Chapter 111

I headed straight for the Empress’s palace. I did so because I believed Bastien would have been handled properly by Evan.

 

“But why are there so many people?”

 

“Her Majesty the Empress is lying there under threat; of course it’s crowded.”

 

“So, the situation is that severe.”

 

I understood that security at the Empress’s palace had been tightened due to the poisoning attempt. It felt like every knight in the Imperial City was gathered here; if lined up, they could probably encircle the entire palace like a living fence.

 

The servants were scurrying about so busily that they kept bumping into me. Their movements didn’t look organized; rather than everyone doing their assigned tasks, it looked like a frantic competition to see who could attend to things first.

 

‘Is it because the Empress collapsed, or is someone intentionally causing this chaos?’

 

The knight monitoring me, his face set in a rigid expression, led me to Perio and Elena.

 

“I advise you not to leave this room. Bear in mind that your charges have not yet been cleared.”

 

With that cold warning, the door slammed shut. Consequently, Ben and Piote, who had come with me, were trapped inside as well. I saw Elena and Perio, both looking haggard.

 

“Ele—”

 

“Elena!”

 

Good grief. Look at him rushing to her like she’s his only lifeline just because she’s his girlfriend. Piote examined her face with a worried look, asking why she looked so pale.

 

“I’m alright,” Elena said with a faint smile.

 

“This is no time for idle hands! You must realize that if Her Majesty passes away, your lives will be on the line as well!”

 

A man spoke as if he were an inquisitor, threatening Elena and Perio. I finally understood why they looked so unwell. Claiming to be the one in charge here—perhaps an imperial physician—he raised his voice. Is he not the one being “idle” by wasting time shouting?

 

“I heard the Young Lady brought herbs. Give them here.”

 

“……”

 

For a moment, I considered snapping that arrogant, outstretched palm. But the herbs were meant to be given anyway. He seemed to be having the time of his life now that the Duke had been arrested. To some, a person’s downfall is nothing more than a delicious prey to feast upon.

 

‘Who are you to treat us like criminals?’

 

With trembling hands, I plopped the pendant onto his palm.

 

“There is only one, so I suggest you be careful. If those herbs are ruined by your mistake, the one guilty of high treason will be you.”

 

Well, I went through hell to get those ingredients; I figured a small threat was fair game.

 

“My Lady, how on earth did you find these?”

 

“Is that what matters right now? Let’s just make the antidote. We have to clear the Duke’s name. We have a mountain of work to do.”

 

Fortunately, the imperial infirmary was stocked with many rare herbs, allowing us to successfully brew the antidote much faster than expected.

 

 

***

 

 

“Bastien, let’s end this. How long are you going to fight? Until you win?”

 

“……Perhaps.”

 

The room was a shambles. Not a single spot remained dry or unmarred by sword strikes.

 

“You seem relaxed, Evan.”

 

“……I should have finished this in one stroke. In a war of attrition, the victory is mine. Mana has its limits.”

 

“……True. I have my limits.”

 

Though panting for breath, Bastien answered steadfastly. Evan looked at him with a hint of bewilderment. The winner of this fight was clearly decided.

 

“Why did you go this far?”

 

“Did you expect me to just stand by and watch while you ruin my family and try to steal my wife?”

 

A small, mocking smile played on Evan’s lips. Bastien looked down at a stagnant puddle of water. He had always considered himself among the strong. But whenever he looked ahead, there was always someone else standing there.

 

“Shouldn’t you be focusing on clearing the Duke’s name?”

 

“It will be cleared naturally anyway. And as I said before, I had no intention of coming here. It was Lep who suggested the Emperor might be in danger. I never dreamed you would actually aim for His Majesty’s life.”

 

“……I see. Lady Lepina is truly strange. It’s as if she knows exactly what I’m going to do. Even the emotions I hold.”

 

“Aren’t you being a bit narcissistic? Don’t flatter yourself by thinking Lep is interested in you just because you got caught. It’s disgusting.”

 

“It’s out of my hands now, regardless.”

 

Bastien slumped to the floor. Evan sat down across from him, looking as though he might actually listen to what he had to say. Dawn was already breaking outside.

 

“Let’s hear your story. Why did you do it?”

 

“Evan, you once told me: if there is something you want, use any means or methods to get it. I simply did that. Nothing more, nothing less.”

 

“Even crossing the line that should never be crossed?”

 

“And who decided that? A line that shouldn’t be crossed? We who contend for the throne are in a fight that only ends when someone dies. I realized that late, and I was simply blocked by you.”

 

Evan listened to the numerous footsteps approaching on the wind.

 

“They’re finally here,” Bastien muttered self-deprecatingly, with a breath that sounded like a hollow laugh.

 

“I stationed the knights elsewhere. It would have been troublesome to be caught killing the Emperor. But that’s over now.”

