She had grasped at even a sliver of hope, thinking that she couldn’t take all the blame like this, but Ariella was certain that it was a very wrong decision.
Fabian refused to testify, and the Emperor was greatly offended by the Countess, who dared to harm his son and then tried to call another lover as a witness.
The only way to save her was for the Emperor to turn his back like that, so it was obvious what the outcome of the trial would be.
“Gracie Anabel is to be confined to the Dixon Monastery. Her confinement will only end with death.”
The Crown Prince of the Empire was almost killed, and all she got was confinement in a monastery? Considering that the Dixon Monastery was a place where people died every year, it was a sentence equivalent to the death penalty, but it was still far short of expectations. Perhaps the Emperor’s last bit of affection had worked.
It was a decision that Aaron and Empress Genevieve would have been very angry about, but Ariella liked the verdict very much.
Just as she didn’t want Aaron to die easily, she didn’t want Countess Anabel to be executed for the same reason.
The Countess will now never meet her son for the rest of her life. The son of a sinner will never be recognized as the Emperor’s child, and will be taken under the care of Count Anabel, whom she had ignored.
It was a very fitting price for the sin of trying to make other women infertile in order to make her son the Emperor.
Meanwhile, when Countess Anabel, who thought she was so great, was thrown into a monastery, the nobles clicked their tongues, saying that you never know what will happen in life.
But soon their attention turned elsewhere, namely to Aaron’s health.
It would have been very ideal if they were worried that the health of the next Emperor had been damaged, but unfortunately, what the nobles were curious about was not his recovery.
To be precise, they just wanted to know what state ‘his below’ was in.
“That’s what they’re saying. They took a dagger and just, *snip*! Cut it right off, they say!”
The rumor started when people without memberships, taking advantage of a brief lapse in security, crowded near the scene of the incident.
They saw that the Crown Prince’s area from below his navel to his thighs was soaked in blood, and unfortunately, that included a very important area.
Those who saw it returned with shining eyes, gossiping to their acquaintances, and their eyewitness accounts spread throughout Edinburgh like wildfire.
Producing a healthy heir is one of the Crown Prince’s duties. Using that as justification, people gossiped even more enthusiastically.
Some were certain that the Crown Prince’s m*****d had been completely severed, while others criticized the sacrilegious back-and-forth, insisting that there was nothing wrong with the Crown Prince’s s****l function.
Opinions were divided, but none of them dared to confirm the truth directly.
No noble was brave enough to ask the Imperial Family such a question outright, and despite the flood of inquiries from all sides, the Imperial Family remained as tight-lipped as a clam.
However, only one person, Duke Bedford, who had personally placed Aaron on the Crown Prince’s throne, was able to face the truth.
A deeply shocking truth.
“-He won’t be able to have children.”
“Yes. The nerves in that area were so severely damaged that even with continuous treatment, recovery is impossible. It would be fair to say that he has completely lost his s****l function…”
The butler, noticing the Duke’s thick arms trembling with rage, discreetly shut his mouth.
Perhaps he should have waited until after the Duke had finished breakfast. But if he had, he would have been scolded for not reporting it immediately. Given the nature of the news, it seemed difficult to avoid the Duke’s anger.
Meanwhile, Ariella and Lizzy, who were having breakfast with the Duke, also overheard the conversation and wore shocked expressions. Of course, the emotions behind their shock were different.
Lizzy was despairing over the fact that her fiancé had become a eunuch, while Ariella, on the other hand, was overjoyed.
‘Too bad. It would have been even better if it had really been cut off, as the rumors said.’
Ariella briefly felt a pang of regret. But in truth, she was satisfied enough with this outcome. Even she, who had planned the whole situation, had not anticipated such a perfect result.
Giving the Countess Anabel the hair ornament had simply been because she didn’t want her to be helplessly victimized like herself.
She had thought that Aaron might suffer a major injury if things went well, but since it was purely a matter of luck, she hadn’t had high expectations.
