Chapter 268. Punishment, Part VIII

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

Julietta shook her head. It should be more extreme. Looking around for a moment, she picked up the whip that had fallen near Francis. Then she put the whip in the hand she had removed the hairpin dagger from earlier.

'Is this enough? Does it look like she killed him, fearing Francis's assault?'

Phoebe came out of the bathroom by the time she finished the job. After seeing her dressed, Julietta began to think about getting out of this place.

"Phoebe, did you run into anyone when you walked in here?"

"No, I came in the carriage of Lady Christine, and I didn't bump into anyone until I was taken to this bedroom."

"That's a relief." With a grateful sigh, Julietta quickly began to check for Phoebe's traces in the room. On the bed and the floor were a few strands of Phoebe's white hair. She picked them up and ordered Phoebe to go to the bathroom and get rid of her traces.

She was anxious, not knowing when Christine would wake up, but it was a must. After cleaning up the traces, Julietta opened the garden window. "Come on, we have to get out of here. Hurry up."

Looking back and forth anxiously, Julietta climbed over the window and did not head to the main gate, but went to the side of the mansion.

"How do we get out?" Although Julietta had not said a kind word as yet, Phoebe followed her silently, seeing that Julietta was doing her best to save her. But she couldn't resist her curiosity as Julietta pushed herself into the shade of the garden near the main gate without running away right away.

"This is a residence where the Prince stays, and it is tightly guarded by the gatekeeper."

The gatekeeper wasn't interested in the inside because he was wary of enemies coming from outside. Julietta told Phoebe to hide there for a while and then headed back to the bedroom. Originally, she wanted to find a way out, but she suddenly felt that she should not go out like this.

Christine could wake up and dispose of the weapon. Therefore, she had to be found holding the weapon in her hand.

Coming back into the bedroom, Julietta looked down at Christine. Fortunately, she was not awake yet. She went out into the hallway, closed the door tightly, and ran frantically toward the front door. She decided to bring in the gatekeeper, because she might wake up Christine while she was screaming to wake up the knights inside.

"A big incident happened! His Highness Francis, His Highness…!"

The doorkeeper's face turned pale when the maid who had just entered the mansion came running, her mouth wide open and eyes huge. "What's the matter with His Highness?"

"Come quickly! I was scared that I was going to die, so I ran away in fear!" Julietta took the doorkeeper and went to Prince Francis's bedroom to open the door.

"Huck, Your Highness!" the gatekeeper screamed in surprise upon seeing Francis lying on the floor. Two knights jumped out of a room a discreet distance away at the sound.

Watching the knights rush into the bedroom, Julietta slowly stepped back, pretending to be surprised at the body and ready to vomit.

While they were devastated at the death of the Prince and the fallen Lady Anais with the weapon beside him, Julietta went straight into the next room. As soon as she closed the door, there was a sound from the attendants coming out to the hall, startled by the noise.

She hurried out the window into the garden, and to where Phoebe was hiding. Holding Phoebe's hand, she rushed through the opened front gate. As soon as they crossed the street and climbed into the carriage, Valerian ordered the driver to start the carriage.

Without knowing what had happened inside, Valerian complimented Julietta, who escaped safely with Phoebe. "As expected, the princess, you did a great job! How the hell did you get out of there?"

"Well, the explanation is later. The Count, we have to hurry to the dress shop and then go to the Imperial Castle. We'll have to stay inside the Imperial Castle while there's a disturbance for a while."

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As she quickly changed her clothes and removed her make-up in the dress shop, Julietta told Amelie to pack some of the dresses she had asked them to prepare for Phoebe and herself.

Unlike when she left the Asta Palace, she changed and dressed herself up in a flamboyant manner. Afterwards, she ordered the attendants of the dress shop to carry the boxes of dresses and hats, and so entered the Asta Palace.

Maribel, who had just returned from meeting Dian, came across this noisy party in the hallway. "The princess, I heard that you went out looking for Lady Pauran. You two enjoyed shopping without me." Maribel found Julietta's loud words and laughter suspicious.

"Now that Lady Pauran has to make a formal debut in the social world, she's been very busy preparing. I'm sure Mrs. Grayson will take care of her and prepare everything for her from now on."

Laughing delightedly, they entered Julietta's lounge. There they encountered Killian, returned from the main castle and furious when he found out about Julietta's absence. "I was just about to go find you!"

When he returned to the Asta Palace after the private meeting with the Emperor, Valerian's subordinate had been waiting for him.

Killian could not contain his anger when he was told that Julietta had headed to Marquis Marius's mansion in search of Phoebe. He was about to go find her, thinking to remove Phoebe from Julietta as of today.

"Your Highness, anger is later. There's something you need to do right now."

Julietta's urgent voice turned Killian's anger into worry. "What the hell is going on? If Miss Pauran has put you in any danger, I will never let her go."

Phoebe lowered her head to avoid his gaze. She had done the work, but Lady Julietta had done all the remaining work behind her, so she had nothing to say.

"You have to find Christine's maid and hide her."

"The maid?" He didn't know why he should hide the maid suddenly, but he thought there might be a reason. "Wasn't she at Harrods' mansion?"

"No. Judging from the doorkeeper's reaction, it didn't seem like she followed Christine."

"The maid will probably come to the Asta Palace," Phoebe said cautiously,her voice subdued.

"Here? Why?"

"She's trying to get Miss Julietta to come out. When I entered the mansion, if the maid didn't hear from Christine within two hours, she ordered Penny to deliver a letter to Miss Julietta."

Two hours? It was coming soon...

"At last, it was a trap to bait me out." Julietta laughed in contempt at Christine.

This bad relationship would end if either of them died. Even in this situation, their father was asking for Christine's life, so it seemed like he wanted her to die. She thought of the two with a grimace and shook her head. Anyway, today she ended the Anais family with her own hands.

"What happened?"

At Killian's question, Julietta spoke of what had happened today.

After the explanation was finished, there was only silence in the lounge between the Marquis of Oswald, Maribel, Count Valerian, Killian, and Phoebe, the person directly involved in this matter.

After a long time, Oswald stepped in as Killian's angry gaze headed for Phoebe. "Your, Your Highness, did Prince Francis die anyway? Miss Phoebe could have imagined that the princess would come there. Right?"

At Oswald's question, Phoebe nodded.

"Really? You were aware that the maid of Lady Anais would deliver a letter to Julietta in two hours, right?"

At Killian's sharp words, Phoebe desperately answered, "I couldn't even think of it then. I just wanted to get out of there…"

"Your Highness, she is a meritorious contributor for eliminating the greatest enemy regardless. However, I think it's better to postpone Lady Pauran's debut without promise. I think it would be better for her to take care of herself in airy Tilia because she has been sickened by the many events."

Maribel was right. Phoebe wiped out the most troublesome enemy with a single sword. But they didn't want her around Julietta anymore.

But a promise was a promise. Killian asked of Phoebe in a cold voice. "If you want a debut, I'll let you do it."

"No, Your Highness. I'm afraid to be in front of people. I just want to live a quiet and peaceful life."

Phoebe was not a fool. Although she had a great desire to live with Julietta, Prince Killian would never forgive her for what had happened today.