Chapter 43
Imperial Consort Cleo looked as if she were dying to run to Prince Brian, but she barely managed to restrain herself due to the maid beside her, who held her back.
Then, seeing me and the Emperor’s focused gaze upon me, she ground her teeth.
Oh, it seems she’s realized how the cards have fallen. I had to struggle to keep from laughing.
The Emperor asked, sounding bewildered.
“He… he called you? That sword…?”
“Yes. I was the one who fought a demon beast in this very underground maze, suffered a fatal wound, and failed to wake up.”
To call what happened a ‘fight’ would be a stretch even as a lip service, but since the Emperor liked that sort of thing, I decided to play along. I let the lies flow smoothly.
“Did Your Majesty not find it strange? No matter how many suspicious rumors there were, almost no one has ever fallen from the Maze Garden into the underground maze before. Yet, I and the foster daughter of the Duchy of Castline happened to do just that!”
“O-Oh, yes, indeed.”
The Emperor responded to my words, still looking dazed. I continued my passionate performance, my words slick with practiced ease.
“Assassins targeting the Imperial Palace set a trap in this underground maze and gathered demon beasts!”
“W-What?!”
“This sword reacts whenever there is something wicked nearby! That is why those who held this sword in the past felt something strange. It was because the current Imperial Palace was filled with wicked things targeting it! However, Father… while my physical body could not wake, the sword spoke to me.”
Who would believe that? A sword talking.
So, I decided to win fair and square through agitation and fabrication.
If you’re going to call my words nonsense, then you lot should grab the sword and fall into a coma to prove it yourselves!
“The sword’s power was weak, so it could not speak properly to those who were wide awake; it could only fully express its will to me while I slept. It told me to wake up quickly and stop the conspiracy targeting the Imperial Palace! I only finally opened my eyes at dawn today. Ah, I had no idea the situation had become this dire!”
I wiped away a tear, gripped the sword again, and shouted internally.
‘Shine!’
Flash!
Once again, a holy light filled the narrow maze. Faced with such undeniable visual evidence, the Emperor, who could no longer ask if the sword was a demonic sword, changed the subject.
“B-But why is Brian here like this…?”
“As for Brother Brian, I am sorry to say…”
I turned my head and gave a subtle wink. Right on cue, High Priest Illian arrived with a solemn expression. He stepped forward and presented a small box.
“Respected Emperor, we have confirmed that Prince Brian’s hunting gear was heavily coated with bait used to lure demon beasts. We were able to find similar items in the Prince’s quarters just now.”
“W-What is the meaning of this, High Priest Illian?!”
“It’s a lie, Your Majesty! Why would Brian?!”
Sensing the crisis, Imperial Consort Cleo cried out convulsively. Of course she would. While Brian was thoughtlessly away saying, ‘Wow, I’m going to catch a golden wolf,’ we were busy fabricating evidence.
The Duchy of Castline had a conscience of sorts. They didn’t spread anything with a danger level equivalent to nuclear waste like the Imperial Consort had. It was just common bait, the kind often used on battlefields.
“I have been formally investigating the evidence that Imperial Princess Titania was cursed since yesterday, with Your Majesty’s approval. Your Majesty! High Priest Margid came today to purify the curse…!”
Imperial Consort Cleo continued her words while glaring at High Priest Illian.
“High Priest Illian, were you not the one staying in the Empress’s Palace to care for Titania until now? It makes no sense that you are only finding such evidence now!”
“Imperial Consort Cleo is correct.”
High Priest Illian bowed his head with a sorrowful face.
“If I failed to discover something truly wicked in the Rose Palace under the pretext of caring for a patient, then the title of High Priest would be hollow. With the goal of disciplining my own inadequacies and intending to be of some help to the Imperial Consort’s investigation, I have been searching the entire Imperial Palace since dawn today.”
High Priest Illian paused for a moment.
“However, I am sorry to say… the person in charge of the ‘investigation’ Her Highness conducted yesterday was merely an apprentice priest who had been coming and going to check on Her Highness’s health. He was someone who could not properly read the traces of when or where that evidence was planted, or who brought it in.”
The plan to corner High Priest Illian—who had sided with the Duchy of Castline—by claiming he failed to recognize the curse due to ‘lack of ability’ had backfired in this way.
