57 - The Crown I Will Take From You
Chapter 57
Count Etienne's Residence.
A coffin containing a corpse and a letter from Duke Claudio arrived.
"Do these bastards think I'm a pushover!"
Minister Etienne, enraged, tore the letter to shreds before even finishing reading it.
The scattered fragments contained the following:
The real culprit who poisoned the drink was not Birna, but her close Maid, who, enraged by her mistress's embarrassment at the banquet, tampered with the drinks of the honored guests.
As the matter grew serious, the frightened Maid committed suicide to atone for her sins.
"They found the real culprit, so please resolve your anger and regain your former friendship... what a load of crap!"
The Minister also had no intention of breaking ties with his ally, the Regent Duke, for good.
He wanted to retreat to a reasonable point where neither side would lose face.
However, the Regent Duke sent even a fake culprit and smuggled his daughter away, which enraged him.
"Does he think he can treat me like this, Regent Duke?"
He must think I'm lacking something, that's why I stuck by his side.
"I'll show you who's more desperate."
Etienne acted without hesitation.
Baron Brega, a vassal of the Regent Duke, was slated to become the Southern Tax Collector, a position that would soon be vacant.
It was a lucrative post with plenty of perks, responsible for collecting taxes from the relatively fertile southern region of Baldina.
However, Etienne unearthed Baron Brega's old corruption, dismissed him, and appointed Sir Pecci, the son of his benefactor, to the position.
He used his influence as the Minister of the Royal Court to suppress his ally, the Regent Duke. It was nothing short of a declaration of war.
"Etienne, that bastard! Really!"
The Regent Duke slammed his desk.
Starting with him, the Regent Duke's once-solid power began to split.
"Are you not speaking on behalf of the Regent Duke!"
"We are not the Duke's subordinates, but officials who are paid by Baldina, so why are you ordering us around?"
"Huh, you didn't say that when you were taking our Duke's money, did you?"
The Regent Duke's vassals plotted to remove the Minister's subordinates, and the Minister's subordinates found fault with the vassals' administrative processing, halting their progress.
They blamed each other and began to tear each other apart.
The Minister was a hereditary noble with many vassals and connections. That was why the Regent Duke had tried to win him over in the first place.
The Regent Duke never imagined that the Minister's strength would make things difficult for him.
Neither the Regent Duke nor the Minister, as leaders of their respective people, could easily back down due to pride.
The back-and-forth, a feud that only brought losses, dragged on.
The arrows that had once been aimed together at one target were now pointed at each other, causing a great deal of trouble.
Ciseo was the most pleased with the growing conflict between the Regent Duke and the Minister.
"So this day has come!"
Was this what the Princess meant when she said an opportunity would come soon?
"Is Princess Medeia really... helping us?"
Ciseo paused.
He remembered the Spy Medeia had caught not long ago.
"Please kill me, Master! I will never betray you again."
The Maid who had been sent to the Royal Palace returned, weeping and confessing everything that had happened that day.
From realizing that the Princess had given him poisoned tea to the fact that his son was being held hostage by the Princess.
Finding the Spy was surprising, but the Princess's skill in silencing her afterward surprised Ciseo even more.
"If you want to be forgiven, keep telling the Regent Duke that I am still drinking this poisoned tea."
He seemed to understand why she had entrusted the Maid's disposal to him. The Regent Duke's misunderstanding would open up opportunities for them.
The changed Medeia was breathing life into the precarious royal authority.
"So, don't worry and think about how to unseat the Minister who has broken away from your uncle."
"Unseat... Then I have something prepared for the Minister."
Ciseo muttered.
For the first time, color returned to his face, which had been dead with gray fatigue.
\ \ \
Ciseo's movements were soon reported to the Regent Duke.
"Your Excellency, the Chancellor's subordinates are investigating Minister Etienne's corruption."
"Ciseo? Aha. Now that I and the Minister seem to have broken up, he's going to try to win over at least one of us?"
The Regent Duke snorted.
"The reputation of being Baldina's young genius is all for naught. Instead of boldly rushing in, the young man is..."
