ITMWG 106

Chapter 106…

Medical Diagnosis.

‘If anything happens to me, contact His Highness the First Prince.’

Melissa walked around the room anxiously, recalling what her father had told her just before the trial.

Following her father’s request, she tried to reach out to the First Prince using several means, but she was at a loss as no answer came back.

After Marquis Vine was dragged to Balstead as a criminal after a public trial, the Marquis’ house was completely ruined.

Melissa had been trembling in fear for several days as the imperial investigators barged in and searched every corner of the house for the purpose of investigation.

If the Marquis was alive and well and guarding the mansion, she could have made some kind of protest, but Melissa had no power to deal with such a situation.

Father had not educated Melissa at all as a successor.

He had completely seized all of the power as a Marquis and was unwilling to share it with her.

Melissa also thought that she didn’t need such education since she would never become a marquis anyway.

When she was young, she saw Nadia receiving various successor education from the previous marquis, and thought that it was pointless since she would never that title anyway.

However, she felt a little regretful when the situation turned out this way.

When the servants asked her anxiously about what they should do, Melissa could not answer.

She asked for help from people she had been close to, but no one answered.

Even the gentlemen who praised Melissa’s beauty and the ladies who idolised her, none of them.

They consistently remained unresponsive as if they had made an agreement together to do so.

“Just a few days ago, you still stuck to my side laughing and fooling!”

She was being driven mad by the sudden change in attitudes of those people.

“Just wait and see. If only my father would come back…!”

No. Could her father even come back?

Melissa’s legs stiffened as she paced around the room anxiously.

Melissa wasn’t very smart, but she had enough intelligence to perceive how dire the situation was.

Her father had been dragged out for a trial presided over by the Emperor, imperial investigators were rummaging through the house, and everyone around her was ignoring her.

Her father didn’t tell her much about important things. But she knew that her father was a man who would do anything for wealth and power.

Thanks to that, she was able to go from being a ‘noble in name only’ without a title to a ‘real noble’ with a title.

What would happen if all the charges against her father were actually confirmed guilty and the situation didn’t improve?

Melissa swept her arms with both hands in horror.

Just imagining going back to the days when she was a ‘noble in name only’ without a title made her feel like the ground beneath her feet was crumbling.

Melissa tightly closed her eyes and desperately recalled the conversation she had with her father.

Her father had clearly given her other advice besides telling her to rely on the First Prince.

At the time, Melissa didn’t know a situation like this would happen, so she just let it slide and didn’t take too much notice of the details…

‘If the First Prince side turns their back on us, we’ll have to cling onto the other side.’

‘The other side?’

‘Yes. Do you know who is the ‘other side’? It’s Baron Aylesford. If that reckless girl Nadia tricks us, we have to make sure to get the Baron on our side.’

‘Yes…That would be good.’

‘You little brat! Are you listening to me? What are you going to do if the trial goes wrong? Why are you acting so foolishly?’

‘Why would the trial go wrong? Father, you have connections to the First Prince side. Nadia is just a fool with nothing.’

‘If she was really stupid, things wouldn’t have gotten this bad! She’s a more wicked girl than you think. So come to your senses!’

‘Geez. Fine, so stop nagging me!’

‘Nagging?! If something happens, go to the Marchioness’s room and find the painting of that woman. If you open it, a safe will appear behind it. If you open the safe with the key I gave you, inside is that girl Nadia’s…’

The safe! She had to open the safe with the seal!

Melissa’s eyes widened as she found a clue in her recalled memories, and she immediately ran towards the Marchioness’s room.

The royal investigators had already turned things upside down and left, but the originally empty Marchioness’s room was clean.

Melissa immediately recognised the painting her father had mentioned.

There were many paintings on the wall, but there was only one portrait.

She carefully flipped the painting and the safe appeared just as her father had said.

When she opened the safe door with the key around her neck, the inside felt somewhat empty.

Only the Marquis’ seal and documents were left alone.

Considering her father’s personality, he would have filled the safe with important things, so it was quite unexpected.

However, she didn’t have time to dwell on such thoughts.

Melissa ignored the Marquis’s seal and reached straight for the documents.

This was probably the document about that girl her father had mentioned.

Melissa calmly took in the contents of the documents.

It’s a diagnosis?

The patient’s name was Nadia Vine.

And the contents are…

Melissa’s eyes widened as she checked the contents written under Nadia’s name.

This would definitely save her father and herself.

A smile appeared on Melissa’s anxious face.

❈❈❈

Melissa ran straight to the Duke Viosques’ residence.

