To The Traitor in My Bed - Chapter 45
Chapter 23. Count Holborn
Queen Caroline deeply despised Christian for killing her lover and forcibly making her his wife. She no longer wished to have the king’s heir. The queen had suffered two miscarriages and, now, secretly used the contraceptive pills Frederick had provided her.
Christian was crazy in many ways, but the fact that he relentlessly sought an heir from the queen, even after she had consistently rejected having children since their marriage, made him particularly mad.
This obsession, which he knew was pushing the queen towards death, was precisely what made him even more relentless.
The fact that he interfered with Heather Glenwell was likely an attempt to investigate if something was wrong with Christian himself. Afterward, when a woman other than the queen carried the bloodline of the Leonhart family, Christian couldn’t bear it and tried to eliminate Heather.
…Frederick had missed all of this.
Even so, Christian was not someone Frederick could easily decipher in every private matter he schemed. Queen Caroline had received Frederick’s help, but she was unaware that he was part of the White Rose Brigade. Therefore, Frederick had no way of finding out about Heather’s situation first.
Still.
A young woman with a known name and face—one who had unfortunately frozen to death in Rochepolie. She was certainly being hunted by the military police secretly. If it had been publicly declared, Count Fairchild would have undoubtedly known about it as well.
Once they reached the border of his territory, Frederick immediately sent his coachman, Matthew, back to Rochepolie. Then, after giving a generous sum of money to the coachman at the nearby carriage depot, he ordered him to take the carriage to Swinton. He then released Fars from the carriage and rode at full speed.
His destination was not Swinton, but Holborn, the estate of Count Glenwell.
He didn’t even have time to contact Sir Mark Hartley to check the situation in Holborn. If Christian found out that Heather Glenwell was dead, he would undoubtedly wipe out the entire Glenwell family to eliminate any future problems.
Holborn was right next to Count Darnell’s estate, the Upper Island. Skipping meals and sleep, Frederick first arrived at Upper Island. There, he wrote a letter to Mark under Mark Hartley’s younger sister’s name.
[Dear Mark,
I heard you really like Holborn’s pottery, so I ended up buying a bunch of things I didn’t even need.
I’ll keep the ones I’ll use and send the rest to Besford.
Anyway, since you don’t use the Besford villa much, don’t complain about me turning it into a storage space. You can give all the pottery to the guests at the villa in the summer.
See you in Swinton.
Jane Hartley]
Besford was a resort located south of Swinton, along the Odlem Bay, and had a safe house for the White Rose Brigade.
By doing this, Sir Mark Hartley would likely arrange for the transportation from Holborn to Besford. There was a reason why Count Fairchild was entrusted with infrastructure projects for the royal family, despite the lack of substantial profit.
The cart carrying materials could freely cross the main borders. By slipping a bit of money to the military police, they would lazily avoid proper checks.
Holborn was located on the western foothills of a long mountain range that divided the kingdom from east to west. Although mountainous, the climate there was relatively mild compared to Swinton. Frederick crossed the mountain range dressed as a hunter.
Recently, military police had been stationed in each territory, so as he passed through the area, he casually observed that they didn’t seem to be on alert for anything in particular.
‘Has Christian already heard about Heather?’
Frederick thought as he calmed his horse, Fars, who was tired from the mountain crossing. The horse almost dropped Deirdre, but this horse from Farslan was very fast and had strong stamina.
If Heather’s death or disappearance had not yet reached the king’s ears, there would be enough time to safely help the Glenwell family escape. Frederick preferred not to take the lead unless absolutely necessary, so calling for Sir Mark Hartley in the meantime seemed like a good idea.
However, near Count Glenwell’s residence, when Frederick asked a shepherd for the detailed address of the residence, he heard something of significance.
“I don’t know why you’re looking for the Count’s residence, but if you go today, they’ll treat you well.”
Frederick silently handed the shepherd a bill, and the shepherd took it and continued speaking.
“I saw the military police’s cart coming from the mountain up there earlier. Those kinds of carts usually come to see the nobles.”
“I passed by the Holborn military police’s station two hours ago, and there was no cart there.”
“Then maybe it came from Upper Island. The Count of the Upper Island’s son escaped prison or something recently, and it’s a real mess over there. Ah, do you think he might be running home to his hometown? If it were me, I’d never go back to my hometown. The military police are all idiots. Wow, though, you’re riding a great horse.”
The shepherd was right. Ian Darnell, who had publicly severed ties with his family, would never return to the Upper Island, as it would only bring harm.
At the mention of the military police’s cart from Upper Island, Frederick’s caution was triggered. Military police coming from outside the territory rarely brought good news.
He quickly urged his horse towards Count Glenwell’s residence.
Count Glenwell’s residence had been established since the creation of the Holborn region. Half of the old house was buried in the hillside, overgrown with sparse ivy.
As Frederick knew, Count Holborn was a moderate. With four daughters, his main concern was how to marry them off, and he probably didn’t have time to worry about politics.
After seeing Frederick’s attire, the butler tried to close the door, but Frederick shouted at him.
“This concerns the lives of the Count’s family. It would be wise to let me in.”
He quickly wedged his foot into the doorframe. The butler had no choice but to open the door.
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