The aide chimed in, subtly gauging the Regent Duke's mood.
"Your Excellency is absolutely right. It seems he's digging into the Minister's hidden slush fund. Should we inform the Minister?"
No matter what happens in the internal strife, they couldn't let him be bitten by a common enemy named Ciseo.
The Regent Duke was about to tell him to do so, but he paused and shook his head.
"...Hmm, no. Leave it alone this time. Let the Chancellor's side continue the investigation."
"Yes?"
"The Minister needs to be bitten once to realize how much he needs me. Etienne seems to have forgotten who he owes his safe tenure as Minister to."
"But... what if Ciseo catches something important?"
"Don't worry. Even if he succeeds, Ciseo won't be able to last long anyway."
The Regent Duke grinned maliciously.
It had been over half a year since he had been given the madness-inducing poisoned tea. The reaction would be coming soon.
"I wonder how long that brilliant mind of his will remain intact?"
Once the madness manifested, Etienne's punishment and everything else would be muddled.
"We already know the outcome anyway, so what's the big deal about showing that arrogant old man a little bit of a hard time?"
The Regent Duke chuckled.
\ \ *
One sunny afternoon.
"Who are you people!"
Knights stormed into Count Etienne's Residence.
Their epaulets bore the emblem of the Baldina Royal Family.
"Do you not know who I am? How dare some royal knights barge in here without fear?"
Before the Minister could sternly shout, his arms were seized and he was forced to kneel.
"Lark E. Etienne, you are under arrest for human trafficking, murder, and violation of military law."
"Let go, let go! What are you doing!"
The stern-eyed Knight Commander unfurled a scroll filled with the names of the missing.
"You wouldn't say you don't know Maid Cuisine and the children who disappeared from the Royal Palace, would you?"
"You smuggled out children belonging to the Royal Family, played with them until they died, sold the survivors, and used the money to create a slush fund. Even hell would spit out someone as vile as you."
'How did they find out!'
The knights, as if they had already prepared everything, moved without hesitation, presenting evidence.
For a moment, cold sweat seemed to run down the Minister's face, but he soon regained his composure and became brazen.
"Ha, do you really think you can touch me just for killing some commoner brats?"
He would pay a fine, and a servant would take the punishment in his place. He had money and power like an inexhaustible spring.
As if anticipating his point, the Knight Commander raised the corner of his mouth.
"Minister, I said earlier that you violated military law. Do you know that the children sold here were resold to other countries through the Black Eye Merchant Guild?"
"Wh-what?"
"The Black Eye Merchant Guild provided your slush fund. In other words, you leaked Royal Palace personnel to other countries during wartime."
Violation of military law during wartime was subject to immediate punishment. The Minister's face turned pale.
"Then we will transfer you to prison. Seize him."
The strings that Ciseo had meticulously laid were tightened around his neck at once.
Even the cunning Minister could not see a way out.
He resisted arrest, but was dragged away by the knights, his arms held tightly.
"Claudio! Tell Duke Claudio! That I've been arrested! Do you understand!"
Before leaving through the last door, he turned his body with all his might and shouted to his servant.
"Now, quickly! Immediately!"
"Y-yes, yes! D-don't worry, Master!"
Umberto nodded repeatedly, his expression barely suppressing his fear.
Meanwhile, the Minister's figure, dragged away between layers of shining silver armor, quickly disappeared.
"Wh-what happened?"
The people of the Count's Residence were confused.
Suddenly, royal knights had stormed in, arrested their master, and were now turning the house upside down.
"Why are they digging through our house? Why was our master arrested?"
"Found it! Found another body here!"
"Recover all the remains!"
Amidst the chaos, Umberto calmly did his job.
"I'll leave this to the Butler. I have to write a letter to Duke Claudio and go to the prison where Master is being held."
"Understood, Umberto. I'm counting on you."
The Butler left.
Instead of writing as the Minister had ordered, Umberto scribbled on the parchment, muttering.
"Car...mada... You son of a bitch..."
