C155
I grabbed the arm of Terence, thinking that I had to separate them quickly.
"Did you say we have to leave immediately? Let's go quickly."
"Of course. So, forgive me first."
Terence smiled unusually happily and bid farewell to Isaac and Roland.
-----------------------
"Alright, what do you think?"
After the two left, Roland, who remained in the hospital room, looked at his son on the hospital bed next to him and asked.
"What?"
"Do you think there's a chance things will work out with the viscountess?"
"Can't you tell when you see it? First of all, she feels nothing for me, and the other person is also a very strong enemy."
"Well, that's true."
"Honestly, the viscountess is an attractive person. She almost makes me wish I had met her before Leandro."
However, Isaac shook his head as he said this.
"I'm not the type of person who risks his life in a relationship. Father, please give up."
Roland made a sound as if he were disappointed.
"Leandro should have taken advantage if he had a good wife. There was no reason to divorce."
"Well, don't worry too much. Our main goal has been achieved."
Isaac stood up, found an empty wine glass, and handed it to his father.
"We'll just watch from here. How Liena falls for daring to play with our feelings."
He even brought a bottle of alcohol and filled Roland's empty glass with alcohol, smiling.
"To put it bluntly, it's unfair. If only there were a good person like Edman who would protect you even if he knows your mistakes."
Roland's mouth corners also relaxed.
"Yes, the balance of the world is only achieved when there are people like us trying to destroy it by any means necessary."
Tintin. The two, father and son, who resembled each other, clinked their glasses and shared a secret smile.
-----------------------
"Ugh..."
Inside the interrogation room, Liena cried bitterly.
"Hey, do you plan to keep crying like this?"
Due to this, the investigation was not progressing, so the investigator complained, but Liena's tears did not stop.
No matter how long Liena waited, Duke Cassius did not return.
It was the same without news of her two brothers.
At first, she hoped that the duke would repent of his mistakes and change his mind, or that Leandro and Leheim could persuade their father.
However, as time passed, those expectations gradually faded, and Liena had to accept the reality.
She was abandoned by her beloved family.
In the past, they would run and say that they wouldn't let anyone touch Liena, but now they left her here.
Her heart hurt a lot. As much as Liena loved her clan and her family, it was painful.
It was a family for which she even betrayed Ethel, her only friend in her previous life.
But severing ties? Those words weighed heavily on Liena's heart.
In her previous life, Liena had been abandoned once because she didn't please her adoptive parents.
Then, the scholarly couple who adopted Liena also distanced themselves from her after the birth of their biological son, so it was practically like abandoning her.
So this was the third time.
"Liena, my beloved daughter. If there's anything you'd like to have, please tell me. If you wish, I'll give you not only this Cassius but the entire continent."
"An older brother protects his younger sister! Don't worry, I'll protect you forever."
"I'll protect you, not him! Liena, don't get married and live with us!"
When she thought it was all over, the faces of the three people she missed so much appeared in her mind.
Tears flowed incessantly from Liena's eyes as she murmured repeatedly.
"They said that. They once said that I saved them. They said they loved me..."
The investigator, who had a tired expression on his face while watching Liena mutter repeatedly, spoke.
"I think today will be difficult to continue the investigation. If you want to lessen your guilt even a little, it would be better to change your mind and participate faithfully in the investigation."
He ordered his subordinates to transport Liena to a designated room.
Facing the accommodation where she was staying, Liena looked around the room without understanding.
"What is this...?"
She was completely immersed in a sea of sadness, but when faced with the absurd reality, her frustration overcame her.
The facilities were extremely poor. Although it's in the same imperial prison, it's incomparable to the exclusive noble prison she was in a few months ago.
It was cramped, dirty, and dark. It was even cold, coinciding with the winter season.
Wouldn't Liena, who suffered all kinds of hardships at the bottom of society before returning, know this? It was a challenging environment for Liena, who had lived as a hothouse flower in Cassius for over a decade.
Even the bed felt dirty, so when Liena couldn't sit and was only stomping around, a tray came in through a hole in the door.
"The meal.
Before she realized it, it was dinner time. Saliva formed in Liena's mouth.
After leaving Isaac's mansion, the only thing she ate was a cookie given to her by a security guard in the prisoner carriage, so she felt very hungry.
