Chapter 53 Marshall Speaks, Cane Rose to Death!
Marshall's gentle face turned toward Cressida.
"Ms. Hamilton has a point. A doctor who dares to deceive a noble family while treating illness truly deserves death."
His light words made Doctor Brian, kneeling on the velvet carpet, shake like a leaf, nearly collapsing to the ground.
He desperately knocked his forehead against the floor, the wooden boards making dull thuds: "Your Highness Marshall! I'm innocent! I was completely manipulated by someone!"
When his life hung by a thread, no amount of gold coins mattered anymore. Brian knew clearly that if he didn't confess now, only the gallows awaited him.
Marshall's gaze appeared gentle but concealed glacier-like coldness as it slowly swept over the members of the Hamilton family.
The Hamilton family members showed various expressions, all forcing themselves to stay calm. Only Cressida, with her delicate yet spirited features and ramrod-straight back, stood like a silver sword that would break rather than bend.
It seemed she had a clear conscience—quite an interesting girl.
Just as Marshall was about to speak, Cressida beat him to it: "Since someone gave orders, why not identify them face to face? If you just speak in vague terms, that's slandering nobility personally granted titles by His Majesty the King, and your crime will only increase."
Clio nearly blacked out and collapsed.
Crazy! Cressida had absolutely lost her mind! Cressida was throwing away her own life and dragging the entire family down with her!
Clio's legs went weak, and Rose behind her quickly reached out to support her waist.
Clio absolutely couldn't lose her composure at this moment, or Marshall would surely notice something wrong.
Patrick took a deep breath and deliberately lowered his voice to scold: "Cressida! Don't be rude in front of His Highness Marshall!"
But Marshall waved his hand, his tone calm: "You needn't be harsh with Ms. Hamilton. In my view, her approach is perfectly proper. If this Brian was truly bought off by someone in your household, it should indeed be investigated quickly, otherwise keeping him around would be a serious threat."
His cold eyes turned to the trembling Brian, and he uttered just one word: "Speak."
Though his words were brief, they carried enormous weight. Brian's face instantly turned extremely ugly.
He raised his trembling hand and slowly pointed in Clio's direction.
Michael was scared out of his wits and fell backward onto the floor, his back hitting the silk curtain behind him.
No one expected that the "mountain of knives" set up behind the curtain would come crashing down—it was the torture device they'd prepared to punish Cressida with family sentiment. The sharp curved blades fell straight down, catching Brian off guard, and blood instantly splattered across the luxurious carpet.
Rose's scream pierced through the hall's silence.
Clio covered her mouth, eyes wide open, her face full of terror and disbelief.
Brian clutched his bleeding neck, eyes bulging, and fell heavily. His body twitched a few times before going still.
Marshall's guards immediately rushed in, forming a fan shape to protect him, their hands on their sword hilts.
For the first time since entering this manor, Marshall's face showed a frown.
"Why would your household have such a dangerous blade formation?"
Cressida calmly stepped forward, bowing slightly: "In response to Your Highness Marshall, my brother Michael obtained this method from a monk at Saint Elias Monastery, saying that if I carried my father's birth date on my back and walked through this blade formation to ward off disaster for father, it would cure father's leg ailment."
She lifted her skirt and knelt, her tone carrying just the right amount of apology: "Your Highness Marshall's visit was sudden, and we didn't have time to remove these props. We've disturbed you, and we ask for your forgiveness."
Marshall gazed at her. With such a death occurring, even Patrick was frozen in shock, yet Cressida hadn't even frowned.
Was a human life so insignificant in her eyes?
"Ms. Hamilton need not blame yourself, I won't hold it against you. It's just that this blessing ritual sounds rather peculiar. Though ancient texts do record that children offering sincere sacrifice might dispel disaster for their parents." His tone shifted, growing colder, "But the ritual must conform to doctrine. This doctor claimed to be a healer but faked things for gold coins—his death is no loss."
Marshall raised his hand, signaling Cressida to rise.
Before Cressida could move, Marshall's voice rang out again, carrying undeniable authority: "Who was this doctor about to identify just now?"
His cold eyes slowly settled on Clio.
Clio's legs gave way and she fell to her knees, her voice tearful: "Your Highness Marshall, please see clearly! How could I bribe a doctor to harm my own husband!"
