The Executed Saint Reincarnates as a Princess and is Loved by Her Older Brothers - Episode 62

“It’s nonsense!”

Duke Turenne raised his voice in denial.

“What have you been babbling about since earlier? Even if you are the imperial princess, this jesting is going too far!”

As expected of a renowned prime minister who has triumphed in the fierce power struggles of the court and wielded his formidable skills.

The Duke of Turenne demonstrated his courage by facing both the king’s brother and the princess simultaneously without flinching.

“Me, the culprit? I have no idea what you’re talking about……”

And then, he let out a deep sigh filled with lament.

“I had only heard that eye drops marketed as ‘making your eyes look attractive’ often contain harmful substances for the human body.”

The Duke of Turenne, who was making the appeal, looked very earnest, and the term “sincere” suited him well.

The chest held high with dignity and the clear gaze that seemed to hold no trace of deceit would surely have captivated the audience if it were a speech.

“I immediately sensed that Her Highness Princess Angela was unaware. She simply prepared the gift out of pure goodwill. There is no need to make a fuss about it. To avoid causing any trouble, I thought it best to discreetly take it away.”

“Then, why did you try to harm her?”

Lionel cast his gaze at the young maid.

“In my eyes, it only looked like you tried to kill her to silence her.”

Lionel interrogated, and the maid nodded vigorously.

I haven’t forgotten the fear of being strangled and nearly stabbed to death with a hidden knife earlier. If Lionel hadn’t helped me, I would have reached heaven by now.

“Where’s the evidence?”

Duke Turenne ground his molars and glared at Lionel.

“It’s a baseless accusation! Even if I took the eye drops or harmed this woman, it has nothing to do with Queen Diane’s death! Or do you have some kind of evidence to back that up!?”

“Evidence, huh? Then let’s see it.”

Lionel calmly announced, and Angela nodded in agreement.

“Yes. The evidence is not in our possession. You have it yourself, Duke de Turenne.”

“Huh…?”

What do you mean by saying that the lord himself has the evidence?

The Duke of Turenne was perplexed, but there was no time to hesitate.

Angela gracefully extended her hand and pointed to the duke’s hands.

“Could you please take those gloves?”

“Gloves…?”

The hands of the Duke of Turenne are enveloped in high-quality leather gloves. He doesn’t wear them just for today; they are items he uses regularly.

“Yes. There is something I want to confirm. Please.”

Angela said, and the look of refusal was clearly visible on the duke’s face.

“Gloves… have nothing to do with it…”

“Whether it matters or not is not for you to decide.”

Lionel approached sternly, and the Duke of Turenne was stripped of his gloves without any resistance.

“This is…!”

The exposed hands bore the marks of having suffered from severe dermatitis.

It’s no longer festering, but the ulcerated scar is still painful.

“Indeed,” Angela murmured as she gazed at the duke’s hand.

“That wound is dermatitis caused by direct contact with belladonna.”

Belladonna is poisonous throughout, but especially on the surface of its leaves, where a highly toxic oil floats. Touching the leaves with bare hands causes inflammation and swelling.

“No… no, that’s not it… This is just a rash from urushi…”

Duke Turenne shook his head vigorously.

“I thought it might be unseemly for noble people to see, so I wore gloves to avoid being seen. There is nothing shameful about it!”

“Well then, let’s ask the doctor for an examination.”

Angela calmly proposed.

“Whether the wound is caused by lacquer or by belladonna, a specialist doctor should be able to diagnose it. They should also be able to determine the approximate time of the injury.”

Even if it is difficult to determine the exact date, it should be possible to ascertain that the injury was not recent and that more than ten years have passed.

“No… th… this is…”

While the duke hesitated, hiding his hand injury, Angela pressed on further.

“Prince de Turenne. I know when you started wearing those gloves.”

“Huh…?”

“Fifteen years ago, the king’s aides came to the temple and ordered Saint Juliet to treat the queen. You were one of them, weren’t you?”

“W-What do you mean by saying that as if you’ve seen it yourself!?”

I’m saying this because I’ve seen it, but you probably won’t believe me anyway.

Angela did not answer the question and continued speaking.

“You poked Juliet with your bare hands back then…”

Fifteen years ago. The royal aides barged in front of Juliet, who was offering her prayers in the temple.

“Saint Juliet!”

“Hurry up! The Queen has summoned you!”

At that time, one of the attendants nudged the bewildered Juliet with his bare hands, but looking back now, it was none other than the Duke of Turenne, who was a marquis at the time.

And the next day.

“Juliet! You false saint!”

With even more intense stomping of military boots, Crown Prince Nathan stormed into the temple.

“Capture him! He is the treasonous rebel who plotted the great betrayal!”

Words of abuse were hurled at her, and surrounded by armed soldiers, Juliet was thrown to the floor of the temple.

At that time, it was the hand of a man wearing white gloves that grabbed Juliet’s head and forced her to kneel on the cobblestones.

It goes without saying whose hand that was.

It’s the Duke of Turenne. He was supposed to be barehanded until the day before, but the next day he was wearing gloves.

“Why did it change in just one day?”

Angela asked and wove her own answer.

“You touched the leaves of belladonna and got a wound on your hand, didn’t you? Just a short while after Juliet healed the queen, the queen passed away.”

What kind of poison did the real culprit use? When Angela and Lionel made their guesses, there were two key points that served as hints.

One possibility is pupil dilation. Based on the queen’s condition the day before her death, the juice of belladonna, which has the effect of dilating the pupils, emerged as a candidate.

And another thing is the gloves that the Duke of Turenne always wears.

When I remembered the moment he suddenly started putting on gloves, the possibility that he used belladonna poison, which causes inflammation upon contact, became increasingly strong.

Neither Angela nor Lionel has any physical evidence. All they have are deductions based on memories from their past lives.

However, if there were old wounds on the Duke of Turenne’s hands caused by Belladonna, it would be irrefutable evidence that he was involved in the assassination of the former queen.