Chapter 223

Chapter 223

“Have you been to the count’s estate recently? If not, how can you tell it’s Connor Fenry’s portrait just by looking at a portrait? I never mentioned him.”

“Uh… about that.”

Idiot. Complete idiot.

Tom wanted to slap himself hard. He stammered and tried to justify himself.

“It’s not that. Since it’s the family of the master, I thought it would be good to know who was in the lineage before you.”

“My family?”

“Yes. So… anyway, you are from the Fenry family, right?”

Fortunately, Lucius didn’t seem to sense anything unusual. After touching his forehead as if experiencing a momentary headache, he spoke.

“Anyway, you’re right. The portrait is Connor Fenry’s, and Connor Fenry and Bellae Anise were legally married before giving birth to me. Look at the marriage certificate here. Doesn’t it look authentic to you?”

“Yes… it certainly looks that way.”

“Bella… No, Elena Anise’s testimony needs to be secured first, and gather other witnesses as well. Reversing a trial with a verdict is not easy, so we need to be sure. Go and handle it.”

“Of course, sir.”

Excited at the thought that the matter would now be dealt with in earnest, Tom tried to forget that he had almost ruined it twice today.

Moreover, the master had finally given him the order to uncover everything.

Now he had to inform Deatrice of what transpired through a letter. Of course, she had requested not to be contacted further, stating that she let Lucius handle everything from now on.

Still, Tom felt grateful to Deatrice for handing everything before leaving.

Of course, Tom also knew that Lucius was devastated when Deatrice left. Tom was taken aback when he was informed that hsi master was practically dead and lifeless, cooped up in his room without proper meals for a week.

If he remained that way for a little longer, Tom would have contacted anyone, Dixie or whoever could help kick the door open and drag Lucius out.

Fortunately, the life of the recluse man ended after a week. Of course, things didn’t return to normal afterward.

Lucius remained indifferent and numb, as if emotions had completely left him, no matter what remarkable events occurred. Even if their investments yielded tremendous profits or if the emperor pressured Lucius due to some incident, he remained unshakable behind the thick shield he had built.

It seemed like Deatrice’s departure had shattered shattered Lucius’ barely rebuilt personality.

That’s why secretly communicating with Deatrice, the one responsible for the master’s deterioration, felt like a stab in Tom’s conscience.

But anyway, once everything was revealed, and Lucius learned of the duke’s terrible actions, any lingering feelings for Deatrice would vanish, Tom justified his actions.

By then, his master would understand.

However, all of this was just Tom’s delusion. If he had made so many consecutive mistakes without arousing Lucius’ suspicion, it would have meant that Lucius was already broken.

But, he was not. At least not yet.

Lucius was a man not easily fooled.

Aside from Tom’s terrible acting, the sudden appearance of truths hidden for six years, along with that necklace, was definitely suspicious to a person like Lucius.

The crude necklace, which would not even be admissible as evidence, was an incredibly childish ploy. It would have been better to steal something to represent Connor Fenry, as what Lucius had done with the Emperor.

“Not in a million years would a man give a woman a necklace with his painting on it.”

As Lucius muttered with a bitter laugh, a tingling sensation swept through his chest.

He groped at his chest for something, and found the pocket watch with the portrait of Deatrice that he always kept there out of habit. Lucius unfolded it, as he sometimes did when no one was around.

He had thrown it without realizing it, and the glass had shattered. Lucius brushed off the shards, afraid that his portrait would be marred by the broken glass. His careless touch cut the tips of his fingers.

Biting his tongue, Lucius wrapped his handkerchief around the wound, afraid that the blood might stain the portrait, but he soon grew tired of it all and threw the portrait onto his desk.

What’s this nonsense of a painting?

Am I to embrace her portrait until I die?

Moreover, if the woman who just left spoke the truth, the duke’s sins has become unimaginably unforgivable than before.

Lucius inevitably had to attack the Marquis to restore his honor, and whether the duke knew about the marriage of Bella Anise and Connor Fenry or not, revenge had to be sought.

Once all of this is exposed, both the duke and Lucius couldn’t peacefully coexist in noble society anymore. If it became known that making someone legitimate and expelling them from noble society was so easy, the aristocrats would think their fragile system was shaken.

They might force the Marquis and Lucius to fight until one of them loses their life.

Of course, Lucius had no intention of being the loser. If Deatrice had been by his side, he might have hesitated. She was a fragile person, and witnessing him pointing a sword at the Marquis would undoubtedly be difficult for her.

But now that everything has been revealed, Deatrice, conveniently, was nowhere to be found.

As if she disappeared for today’s revenge.

“I’m too lucky, to say the least.”

Elena Anise suddenly appears and confesses all the sins. And the evidence she brought. The only obstacle that disappeared when the moment for revenge came.

At that point, even a fool would have noticed something.

Lucius soon summoned a knight.

“Investigate Tom for me.”