Chapter 87
“Oh, this is really disappointing.”
Tristan licked his lips with an innocent smile, then closed the door behind him as he left.
Eugenie felt frustrated, slammed her fists against the invisible glass wall and screamed.
‘You bastard! Come back!’
That little brat had shot a hole in someone’s side and just walked away?
Alfred was dying that day. Eugenie could only watch helplessly, unable to do anything…
But just then, a voice came from outside the door again.
“…Is anyone there?”
It was Theodora Norton.
‘Mom!’
She had come today. Eugenie had thought that her mother was late because she had fought with her father. She ran away to the dorm without even hearing her mother’s explanation after the ceremony ended.
Meanwhile, Theodora, dressed in her outing clothes, screamed in surprise.
“My goodness, Alfred? Stay with me!”
Alfred, who had already lost too much blood, didn’t respond. He simply lay there, his face pressed into a pool of blood with his focus slipping away.
“Someone…! Who, who could…”
Shocked, Theodora reached to touch Alfred’s wound but quickly turned her head toward the outside.
It seemed like she was thinking about calling for help. But she must have realized right away that there was no time for that.
Just before Alfred’s breath became shallow, Theodora seemed to make a decision and spoke in a stiff voice.
“…Alfred. This is my first time trying this, but…”
Her hand that was placed on his side, trembled. But when Alfred painfully lifted his head, her amber eyes flashed with a sharp realization.
“Do you want to live, Alfred?”
At that moment, Eugenie realized.
Alfred had been Theodora’s first attempt, and that was what had led her to plan this contract marriage.
* * *
The sensation of discovering the ‘secret’ of her first husband was just like watching a short drama in the dark and then being thrown into a bright place.
“Ugh!”
The sudden brightness hurt her eyes as if they were being pricked with needles.
She could hear the sound of branches swaying in the wind near her ear, and the scent of earth and water filled her nose.
The only thing that felt familiar from earlier was the pungent smell of gunpowder.
She was sitting on the ground, gasping for breath.
The man with reddish-brown hair standing in front of her, his back turned, was also breathing heavily.
“…Brother, Alfred!”
Eugenie forced her frozen body to twist and rise.
She remembered Tristan pointing the barrel of the gun at Alfred just before, and then the horrifying sound of the gunshot.
“Brother Alfred, are you alr…?”
“Eugenie.”
Alfred slowly turned his head. His face, which usually had a relaxed and mischievous smile, was now stiff.
The blood, which had once stained his cheek in her memory, splattered on it again. But this time, it wasn’t Alfred’s blood.
It was the blonde man lying on the floor…
“Hah.”
Eugenie hurriedly covered her mouth with one hand.
The Crown Prince was dead.
“Damn it.”
Eugenie took a deep breath and stared at the scene before her.
Tristan Howard, the Crown Prince of the Empire, had been shot and was now lifeless. Unlike the teenage Alfred, Tristan had been struck in the heart, resulting in instant death.
And he had been shot by Alfred’s gun, no less.
The sound of people approaching could be heard from a distance. She couldn’t tell if it was other husbands or people from the imperial family.
She could hear Alfred’s voice, holding her arm and saying something.
Hide, Eugenie. It sounded like that, but it buzzed in her ears like she was hearing it underwater.
‘What should I do?’
The fact that the bastard was dead didn’t really bother her. In fact, it would have been better if he had died more painfully.
But that lunatic was the Crown Prince, and if the bullet lodged in his heart was investigated, Alfred would undoubtedly be implicated.
What punishment would someone who killed a member of the imperial family face these days?
‘What should I do?’
Various executions and trials she had learned in the past flashed rapidly before her eyes. She felt a surge of nausea from the anger.
‘This damn bastard.’
She couldn’t let Alfred’s life be ruined because of this bastard.
The energy that had once flowed like the warmth of a spring day within her suddenly spread through her fingertips like a blazing flame.
“Get up, you bastard!”
“Eugenie!”
Alfred hurriedly grabbed Eugenie by both arms.
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