However, Liena, who quickly picked up the tray, could not hide her embarrassment.
"Why is the food like this...?"
A watery soup with only a small piece of hard bread like a stone and two slices of carrot.
She didn't expect a feast just because she was Liena, but this was too much.
How can the treatment be different just because I was expelled from Cassius?
Although she was not a princess, Liena was still the woman Mikhail loved, and even now, there were many people outside the imperial palace who claimed to be her fans.
She thought it would be at least as good as the food Isaac gave Liena before she went on a hunger strike.
"Hey! Wait a moment, come here!"
Liena stuck her face in the hole and shouted.
"What?"
After a while, the food service manager returned with a bitter attitude.
"How am I supposed to eat this?"
Liena pulled the tray back through the hole.
"Don't you know who I am? I am Liena Cassi..."
Liena, who was about to introduce herself as Cassius out of habit, changed her words halfway.
"I have a relationship with His Highness Prince Mikhail."
"What?"
"I'm not lying. If you bring me better food, the prince will thank you."
"Fine, if you don't want to eat it, don't eat it."
The food service person brazenly snorted and took Liena's food tray.
Using such a respectful term even with a low-ranking courtier hurt her pride, but anyway, she was in a lamentable position right now.
Liena barely managed to control her temper and persuaded him.
"It's true! Go to the prince's palace and ask. All the courtiers there will testify."
Mikhail was not the kind of person who would abandon his lover just because the situation had worsened.
Liena, who had witnessed Mikhail's devoted love for almost ten years, was sure.
"If the prince returns to the palace, he will definitely be worried about me and come running to me. You can bet on it."
The food service manager left with Liena's tray without further response.
That night, Liena waited for him to return, but it wasn't until the sun rose again that she got a better meal.
"...hey. Go to the prince's palace and ask. What I said is true."
The next morning, Liena sobbed to the person in charge of serving breakfast.
She was so hungry that she no longer had the strength to shout.
"Don't want to eat? Then don't eat it."
"No, no. I want to eat. Let me eat."
Fearing to starve again, Liena had to humbly ask for breakfast.
Unspeakable humiliation overcame her.
Liena made a cruel promise while eating the food she wouldn't have given to her dog.
I won't leave you alone. As soon as Mikhail returns, I won't let the unpleasant food service manager and others who put her here go in peace.
Now, the anger at being betrayed is greater than the sadness of losing the adoption.
She also resented both her father and her brothers so much.
"What? Do you love me like this?"
If you really loved me, you wouldn't have broken up.
We'll see. Even if I cry and regret later and seek Liena, I will never come back.
"So you still don't feel like surrendering?"
The investigator she met in the interrogation room after eating was a different person from yesterday.
"Isn't the same person still investigating?"
The new investigator replied briefly.
"No."
"Why not?!"
"Is there any reason they have to be the same person?"
"No, I'm just curious..."
"Liena, the investigation about you is under orders from superiors and must be conducted by various investigators in different shifts."
"Why?"
"I don't know either. We will share the information anyway, so refrain from asking unnecessary questions and just sit and answer my questions."
Liena sat down and bit her lip.
Why were these inefficient instructions given from above? The reason was as clear as fire.
"Ethel!"
This was a measure taken to prevent Liena from applying the goddess's blessing to the investigator.
And the only person who could suggest such a solution was Ethel, who had a blessing and knew well about blessings.
"Why did you commit fraud in investments?"
"How many times do I have to say I don't know about that? I have nothing more to say."
"...Don't you know what situation you're in now?"
"I exercise my right to remain silent. If you want to talk to me, call His Highness Prince Mikhail."
After that, Liena closed her mouth like a clam.
But a few hours later, Liena received good news, as if it were rain in a drought.
"His Royal Highness Prince Mikhail has requested a meeting."
Finally, Mikhail had arrived.
"Mikhail!"
When Liena saw Mikhail enter the interrogation room, she ran to greet him.
"Step back."
But something was strange. Mikhail stopped her approach with a cold face.
He didn't even listen to Liena's words and just said what he wanted to say.
"The reason I came here today is to formally say goodbye to you."
It was a story akin to a storm."