I Will Seduce The Northern Duke
chapter-154

“There is no need for you to come forward and talk to her.”

Kalcion stepped out.

To sort out someone’s life was a measure to take. Aside from being relieved by revenge, it was something uncomfortable.

Selina just uncovered the case. She did not have to be responsible for the consequences of the case. Mrs. Janet was only directly involved in Irell’s case. It was an incident within Renbird, so it was more appropriate that Kalcion dealt with it.

“No. It’s a case that I dug up. I want to see it till the end.”

Only when she learned about Irell’s case that her upset heart would be comforted. So, Kalcion respected Selina’s wish.

“If that’s what you want.”

“Where is Mrs. Janet?”

“She is imprisoned in the west tower of Renbird Castle.”

The two went there without delay.

Even though Kalcion didn’t subject Mrs. Janet to imprisonment in the dungeon, acknowledging her hard work until now, the abandoned tower she now resided in felt no different from a prison. The moss-covered stone walls, dusty floor, and makeshift bed of straw must have been a far cry from the life Mrs. Janet was accustomed to.

Yet, despite the challenging circumstances, Mrs. Janet’s appearance only showed a slight weariness. She managed to maintain her usual neat attire and upheld her upright pride.

“Renbird will accuse the crown prince.”

Mrs. Janet bowed her head as she waited.

“As I said before, I want you to go to Mion and testify about the events of the day at court.”

“…Will my testimony be useful to you?”

“It is not useless.”

She suddenly raised her head.

“Then, am I still a useful person to your Excellency? Please give me one more chance.”

Her eyes looked mad. It glistened with obsession as if that was the only thing she had been thinking about while she was imprisoned.

“After testifying, please allow me to stay at Renbird Castle. A chore maid is fine, or a stable keeper is fine.”

Kalcion firmly shook his head.

“I will support you so you can settle down in Mion.”

“I don’t want that…! It has to be Renbird… please let me stay in Renbird! If you need me that much!”

Mrs. Janet crawled across the floor and clung to his pants. However, Kalcion’s eyes remained unchanged as he looked down at her. It was as indifferent as looking at trees or stones or grass.

“I don’t need you that much.”

He didn’t intend to be cruel, but he spoke the truth in such a cold manner that it stung. Mrs. Janet felt as if the fragile thread she had been holding on to had finally snapped, and she collapsed to the floor.

“Your testimony only makes things a little easier, and there’s no big deal even if you don’t. You can refuse it if you don’t want to.”

“If I refuse… will I be sentenced to death?”

“No. If you refuse, you’ll just be banished from Renbird with nothing.”

Either way, she could no longer stay in Renbird. Of course, it was a punishment worse than the death sentence for Mrs. Janet.

She shook her head.

“No, no. I can’t. Even if I die, I will not leave Renbird.”

“You don’t deserve to live in Renbird. I will not allow it.”

Cold ice may melt one day. Nonetheless, Kalcion’s firmness, which was not even cold, made her even more frustrated.

“If you’re talking about who deserves to live in Renbird, how can that woman deserve it? That vulgar thing does nothing but laugh and act flirty.”

The sparks ricocheted towards Selina all of a sudden, that was how much Mrs. Janet hated and was bothered by her presence… like the previous Duchess, who was not happy even after having what Mrs. Janet wanted to have but couldn’t have.

Selina smiled as she crossed her arms.

Mrs. Janet’s last outburst was so insignificant and pitiful that she could only laugh. When she was living under Kalcion, just like Mrs. Janet, she would be choked up and shaken, but things are different now.

Her standing was different.

No matter how hard Mrs. Janet tried to hold and shake her, it felt like an ant trying to move an elephant’s leg. From the elephant’s perspective, it was simply amusing to see the ant’s futile attempts.

“If you embrace that thing, please close your eyes and embrace the sin of this old one. I didn’t harm Your Excellency either?”

Rather, Mrs. Janet’s words brought a surge of anger to Kalcion.

“How can you say that you didn’t harm me when you tried to control what’s mine and tried to take it away?”

“That’s because Your Excellency was blinded by temptation!”

“I did the temptation.”

“…What?”

Mrs. Janet froze as if she had been hit in the back of the head.

It was not the Kalcion she knew.

“I was the one who was obsessed with Selina first, I was the one who loved her first, and I was the one who held on to her, who was about to leave me, to let me leave together with me.”

