Chapter 105

“To that extent…?”

 

“Of course. It has been my long-cherished desire.”

 

“Desire… That’s not cute at all.”

 

Unlike Evan, it was a desire that demanded human life.

 

“……I should have gone with him.”

 

With this, it was certain that Evan’s overprotectiveness would upgrade by another level. Fedeshar vanished after muttering that I wouldn’t be harmed as long as I stayed still and that he would release me soon. As soon as he closed the door and left, I immediately pulled at the handle, but the door wouldn’t budge.

 

“What on earth is this device…!”

 

It’s dangerous to stay still! However, no matter how hard I pulled, the door didn’t open, and the windows were the same.

 

“What do I do…….”

 

My vision went dark.

 

 

***

 

 

Evan hurried toward the Imperial Palace.

 

‘I wish I had just one more body.’

 

Even as he dashed toward the palace, his mind was far away. Although he had tasked Liman with finding Lepina, claiming she had been kidnapped, a lingering sense of foreboding would not leave him. As if by a cruel twist of fate, Lepina was kidnapped, the Empress collapsed, and his father was named as the culprit. It was like a perfectly scripted story.

 

Upon arriving at the palace, Evan looked down at the gatekeeper with a frigid expression.

 

“Tell me exactly what happened, in detail.”

 

The gatekeeper gulped and guided him inside.

 

“Father.”

 

Contrary to the reports that the Duke had been identified as the Empress’s poisoner, Duke Weiss was calmly sipping tea. This was despite the knights lined up outside to ensure he didn’t escape.

 

“Evan, you’ve come.”

 

“You seem quite relaxed.”

 

Evan looked around. Sitting on the sofa drinking tea, the Duke didn’t look like a criminal at all. It was the knights nearby, watching his every move, who looked more nervous.

 

“I am sorry it turned out this way. But I am caught up in this as well, so there was nothing I could do.”

 

Seeing Evan’s murderous expression, Duke Weiss shrugged. The Duke was well aware that Evan was supposed to go to Count Clies’ estate today to receive permission for the marriage; Liman had talked his ear off about it since yesterday.

 

But what could be done? The event had already occurred.

 

It was something even the Duke hadn’t imagined—that the Empress would collapse after drinking poisoned tea, and that there would be a maid testifying that the Duke was the one who delivered the tea leaves.

 

“I will speak with my father alone. Withdraw.”

 

“B-but……”

 

“He won’t run. If a crime was committed, it’s only natural to pay the price.”

 

After a brief moment of hesitation, the knights exchanged glances, silently asking what to do. Finally, the one with the highest rank stepped forward.

 

“……Only for a moment.”

 

“Fine.”

 

Only Evan and the Duke remained in the room. Evan immediately plopped down on the opposite sofa.

 

“Why on earth were you the one singled out?”

 

“They say a maid I’ve never seen in my life testified that she received the tea leaves from me. But how did they get their hands on it……”

 

“What was it?”

 

“The poisonous herb you know well, Evan. You suffered because of it.”

 

“The Alosi herb……”

 

Duke Weiss nodded. Evan realized why Lepina had disappeared.

 

“Father, Lepina is gone.”

 

Duke Weiss slowly looked up at him.

 

“I figured as much. Since those tea leaves were the ones she was managing. So they kidnapped my daughter-in-law… I suppose they intended to prevent an antidote from being made. Baron Perio will arrive soon. It will be revealed that Her Majesty has been poisoned by the Alosi herb.”

 

“How is Her Majesty?”

 

The Duke rubbed his chin.

 

“I haven’t seen her myself, but the situation isn’t good. You were the anomaly. Perhaps the ratio of Alosi in the tea canister was different, but the Empress is hovering between life and death. An antidote is needed right now.”

 

Unlike the tea Evan had consumed, this wasn’t mixed with other leaves, so the poisoning symptoms were far more severe. It was a relief that the palace had all sorts of rare medicines to buy some time; otherwise, she would have been dead already.

 

“If it’s the antidote, Elena the physician and Baron Perio could also make—!”

 

Evan remembered. The unpleasant incident from yesterday. The day people had to evacuate due to a sudden fire. What was it that was burning so fiercely in that fire? The fire was intentional. Fedeshar must have been the one to start it.

 

“Yes, the greenhouse burned yesterday. Thanks to that, the medicinal herbs vanished into thin air. It’s all part of the plan.”

 

Evan ground his teeth.

 

“Keeping me confined here is also temporary. It’s just to keep me from moving. A maid might have confessed, but since she has no connection to me, they can’t send me to prison based solely on a witness’s word.”

 

The Duke and the maid had never even met. Aside from the testimony, there was no solid evidence or other witnesses to back it up, and the maid was so terrified she couldn’t even look the Duke in the eye. Sending the Duke to prison on such flimsy evidence carried too much risk.

 

“Still, staying still won’t solve anything.”

 

“I will go and settle this.”

