Chapter 67 [Bonus Chapter for 1000 Views]
Mela was awakened by the noise outside the door.
The thin wooden door didn't provide much sound insulation, and she could clearly hear the conversations coming from outside.
“Point out all the rooms in this place where red-haired women live.”
A strange male voice gave a gruff command.
Then Mela heard the shopkeeper's trembling voice answer.
not good.
Mela quickly got out of bed and went to the window, carrying Silas, who was still half asleep and had just opened his eyes.
She opened the window as quickly as possible and threw Silas out.
The familiar feeling of being suspended in mid-air made Silas instinctively flap its wings and fly away. Before it could figure out what joke Mela was playing so early in the morning, Mela ruthlessly shut it out of the window.
Silas was completely bewildered: "?"
The moment Mela closed the window, her door was rudely flung open, and a scruffy-bearded man stood outside, impatiently gesturing for her to come out and join the other equally confused women.
Mela obediently came out.
I stood at the end of the line.
At the same time, her gaze swept over the group of women of different ages, all of whom had red hair, and her heart sank inexplicably.
When Yuriel, who was too weak to stand up, was dragged out of the room, Mela couldn't hold back any longer. She immediately ran forward and caught Yuriel, who was being thrown to the ground with a look of disgust on her face.
"You know each other?" The unshaven man spoke for the second time in his deep, gruff voice after entering the inn.
Before Mela could answer, the shop owner nodded firmly, "That's right, they came together."
"Then you'll be in charge of taking her away later."
After saying that, the man didn't look at Mela a second time and turned to go to the next room.
Another red-haired woman was forced out of the room.
Mela had no choice but to help Yuriel to her feet.
Although she said she stood up, Yuriel was not actually awake at all. She put all her weight on Mela, and it was Mela who supported her.
Whether it was good or bad luck, after three days of suffering from not being able to eat, Yuriel was as light as a ball of cotton. Otherwise, Mela wouldn't have been able to help her onto the cart parked in front of the inn so easily.
There are more than a dozen similar handcarts.
They lined up in a convoy, carrying shivering women, and returned to Furhorst Manor under the watchful eyes of a group of soldiers.
"Bang."
The cell door was slammed shut.
Just in case, the soldiers who locked them in wrapped long iron chains around the two iron bars several times before finally removing the key and locking them.
Even so, Mela could see two stern-faced guards standing at the dungeon entrance.
It seems that whoever ordered their arrest is really wary of them.
Mela just couldn't understand what had happened to cause all the red-haired women to be arrested without explanation.
Wait, redhead.
Mela had a bad feeling.
Looking at Yuriel, who was still fast asleep in her arms, she secretly prayed that this was definitely not Erica's doing, otherwise she would have really pushed her own niece into a pit.
Soon, two women, one tall and one short, walked in from outside the dungeon. The taller woman was obviously older and more authoritative. She glanced around the dungeon and ordered, "Begin."
So the short young woman stepped forward, and as she walked through one dungeon after another, the women in the dungeons immediately split into two groups.
The women she identified needed to stand on the other side, to be distinguished from those who had not been identified.
Upon seeing this, Mela's bad premonition came true. She carefully observed the women who had been identified, and their hair color was very similar to Yuriel's!
Therefore, it is impossible for Mela to be assigned to the same group as Yuriel.
Sure enough, the short woman stopped in front of Yuriel.
"Amani, what happened?"
The tall woman noticed that Amani was standing in front of a dungeon and hadn't moved for a long time, so she immediately walked over suspiciously.
“Lady Catherine, this woman seems to be ill.” Amani pointed at Yuriel, biting her lip and saying hesitantly.
"Sick?" Catherine frowned as she looked at Yuriel, who was in Mela's arms and seemed to be unconscious but not faking it. She couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "What's wrong with Overen? He even brought a sick woman here."
"Should we take her with us to see the lady?" Amani asked.
“Of course, as Madam said, not a single suspicious person should be let go.” Catherine waved her hand, and given Madam Jones’s cautious nature, this was beyond doubt.
Catherine was only worried about what disease Yuriel had, and what if it was contagious to others.
In particular, it was transmitted to Mrs. Jones.
You must understand that Mrs. Jones is the only person left who can make decisions in Furhorst Territory, and she absolutely cannot be allowed to fall down due to any unforeseen circumstances.
"Take these people to see Madam first." Catherine, being a housekeeper who had served Madam Jones for many years, made a quick decision after thinking for a moment.
She took out a key and handed it to Amani.
At the same time, she went to the dungeon entrance and instructed one of the guards to quickly find a doctor.
The guards, having received their orders, ran as fast as they could.
When he returned, the physician following him was none other than Aaron, whom Mela had wanted to find to treat Yuriel, but who had been summoned away by Lady Jones beforehand.
Upon seeing Aaron, Catherine nodded slightly. "Doctor Aaron, could you take a look at her? What illness does she have?"
Needless to say, upon seeing Yuriel with her eyes closed in Mela's arms, Aaron immediately understood who Catherine was referring to as "she".
He took two steps forward and, through the locked cell door, asked Mela, "Are you her companion?"
“Yes.” Mela nodded, perfectly mimicking a look of panic.
"Then tell me about her symptoms." Aaron's attitude was very gentle, clearly wanting to calm Mela down.
