I Thought It Was a Common Transmigration - Chapter 125

“You didn’t do this, did you?”

“You seem to view me as no better than an animal.”

“I- I’m glad you didn’t. How on earth did she end up like this……!”

“Don’t try to find out the whole story. You should value your life.”

“Y- yes……”

Startled, the doctor sat up straight and examined Edith’s body.

“Fortunately, it doesn’t look like any of her bones are broken. From now on, every morning and evening, compress her body with warm water before applying the ointment I prescribed.”

“Will that be all? Shouldn’t you give her some medicine or something?”

“I’ll decide on medication once I’ve examined her after she’s awake. I don’t think she’s been resting or eating properly, so she should take absolute rest for the time being.”

“I see.”

Despite being told twice more that the bruises themselves were no big deal, just that they looked bad, Killian asked the doctor to wait for him at the mansion.

But a few moments later, Duke Ludwig summoned Killian and Cliff, saying he wanted to see what had happened inside the dungeon.

Killian gritted his teeth and rose to his feet.

“Take care of Edith while I’m gone, Anna.”

“Don’t worry, young master. If you need my testimony, I can talk for hours, so just call me.”

“Thank you.”

Killian made his way to the Duke’s office, feeling a sense of camaraderie with the maid he had never paid attention to before.

When he entered, the Duke was wiping his bloodied hands on a towel.

All of the Riegelhoffs and their minions had apparently been executed.

“Sit.”

As soon as Killian sat down, Cliff arrived.

Sensing the icy mood of his two sons, the Duke sighed deeply and sank back into his seat.

“Who should I ask…….?”

When the Duke muttered in a troubled tone, Killian spoke without looking at his brother.

“Do you have anything to say about what happened earlier, brother?”

“……”

“Let me tell you, father. I’m a little angry, so I might come off as a little harsh, but you can correct me later.”

“Okay.”

For the first time, the Duke gave Killian the floor, not Cliff.

And that day in the Duke’s office, there was a long talk about the truth they didn’t know.

***

So warm.

I no longer felt the bone-chilling cold that made me shiver.

‘I’m…… alive……’

I slowly opened my eyes, brushing the soft surface of the bedding beneath my palms.

As my blurry vision cleared, I stiffened briefly at the familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings, but I quickly realized that this was Killian’s room.

‘Where is Killian?’

I sat up, my body aching from the slightest movement, and looked around. But there was no one there, not even Killian.

‘I’m scared……’

I suddenly feared that I might be dead, and I got goosebumps.

I crawled out of bed with a groan.

I had nothing to put on over my nightgown, but I couldn’t wait to find someone besides myself.

“Killian……”

I called out to Killian in an unsure voice and opened the door connecting the bedroom to the parlor.

The eyes of the three people sitting around the table in the parlor turned to me at the same time.

Killian, Anna, and a man who appeared to be a doctor.

“Edith!”

Surprised, Killian sprang to his feet and rushed toward me, his hand pausing in mid-air, not sure where to put it.

“What are you doing up? You’re still not fully recovered.”

Killian eventually put his arm around my shoulders, very carefully, and said in a low voice, studying my complexion.

Instantly, I felt the anxiety that had been building inside me ease.

“I was scared because there was no one here. I thought I was…… dead.”

At that, Killian froze like a paused video, staring at me.

“I’m sorry. I should have had one of us standing by your side……”

“No, it’s just that I wasn’t fully awake and had some strange thoughts.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for leaving you scared and alone.”

Killian gave me a quick hug.

He seemed to be extremely careful, as if he was afraid he might press hard somewhere on my body.

I wondered why he was so protective, and then I realized he was particularly careful not to touch my forearm.

‘He must have seen I was hurt.’

It must have been quite a shocking sight. The bruises were intense enough to freak me out when I first got dressed, because they were so foreign to my body.

I looked at the purple bruises on my forearms and thighs and wondered if they would ever go back to skin color.

“First, lie down again. I’ll be by your side.”

Killian soothed me in a voice that made my heart tickle, and after telling Anna to stay behind and take good notes on the doctor’s words, he led me back into the bedroom.

