I had three suspects - Lance, The Uncle and the Emperor. I am now leaning towards the Emperor because of his heavy disdain for Richard. He can't go after his father due to being dead, to which I believe he murdered the previous Duke when he tried to kill off the Carté family but Richard survived. The only way to torment him is by killing any wife that marries into the family regardless if they were close or not. If the Emperor is the one behind all this, then he is a coward. Punishing a man, for a long time before adulthood, for being born and killing his cousin for the mental distress she was going through.
I had three suspects - Lance, The Uncle and the Emperor. I am now leaning towards the Emperor because of his heavy disdain for Richard. He can't go after his father due to being dead, to which I believe he murdered the previous Duke when he tried to kill off the Carté family but Richard survived. The only way to torment him is by killing any wife that marries into the family regardless if they were close or not. If the Emperor is the one behind all this, then he is a coward. Punishing a man, for a long time before adulthood, for being born and killing his cousin for the mental distress she was going through.