of a humble actress had become a noble Princess of Kiellini, and now a prostitute from a brothel would sit in the place of an adopted daughter in her family. As she feignedly smiled at the unreal reality, she saw Dian frowning as if she were angry about something. Regina saw the opportunity from that disgruntled face.

Regina, who was thinking about one thing or another, closed her eyes again. She was out of energy. She thought about how long she could live. She thought she didn't want to live any more. 'How will I live in Bertino? Wouldn't it be better to get revenge and die?'

"Koff!" A handful of blood spilled out of the mouth of her as she lay there.

"Huck, miss!" the nanny cried out.

"Be quiet. Dian, come here." Regina had no energy to raise her hand, so she just turned her head slightly to call Dian.

"I can't call a doctor. We can't even take a break here," Dian spoke quickly as if she was nervous.

"I don't need a doctor... I'm going to die soon."

The words made Dian's eyes grow bigger. Dian was shocked to hear that Regina was going to die, because she had seen her like this for months.