Ch#84
“Tenebrey. Look outside.”
At Azazel's call, Tenebrey peered out the window. Countless knights were lined up on the ground, marching toward the castle where the twins resided.
“The Emperor must have made up his mind faster than expected.”
Tenebrey sprang from her seat in rapture. She had envisioned this moment dozens, hundreds of times.
Before the knights arrived, Tenebrey hurriedly rushed to Yeremia's room. Unlike usual, no guards stood before Yeremia's door, making it incredibly easy to enter.
“Yeremia! Wake up! Something terrible has happened!”
Tenebrey woke Yeremia with great fuss. Greatly emaciated, Yeremia rubbed her eyes and sat up at her sister's urging.
Tenebrey yanked the still-dazed Yeremia's body and forced her to look outside. As Yeremia gazed out, she saw knights numbering in the thousands.
“They're coming to get you.”
“T-Tenebrey, what, what do you mean?”
Still groggy from sleep, Yeremia failed to notice the laughter in Tenebrey's words and paled as she stared at her sister. Tenebrey erased her smile as if it had never been there and continued in an agitated tone.
“Lady Rohanson and Sir Gabriel have colluded to trap you.”
“Sir Gabriel?”
In that instant, the rumor that had plagued Yeremia's mind even as she fell asleep flashed through her thoughts. Sir Gabriel was framing Yeremia as the culprit to save Evangeline Rohanson. How could a holy knight fall for a debauched witch and give false testimony?
“Even so, Grandfather wouldn't suspect me.”
Yeremia tried to deny it desperately. The Emperor didn't dote on her as much as Oratorio, but he quite cherished his affectionate granddaughter. Surely he would side with Yeremia over the wicked Lady Rohanson who killed her father and whatever Sir Gabriel claimed. But Tenebrey immediately countered.
“You fool! Then who sent those knights outside?”
Yeremia gaped in shock at Tenebrey uttering crude words, something she'd never done before. That made Tenebrey's urgency hit even harder. As Tenebrey said, only the Emperor and Crown Prince held military authority in the palace. Her father was dead... So Grandfather had truly sent knights to capture Yeremia?
At that moment, one knight broke from the formation and slashed a maid blocking the castle gate. Yeremia was deeply shocked by how easily the person died. Tenebrey drove the wedge home toward such a Yeremia.
“They're saying you murdered Father, so you must be executed.”
I murdered Father? Execution? Did that mean... she'd be beheaded in
