Chapter 22 You Are Still Alive!?
Holden hesitated. Anne's words seemed to carry a hidden meaning—she was suggesting that the person who sent the assassin was someone from the family.
But how could that be possible!
Feeling troubled, he crouched down and grabbed the assassin's hand. It was covered in calluses from years of weapon practice. Looking at the wounds on his body, they were indeed sword injuries, and only a master swordsman could strike so cleanly. But...
Holden spoke hesitantly, "The cuts on your clothes don't look like they were made by a sharp blade."
The assassin had planned to continue his silence, but when Elisa quietly took a step forward, he had no choice but to reluctantly turn his head. In a hoarse voice, he said slowly, "The sword they used wasn't sharpened."
"What?" Holden's eyes widened. "Tell me, who was it!"
"...One of the two blade masters from the Virlet family."
As a warrior, Holden had naturally heard this rumor before. He'd always thought it was just hearsay, until one time when he got drunk with his soldiers on the battlefield. An older soldier, slurring his words, said, "The Virlet family has two blade masters, I've seen them both."
"They're two different people. One is the famous Duke Skoda, and the other..."
The soldier smacked his lips and was pushed by those around him before continuing, "The other is the rising star of the younger generation. If he could go to the battlefield, he'd definitely become the second Duke Skoda!"
From then on, Holden always remembered those words. But even after marrying Anne, he never got to meet this legendary figure. Later, when disaster struck the Virlet family, everyone perished except Anne who was far away with the Titan family. The legendary figure never appeared even in that critical moment.
So he had been assigned to Anne's side?
Holden suddenly understood.
He stood up abruptly, staring at Anne. "Call him out. I want to see him."
Anne said flatly, "You've already met him."
Holden asked, confused, "Who?"
"You don't need to know."
What was Anne so proud of with that attitude!?
The anger that Holden had temporarily suppressed flared up again instantly. He sneered, "Don't think I won't dare touch you just because you have this person. You're my wife now, and you must obey me. If you keep defying me, like how you insisted on not stopping the royal decree, then I have the right to send you to a sanatorium and lock you up! You know what that means!"
The assassin on the ground was somewhat surprised to hear this and glanced at Holden, then quickly turned to look at Anne sitting calmly, his eyes full of confusion.
Anne calmly picked up her teacup and sipped her tea, ignoring the assassin. "Unfortunately, I don't accept your threats."
"Until now, you haven't even considered who wanted to assassinate me and why they wanted me dead. Holden, do you really have the right to threaten me, or even order me around?"
"Use your brain. Can you really not figure out who it is? You just refuse to believe the truth, just like how you always blame me for everything, thinking I must be playing dirty tricks. But in fact, I wouldn't stoop to doing such things."
As the two were at a standoff, Titan Old Lady's voice suddenly came from upstairs. Apparently hearing the argument, she walked down the stairs somewhat impatiently. "What's all this fuss about...!"
Hereyes widened as she looked at Anne sitting on the sofa drinking tea, her voice trembling involuntarily. "You... you're still alive?"
"Yes, I'm still alive, alive and well."
Anne smiled slightly, her gaze moving from her to the trembling assassin nearby. "But Mother, the way you said that—it's almost as if you knew I was attacked last night?"
Titan Old Lady followed her gaze and naturally saw the assassin on the ground. Her legs went weak and she nearly couldn't stand, but fortunately she grabbed the stair railing in time, avoiding losing her composure in front of everyone.
How is this possible!?
She screamed in disbelief in her mind.
After discussing with those old folks, they each contributed part of their savings to scrape together the assassin's fee, with the goal of getting rid of Anne and successfully obtaining her dowry.
She had heard the commotion last night too, but she thought a weak little woman like Anne couldn't cause much trouble even if she struggled, so she went to bed and slept beautifully.
It was the most peaceful night's sleep she'd had in years.
Just thinking about how at daybreak, the servants would discover the second lady wasn't in her room, and then find her dead with some homeless man in the storage room—oh God, the rumors would make Anne look so terrible, the Titan family would get so much sympathy, and at the same time, they'd become the owners of that wealth!
But after waking up and waiting and waiting, no servant came to report this good news to her. How could she not be anxious!
She was already annoyed hearing the constant arguing in the hall and thought she'd take the opportunity to scold them and vent her frustration. But how could the person who should have been dead be sitting there perfectly fine!?
Seeing Anne's half-smiling expression, Titan Old Lady instinctively took a step back. "No, I don't know anything!"
Holden looked at Anne, then at his mother. Their reactions were so obvious that even though he didn't want to believe it, he had to accept the truth. "Mother, you..."
This truth was something he really couldn't say out loud.
But Anne smiled indifferently. "It's fine. The assassin has already confessed and revealed who was behind it."
Titan Old Lady felt everything go dark before her eyes.
The gazes of everyone downstairs felt like sharp swords stabbing at her face. Already unsteady on her feet, she swayed violently.
Her face instantly turned ashen, and as if guilty to the extreme, she shrieked, "It wasn't me! Everything he said is a lie!"