Chaise a la ReineChapter 42

As soon as he realized how Louise was being poisoned, he hurried back to the court, but that was not the only difficulty awaiting Eugène. He hadn’t thought of it earlier, but in order to avoid others’ eyes and meet her, he had to wait until the official schedule of the imperial family was over.

Until the Emperor goes to bed, the court was as lively as in broad daylight. It was not easy for even a skilled soldier like him to hide his traces in an edifice that was always crowded with hundreds of people. It was even worse to sneak into the lady’s room at a time when the palace guards were strictly vigilant. LdYRoO

He anxiously looked at the clock, waiting for the time to pass. Tick tock. He didn’t know why the hands of the clock, which moved every minute, seemed so slow today of all days. Even though he was aware of the fact that he was simply in a great rush, Eugène could not calm himself down.

He didn’t even think to discuss the situation with anyone. The only person he could talk to about the poisoning was the Emperor, but His Majesty had already forbidden him from getting involved in this matter.

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Moreover, based on His Majesty’s disposition, even if he found out how she was being poisoned, if he couldn’t find out who the perpetrator was, he was more likely to try to track down the one behind the scenes, rather than treating Louise, leaving her alone on the brink of death.

That decision may be right for the sake of a better cause, but that was not a method Eugène would tolerate. Eugène remembered how happy she was with the little fetal movement, and wanted to save Louise and her baby before it was too late. CjuGSy

After all the boring evening hours where every minute and every second seemed like a year, midnight arrived. Eugène got up quietly from his seat, watching the clock point to exactly twelve o’clock. He put on the coat he had prepared beforehand and sneaked out the window. The buildings of Imbert Palace, which had decorative projections everywhere, were not difficult for Eugène to climb as he was already accustomed to climbing up and through the slippery mist.

Eugène avoided the eyes of the palace guards more easily than before, and lightly went up to the veranda on the second floor of the Azure Pearl Palace. The lights in Louise’s room had already been turned off as if she had slept early today. He hesitated for a moment at the unexpected situation, and then, quietly knocked on the window frame to send a signal to the person inside. However, after knocking and waiting for a long time, there was no sign of anyone coming out.

Is she sleeping that deeply? He tried to think calmly, but when he knocked on the frame again and Louise didn’t come out, an ominous feeling crept upon him. The fact that the woman, who had become so sensitive due to the poisoning attempt, could not even hear such a distinct knock, bothered him.

Is there something going on? Why are you not coming out to see me? Eugène inclined his head in frustration and tried to look inside the window. But when he lightly placed his hand on the window, the door swung out as if it had been unlocked.

Eugène stared at the door that opened smoothly in bewilderment before entering the room. In the cold room, where no human presence was felt at all, there was a creepy and forlorn atmosphere.

… What is this?

As soon as he entered, the air in the room that brushed the tip of his nose gave off a strange smell. It was a repulsive fishy smell that could only come from rusted iron, which was not something that could be found at the court. After thinking of a rusty anchor in the sea for a moment, Eugène soon realized that it was the smell of blood, not iron, and stopped.

A cold chill ran down his spine. Something was wrong. He bit his lip at the intuitive thought and looked around. The outlines of the objects in the room gradually became clearer in the darkness that slowly began to become familiar to the eyes. DeZiE2

When he arrived not long ago, the desk where Louise was sitting and the long chairs along the wall were empty without their owners. The curtains, which were uniform in cream color, swayed quietly in the night breeze coming through the window, perhaps to the taste of Countess Patrí. On the other side of the wall, there was a large bed, and at its feet, there was what seemed like a circular murky shadow at first glance.

… No, it was not. It was not a shadow. Eugène realized that the dark thing he thought was a shadow possessed a slight mass and approached it.

“Louise de Dumont?”

The closer he got, the more precisely he could see the silhouette of a woman lying down. She was lying on the floor, with her hands clutched around her belly as if she were trying to protect something. He checked her pulse just in case, but she had already lost her breath. yvOZQB

Louise’s skin was still warm as if she had just been killed. Eugène realized that the slimy blood that had pooled on the floor was oozing out of her upper body and looked down, stunned.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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Just by looking at her corpse, it was clear what and how it happened. She fell to the floor without making a scream and died instantly after being stabbed in the heart. The moment she was stabbed with a dagger, she instinctively clutched her stomach, but she couldn’t save her child with that regrettable maternal love of hers.