 

“Oho.”

 

“I’ll drag the man who kidnapped Lep here. I know who the culprit is.”

 

“But you have no physical evidence. Falsely accusing a member of the Imperial Family carries great risk.”

 

Duke Weiss also had a rough idea of who was behind this.

 

“Prince Bastien was the one who gave the order to confine me here.”

 

“Bastien? Not Prince Fedeshar?”

 

Duke Weiss and Evan locked eyes. The culprits they suspected were different.

 

“Why would Prince Bastien kill the Empress?”

 

“Rumors have been circulating lately that the relationship between the Empress and the Prince has soured. And to him, I, who appear to support the Emperor, would not have been to his liking. So, why do you think it is Prince Fedeshar?”

 

“Lep told me. It seems Prince Fedeshar proposed that they strike the Empress. Both Prince Fedeshar and Lep were thorns in the Empress’s side, and their lives were constantly threatened by her.”

 

Duke Weiss frowned as if deep in thought.

 

“I will be released soon. That maid has no solid alibi. So, you go find the evidence and bring the culprit. It’s likely one of the two.”

 

“I know that without being told.”

 

Evan stood up abruptly.

 

“I have no intention of saving the Empress, but Lep will know a way. Perhaps she can save the Empress too.”

 

“I cannot move.”

 

“I’ll take care of it.”

 

The Duke rubbed his chin at Evan’s firm stance. This was an imperial poisoning case. He couldn’t leave the palace and had to catch the culprit. Duke Weiss had believed the culprit was Bastien. The Empress never consumed food that hadn’t been verified. Therefore, he thought Bastien, whom the Empress usually trusted, was the most likely suspect.

 

In fact, as soon as the Empress collapsed, the maid testified and Bastien apprehended the Duke. However, Evan’s words also made sense.

 

What if the culprit wasn’t one person, but two?

 

The Duke whispered softly into Evan’s ear.

 

“I checked, and Prince Fedeshar is not in the palace. They say he hasn’t returned since last night.”

 

“Understood.”

 

The Duke gave Evan’s head a light tap as if to say ‘good luck.’

 

Soon, Perio arrived at the palace, and it was determined that what the Empress had consumed was indeed the Alosi herb. However, everyone fell into despair at Perio’s words: all the herbs in the greenhouse had burned down, and more importantly, an antidote couldn’t be made without the Lily of the Valley that blooms under a full moon.

 

Evan immediately left the palace.

 

The coachman waiting for Evan asked where they were headed as he climbed in. Evan looked at the bouquet of flowers on the opposite seat—the stems snapped and in a wretched state—and spoke.

 

“To the Information Guild.”

 

It was a relief he had captured that mage last time. If Lep’s words were correct, Fedeshar’s goal was ultimately the Empress’s life. If that were the case, he wouldn’t have left the capital. There was a high probability he was watching from nearby, using the mana provided by the mage to monitor the news and situation of the Empress.

 

 

***

 

 

“Hah, hah……”

 

“Isn’t it time to give up?”

 

“Shut up……”

 

I had tried everything to escape this small cabin. But the door wouldn’t open, and the windows wouldn’t budge. Even when I struck the window with a chair, it acted like a steel plate and bounced the chair back.

 

“Well, I suppose it’s because of that persistence that you were able to reach where you are now. You are truly an amazing lady.”

 

I don’t want that kind of praise. I wiped away the flowing sweat and glared at Fedeshar. He was leisurely sipping tea by my side, peeking into the interior of the Imperial Palace.

 

“I didn’t know you had such a hobby.”

 

“You may continue to speak informally as you did earlier. Now, please sit here.”

 

“I’ll pass.”

 

At the gesture toward the opposite sofa, I gave him a displeased look and turned my head away. Fedeshar shrugged and told me to do as I pleased. He curled his lips into a smile as he watched the events inside the palace reflected through a crystal ball.

 

“I wonder if Her Majesty the Empress will survive. To be stabbed in the back by someone she always considered inferior… she’ll probably consider it the shame of her life. Falling into a trap of her own making. Isn’t it funny?”

 

I watched him in silence as he laughed cynically while catching his breath.

 

“If you hated the threat of assassination that much, you could have just given up your right to the throne.”

 

“……If it were as easy as it sounds, I wouldn’t have come such a long way. Don’t you know Her Majesty’s personality well? She is someone who believes the best course of action is to eliminate everything that gets in her way without leaving a trace.”

 

“…….”

 

I knew it well. After all, wasn’t my own life threatened because of it?

 

In this place, it was common practice to target people’s lives to maintain one’s authority. And she wasn’t just any noble; she was the Empress. How could anyone stop a mind that revolved entirely around itself?

 

I, too, had more than enough ill will toward her. But I didn’t want to target someone’s life like she did.

 

That’s why I reached out to the Empress. Even though I knew it was a double-edged sword that could cut my hand at any moment. A head-on confrontation wasn’t always the only answer.