 

Bastien closed his eyes quietly, as if resigning himself to fate. He had no regrets.

 

“We came as soon as we heard from His Majesty! Did Your Highness really……!”

 

“It’s true.”

 

The knights who had rushed over flinched—not just at the state of the room, but at the sight of the wounded Bastien lying there.

 

“Coveting the throne, he attempted to kill His Majesty, and furthermore, he conspired in the poisoning of the Empress.”

 

At Evan’s thunderous words, the knights couldn’t move easily. Although they had heard it from the Emperor, Evan was someone who had always enjoyed framing Bastien. They hadn’t believed it was real.

 

“Oh, and the one responsible for the Empress’s poisoning isn’t my father; it’s Prince Fedeshar.”

 

“Pardon……?”

 

They say that when people are truly shocked, they lose their speech; the knights were exactly like that. The group that had come running in a line all tilted their heads to the left in unison.

 

“I mean Bastien targeted the Emperor, and Fedeshar targeted the Empress.”

 

When Bastien didn’t even bother to deny it, their confusion only grew. R-really? No, it must be a lie…… How could His Highness……

 

“Must I say it again?”

 

“N-No, sir!!”

 

“Then take the prisoner away.”

 

“Y-yes, sir!!”

 

The knights helped Bastien up and led him away carefully. Their movements were surprisingly gentle for someone who had tried to kill the Emperor.

 

Though his energy was spent, Evan brushed off his trousers and stood up. According to what the wind had told him earlier, Lepina had arrived safely at the Imperial City and had recently headed for the Empress’s palace.

 

“But there’s another fellow I need to find first.”

 

Like a game of hide-and-seek, he had to catch the other one who showed no sign of coming out and bring him forward.

 

 

***

 

 

Fedeshar had infiltrated the Empress’s palace in a thorough disguise. Because so many people were moving about, no one suspected him.

 

‘The failure to draw the Young Lady in must be the flaw in the plan.’

 

He hadn’t expected her to actually obtain the herbs. Her expression, filled with surprise and distress when told of the fire, had not been an act.

 

How did she get them? Or was the Goddess of Fortune on her side?

 

The herb room was heavily guarded and difficult to enter, but surely, once the antidote was finished, someone would come into the hallway to deliver it to the Empress. He had to seize that moment.

 

Fedeshar listened intently. A short while later, he heard a voice bright with excitement.

 

An imperial physician, filled with the joy of thinking he could save the Empress, was shouting loudly for people to get out of the way.

 

Fedeshar’s eyes gleamed as he spotted his target. All he had to do was collide with him, and the victory would be his.

 

The antidote was a single dose. Once that medicine vanished, there would be no other way.

 

He held his breath and was about to move like a predator snatching a prey’s throat, when—

 

Tak—

 

It was Fedeshar whose neck was caught first, by a predator with a much wider field of vision who had been hunting him. Fedeshar glanced sideways at the hand placed on his shoulder.

 

“Shall we have a little chat?”

 

He didn’t need to ask to know who the owner of this hand was.

 

“……So you found me. What happened to my brother?”

 

“He’s likely being interrogated.”

 

“……Both he and I failed. Or perhaps this was destiny…… Very well. I suppose I cannot avoid the Young Duke.”

 

Fedeshar raised both hands in surrender. As his wig fell off and his pale blond hair was revealed, the passersby stared in shock.

 

“I admit it. I am the one who targeted Her Majesty the Empress.”

 

“Gasp!!”

 

The bombshell confession in a hallway full of servants caused a chain reaction: some fell over in shock, some stood frozen like stone statues, and others dropped whatever they were carrying. Among them was the maid holding the antidote.

 

“Crazy!”

 

Lepina, who had been following behind the imperial physician, threw her body toward the floor with all her might.

 

 

***

 

 

“Your Majesty, we have manufactured the antidote! Please, drink this medicinal brew!”

 

“……”

 

I was watching them from behind. It was because a disastrous accident—the loss of the antidote due to a maid’s absurd behavior—had nearly occurred.

 

Because the Duke’s charges hadn’t been cleared yet, they had tried to lock me in the herb room, but I managed to follow them out. I had witnessed the maid holding the tray lose her grip as her hands went weak at Fedeshar’s bombshell statement.

 

It was a miracle I caught the medicine just in time; otherwise, the Empress would have been on her way to the afterlife. I even had the ridiculous thought that Fedeshar might have done it on purpose.

 

Thanks to that, I was the one who carried the antidote all the way here. Since I was the one who brought the medicine, I was allowed into the Empress’s room. The moment I entered, the sheer display of gold everywhere made me lose a bit of confidence.

 

‘I wonder how much all of this is worth……’

 

It was truly a room befitting the second most powerful person in the Empire.