Caught in her own trap, the Imperial Consort said flusteredly, “T-That makes no s-sense! What does it matter if they are an apprentice or a regular priest when it comes to purifying something wicked?!”
“I heard that my respected brother, High Priest Margid, was scheduled to arrive at the palace today. If I may be so bold, Imperial Consort… why did you not request an investigation from me yesterday, knowing I was staying near the Empress’s Palace, and instead conclude it was a curse targeting only the Rose Palace and summon Brother Margid for today?”
The Imperial Consort spoke desperately.
“I did so because Titania would not wake and strange rumors were coming from the Rose Palace!”
“If I had been invited to purify the sword, I would have gladly examined it. But Your Highness did not call for me.”
The Emperor’s expression changed. He looked at the Imperial Consort with eyes full of suspicion.
Of course, up until yesterday, the Emperor likely expected that the Imperial Consort was up to some trickery. He probably intended to cover for her to some extent.
But he was not the kind of Emperor who would protect and trust an Imperial Consort whose schemes were being exposed before so many people.
Imperial Consort Cleo knew this fact better than anyone, and her face turned deathly pale.
“Imperial Consort. I will ask one thing. Did you say the evidence of that curse was buried in the Rose Palace?”
“Y-Yes! Everyone saw it! As soon as rumors about the sword being a problem arose, I was worried there might be an issue with the Rose Palace…!”
“That is impossible.”
Just then, Raymon walked over and spoke. Without a word, he snatched the ‘evidence’ in question from the Imperial Consort’s maid and brought it into contact with a rat he had captured.
As soon as the rat touched the pitch-black ‘evidence,’ it twisted its body in agony, bloated up, and lunged at Raymon with a shrill screech. Raymon swung his sword once and killed it.
The rat, which was clearly small just moments ago, had instantly swelled to the size of a wild boar before becoming a corpse sprawled on the floor. Everyone watching this spectacle was speechless. The Emperor was particularly shocked.
“W-W-What is this?”
Raymon explained in a polite tone.
“If this had been buried in the ground for a long time, the area around the Rose Palace would have turned into a demonic den where neither man nor beast could live, giving birth to demon beasts. As you can see, it is a wicked object that turns wild animals with weak will and power into demon beasts just by touch. If there is grass nearby, it withers; if there are animals, they become demon beasts. I entered the palace in haste today because I sensed an unsettling energy from the Imperial Family.”
Even though he knew Raymon had been frequenting the Empress’s Palace using me as an excuse, the Emperor’s face went white, seemingly quite shocked by the sight of a palm-sized rat swelling to the size of a young boy and attacking right before his eyes.
Yes. He thought the Imperial Consort’s deeds would end at a moderate prank; he never imagined she would put even him in such danger.
Raymon spoke to the Imperial Consort in a cold voice.
“I ask Your Highness. What was the color of the soil in the Rose Palace where this object was buried?”
The Imperial Consort instinctively sensed the crisis and evaded responsibility.
“T-The Rose Palace’s garden was burnt and charred from the previous commotion, so it was in such a mess that the color of the soil was hard to distinguish…! Y-Yes. The Head Maid of the Rose Palace is right over there.”
Head Maid Natalie stepped forward and bowed before the Imperial Consort.
“Are you not the one in charge of the Rose Palace? You were responsible for accompanying the search for the curse. Well, what was the color of the soil?”
“As Her Highness the Imperial Consort said, the current state of the Rose Palace is not good, so it is quite different from its original appearance. There is scorched grass and unrepaired materials scattered about…”
Raymon cut Natalie off with a freezing voice.
“I heard the Rose Palace is in a bleak state because the servants have decreased and the owner has left. Is it truly correct that this object was accidentally buried in the ground and discovered during Your Highness’s investigation?”
If I had truly been ‘cursed’ and suffered repeated calamities without waking, the soil around the Rose Palace should have already turned pitch black and the vegetation should have died, making it a living hell.
If it were truly an object that had been buried under the Rose Palace for a long time as the Imperial Consort claimed, an accident should have happened long ago.
Especially since all sorts of animals would have roamed the sparsely populated Rose Palace grounds.
Therefore, digging deeper into the situation would only be a loss for the Imperial Consort.
Because she could never reveal that she had prepared that evidence of the curse herself, buried it in secret, and then dug it up immediately.
The Imperial Consort bit her lip hard in fury.