This was not a murder, but rather more of a slaughter. The precise method of dealing with one’s opponent without any emotional disturbance revealed the fact that the person who killed her was an extremely cold-hearted assassin. huqPdW

“Oh, my God. Louise, who did this to you-”

Seeing the brutal way she was murdered made his mind go blank. Eugène brushed aside the messy hair over her forehead and called out her name weakly. However, her body temperature was slowly cooling down, and she did not respond. That tired expression of hers disappeared and her face looked young like that of a sleeping little girl.

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He had never loved her. That was exactly right. However, that didn’t mean he didn’t feel anything for her. Eugène realized that fact and let out a low groan.

“Louise de Dumont. Do not simply stay in your room, and come out here. Viscountess Wimmel has just scored record-breaking Tric-trac points!” AXmzby

Just then, someone swung the door open and looked for Louise. It was the daughter of Count Freyr, one of Countess Patrí’s companions, who had come to call Louise with a purpose full of joy.

As she opened the door casually, light from the hallway poured into the room, illuminating the long floor. Eugène froze as he saw the light pouring through the door reaching Louise’s blood-soaked corpse.

The light drenched not only Louise’s body but also Eugène’s feet, standing in the dark. Louise’s body was unknowingly revealed before her, but for a moment, Count Freyr’s daughter did not realize what she was looking at for a moment and only blinked. She stared at Louise, who lay silent on the cold floor, and carefully called out her name.

“… Louise de Dumont?” fmF4j

Eugène, realizing that the situation had taken a turn for the worse, hurriedly backed away. However, his quick judgment rather aggravated the situation. When she heard someone’s movement in the dark, Count Freyr’s daughter opened her eyes wide and stared in fear at the shadow that was only a silhouette. In her frightened eyes, Eugène’s shadow looked as if it were the most bloody and terrifying form of the devil.

Shortly after he escaped through the window, she collapsed on the spot with a shriek. The shriek she let out as she fainted was so sharp and desperate that it felt like another murder had occurred behind her back.

The entire annex of the palace was noisy after the loud shriek. People who noticed that something was strange, rushed from here and there, and the guards, who had stood at a distance, also hurriedly headed inside to protect the Emperor’s concubine.

Eugène, noticing that his hands were all soaked in blood, hurried away toward the garden. The situation was not too good for him to go back to the way he came from. He ran forward and looked back to check. Through his dim vision, he could see that the lights of the Azure Pearl Palace, which had been turned off, were turned on one by one, visible through the windows. An unusual buzz engulfed the Azure Pearl Palace. yEZQbf

Eugène clenched his teeth when he realized that the situation was worsening on an increasingly unmanageable scale. It felt like his head was going to explode.

He calmed his shaking heart and coolly cleared his mind. After briefly thinking about the structure of the palace, he started running towards the inner maze garden, instead of the outer great garden. The great garden, in which the trees were arranged in geometric shapes, was so exposed, that there was no place to hide.

The only way out of this massive situation was to circle around the maze garden and return to his room. What was even bleaker was that he must not run into anyone in the meantime.

He was not the murderer, but he was at the scene of the murder, and his hands were stained with the victim’s blood. What was more, an eyewitness saw him right next to the corpse. If he made excuses in this state, no one would believe his innocence. COsBjr

… His Majesty will be furious.

Or maybe, there was only one person who would believe him. But for Eugène, that person finding out about this situation was just as embarrassing as being caught on the spot as a criminal.

He had already disobeyed the Emperor’s warning and was in the situation the Emperor feared most. His Majesty was not one to simply leave him alone even if he saw this state of his. If Eugène were to be caught by him, it was certain that he would suffer more severely than he would if he were caught by those currently following him.

He was perfectly cornered in every way. BozwAx

***

“There is a murderer over there!”

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Eugène quickly ran forward at the sound of shouts coming from behind. The approaching torch’s movement was becoming increasingly violent. Choosing the maze garden as a place to escape was both an excellent choice and a decisive snare that had bound his feet. He had been stuck here for an hour already.

