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Lily scoffed when she heard the change in Leandro’s voice. She then remembered a quote that she read before. To judge a man’s character, give him power. She found it funny, how the usually calm Leandro immediately got blinded with the power that he got not even ten minutes ago.
“Are you trying to tell the Duke that you have more authority than him?” Pierre chimed in. How could he miss the opportunity to add fuel to the fire? When Pierre saw that Leandro’s face changed, he immediately pointed at Lily. “Why are you even there? You are not a doctor! Don’t touch the Duke! Are you there to make sure he is dead?”
Leandro immediately widened his eyes. The Duke’s death could mean that his position as the new Grand Duke is already sealed. However, this might not be good news for Lily and Qin Yuanfeng. He gulped as an idea slowly sprouted in his mind. Was it possible that Lily was waiting for the Duke to name her brother as the new Grand Duke? Was that the reason they were here?
After all, his father is pretty young. How could he just leave his seat after two decades of being the Grand Duke? Was it possible that instead of naming Qin Yuanfeng, his father, named him instead? However, because of his pent up sadness and anger towards Lily, he had a heart attack the moment he started moving.
Leandro’s mind started swirling with ideas. As the Grand Duke, he has the right to think about things that could possibly affect their kingdom! “Are you… Did you do this?” He directly asked Lily. “Did you try and kill him?
Another thing that he thought of was the fact that his father fell right after he announced him as the next Grand Duke. Was it possible that Lily had already poisoned him before? “The Glass!” He looked at the wine glass that his father used. “The poison must have been there!”
However, his words were interrupted when the Knight commander arrived with two doctors. Everyone immediately gave way and allowed the doctor to examine the Duke.
“This… we need to get him out of here.” The tall doctor said. A few other medical personnel arrived with a stretcher and immediately put the Duke on it. They immediately carried the Duke out of the hall. However, when Lily and the others were about to follow them, Leandro’s voice echoed.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Lily and everyone else looked at him before Lily spoke, “I want to— “
“You and your people will stay here. You are the prime suspect of poisoning the Duke as you have the motive and the means to do so! You!” He pointed at the guards. “Stay here with everyone else.”
“What a dumb ass,” Lily said.
“What did you say to my husband?” Leandro’s wife stood next to her husband. “As the new Duchess… I could have you detained and prosecuted for calling the new Grand Duke dumb!”
Lily ignored their words and she continued walking towards the exit. However, this time, it was the knight commander who stood in front of them. “No one is allowed to leave this place until we make sure that the one who poisoned the previous Grand Duke was not here.”
“You only said… he was poisoned because my wife said so.” Zhou Jingren said. “She is not an expert in medicine nor went through medical training. Why would you say that the Duke was poisoned without confirmation?”
As expected, his words rendered everyone speechless. “But… But the signs.”
“Were showing a heart attack,” Lily smirked at Leandro, she lifted her chin as she gave him a challenging gaze. “Instead of worrying for your father… you are here… talking about respecting you. What an eye-opener.”
“You— “
“What? Are you going to have me executed?” Lily interrupted Leandro. She looked at the Duchess who was standing in a daze, trembling. “Look at your mother. She is trembling and you are so concerned about respect? Are you really his son? Do you think a man like you is fit to rule a country?” Her sharp gaze then turned towards Pierre. “Funny how you immediately pointed out my words that were meant to help the king when you can see that he was dying. Are you trying to buy time so we won’t have the time to help him survive?”
Pierre gritted his teeth. However, the thought that he could use this opportunity to turn things around immediately made him calm. “I am only telling the truth! You have been disrespecting people since you arrived in this country. You also disrespected me and my wife as well as the previous Duke and Duchess! Is it because you are related to the Prince of this country because he fell in love with a merchant?” His words surprised a lot of people in the room who were not aware of the real situation. Seeing this, Pierre smiled. “That’s right… this woman and her brother should be the one enjoying the royal treatment right now. However, since her grandfather renounced the throne, these two are here now, trying to take it back from the Duke.”
Lily only smirked in response. She watched as everyone stared at them with disgust. As expected, it is always right to stir the water to catch the fish.
“I suggest we detain them!” Pierre added.
“We should!” the new Duchess proclaimed. However, Lily just stood there watching everyone’s reaction. Seeing her calm expression, Leandro frowned. How could Lily be so calm in a situation like this? She was in a foreign soil disrespecting the royalty. This is a sin that is punishable by death!
Something is wrong!
Leandro stared at Zhou Jingren, Qin Yuanfeng, and Secretary Go who were surrounding Lily, keeping her safe. Since they arrived, the trio had been in this formation. It might not be too obvious earlier when they were panicking, but now… he could clearly see that they were trying to protect Lily.
“Arrest her!” Leandro suddenly said. He is going to test the suspicion that he had. However…. How could the Grand Duke’s loyal guards that were personally trained by him, follow something so absurd? Grand Duke Phil already told them not to do anything tonight. No matter what happens, they were supposed to watch and listen. No movement, unless the Duke himself will say so.