“…Your Excellency, you said you were about to leave Renbird? …Because of this woman?”

“Selina has already become a bigger presence to me than Renbird.”

Mrs. Janet stood frozen, her expression dazed.

Kalcion had changed, drifting away from the person she had always cherished by her side. He had become someone completely unfamiliar.

A strange feeling that Mrs. Janet could not adapt to make her body tremble.

The reality she tried to ignore now confronted her with a cruel truth… Kalcion didn’t need her, and Renbird was doing well without her. She wasn’t deliberately chosen to be by his side though she was merely someone who happened to be there and took that position without any real significance.

Kalcion didn’t keep her around because he couldn’t bear to abandon her, but rather, he merely needed her as a witness to testify.

Because he needed a ‘witness,’ not Mrs. Janet.

Realizing Renbird was no longer embracing her, all her hopes crumbled at that moment.

“The choice is yours—whether you quietly leave Renbird like this, or work for Renbird until the end and settle down in Mion after receiving your payment.”

“….”

“Decide on the answer by tomorrow morning.”

Tears streamed down Mrs. Janet’s cheeks, thick and heavy, as if her very soul was flowing out with them.

After observing the scene for a while, Kalcion silently turned away and wrapped his arms around Selina, offering no words of comfort.

As Selina glanced back while leaving the room, she saw Mrs. Janet sitting on the floor, motionless, like a lifeless figure. Although she had initially followed Kalcion, intending to advise Mrs. Janet not to continue living like this and to bid her farewell, witnessing her collapse in such a manner drained her determination.

Selina’s revenge against Mrs. Janet, who had bullied her, had already been quenched, as Mrs. Janet had already plunged to the bottom.

She felt no sympathy.

Even as she was dragged away, Mrs. Janet persisted in trying to bring her down. It was evident that if she remained, she would continue to cause trouble.

Exiting the tower, Selina finally felt a sense of relief. The mere presence of Mrs. Janet in the same room had made her feel suffocated as if she had breathed in poisonous air. It was only after taking a deep breath that she recalled the question that had been lingering in her mind.

“What if we don’t do that?”

Even though it was always beneficial to testify and get paid, Mrs. Janet was driven by faith rather than profit.

“Mrs. Janet’s testimony at the trial is not necessarily important… because if the Crown Prince grabbed it, then it’s over. Mrs. Janet’s testimony is only one of the means of pressure, but not everything.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if at least the will was presented?”

Juna was currently missing. Perhaps she thought that she had no hope with Selina anymore, and escaped the surveillance and ran away.

Even when she escaped from Mion’s mansion, she really ran away because she had a lead. No one expected that the guards would leave her alone this time. Therefore, along with Juna’s whereabouts, the will’s existence also became obscure.

“If he insisted that the will is fabricated, that would be it. In fact, accusing the Crown Prince is a contest of strength.”

No matter what evidence there was, as long as the Crown Prince was in power, Renbird would lose no matter what.

However, what if the crown prince lost the war, and his charges were presented while his leash was held by Renbird, and the events of the past were clearly revealed? It would be possible to break the Crown Prince’s wind. If so, the fight between the two in the palace could not be blamed.

That was what Kalcion was aiming for.

“Then, Mrs. Janet…”

Standing as a witness in court would be an opportunity for her to confess her own sins… and Kalcion simply gave her that chance.

He was a generous monarch.

As Selina looked back at the tower, she hoped that Mrs. Janet would not insist on her own stubbornness and make stupid choices.

But Mrs. Janet was far more obstinate than both of them expected.

“Lor, lord, Mrs. Janet…!”

The morning brought sorrowful news.

Mrs. Janet had taken her own life, and it was the maid who went to deliver her meal who discovered her lifeless body.

In her final act, Mrs. Janet laid bare her innermost heart.

Above all else, what she cherished most was her own image as ‘the one chosen by Renbird.’ Her loyalty to Renbird or any other attachments paled in comparison to her love for herself. Her final resting place was a simple burial in the wilderness outside Silenza, without any formal funeral.

In the end, she remained in Silenza, as she had wished.

As to whether she found contentment within herself, that was a mystery left for others to ponder.

***

No one missed Mrs. Janet, but it was a shocking event for her longtime colleagues. However, before the shock had dissipated, the Crown Prince’s army, which had crossed the Renbird border, began to advance.