Chapter 201

Chapter 201

Frederick spoke with a suggestive tone, but Deatrice didn’t believe that he was saying this because he truly knew something. Frederick wasn’t one to keep secrets if he did know something.

It wasn’t because he was ignorant but rather because he was too arrogant; he believed that there was no need to keep secrets when he was winning.

Deatrice handed Frederick his coat and left the place first. She felt she needed to confirm something after his words. “There’s always a record of people the priests had treated. Especially when it comes to knights and the navy”

Ever since hearing Tom’s words, something had been bothering her. It hadn’t been a significant hindrance amidst the rush of emotions, like tiny shards of glass washing ashore in a tidal wave.

However, as she regained her composure, it bothered her even more.

“I even asked if there was a chance Bella Anise had married someone else, but the priest remembered the count precisely. He described him as a tall, rare-beauty with blonde hair. He even said he felt sorry for him, as he had a lame leg then.”

That’s what Tom had said, and at the time, she hadn’t found it particularly strange. But as time passed, it had become an irksome presence, especially when she thought about the last part.

She has never seen or heard of the count walked with a limp, and that was the odd part.

Of course, at the time, he had been serving in the navy, so it was more likely that he had been injured and received treatment. That seemed like the more plausible explanation, and that’s why she had kept quiet.

But if the count had never been injured…

Deatrice suddenly stopped walking and began to contemplate.

If Bella Anise had indeed married someone else and Lucius had been conceived during an affair with the count, it could explain why the letter didn’t explicitly mention the pregnancy, as the true paternity would be uncertain.

And if this gets revealed, Lucius might suffer even greater humiliation.

I just need to confirm if the count sustained any injuries while on duty.

With these thoughts in mind, Deatrice headed toward a small temple within the palace grounds.

The priest seemed to find Deatrice’s late-night visit, especially on the night of the farewell banquet, rather peculiar. However, given her status and her desire to verify the records of her husband’s injuries, her alibi, he eventually opened the door for her.

Before examining the documents she received from the priest, Deatrice clasped her hands together, bringing her lips to her protruding thumb knuckle. She closed her eyes in a manner reminiscent of prayer but, like the rest of her thoughts, even she wasn’t sure what she was truly hoping for.

Eventually, without uttering a single prayer, she unfolded the documents.

Chris M. Penry.

She started by examining these papers. They detailed the unit and division where he had served as a marine. She followed the written words, searching for any record of injuries to his legs. However, her ominous premonition proved accurate.

Nowhere in the documents, not in his lower limbs or even his waist, was there any mention of an injury. The most significant ailment recorded was a shoulder injury that had been treated.

If it wasn’t the priest, could it have been a request for treatment from a physician?

Perhaps her initial plan to uncover the truth about who Bella Anise had married was flawed. If she truly wanted to identify the person Bella had married, it would be more certain to ask Wilson to present the count’s portrait to the priest who had officiated the wedding and then seek confirmation.

With a resigned sigh, she was about to close the documents when she suddenly noticed the words “gunshot wound to the knee,” something she hadn’t seen before. Unfolding the papers once more for confirmation, she found that it was the record of someone else, not the count.

Connor A. Penry.

He was the eldest son of the late count and had been the designated heir to the position until his death from illness.

How could she describe the feeling she experienced upon seeing that name again?

It was like the tension that had been clutching her, as if in chains, had suddenly released. It was like the feeling of some omnipotent force whispering in her ear that this was the truth.

Suddenly, Deatrice recalled the words Lucius had spoken to her six years ago in the temple.

“My father, the count, told me to claim that I am the son of his older brother, Connor Penry. He said that using both titles would bring good consequences for both the count and me. So, I’ve been living as his son.”

At the time, she had regarded it all as mere excuses. But if that were the truth…

Deatrice remembered seeing the portrait of the count in Chetworth. The Penry brothers may not have shared the same facial features, but their overall stature and the uncommon color of their hair had created a similar atmosphere.

Even their initials were the same, C.P.

“To C.”

“Was that letter addressed not to Chris but to Connor Penry? Was it Connor Penry who married Isabella Anise, and the person that was tall, blond, and of rare beauty who had been seen limping and had claimed to be Chris Penry?”

Connor Penry had died unmarried. Or so everyone believed.