"Take the Duchess to the palace dungeon!" the Crown Prince ordered.
He set himself in the acting mode, rushing towards the Crown Princess. First, he strokes her cheeks, trailing his finger over Hera's severe wounds, blood immediately wet in his fingers. Then, he cries over his fiancée's unfortunate incident, looking at Natalie with a burning hatred.
"Did those people born to be actors and actresses?" Aurora scoffs, looking at the sapphire eyes that glistened in tears.
Even Duchess Smith is at a loss for words. Everything moves at a breakneck speed. It's too complicated for her to understand. Despite this, she needs to track down "Duchess Medea" and ask her to restore the body switch. This is the only way Countess Hera can save her life.
On the other hand, Ares will learn of her plan. Once Ares develops doubts about Duchess Smith, it becomes more challenging to take any action. She seems to be in a bind; what should she do now?
'Hera will most likely learn of Duchess Medea's poisoning. So she'll switch their bodies as soon as possible.'
The Duchess of Light is lost in thought. As such, two Imperial Knights take her away from the scene. Suddenly, she noticed the 'Countess" face was white and damp with cold sweat. Duchess Smith is terrified by what happened and desperately wishes they could switch bodies. The Countess's body is slowly giving out under her, and the clock continues to tick. Losing Medea now would make it impossible to defeat Ares. Medea plays a pivotal role in making that happen. She is their only hope of returning to her world; losing her now would mean losing everything.
It's likely that Hera will awaken soon. She has to! The divine ability has to work now. The Crown Prince walks down the path with his bride-to-be and carries her to his tent. He smirks at her state since she is a good pawn for him to get rid of Natalie. With her divine ability, Hera will not regain consciousness for at least two days after being poisoned.
"Seize the Hunting Day for now! We must investigate this matter," Prince Ares orders his Imperial Knights to announce and spread the words to the participants.
He will torture the Duchess of Light during that time to tell the 'truth'. In reality, he plans to kill her and take over Smith's estate and power. In doing so, Imperial strength will be increased. Even though Duchess Smith is his most influential advocate, he finds her obsession with him to be both annoying and repulsive. In the eyes of the Crown Prince, no one is more important than Duchess Valimos. She is the perfect candidate to be the Empress, his Empress. He cannot get into it with Medea while Natalie is by his side. Which is why he has to get rid of her.
"Well, Duchess Natalie. Do you admit you were trying to kill my fiancée?" the Crown Prince asked, more like to threaten her, as soon as he arrived at the Palace'sPalace's dungeon.
Duchess Smith chuckles at the stupid obvious question.
"You know it better, Your Highness. With my capabilities, I wouldn't do a foolish thing like that to kill your fiancée. But, even more so, I wouldn't get my hands dirty on it, be in that place in the first place. I only have basic skills in swordsmanship. How could I defeat all the knights who trained for their whole life?" the Duchess looks at the Crown Prince tiredly after being tortured by the knights.
As of that time, the Duchess's only spittle was blood. Her only hope is that Hera will come too soon. Even so, a passing thought crossed Natalie's mind regarding her future. Will she return to her previous life as Aurora if she has a different death for her as Duchess Natalie?
"So you are not admitting your crime," he relies upon a wicked grin.
"Torture Natalie Wilson Smith until she confesses!" Ares orders the knights before leaving the scene.
"Here we go again," Aurora thought, just hopeless in waiting.
Natalie could feel every single bone and her cell screaming out in excruciating pain. Where are Hera and Medea? Why didn't they come there to save her? Is something wrong happened outside there?
Eventually, Medea felt like she could retake a deep breath. Yet, Hera's poison continues to disperse throughout her system. The Countess may be in discomfort now, but she will get through it. However, the Duchess is shocked that Hera has been out of it for so long. To save Natalie, she had planned to wait for Hera to awaken before taking action.
To add insult to injury, Natalie has most likely been tortured and is in her final moments of life. So, she needs to devise an alternative plan to rescue her. If not for this, Natalie would not be alive today.
Now is the time for Duchess Valimos to travel to the residence of Count Harren. She is aware that Harren must be involved in resolving this issue. Despite this, she has decided not to reveal her identity to Harren. Thus, Medea disguises herself as a man, dressing like an assassin Lord. After that, she makes a few adjustments to her physical appearance, such as broadening her shoulders. Finally, she completes the transformation by donning a short purple wig with purple hair that is a slightly different shade than her own. It is much simpler for the Duchess to act like a man, given that she is already quite tall.
Hector has already presented her with a map of the Count's manor house. Now, all she does is wait for the guards to leave their post for a brief moment. The Duchess was able to sneak into the estate without encountering any difficulty or opposition at all. Count Harren is going to bed without a clue in his mind. There is no sign of the man's wife anywhere. The sight of a person seated there causes him to leap to his feet.
"Who are you? Where is my wife?" the Duchess is annoyed with his remarks, as this man talks too much.
"It makes no difference who I am. Your wife is in the manor somewhere. I'd like you to free Duchess Natalie. You've seen the Duchess try to save the Crown Princess, right? However, you frame her," Duchess Valimos state-matter factly.
"You don't have any proof of me as a witness. I was with the Crown Prince!" the Count tried to be quick-witted at the situation, choosing to be pathetic.
"It is an order, not a request. But, Harren, I know what your secret is. Don't play games with me; instead, do whatever it takes to save the Duchess of Light. I know you have the power for it," the Duchess smirks, resting her head on the palm of her hand.
"Hahaha, you cannot threaten me with an empty threat. What could you possibly do to me?" just as the Count feels he has won the argument, Duchess Valimos strikes him, causing his nose to bleed.
