Chapter 266 266. Punishment, Part VI
Editor: Aelryinth
It was quite different from what she had said before. She declared that she would not see him at all.
Robert raised his hand to say something to her.
"Leave. I’ll show you my last courtesy, so that you can walk out on your own feet without being dragged out." Julietta bowed slightly, said her final goodbye and added as she turned around. "Christine is finally cutting me off from the one remaining bloodline. I have to make amends for that." She had faced Marquis Anais in the waiting room, not even in the lounge, and now turned her back coldly and left him.
Contrary to Christine’s expectations, the meeting between Marquis Anais and Julietta wasn’t very long. But the mental blow was so devastating that she entered the bedroom to rest for a while.
When Phoebe, who should be with Vera was not seen, Julietta asked passively. "Where is Phoebe?"
"A servant came to deliver a message that someone had wished to meet her, and she went out."
Vera’s answer stopped Julietta from taking off her dress. "Who came to meet her?"
Phoebe didn’t know anyone here. In other words, there was no one to visit her. Phoebe’s behavior was so irritating, as it was right after Dian’s work, and after feeling deeply betrayed by the Marquis of Anais.
Vera was embarrassed by Julietta’s sharp reaction, unlike before. "She left without saying anything."
Julietta donned her striped dress again and ordered Vera. "Look for the servant who spoke to Phoebe and took her from here."
At her tone, Vera ran out nervously and soon brought a servant back with her.
"Did who came to meet Lady Pauran identify herself?"
The servant answered Julietta’s question. "Yes, the princess. She said she was the maid of Lady Anais."
Maribel said she had run into Christine in the waiting room of the main castle. However, she did not seem to recognize Phoebe’s identity."
"Bring Mrs. Grayson here. Oh, no, no. I think I’ll get ready to go out."
Maribel did not tell her that Christine had recognized Phoebe. Maribel clearly put pressure on Phoebe to do something. And if Phoebe didn’t meet Maribel’s request, she was the one who would get rid of Phoebe. Maribel went to meet Dian, who had been taken from Vicern. Maybe she wanted to make sure that her nephew was not involved in this.
Killian left the punishment for Dian to Maribel. It was because he was too busy to even care about such a trivial thing.
If Julietta called Maribel and asked her about Phoebe’s business, she would tell her not to care. It was true that Dian’s work had raised her anxiety over Phoebe, but she was not to leave her alone when she was in danger.
’Where did she go?’
Count Valerian followed behind Julietta to escort her as she was busily leaving the Asta Palace. "Where are you going?"
"Phoebe was taken away by Lady Anais. Where did she go?"
Count Valerian’s expression was stiffened. "The princess, please go back. It could be a trap to use Miss Phoebe to attract the princess."
Even at the dissuasion of Count Valerian, Julietta shook her head. "Vera, tell the carriage driver to go to the dress shop. There’s a limit to what I can do in this outfit."
"The Princess!"
"I haven’t heard any message or had any contact from them yet. That means there’s still time to save Phoebe. I don’t know what they’re planning on doing, but I don’t think it’s time for them to need me yet, so I have to take advantage of this moment."
As it might be true, Valerian gathered his immediate subordinates and said a few words before getting on the wagon. "I asked the escort knight attached to Miss Phoebe to find her whereabouts."
It would be a watchman, not an escort. Everything had changed because of Dian. But Julietta nodded without saying anything.
Arriving in the dress shop and going to the annex through the wagon storage, she sent Vera to the main house. A moment later, Amelie and Sophie got her message and came with the black wig, a dress, and makeup tools. She hurriedly said, "We don’t have much time. Please hurry up."
"What’s going on?" Unlike Amelie, who did Julietta’s hair and put a wig on her head silently, Sophie spoke out her worry.
"She said we don’t have time! Come on, get the makeup kit out." At Amelie’s scolding, Sophie lined the table with cosmetics made with metum juice.
Julietta finished her skin makeup, painted her eyebrows thickly, then stood up and quickly changed her dress. "I’ll be back."
"Yes. Every day you are so anxious, how can you live?" Sophie was grieved to see the back of Julietta as she quickly put on her glasses and left the annex, but the words did not reach Julietta’s ears.
"Where did the escort say Phoebe was?"
A knight stood next to Count Valerian who was waiting in the coach house. He gasped for breath as if he had been running.
"She went to Marquis Marius’s mansion on the Harrods Street."
It was obvious that Christine took Phoebe there. Christine threatened Phoebe and gave her to Francis as a gift again!
"What a bitch!"
She could never forgive Christine. ’What is the situation there now?’ Christine didn’t even think about it and did the same thing again!
"This means that Prince Francis has found out who she is. Even if you’re going, there’s no way."
"She is your cousin. Isn’t she?"
Julietta’s bitter scolding made him nod reluctantly. After making the waiting knight step back, Valerian closed the carriage door to prevent their words from leaking out.
"Your cousin, a lady, was kidnapped by Prince Francis. It’s even weirder to just wait and see."
As Phoebe was already introduced as Lady Pauran, he could support her from his side openly.
"Then the princess should go back. She’s my cousin, so I’ll go rescue her."
The carriage was moving as Julietta replied, "Did I ever step back and just watch? We don’t know what’s going on there, and I can’t just send the Count in alone."
She was probably talking about the worst. Valerian was forced to agree with Julietta.
"There will be a lot of escorts for Prince Francis, so I have to find a way to get in by myself."
Valerian was surprised at Julietta’s words. "No way! The princess can’t enter alone."
To stop the truly angry Count, Julietta raised her hand as if to calm down. "I disguised myself. It won’t be dangerous."
"Didn’t you say that? My cousin’s been kidnapped, so I’m going to go in and rescue her."
"But before we do, we have to figure out the situation first. What if the Count, the chief of the Royal Knights of His Highness Killian, recklessly storm in, but nothing has happened to Phoebe? What if it’s a trap that will put His Highness in trouble?"
Valerian was forced to shut up at Julietta’s words.
"Is Marquis Marius’s mansion heavily guarded?"
"No, they couldn’t take the imperial knights with them, because it’s in the capital and on paper owned by Marquis Marius. So only one or two of Prince Francis’s guardians would have moved together. The rest seems to be the attendants working in the mansion."
"I see. Then I’ll go in and pretend that I’m Christine’s maid."
"The Princess!" Valerian opened his mouth with the intention of dissuading her, but was subdued by Julietta.
"Did you forget? I’m the one who escaped unharmed when I was kidnapped alone. You don’t have to worry. I’m only going to check the situation. If Phoebe is in danger, I’ll send you a signal, so you can come in with the knights behind you over there who are following in secret."
’When will Prince Killian learn about this? It depends on when the private meeting with Emperor ends.’ Valerian could already hear Killian’s angry voice.
’Would it have been better if the Marquis of Oswald had followed?’ He could not think of a way to stop the princess for himself. ’How can I refute her when it seems that she is saying all kinds of reasonable things?’
When a sigh of desperation flowed out of Valerian’s mouth helplessly, Julietta promised, "I’ll just take a look at their movements. I won’t walk into a trap like this."
While soothing the Count of Valerian, the carriage stopped inside the dark alley on Harrods Street. It was the unmarked carriage used in the dress shop, so they didn’t worry about it being seen, but it was good to be careful, so it was pulled over a certain distance away from their destination.