"By the way, it would be best to be more detailed and mention all the anomalies you can think of," Aaron added.
“Okay, okay. Yuni suddenly fell ill three days ago. At first, she just had no appetite and thought she would be fine after a good night’s sleep. But when she woke up, her condition got worse. No matter what she ate, she would vomit it all up uncontrollably, and her body became weaker and weaker.”
Mela pretended to be moved by Aaron's gentleness and recounted in detail what Yuriel had experienced in the past few days.
"Have you been anywhere these past few days?" Aaron asked after a moment's thought.
“No, we just arrived in White Crystal City and checked into the inn as soon as we arrived,” Mela shook her head.
"Oh? Where are you from?" Catherine suddenly interjected.
“It’s Dongmofang Town,” Mela blurted out a place name.
"Where is this place?" Catherine had indeed never heard of it before.
Not only Catherine, but Aaron was also completely confused.
“Our town is located at the easternmost edge of Furhorst Territory, and it has the only mill, so it’s called East Mill Town.” Mela lowered her eyes, her pupils darting around as she came up with a plausible explanation for the name.
Regardless of whether such a small town actually exists in the easternmost part of Furhorst Territory, let her deal with Catherine and Aaron in front of her first.
And Catherine did not suspect that Mela was lying to her.
The reason is simple: Mela showed no sign of guilt whatsoever.
“That’s not right,” Aaron, who seemed so easy to fool, surprisingly raised an objection. “That can’t be. Only people who come to Furhorst Territory for the first time are likely to be poisoned by the smell of black maple trees, because it’s a tree unique to our Furhorst Territory and is also a good timber that we often use to make furniture and build houses.”
"You mean she's been poisoned by the smell of black maple?" Catherine narrowed her eyes instantly, staring dangerously at Mela and Yuriel.
“That’s right. I often encounter merchants from outside the Furhorst Territory. Their bodies react to the scent of the Black Maple Tree, producing an effect similar to poisoning,” Aaron said confidently.
Their symptoms were exactly the same as those described by Mela.
Of course, not all merchants from other territories will be poisoned by the smell of black maple, but those who are poisoned are definitely not from the territory of Furhorst.
“Ha.” Catherine sneered.
He immediately raised his voice and shouted, "Guards! Seize those two and bring them before the Madam!"
*
"Your Highness, we will soon arrive at Furhorst Manor."
Cherge, mounted on his horse, caught sight of the large and conspicuous building not far away.
"Then let's speed things up and get to Fernando as soon as possible," Lex said, spurring his horse forward and instantly propelling it faster than Cherk.
"Good!" Cherk caught up with Lex without any trouble.
The two horses, one black and one white, hurried along and stopped in front of Furhorst Manor an hour later.
The guard immediately informed Mrs. Jones through a maid that guests had arrived at the manor.
"Guests? What kind of guests?" Mrs. Jones had no choice but to leave the women Amani had brought in the room and head to the drawing room on the first floor with two personal maids.
“One of them is a member of the royal family,” the maid replied.
The insignia of the Nurenger royal family is so easily recognizable—blonde hair and golden eyes—that there is absolutely no possibility of confusion.
"Why would the royal family send someone at this time?" Mrs. Jones couldn't help but have some conspiracy theories.
Unfortunately, just as Fernando collapsed, the royal family arrived, a coincidence that made it impossible for her to control her suspicions.
But then Mrs. Jones thought again, there weren't many royals coming to Furhorst Territory at this time, could the guest the guard was talking about be Prince Severi?
If this young prince was so well protected by Queen Elizabeth, his arrival might not have had the ulterior motives she suspected.
Over the past few years, Civiri would occasionally sneak over to see Fernanki, trying to prove that he was more worthy of Fernanki's reliance than his brother, whose fate was long unknown.
He also declared that if Fernando was willing to pledge allegiance to him, he would immediately allow Fernando to return to the capital and resume his position as prime minister.
Mrs. Jones laughed heartily after hearing the maid's account.
Xiao Xivili was raised to be far too naive by his mother.
It even reached the point of blindness.
Did he think that the Furhorst family should be treated like royalty?
His mother had gone to great lengths to get her cousin into the position of prime minister. Wasn't he afraid that doing this would cause his mother to turn against his good uncle?
No one is willing to give up the power they have gained.
Especially Antonio, that perpetually insatiable wolf.
"Mrs. Jones, it's been a long time. How have you been?"
Hearing footsteps, Lex leisurely stood up from the sofa.
A polite smile played on his lips as he nodded slightly to Mrs. Jones, who was walking toward him. This gesture conveyed both warmth towards an elder he had known for many years and the appropriate distance that should be maintained between a crown prince and a nobleman.
Compared to Lex, Cherk's attitude was much more casual.
He smiled and stepped forward, took Mrs. Jones's hand, and placed a light kiss on her red lace glove. "Long time no see, Jones. You are as stunningly beautiful as ever."
“Lex, Chelge, it’s you…” Mrs. Jones was unusually stunned.
A look of disbelief flashed across her eyes.
At the same time, she heard in her ears what Fernandinho had said to her after Lex disappeared:
"It seems that Prince Lex is safe and sound. Otherwise, Cherge would not have just disappeared from my house without a trace, but would have made the Jude family pay with their lives."
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