Chapter 176.

Chapter 176: Cloud of Suspicion 2
Inside the embassy of the Duchy of Eton, an attendant walked down the corridor with apprehension.

He came to the room where the Grand Duke and his wife were staying and reached out his hand to knock on the door.

But just as he reached out his hand, he hesitated, the Grand Duchess was resting inside, if it was in the past, she would never mind being disturbed while she was resting.

But now it is hard to say, after waking up in the morning, a maid was reprimanded for using a little bit of force when combing her hair.

This was simply unimaginable before. One must know that Her Highness, the Grand Duchess, was known to be good-tempered, and had always been generous to the servants around her.

However, the servants understood that the reason for Her Highness’s drastic change in personality was because her sister, Duchess Fanny, had disappeared, or more precisely, had been kidnapped.

After all, Duchess Fanny was the only person close to Her Highness besides her husband.

Worse still, no clues were found for several days in a row.

After hesitating for a while, the attendant still knocked on the door of the room.

A voice containing exhaustion and worry came from inside: “What is it?”

The attendant’s heart ached for a moment, Father in heaven, please stop tormenting this poor highness.

He answered carefully, “Your Highness, a lady who calls herself Laddie Sertia Gerard has come to see you, she says she has an old acquaintance with you and it is not easy for us to excuse her.”

“Has she brought news of Fanny?”

The Grand Duchess’s voice took on a hint of anxiety.

“Unfortunately, Your Highness.”

“Not to be seen!”

“Yes.”

The attendant turned around and was just about to leave when the Grand Duchess’s voice suddenly came from inside again:

“Lardy, I can’t believe it’s Lardy! Bring her in, quickly bring her in?”

The attendant was a bit confused, but it was obvious that the Grand Duchess had changed her mind, and the lady who had come to visit did indeed know His Highness, and it looked like the relationship was not ordinary.

He immediately sprinted outside.

The Grand Duchess’s voice continued from the room, “Laddie! Laddie Sertia. Gerard, I knew you would be there for me in the most helpless of times.”

……

Lardy was guided by the attendants through the corridor to the door of the Grand Duchess’s and Mrs. Gerard’s room, where two attendants guarding the doorway opened the door to the room.

She looked inside and saw a beautiful noblewoman sitting on a couch, who immediately stood up and looked this way when the door to the room opened.

This was Her Highness Helen, the Grand Duchess of the Duchy of Eaton, this Highness had chestnut colored hair and a pair of charming brown eyes, and used to be a famous beauty of Horned Bay, and back then, after her engagement with the Grand Duke of Eaton was made public, she didn’t know how many noble youths’ hearts had been broken.

But at this time Her Highness Helen, although the appearance of the beauty of the same year, the temperament has lost the former appearance of glowing, in the view of the people beside her, but just a few days, Her Highness the whole person has lost a circle, really let a person’s heartache.

Lardy sighed and walked into the room, the Grand Duchess waved her hand slightly, the attendant who brought Lardy here bowed and retired, the two maids outside closed the door of the room.

Now only Lardy and the Grand Duchess were left in the room.

Without anyone else, the Grand Duchess instantly lost control of her emotions, and she walked quickly to Lardy’s eyes and hugged her, sobbing uncontrollably:

“Laadi! You know all about my sister, don’t you? What am I …… going to do now? If anything happens to Fanny, how can I explain to my parents in heaven?” “Sister Helen ……”

Lardy caressed the other woman’s back and whispered comfortingly.

“There’s always a way, and I’m here to help you.”

“Well~ thank you, thank you.”

Grand Duchess Helen thanked as she sobbed, even though reason told her that Lardy was limited in her abilities alone and likely wouldn’t be able to make much of a difference, she had to try every straw she grasped now.

Lardy helped the Grand Duchess sit back down on the couch, held her hand and said, “Helen-senpai, calm down for a moment and explain to me in detail the clues you know about, those ‘special’ clues.”

Her Highness Helen calmed down a bit and recounted what happened in detail.

Lardy noticed the key point, “So, the biggest suspicion in the whole process is that the guards and shopkeepers collectively ‘forgot’ their memories for a few hours?”

Her Highness Helen nodded, “Yes, magic, this must be an effect caused by magic.”

Lardy asks, “Could this be caused by a drug? Like amnesia herb.”

The Grand Duchess shook her head in overwhelming confirmation, “No, as far as I know there is no drug yet that can precisely control a person to forget a few hours of memories. Although the Amnesia Grass can also cause people to lose their memories, it does so for a random period of time, and the odds are that it wipes out all memories from the time one remembers.”

“But whether it’s Fanny’s entourage and guards, or the owner and clerk of that store, they didn’t lose any of their previous memories, but they lost the memory of those most crucial hours on the day of the crime. It’s magic, only magic can achieve this effect.”

“Besides, this is the most direct evidence!”

She pulled out an object and placed it on the table, it was a stone, a slightly blackened stone.

Lardy recognized the stone immediately, “A magic detecting stone?”

“Yes, after suspecting that Fanny’s kidnapper was a mage, I went to the store to check it out myself and confirmed my suspicions with this stone.”

Helen Elvis, the Grand Duchess of the Duchy of Eton, hid another identity outside of her lofty noble status – a mage.

With the help of her honorable status, her mage identity was all well hidden, and despite the intensification of the witch hunt movement in the south, there was still no one who knew about it, even her husband, the Grand Duke of Eaton.

So far only two people know her secret, her mentor who guided her into the path of a mage, and her younger sister who studied magic with her – Laddie Sertia. Gerard.

The Grand Duchess cried, “What am I to do? I can’t tell my husband about this! He won’t be able to take it all in!”

Lardy was in deep puzzlement, “If it was one of our own kind, why would they kidnap a young noble girl of such high status? Isn’t it asking for trouble to act in such a high profile and dangerous manner, especially in these dire times when the witch hunt movement is growing?”

“Kindred?” The Grand Duchess raised her pitch all of a sudden, and a color of resentment appeared in her originally beautiful eyes.

“Lardy, how dare you even consider such a person a kindred spirit? In no way do I agree that someone who commits such an evil act is one of our kind. He, or they, mage or not, are nothing but scum, scum, and trash! I will definitely break them into pieces.”

Lardy was a little worried in her heart, she knew this schoolmate’s previous character very well, kind and gentle, but now she even had a hidden tendency to darken a little, it looked like her sister’s kidnapping had hit her too hard.

After waiting for the other party to calm down a little, La Di softly asked: “Sister, think carefully, what is special about Fanny? It can make the mage interested in her and willing to take such a big risk to kidnap her.”

“There is indeed something about Fanny that makes a mage interested in her.”

The Grand Duchess suddenly became calm and said slowly.

Thanks to “Zartoo” for the reward!

(End of chapter)