Of course, she was blocked from the entrance, but she gave a large sum of money to the servant who had come out to greet the guest and asked, ‘Please just relay the words to Baron Aylesford.’ The servant took the money bag and coughed as if he had no other choice.

“I will really just let him know.”

“Yes. That will be enough. You just have to tell him that if he doesn’t meet me,  that girl’s weakness will be spread throughout the capital.”

“Par-pardon? How could I tell the Baron that…”

“Just tell him that Melissa Vine says that! Do you want to return that pouch?”

The servant looked at the pouch for a moment and nodded, seemingly having made up his mind.

“Alright, I’ll tell him.”

“If you bring the Baron, I’ll pay you more.”

She didn’t forget to get a guarantee in case the servant would just take the money and ran away.

Judging from the greedy sparkle in the servant’s eyes, it seemed that Melissa wasn’t completely wrong.

How much time had passed?

Just before Melissa’s impatience reached its peak and she was about to explode, the tightly closed door carefully opened.

The servant who she had given the money opened the door with a big smile, and behind him, Baron Altair of Aylesford appeared with an expressionless face.

Melissa smiled brightly and ran towards Altair, quickly handing another pouch to the servant.

When the servant was satisfied and withdrew, Altair closed the gate completely and walked out of the mansion, out of sight of the soldiers guarding the entrance.

Melissa followed him.

“So, what the heck do you have to say? It’s probably nonsense, but I won’t tolerate any nonsense that will tarnish my wife’s reputation.”

Altair coldly questioned Melissa, but she didn’t flinch at all.

Melissa was sure that Altair’s reaction would be completely different if he knew what ‘nonsense’ she was going to tell.

“This isn’t nonsense. Look at this!”

Melissa handed Altair the documents she had obtained from the safe.

“This is Nadia’s medical certificate. It details her health. I think she was diagnosed by a doctor before getting married, since the bride usually gets tested for any illnesses.”

Since nobles usually got married for political reasons, they often exchanged health certificates from doctors to prove that both the groom and bride were fine before the official wedding.

Since the most important part of a noble marriage was giving birth to a successor, it was essential to prove that there were no problems in that area.

However, Altair did not receive such a certificate from his bride.

At a time when he was having a hard time finding a bride, someone who wanted to marry him appeared, so he was not in a position to check other areas.

The Marquis of Vine was a powerful noble in the capital, and he had emphasised that she was his beloved niece, so Altair thought he wouldn’t send someone strange.

For some reason, the Marquis of Vine, who seemed to be in a hurry to marry her off, didn’t ask for any documents, so the marriage was completed with the diagnosis from both sides being boldly omitted, which was very rare in noble society.

But now, he was finally getting to see Nadia’s diagnosis.

Altair frowned slightly and accepted the diagnosis that Melissa had handed him.

Altair’s gaze, which had been reading the contents absentmindedly, stopped at a certain point as if it was nailed down.

Melissa snorted as if she had guessed what that part was and came close to Altair.

“Nadia is infertile, Baron!”

Infertile.

The diagnosis was clearly written that way.

“Why would my father have kept this in the safe? Nadia, that girl, must have cried and clung to him, saying that if this was known, she would never be able to get married. My father must have hidden it for his niece.”

Melissa continued speaking, watching Altair’s expression.

The Marquis must have hoped that Melissa would somehow use this weapon to save him.

However, Melissa instinctively realised that this ship was too flimsy for both the Marquis and herself to board.

Only one person could board the ship made with this weapon.

Then that one person… should be herself, not her father!

Melissa forced herself to hold back tears, pretending to be a pitiful woman, and staggered over to grab Altair’s arm.

“Truly…I wonder how both Nadia and my father could do that. How could they fool the Baron, who desperately wanted a successor. I was so shocked…and I felt bad for the Baron… That’s why I came running here right away.”

Could there be a man who could be blunt to a woman who trembled and pressed her body close to them?

Melissa looked up at Altair with that mind. But she immediately realised that her thoughts were wrong.

Altair’s gaze looking at her was very cold.

“For someone who was shocked, you’re really good at threatening.”

“I-, I thought that was the only way I could meet the Baron…!”

“You said you there was no other way, but I see that you are very cunning yourself.”

Melissa took a step back at the cold sarcasm. She instinctively felt threatened.

“If you were planning to spread this to the capital, then you would no longer be a lady who cares for your cousin.”

Altair grabbed Melissa’s wrist tightly to prevent her from running away and gave her a warning with menace.

“I have no intention of sending such a dangerous person away so easily.”