Chapter 38 (1/2)

Chapter 38: <Chapter 38>

I spent my time off at Lonez. It was wonderful. Elza and Luis didn’t know that the baby story was fake, so they treated me like I was made of fragile glass. I felt guilty for lying to them.

During my stay at Lonez, they came to me for punishments. While we sat in the lovely garden, Luis asked me respectfully.

“Your highness, we deserve to be punished.”

“Pardon? What are you talking about?”

I was so surprised I almost dropped my cup of hot, sweet milk tea. My eyes widened as I stared at them.

Elza, Luis’s younger sister, also looked determined.

Luis answered, “We were going to ask you earlier, but we thought it would be best to wait a while until you recovered. That tragic day when you were poisoned, it was Elza who was on duty that night.”

I couldn’t remember for sure, and I didn’t understand why that mattered.

Luis continued, “Both Elza and I should have prevented it, yet we didn’t even know what had happened until the principle maid in waiting alerted us. We deserved to die for this crime.”

“Pardon?!”

I almost dropped my cup again, but thankfully, I ended up spilling a little bit of my tea on the white-lace dress.

I hoped it didn’t stain.

While I looked shocked and confused at their resolute declarations, Luis continued, “As the daughters of Count Loventis and the maids of the first wife of the emperor, we have failed to do our duties. Please punish Elza! I am no better as I am responsible for my little sister’s mistakes. You must punish me as well!”

Why does everyone want me to punish them?

I started to sweat as I sat my cup down on the wooden side table.

How would convince these two women?

I thought carefully before I put on a bright smile. I finally opened my mouth.

“But I am very happy.”

“Pardon?”

“Pardon?”

The two girls looked up at me with wide eyes. I hoped my smile looked genuine.

“That night… It was very unfortunate. I’m not saying you have no fault in this, but even Samantha found me after I was already poisoned. Even if you found me before her, there was nothing you could have done that would have changed the outcome.”

“Y…your highness!”

“There is a saying in my homeland. Misfortune is always followed by a blessing. I am happy to have such wonderful people like you worrying about me. Those who are truly responsible are in jail already, so there is no need for you to be punished.”

Luis looked at me reverently, but she shook her head.

“But your highness, the fact still remains that we committed a terrible crime. The water in your room was poisoned. It should have never happened.”

Well, it was actually the emperor who put poison in that water, but I couldn’t tell them the truth.

Luis continued, “Please punish us.”

The doctor was expecting to lose a finger, so I suppose the girls were sure they would be punished too. Was everyone in this castle masochist?

I tried to control my expression.

Deep breath!