Chapter 83 Discovering Cressida's Secret
The massive tremor and explosion drew all the guests over.
The tremendous blast force caused the white wall that the bundle of fireworks had been leaning against to collapse.
Fortunately, Cressida had immediately grabbed Anthony and found shelter behind a tall pillar in the corridor, which blocked most of the shockwave.
Many maids and servants rushed over, crying and shouting as they tried to take Anthony from her arms.
Anthony was scared stiff, his hands clutching Cressida's clothes tightly, refusing to let go.
He wouldn't go with anyone until he saw Miguel return, and only then did he burst into loud tears.
"Father."
Someone beside Miguel took him.
When Miguel looked up at Cressida again, a barely noticeable concern flashed in his eyes.
In front of everyone, Miguel asked nothing. He simply arranged for someone to immediately take Cressida to a guest room and called for a doctor to examine her.
As Cressida left with the servant, she clearly noticed that both Marshall and Yosef gave her meaningful looks.
Her cooperative relationship with Miguel might have been inadvertently exposed.
But fortunately, there was still room to fix this.
Cressida sat quietly in the guest room, remaining silent the whole time, thinking carefully about her next move.
The doctor had come earlier, but seeing she was a woman, he didn't dare confirm whether she had any injuries.
So the doctor only asked questions verbally, and seeing that Cressida answered clearly and seemed unaffected, he left.
Thirty minutes later, Miguel came in with James.
James entered and immediately knelt on one knee, bowing to apologize to Cressida.
"Please forgive me, Ms. Hamilton. I heard a disturbance in the side courtyard earlier and went to investigate."
Miguel looked at him coldly: "How will you punish yourself?"
James didn't hesitate: "I'm willing to take fifty strikes of the military rod!"
It seemed Miguel had specifically brought James to explain things to her.
Cressida had stayed in military camps before, so she naturally knew what kind of torn flesh and blood fifty strikes of the military rod would cause.
She spoke up: "Ten strikes are enough. It's not really James's fault. Someone set a trap today to deliberately lure him away."
James looked at Miguel, and seeing he had no objection, said: "Thank you, Prince Miguel, thank you, Ms. Cressida Hamilton."
James withdrew.
Miguel asked Cressida: "What exactly happened just now?"
Cressida pressed her lips together. She didn't tell him her speculation about her past life, but only said that she had smelled something very unusual about that bundle of fireworks.
"I've smelled cannon fire before, so I could tell the difference."
"You have a very keen sense of smell." Miguel's tone revealed neither pleasure nor anger, as if it were just a casual remark.
Cressida nodded.
"There were two assassins today. They fired flaming arrows and came prepared."
"During the banquet with so many guests, someone slipped in through the chaos, trying to take Anthony's life."
Cressida could hear that when Miguel said this, his tone was especially sharp and cold.
He must have his own suspicions about who had sent the assassins.
Cressida said: "Those who could appear at today's event were either royal aristocracy or their trusted followers. I just found a chance to injure one of the assassins' left shoulder with a hidden weapon. Prince Miguel can arrange for servants to guard the door now and search for clues among every departing guest."
Miguel shook his head: "That assassin, having been wounded by you, must know he'd be exposed and has probably already left the palace. I'll keep watch these next few days."
After saying this, he suddenly looked at her, his eyes carrying deeper meaning.
"What hidden weapon did you use?"
"A pebble."
"Anthony just said you can use leaves as hidden weapons. I remember Cameron is also particularly skilled at that."
"Yes," Cressida admitted openly without evasion, "I can do it too, just not as skillfully as Cameron."
Miguel looked at her for a long time, seemingly lost in thought.
Suddenly, his eyes lowered slightly, and when he saw the blood on her palm, his pupils tightened.
He suddenly gripped Cressida's wrist: "Didn't you have the doctor treat this?"
Cressida looked down and only then realized that when she had grabbed the flaming arrow to redirect it, her palm had been burned by the fire, leaving a scalding wound.
Her palm skin was broken, exposing raw red flesh with traces of blood.
She had always had a high pain tolerance. This minor injury was nothing unusual for her.
"I didn't feel it..." she said.
Miguel immediately called for someone outside to bring ointment.
The finest burn medicine came in a bottle with gold-trimmed edges.
Cressida reached out to take it, but unexpectedly Miguel avoided her movement and took the initiative to apply the medicine for her.
She froze.
"Prince Miguel."
"Who taught you this? When it hurts, you should say so. Don't endure it."
He lowered his head, using a jade spoon to take a bit of ointment and apply it in circular motions along the wound on her palm.
His movements were very gentle, but somehow, Cressida actually felt it hurt a little.
She hadn't felt anything earlier, but perhaps because someone was showing concern, she was now focusing all her attention on it.
Cressida tried to pull her hand back: "I can do it myself."
But Miguel firmly held her wrist.
"Don't move," he said.
His large palm had calluses and was warm and hot. He could grip her wrist bone with one hand, his fingertips rubbing against her skin in a particularly strange way.
Cressida couldn't figure out his intention and involuntarily frowned.
If this were in a military camp, she would have instinctively kicked the other person out the door.
"You don't need to be uncomfortable," Miguel sensed the tension in her fingertips and said, "I value talent. Your skilled hands and hidden weapon abilities are impressive. You should learn to take care of yourself."
Cressida immediately came to her senses: "Yes."
Hearing her such a formal response, Miguel looked up at her.
Thinking of today's situation, Cressida asked: "Is the Little Duke alright?"
"He's fine, just a bit frightened."
"Today Prince Marshall and Prince Yosef both saw me."
Miguel responded very calmly, "You, as Ms. Hamilton of the Hamilton Mansion, were invited by me to attend Anthony's birthday party. That's perfectly normal. You're the one feeling guilty."
Cressida was speechless.
Miguel had a point.
Just then, a gentle voice came from the doorway.
"Is Ms. Hamilton resting here?"
"Yes, Ms. Woods." The attendant at the door reported, "Prince Miguel, Ms. Woods from the Woods family is here."
Miguel: "Let her in."
The Woods family, being a prominent family, had naturally been invited to the banquet. Cressida had seen Elysia in the crowd earlier.
When Elysia entered, Miguel had just released Cressida, and Cressida withdrew her hand into her sleeve.
"Prince Miguel," Elysia curtsied, "I'm acquainted with Ms. Hamilton, so I wanted to come see how badly she was hurt."
Miguel nodded with an indifferent attitude: "Rest here for a moment. If you're alright, I'll have someone send you home. Thank you for saving Anthony today."
Cressida immediately stood up: "Prince Miguel, you're too kind. It was my duty."
Miguel stepped over the threshold and left. Only then did Elysia pull Cressida to sit down.
"That was so dangerous. How could such a thing happen? I didn't even see you earlier."
"I arrived late. When I saw the Little Duke playing with fireworks, I wanted to get closer to look, but I didn't expect to encounter assassins." Cressida's explanation wouldn't arouse suspicion.
Elysia was still shaken: "Thank goodness there were no casualties today. Tell me, how could there be assassins? This is the Prince's palace."
At this moment, Yosef's carriage had already left Miguel's Prince palace.
When it reached a quiet corner in an alley, it stopped.
A black-clothed figure swiftly flashed inside.
The carriage moved again. Yosef, with a jade thumb ring on his hand resting on his knee, narrowed his eyes and looked at the black-clothed person before him.
"Such a heavy smell of blood. You're becoming more and more useless. Not only did you fail to complete the task, but you also got injured." Yosef frowned in displeasure.
The black-clothed person removed his mask, revealing Rodolfo's face.
"Prince Yosef, I have an important discovery," Rodolfo said seriously.