He will be a good punching bad for her frustration now. Medea doesn't even have any peace of her mind about whether his nose is broken.
But she doesn't have much time to save Natalie. Every single time is precious. So, she grabbed the Count's attire and whispered his dirty deeds word by word to the useless Count Harren. She snarled at him after that before she kicked him in the stomach.
"Now, go to the Imperial Palace and pledge to Prince Ares to stop torture meant against Her Grace before she died. You better hope she isn't now," her rough voice is enough to make Harren pack up and leave the manor as soon as possible to reach the Imperial Palace.
The Count wonders what he is going to do to save the Duchess. As he reaches the Imperial Palace, his allies demand a meeting with the nobles and the Imperial Family. Thus, an emergency meeting will be held on today. The nobles rush in, including Duchess Valimos. Since the Duchess of Light isn't there, the Crown Prince's right seat is vacant now. The Crown Prince grabs the Duchess's hand and places it on his lap while still holding it together, to the Duchess's apparent surprise. The Count and his allies began the meeting by discussing the kidnapping of Duchess Smith.
"Your Highness, how's the investigation regarding the assassination on the Crown Princess?" one of the nobles breaks down the ice, touching the delicate issue.
"There is currently no evidence point. The perpetrator denies that she is the sole assassin," Ares dismisses the situation immediately.
"We have no evidence implicating the Duchess as the perpetrator, Your Highness. However, if Her Grace is responsible for the murder of the Crown Princess, why would she do so in public? Isn't it too obvious?" another noble refuses to let this matter be dismissed just like that.
"Yes, Your Highness, the assassins lying on the ground don't seem to come from the Smith household either. The assassins were from 2 different groups and might clash," the head from another house interrupts, making his points as well.
"As far as we know, the Duchess doesn't do the swordsmanship classes due to the last-minute rush. So there's no way that the Duchess could defeat all of them with her basic swordsmanship skills," the man shrugs, maintaining eye contact with other nobles to convince them.
"Due to the lack of evidence, we suggest that Your Highness release her," the other look determines regarding the matter.
The Crown Prince clenches his fist so hard under the table. The nerve of them to thwart his plans! The Duchess Valimos notices this when Ares unconsciously clenches their hands together. However, she endures the pain very well.
"Duchess Smith is the only one with my fiancee at that moment. She is more than capable of killing her alone," the Crown Prince looks at every person who defends Duchess Smith.
A moment of silence filled the room, and Count Harren started to speak.
"Forgive us for our insolence, but the House of Smith is one of the most important figures within the Empire. If we rush in the punishment for her without a proper investigation and it turns out she is innocent in this case, it will be a catastrophe for the Empire. Hence, we suggest to Your Highness to hold her punishment and get through the trial," Ares's face turns red, but he brushes it off as if nothing happens.
"Or we can wait for the Crown Princess to wake up", the other added.
To him, it is an undeniable fact. That's why he resorts to this method of seizing her authority. After the Valimos, the house of Smith is the second most powerful. If she makes even one mistake, rebels may rise up to exact revenge on her behalf. Well, not to Natalie. They are primarily interested in her power and the Smiths' wealth.
Furthermore, the devotion shown to the Duchess of Light cannot be taken lightly. The Empire will face new challenges with Lord Apollo by her side and many prestigious knights produced from the household. Less than five years ago, the Empire was still picking up the pieces after the war. The Empire must achieve stability before it can face another battle.
After all, the Duchess of Light is the only legitimate heir. Unfortunately, since the Smiths' extended family has been travelling, they aren't up to date on current events. In this case, they have no reason to help Ares and may only care about the money. This is the root of Ares' rage.
Yet, Ares dreams of being a God. A God can never swing by his emotions. He can't show his feelings and cannot be swayed by them.
"Alright, if the majority agrees with the suggestion, I will withhold the punishment. If not, the Duchess will be executed for her crimes," the Imperial servants come and hand it the paper.
The nobility, therefore, approved the resolution. The Marquess and Duchess exchange glances, seemingly agreeing that Natalie should be protected before she is tortured. Once everyone had had a chance to cast their votes, one of the representatives tallied the results. There is 14 influential nobility, counting the commoner's representative, so 8 votes should be enough to spare Natalie. However, there will be a need for an additional ballot to account for the Valimos and Alwyn household, Count Harren, and his four supporters.
It's a high-stakes gamble, and everyone involved is crossing their fingers. But the current tally is 7 no votes to 6. That's why the final vote counts so much. It's a tie, or Medea wins her bet. Ares will decide whether Natalie will be spared or killed if the vote is a tie. When it comes down to it, the second choice is the one that Ares will pick.
"Though, the final vote is to imprison the Duchess of Light. Thus, it can be concluded that Duchess Natalie will undergo a fair trial or await the Crown Princess' testimony," the representative announces the result causing Duchess Valimos to exhale her breath quietly.
"Then, as Crown Prince of the Angelos Empire, I direct the Imperial Knights to halt the torture of Duchess Natalie Wilson Smith," the meeting among nobles ends after that, with Ares almost berserk.
Now, the Duchesses have to cross their fingers for the Crown Princess to recover as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Hera will wake up soon, so Ares's plan will be screwed up for a while. At least for now. On the bright side, he can still use the Duchess of Light as much as he can before he discards her. He needs her influence to get Duchess Valimos to be his Empress and achieve his ultimate goal, to become the first Emperor with divine ability.
The Duchess Valimos smirks at Ares's annoyed face at his ruined plan. Just seeing his face can make her day. Yes, tomorrow is going to be an excellent day for her. Meanwhile, in the Palace dungeon, the blonde woman exhales quietly and immediately passes out after the Imperial Knights release the chain around her arms and ankles.
'Finally. I need a break.'