Chapter 4

I returned to the estate.

I grilled every maid in the house, one by one.

Without exception, they all swore they had seen Adriana sneaking around with some outsider, unable to stand being alone.

Everyone had something nasty to say about Adriana.

They spelled out every detail, like they were determined to make me believe every word.

A young footman claimed he saw Adriana sneaking a man into the house. Last year, his mother was so sick she nearly died. Adriana took off her earrings and pawned them so he could buy medicine for her.

Those earrings were the last keepsake her mother had left her. That day, the footman was on his knees, crying and thanking her, swearing he'd repay her no matter what.

But now, he was running his mouth, calling Adriana all sorts of names, saying she had no shame.

A maid who swore she saw Adriana getting it on with some guy in broad daylight. Before she was brought into the estate, her deadbeat, gambling father was about to sell her off to a brothel.

Adriana, out of kindness, used the money she was supposed to spend on her own medicine to buy her freedom instead.

Adriana had always been delicate, and winters were tough on her. She needed medicine to get through.

But that winter, she endured it without any medicine at all.

Back then, that maid was so grateful she could've smashed her head on the ground in thanks to Adriana. Now, she was cursing her, calling her a shameless wench.

Then there was the old maid who swore she had heard Adriana scheming with some outsider to poison my parents. She was already quite old.

Her own son had tossed her out, refusing to care for her. Adriana couldn't bear to see her suffering, so she brought her back, gave her the easiest job in the house, and the cushiest monthly stipend.

That old maid used to cry, saying Adriana was like a goddess sent from heaven. Now, she looked at Adriana with nothing but disgust, calling her the dirtiest, most revolting person she had ever met.

I couldn't bear to listen any longer. I drew my sword and, shouting angrily, slashed the table beside me in two.

"I'm giving you one last chance to tell the truth," I shouted.

The young footman was so terrified he almost wet himself and was about to confess.

Just then, Andrea burst in.

"Why are you interrogating them so harshly, honey? They have families to take care of," Andrea said.

"If you go too far and hurt them, what will their families do?" she added.

As soon as she finished, everyone started insisting at once that they were telling the truth.

Terrified I wouldn't believe him, the young footman actually tried to bash his head against the wall, desperate to prove he was telling the truth.

Right before he slammed his head into the wall, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Every word I said is the truth. Please, my Lord, don't punish my family for what I did."

My mother rushed over and slapped me hard across the face. "You wretched brat. Are you really going to push everyone in this house to their graves for that worthless woman?"

What my mother didn't know was that I truly wanted to kill them all.

But Adriana was still missing. Killing these scumbags now would let them off way too easily.

At least today wasn't a total loss.

Adriana's personal maid, Delilah, was not dead, only missing.

Perhaps if I could find Delilah, everything would finally fall into place.

I hadn't even had a chance to start searching for Delilah before the king summoned me to the palace.

The last time I was there, I was the triumphant general, and the king greeted me with warmth and benevolence.

This time, I was the heartless bastard who had betrayed his daughter, and the king looked at me like he wished he could order my death right then and there.

But since I was still the man his daughter loved, I only got thirty strokes of the cane as punishment.

The king declared his daughter was precious royalty and should not be slighted.

He said I was blowing things way out of proportion, throwing my whole household into chaos over someone who was already gone.

With every blow of the cane, after a while, I couldn't even tell if it hurt anymore.

All I could think was: The princess is precious royalty, but wasn't my Adriana precious too?

And besides, Adriana was never meant to die like this.

As the last blow landed, I asked, "Your Majesty, my beloved wife was ruined by those scoundrels. Will you help me get justice?"