Patrick quickly chimed in, his voice weak with nervousness: "Yes, yes! This doctor must have deliberately exaggerated the illness to make a profit, and when you exposed him, Your Highness, he wanted to drag others down with him. Truly despicable!"
Marshall didn't respond, but his gaze remained on Cressida as he clearly stated: "I want to hear Ms. Hamilton's opinion."
"In my view, mother would never trust a strange doctor for no reason, and invite him to the manor twice in a row to treat father's leg ailment." Cressida's words were measured but like a sharp knife, stabbing straight at Clio.
These words nearly made Clio faint on the spot.
This ungrateful daughter Cressida! Was she determined to destroy her?
Clio stared hard at Cressida, using all her strength to steady her voice: "Cressida, I'm your mother!"
A cold smile flashed quickly through Cressida's eyes.
Only now did Clio remember she was Cressida's mother?
"Mother, I know that naturally. You've always loved me, just as you love Michael. Having me walk through the blade formation this time was only because you were too worried about father's illness and momentarily lost your judgment, which is why you were deceived by that cunning doctor, right?" Cressida's voice was soft and clear, sounding full of understanding care.
At this point, Clio could only nod repeatedly, following along with Cressida's words.
Unexpectedly, Cressida suddenly changed direction and sternly rebuked Rose: "Rose! You lowly woman, you dared to conspire with the doctor to deceive the master's family for personal gain!"
Cressida's expression was cold, radiating righteous anger, catching Rose completely off guard.
Rose's mouth fell open in shock, her face instantly losing all color as she waved her hands frantically: "I, I didn't! It really wasn't me..."
She looked frantically at Clio, clutching her sleeve tightly, her voice tearful: "Mother, you know best, I didn't bribe the doctor!"
Cressida then turned to Marshall, bowing slightly: "Your Highness Marshall, just before the doctor fell, he was clearly pointing in her direction."
"Consider that mother, as the lady of this manor, how could she do such a thing to deceive her husband? Someone must have influenced her first. Rose has always claimed she could 'cure father's leg,' enjoying the best treatment in this household, and has long forgotten her place."
"Father, wouldn't you say I'm right?" Cressida suddenly threw the question to Patrick.
Clio looked at Patrick with an ugly expression, her eyes full of pleading.
But Patrick's mind was entirely focused on dispelling Marshall's suspicions and preserving the family's title and honor. He immediately spoke: "Exactly! Cressida is right! It's this ungrateful adopted daughter Rose who conspired with that doctor, trying to use the 'leg treatment' achievement to threaten me, acting tyrannically in the household and enjoying luxuries that don't belong to her!"
"Father! How can you say such things..." Michael's eyes were bloodshot with urgency as he tried to object.
"Your Highness!" Patrick quickly interrupted Michael, prostrating himself by the bed and kowtowing heavily, "I beg you to give me justice and execute this evil-hearted Rose to right this wrong!"
Marshall slowly turned his head, his gaze sweeping over Clio and Rose.
Rose's eyes filled with tears as she clutched Clio's skirt, her helpless gaze turning to Patrick, full of disbelieving despair.
Marshall's voice remained calm but carried undeniable authority: "If this woman truly committed such a vile act of conspiring with outsiders to mock nobility, I absolutely cannot tolerate it. She should be severely punished."
Rose's knees completely lost their strength and she fell heavily to the ground. She looked up at Clio through tear-filled eyes, her voice weak as she cried: "Mother, mother."
"I really didn't do it, you know that."
"This has nothing to do with Rose, it was me..." Michael was anxious and about to confess when Clio cut him off with a hard slap.
"You bastard!" Clio pointed at Michael's nose and cursed, "Even now, you still want to protect this troublemaker?"
She whipped around to glare at Rose, her eyes carrying deliberately squeezed-out tears: "We kindly took you in and raised you like our own daughter, thinking you could really cure Mr. Hamilton's leg, but you conspired with the doctor to deceive me! Where is your conscience?"
Rose lay on the cold floor, tear tracks still on her face, but her expression was completely stunned.
She had ultimately become the sacrificial pawn.
Cressida took it all in, a flash of undisguised contempt and mockery in her eyes.
It seemed her mother Clio had weighed the pros and cons in the shortest time and chosen to sacrifice the person with the smallest cost to protect herself.
Marshall sighed lightly, his tone calm but carrying an order that could not be disobeyed: "Someone so vicious-hearted truly deserves death. Guards, drag this woman out and beat her to death in the courtyard as a warning to others."