The huge news that a lady had been murdered quickly spread at the court like wildfire in a dry field. Not only the guardsmen who had received the news, but also the enraged noblemen voluntarily set out to search, and the whole area was now full of hunters. BU6VFL

If Eugène’s body had not been so swift and agile, and if his hiding place had not been in the maze garden of the Imbert Palace, infamous for its legendary maze, he would have been captured by them long ago. Fortunately, he was still quick so far. However, it was not known how long this luck would last.

Clomp! Clomp!

Ruthless footsteps came and went through the maze carefully trimmed by the gardener.

“Where was he?” i1dDXH

“Where?”

“Is he not over there?”

“No, he said he went this way!”

Due to the complex maze of the garden that even those who had lived in the court for decades could not accurately grasp, there was total chaos among those chasing after Eugène. 3de5dF

It was late at night and they didn’t know exactly who they were supposed to be looking for. As a large number of people flocked to the already crowded maze, it was normal for people with torches to bump into each other and have their paths blocked, and when things went wrong, they suspected each other and started quarreling.

The guardsmen were annoyed by the noblemen who made it difficult for them by attending the manhunt of their own accord, but they were all courtiers with nobility titles, so they couldn’t express such a thought recklessly. Thanks to this, Eugène was easily able to figure out the route and avoided them one step ahead with the help of their uproarious sounds and actions.

However, there were times when he was in danger because he didn’t accurately know the interior of this dreadful maze. There were quite a few incidents, such as inadvertently turning a corner and almost running into the guardsmen head-on, or passing by a group of noblemen who had come out to pursue him after narrowly crossing a barrier.

In addition to the anxiety of being chased, such situational factors overlapped, and his energy ran out faster than it would’ve on an average day. Ten minutes had passed since he started feeling an unbearable thirst, and the palms of his hands that were dripping with blood were drenched in sweat. tUodLY

Eugène rolled his shoulders, which were gradually getting heavier, once again, and calmly cooled down his hawk-like icy gray eyes. Interestingly, even when his body was tired, his mind became even colder. A strange equanimity, like a layer of unmelted ice on boiling hot water, maintained his judgment.

He decided that no matter what, he had to survive here. He had no intention of ending his life because of this absurd misunderstanding. There was someone else who actually killed Louise, so why did he have to go through this? Eugène’s eyes coldly twinkled as he thought of the murderer who was hiding behind the mob and watching this ludicrous situation.

In the end, for what he had become insubordinate, he couldn’t even follow his objective of saving her. After doing all that, if he were to be falsely charged here, what would the dead Louise think of him?

Not only for her but also to relieve the current injustice, he planned to investigate Louise’s death until the end. Eugène’s anger was too big and sharp to leave and let go of a motherfucker who had killed an innocent woman in that way. B5zdmF

“It is Baron Amieux. The Baron is the culprit!!”

Suddenly, his name was heard from the corner of the maze. Eugène, watching the movements and situation outside for a moment, was startled by the mention of his name and looked back in the direction where the voice came from. Fifty thousand thoughts popped into his mind in an instant and then disappeared.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

What is going on? Since entering the garden, no one has seen me thus far? Eugène quickly retraced his recollections, but found no portent.

Who has seen me? Could it be that Count Freyr’s daughter has already woken up and testified to my name? nWdlqM

Eugène cleared his dizzily befuddled mind and cautiously but swiftly got out of the place.

Once his name was heard, his name was repeated from all different spots. “The culprit is Baron Amieux! It is the Baron for sure!” Even though there must have been more people who could not identify him than those who did, many accused him of being the culprit with confidence.

If it went on like this, he thought that he would really be falsely charged with no way out. If things have come this far, returning to the room was not a problem that could be solved.

“I will kill you, Baron Amieux! Show yourself!!” AbNBs

The Duke of Fernand’s angry voice, howling in fury, rang out as if he had suddenly arrived at the imperial court. Then it was followed by gunshots that ripped through the air.

Bang! Bang! Bang! 

The Duke seemed to have brought a pistol to the imperial court, despite it being prohibited by law unless he had prior permission. It was obvious what kind of thoughts he had in mind that a Duke, who was so afraid of going against the Emperor’s will, so boldly violated a taboo.

This is absolutely wonderful. hAt1O

Eugène didn’t even have a decent tool to protect himself, let alone a pistol, and let out a hollow laugh at the situation that only worsened over time. He was so stupefied that he couldn’t help but laugh. Though he had not been quite lucky throughout his life, such a disastrous day was quite rare.

“Baron Amieux.”