Roxana
Chapter 40
Chapter 40
The Way to Protect
the Female Lead’s Older Brother
Chapter 40
* * *
“Milady, I have handled them as you commanded.”
“Well done, Emily.”
I gave a slight nod at Emily’s words as she entered the room.
I had momentarily forgotten that I ordered the men who came to the greenhouse earlier to be punished and locked away in the dungeon.
It was because the events of this afternoon had left my mind completely preoccupied.
“We tracked down the intermediaries who passed along the message, but they were already dead. It appeared they were killed by the monsters that escaped the breeding pen.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Because of that, it will be difficult to obtain testimony regarding other circumstances, let alone whether Young Master Deon truly overstepped his authority.”
Just as the men in the greenhouse had claimed, it was true there were others who had passed on orders using Deon’s name.
Yet before anyone could interrogate them to uncover the truth, they had become corpses, their mouths sealed forever.
“Naturally. The dead tell no tales.”
Even so, dying by coincidence at the hands of monsters escaped from the breeding pens was far too convenient.
“There are some corners whispering suspicions that it was Lady Maria who attempted to smuggle out Milady’s toy.”
“What an amusing thought.”
“The rumors suggest she may have used her son Young Master Deon’s name, and when things escalated, she disposed of everyone involved to hush it all up.”
What Emily relayed sounded quite plausible.
Looking at it through that lens, Maria’s reaction—hardly seeming disappointed even though Cassis, whom she had anticipated so eagerly, failed to appear at the tea party—could indeed look suspicious.
If she had killed the subordinates who acted as messengers to silence them, disguising it as an attack by the monsters, it painted a remarkably seamless picture.
Of course, I knew that wasn’t the truth.
“And how is the subject of the rumor reacting?”
“She seemed entirely unaware such rumors are circulating. I hear she is still wholly devoted to nursing Lady Sierra.”
Maria seemed to be even fonder of my mother than I had thought.
To be utterly oblivious to the talk spreading among the tea party guests and consumed entirely with my mother…
Mother’s knack for enthralling even a woman like Maria truly warranted endless admiration.
“It’s quiet outside.”
“Yes. It was an unexpected turn of events, so there was some initial chaos, but the aftermath was brought under control swiftly.”
The breach of the breeding pens had thrown the estate into utter pandemonium earlier today. Most of the monsters raised by the Agriche family were bred for venom extraction, and among them, the Karantul was a massive, highly aggressive beast, leaving considerable damage in its wake.
Though the situation was mostly settled now, my head had been throbbing with a headache until just a moment ago.
Jeremy, the prime culprit behind today’s incident, could not escape accountability.
Too many witnesses had seen Jeremy opening the gates of the breeding pen for him to talk his way out of it.
Amid the flood of testimonies, the two men from the greenhouse also claimed that it was Jeremy who had freed Cassis in the first place.
They insisted that their injuries were inflicted not by Cassis, but by Jeremy.
While admitting their fault in attempting to take Cassis without verifying orders properly, their desperate pleas of innocence against the charge of aiding Cassis’s escape were pitifully fervent.
Perhaps that was why Jeremy had been walking on eggshells around me, watching my every move with extreme anxiety when I last saw him.
He had always loitered around Cassis’s quarters, and in the end, he had made a colossal mess of things.
Who could have guessed he would go so far as to open the gates to the monster pen?
Even knowing Jeremy was looking at me as pitifully as an abandoned puppy, I turned my back on him without a single word.
“How will you handle Cassis Pedelian?”
In truth, however, I wasn’t as angry as Jeremy believed.
“Put him in the Hallucination Room.”
“Understood.”
Since I could not avoid ostensibly punishing Cassis for attempting an escape, I decided to lock him inside the Hallucination Room.
Knock, knock.
Just then, a knock was heard from outside the door.
“Lady Roxana, I have come on Lady Sierra’s orders.”
“Come in.”
At my glance, Emily stepped back.
Granted permission, the maid entered the room and bowed her head before me.
“Mother has awakened, then.”
“Yes. My Lady is asking for Lady Roxana. She insisted on coming to see you herself, but as her strength has not yet returned enough for her to leave bed, I have come to deliver her message instead.”
As if today’s ordeal had taken too severe a toll on her body and mind, Mother had remained unconscious until now.
That was why I had stopped by her room earlier before returning to mine.
Hearing the maid’s words, I rose from my seat.
“Very well. If Mother is calling for me, I must go see her.”
* * *
“Sana, are you all right?”
The moment I stepped into Mother’s room, her frantic question pierced my ears.
The instant she saw me, she pushed herself upright as if she would throw off the covers and leap from the bed at any second.
Had the maids tending to her not held her back, she might truly have rushed out of bed.
“I’m all right, Mother.”
I watched Mother for a moment before answering.
As I stepped closer to the bedside, she caught hold of me and examined my body all over.
“Are you hurt anywhere? I heard a monster invaded the greenhouse—are you truly unhurt?”
“Mother, please calm down.”
It seemed unwise for someone who had been unconscious until just moments ago to become so agitated.
So I held Mother’s hand, met her gaze, and spoke firmly.
“I am not hurt. Look. I’m completely fine, see?”
As our eyes met, the trembling felt against my fingertips slowly began to subside.
Mother looked as pitiful as someone who had just awakened from a terrifying nightmare.
Anyone who saw her in such a state would have found it impossible not to soothe her.
“I see… Thank goodness.”
A whisper-like voice settled upon my ears a moment later.
Still, seeing her face look considerably more relaxed than before brought a sense of relief.
“More importantly, how are you feeling, Mother?”
“Much better now.”
It seemed Maria had returned to her quarters once she confirmed Mother had regained consciousness.
Given Maria’s personality, she wouldn’t have easily left Mother’s side, making her absence right now slightly unexpected.
But considering what happened today and the need to tidy up the aftermath of the tea party even at this late hour, she likely had no choice.
Holding Mother’s hand, I took a seat in the chair placed beside the bed.
At my subtle glance, the maids inside the room excused themselves.
Looking quietly at Mother’s face, I asked:
“Mother, why did you go outside earlier?”
The fact that Mother had wandered outside the greenhouse searching for me while monsters were on the loose was quite unexpected.
All the more so because she had left Maria’s tea party early after spilling tea on her hand.
“I assumed you would be in your room. Did you not hear that monsters had escaped from the breeding pens?”
Mother answered my question.
“I heard, but… the pen where the monsters escaped was near the greenhouse.”
At the words that followed, my lips fell shut.
“I couldn’t just stay still when I was thinking of you.”
The blue eyes gazing at me remained hazy.
The mere thought that I might have been attacked and injured by those monsters seemed enough to make her dizzy with dread.
Naturally, Mother’s worry for me was genuine.
Recognizing that fact anew sent ripples through my quiet heart.
“What are you talking about? It was Deon who pushed that monster right in front of Sana-noona’s mother!”
Jeremy’s words from earlier today suddenly surfaced in my mind. Looking at Mother, a faint smile curved my lips.
“Thank you for worrying about me.”
But the words that immediately followed were neither tender nor warm.
“Though frankly, you were only in the way.”
At my frigid tone, the face before me hardened. My gaze, fixed squarely on Mother, was undoubtedly as cold and ruthless as my voice.
Were it not so, her face would never have drained of color so completely.
“Mother. What could you possibly have done if you were there?”