“Killian, what day is it? How long have I been asleep?”

“Don’t worry, you’ve been sleeping for ‘barely’ three days.”

“Why ‘barely’?”

“Cause you woke up occasionally, though you don’t seem to remember.”

“Huh? Really?”

I don’t remember waking up at all, as Killian said.

“You ate soup once in the middle, drank water a few times, and went to the bathroom once.”

“I don’t remember that at all.”

“I guess so, because you looked like you were half asleep.”

I nodded dazedly.

“Is it okay for me…… to lie here?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I wonder if His Excellency the Duke might be angry…… that you got me out of the dungeon,” I said, genuinely worried.

Killian seemed to be holding back his anger. “You don’t have to worry about my father or brother anymore. On the contrary, those people will have to take care of you.”

“What happened?”

Killian looked me in the eye for a long moment, then let out a long sigh and told me what had happened.

***

When Edith was thrown into the dungeon and the execution of the Riegelhoffs began, Count Riegelhoff was the first to fall to his knees.

“Do you have any last words?” Duke Ludwig asked in a last act of mercy.

But Count Riegelhoff, already seized with rage, fear, and madness, glared at the Duke with bloodshot eyes and smirked.

“If I die, you must kill my daughter Edith too. It would be a dishonor for her to be left alive when we are all dead.”

It was Killian who answered. “Funny. She’s not your daughter, she’s my wife.”

“Hahaha! When did you ever care so much for her that you’re acting like this?”

“I don’t know why you only now care about the daughter you abandoned.”

“When did I abandon her?”

“If you don’t remember abandoning her, then you never considered her a daughter in the first place.”

Count Riegelhoff’s face hardened strangely at that.

Killian’s mood worsened as he realized that this was as close to a correct answer.

Count Riegelhoff shouted, “Betrayers are never to be spared. That’s a House Riegelhoff rule!”

Duke Ludwig, who was listening next to him, glared at him and then said, bored. “That’s Riegelhoff’s problem.”

“You can’t even respect the traditions of other families……!”

“Your last words were too long. Execute the sentence!”

Then the executioner raised his well-sharpened axe.

“Aaaaah! Honey!”

“Father!”

The screams of the Riegelhoffs echoed through the execution ground.

As the axe cut through the freezing air, the two eyes that had been glaring at Duke Ludwig went blank and hot blood sprayed into the air.

It was a miserable end for a man who had allowed envy and jealousy to consume his life.

After Count Riegelhoff’s execution, the rest of the family followed suit one after another.

Shane’s throat, in particular, was cut by Cliff himself, ‘slowly’.

Even as the execution ground was filled with the horrific screams of death, Killian’s mind was on Edith, probably shivering in the dungeon.

‘I can’t take her back to the mansion?! Does my father still doubt her? Does he not believe me?’

Killian couldn’t understand the Duke’s insistence on keeping Edith in the dungeon, even though he had told him she had been trapped in the basement of Wellesley’s villa and nearly died.

As the minutes ticked by, it was Sophia’s turn.

“That bitch……!”

Killian’s eyes flared with anger and he took a step forward.

Just then, a soldier guarding the entrance to the execution ground rushed over and reported to the Duke.

“Your Excellency! Sir Renon Filch says he has something to tell you!”

“Renon? Is he awake?”

“I believe he came running this way as soon as he woke up.”

It was Renon, who had been knocked unconscious by a mercenary’s club while trying to stop the kidnapping.

He wasn’t usually one to panic or act impatient, so if he came running as soon as he woke up, it must be a very important report.

“Let him in.”

Renon was brought into the execution group at the Duke’s command, his head bandaged, his face anxious as he scanned the remaining prisoners.

“Renon. What’s the matter?”

“Where is Lady Edith?”

“Edith? Why are you looking for Edith?”

“I heard that she was captured and brought to the execution ground.”

“But?”

“She is innocent! No way, is she already executed……?!”

The shouting made his head hurt again, and he staggered back, rubbing his temple.

Killian steadied him. “Renon, do you know something?”

Killian was desperate for someone to speak up for Edith’s innocence.

Seeing the calm Killian, Renon immediately knew that Edith was still alive.