The Search for the Duchess’s Husband Chapter 99

“Workers?”

 

“Yes. Don’t the maids and servants who work in the mansion know about Count Elysium’s assaults?”

 

“He used to beat me in my room, and I never showed anyone that I was being beaten, but I think the workers in the manor noticed, though not all of them kept it to themselves.”

 

Artia’s pink eyes lit up.

 

“Then let’s see if we can find someone among the workers to testify.”

 

Despite Artia’s clear words, Freesia looked troubled.

 

She didn’t have the courage to go back to the mansion. Artia told her not to worry.

 

“You don’t have to go, there’s someone better suited for the job.”

 

Artia called her maid, Susan.

 

She had been a maid in the capital for over twenty years and knew many of the maids, some of whom worked for Count Elysium.

 

When she heard Artia’s story, Susan said, “I’ll see what I can do.”

 

“Please.” Freesia said, blushing slightly.

 

Marigold interrupted. She removed the rings, bracelets and other jewelry from her fingers and handed them to Susan.

 

“No one will come forward to testify if there’s nothing in it for them, so give them enough jewelry that they can’t resist. If you don’t have enough, you can always go to Count Golgus for more, and if there’s anything left over, you can keep it.”

 

Next to her, Dahlia held out a silk bag she carried for emergencies, containing a sizable emergency fund.

 

“You can have this, too.”

 

Susan looked at the two ladies in surprise, then nodded calmly.

 

“I will.”

 

Artia said after Susan left the room.

 

“Now that I’ve left it to Susan to find the witnesses, let’s talk about what we need to do.”

 

Turning to Marigold, whose eyes blazed as if she were ready to wring Count Elysium’s neck at any moment, and Dahlia, who was already composing a long, cursing letter to Count Elysium in her head, Artia continued.

 

“There are three things that can affect a trial: evidence, witnesses, and public opinion.”

 

Unfortunately, public opinion was not currently in Freesia’s favor.

 

Even if it was true that she had been assaulted, many people thought it was reprehensible that she had taken her husband to court. She had brought what should have been a domestic matter out into the open.

 

Just as Freesia was about to hang her head in shame, Marigold shouted.

 

“Who the hell talks such nonsense, I’ll have her mouth sewn shut.”

 

Dahlia spoke up as well, her voice cold.

 

“The perpetrator is clearly Count Elysium, and it’s not fair to blame the victim, Freesia.”

 

Artia nodded.

 

“I think so too, so let’s try to sway public opinion in our favor.”

 

As Artia continued, the three women looked increasingly alarmed.

 

Marigold, who had thought the rabbit was just a gentle bunny, was actually a master of the back kick, said with a look of disbelief.

 

“You didn’t just get lucky and get a divorce, you made it happen.”

 

Artia smiled shyly.

 

“Because I knew that playing nice wouldn’t get me where I wanted to be.”

 

Artia looked at the three women, her pink eyes twinkling.

 

“If you want something, you have to work for it.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Every woman who entered Count Golgus’s ballroom was stunned, their jaw dropped.

 

Diamond-encrusted chandeliers, spring flowers of a color rarely seen this time of year, desserts dusted with gold, and hundreds of maids and servants dressed in the finest suits and gowns.

 

Marigold appeared in a place that was beyond extravagant, a place where the power of money was palpable.

 

Marigold smiled, her entire body covered in diamonds so large she feared they would weigh her down.

 

“Welcome, everyone.”

 

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you for a long time,” Marigold said to the women, who were all dazzled by her appearance, which was ten times more glamorous than usual.

 

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a banquet, and I’m eager to talk to you. You’ve all heard the news about Freesia, haven’t you?”

 

Marigold wiped her eyes with a gold-embroidered handkerchief.

 

“I was so heartbroken when I heard the news, I cried for days. How terrible it must have been for her to have such a terrible, terrible thing done to her by her husband and no one else. Poor Freesia…”

 

The ladies were stunned.

 

So all the rumors about the Flower Ladies not speaking to each other lately had been false.

 

Marigold still seemed to be a strong ally of Freesia’s.

 

Wiping away her tears with a tragic, theatrical expression, Marigold remembered Artia’s words.

 

“Flower ladies, if the ladies knew that the relationship between the three of you was still strong, they wouldn’t be so quick to criticize Freesia. In fact, they might even sympathize with her. There aren’t many ladies in this society who don’t look down on the Flower Ladies.”

 

Artia was right.

 

The women around Marigold nodded in agreement.

 

“I can’t tell you how worried I was when I heard the news, to think that someone who seemed so happy was in such pain…”

 

Some of the women were more outspoken in their defense of Freesia.

 

“I am so disappointed that Count Elysium, who seemed to love and cherish his wife so much, would do such a thing.”

 

Artia chimed in.

 

“Of course, not all women are like that.”

 

One of the women spoke up with a scowl on her face.

 

“Don’t talk about things you don’t know. Count Elysium has completely denied the assault, saying that his wife made up and exaggerated a report of a little drunkenness, and he is frustrated and sad because he doesn’t know why she would do such a thing.”

 

Countess Axina.

 

One of the oldest opponents of the Flower Ladies. She glared at Marigold.

 

“And even if it is true that Count Elysium committed the assault, she was clearly wrong to report her husband to the court. What wife in the world would try to turn her husband into a criminal?”

 

There she goes. Let’s try it.

 

Marigold opened her mouth to speak, breathing harshly like an angry boar, but Dahlia spoke up beside her.

 

“Countess Axina, I think it’s best not to speak of things you’re not sure are true or false, as you say, but…”

 

Dahlia looked at the women, including Countess Axina.

 

“It makes no sense to me to condemn the act of reporting the assault. The assault on one’s spouse and the act of exposing it. Isn’t it obvious enough for a child to know which is the greater offense?”

 

Countess Axina could not argue with the righteous, straightforward words of an impartial judge.

 

“But no matter how hard you and Dahlia try, Marigold, there’s only so much you can do. You’ll only be able to sway the balance of power. We need to turn it upside down, and to do that, we need to get people to stop being outwardly sympathetic and start siding with the real Freesia.”

 

‘How?’

 

Artia gives the three women a bitter look.

 

“How many wives do you think there are in this capital who are being beaten by their husbands?”

 

On the surface, none. Women desperately hide what happens to them from their husbands.

 

But when the truth is told, the numbers are unimaginably high.

 

“I’m going to get them to come forward.”

 

The role fell to Artia.

 

The women sat before her.

 

They were all women she had counseled in secret and had become friends with whom she often met for tea and conversation.

One of the women, Clara, spoke up cautiously.

 

“Is it true that the Countess of Elysium is staying at your mansion, Artia?”

 

“Yes, it is.”

 

The women all looked surprised at that. Artia and Freesia were not known to be close, much less friendly.

 

“How did it happen that you two ended up together?

 

Artia said to the women, who didn’t dare ask, but whose eyes screamed their curiosity.

 

“Actually, the same thing happened to me and Freesia.”

 

“If it’s the same thing…”

 

“I was assaulted by my ex-husband, Lloyd.”