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After a brief moment of silence, the emperor finally spoke.
“I had no idea he was that crazy. I was also deceived.”
“Is that so?”
Ian said, his voice dripping with disdain.
The emperor gritted his teeth inescapably. Ian had never shown that kind of expression to him. He always showed only an obedient expression.
“I will handle the situation on my end. You said he was being sent to an underground interrogation room, right? Please hand over the new soldier to the imperial palace.”
“No, Your Majesty.”
Ian shook his head in disagreement.
“We will handle this incident in accordance with the laws of the church, given that it took place in the cathedral.”
The emperor secretly chewed his tongue nervously.
The cathedral’s underground interrogation room had a reputation for being vicious and cruel, contrary to the mercy shown by Elune. Once captured, it was only a matter of time before Edward Vichen revealed his true identity.
‘I don’t want it to be revealed that he belongs to Nine.’
“And, above all.”
Ian added, sounding displeased.
“He is the one who tarnished my wife’s honour. If I don’t punish it with my own hands, my anger won’t go away. So don’t worry about him, Your Majesty. It was as if he never existed from the beginning.”
The last words were eerily cold.
The Emperor could no longer refute Ian’s words. He saw with his own eyes what Edward had done to Irene.
‘That brat.’
Maybe he won’t see Edward again. As Ian himself guaranteed.
The emperor made a new plan. In that case, before his useless life comes to an end, he should first use his hands on this side to prevent him from swearing for no reason.
After carefully organising his thoughts, the emperor began to speak.
“Alright. I’ll leave that up to you… And, today’s commotion.”
The emperor gazed upon the chaotic aerial garden and office, reflecting on what he saw, and spoke.
In the office, the nobles who were still imprisoned stared blankly at them with eyes filled with incomprehension.
“Tsk,” said the emperor, clenching his tongue.
“First of all, I will have my knights finish it.”
“Go ahead.”
“Knights, please politely serve the disturbed guests… My technicians will explain properly so there are no misunderstandings.”
The guests who gathered in Ian’s office were all prominent, high-ranking figures.
Since they were made to kneel with gags on them, the repercussions will never be small.
‘Shit.’
The emperor cursed. Even in his own opinion, he believed that resorting to violence against high-ranking officials was excessive
“I hope the Imperial Knights will properly persuade my guests.”
Ian looked back at the emperor and coolly raised the corners of his mouth.
That day, the emperor’s knights untied the guests one by one, offering them apologies and bribes to keep them quiet.
However, the more shocking the rumour is, the more difficult it is to prevent it from leaking out.
Due to the knights’ strict control, there were no rumours circulating about the emperor suspecting Ian of treason.
However, a secret rumour began to circulate that the emperor had barged into the place where his brother had been secretly making love with her wife and made the saintess cry, much to her surprise.
***
Knock, knock.
As soon as I heard a knock on the door, I swiftly rose from my comfortable spot on the sofa and nestled myself next to Ian.
“Yes, come in.”
I spoke loudly to the attendant, picked up a raspberry from the plate, and brought it to Ian’s lips.
“Try this too, honey. Now, ah.”
Ian looked down at me with a raspberry on his lips. There were many different looks in his eyes.
What, why. You only have this many.
We even kissed as part of our acting, so feeding him raspberries was not a big deal. If I hesitate about this, the innocence on my lips that has vanished will weep.
The servant placed a fresh assortment of fruit on the table before exiting the room again.
Only then did I quickly distance myself from Ian.
“Haaah. I can’t relax even in my own home.”
As I sank deeper into the sofa, grumbling to myself, Ian suddenly spoke up.
“Why can’t you rest? Don’t bother wearing a mask just because they are in front of you.”
“You want me to look like this in front of other people?”
As I was putting raspberries in my mouth, I got angry and glared at Ian.
“Absolutely not. Are you unaware of how my image is recognised by the public? I must say, Irene Grace has become quite popular in the capital as a saintess known for her elegance and kindness.”
“Although it may sound a bit awkward, I must say that you have excellent speaking skills.”
I shot a glare at Ian, noticing the slyness of his lips.
These lips consistently utter hateful words whenever they speak, yet their texture is surprisingly soft and smooth, akin to a lie.
‘No. No’
My cheeks heated up as a thought suddenly crossed my mind, seemingly out of nowhere.
What are you thinking, me?
After practising kissing, I found that I had developed an unusual habit.
Even though it was a completely unsuitable situation, memories of that time come back to me all the time.
‘Is there something broken? This damn brain.’
As expected, I did something I wasn’t used to, and it seemed like I was in trouble.
I glared at Ian’s lips again.
It was impossible for me to break down like I do now every time I perform a kiss. It seemed like I needed to work harder for a while and get used to those lips.
“Hmm, anyway. Have the autopsy results come out yet?”
“I already received a report on the way.”
Ian said it in a dry voice.
“They said the cause of death was poisoning, and that the poison was a type commonly available in the back alleys, making it impossible to trace.”
“….Then. Okay.”
Edward Vichen is said to have died in the interrogation room yesterday.
This was before the interrogation even began. As he was being captured and escorted to the interrogation room, he suddenly collapsed, foaming at the mouth, and unfortunately, he never regained consciousness.
‘Did Edward commit suicide because he was afraid of being interrogated? or not.’
Did Nine try to cut off his tail?
Either way, it was clear that Edward, who was thought to be the leader, was also one of the tails that Nine could cut off.
Disgusting bastard.
I leaned deeper into the sofa and clicked my tongue.
My original goal was to make Edward and Nine incur the Emperor’s wrath and have them punished by his own hand.
But as things progressed like this, Edward was the only one who was punished.
‘It’s nice that Edward ended up like that, but…’
It was inevitable that it would be a disappointing result.
Well, I can’t do it.
It’s true that the results weren’t the best, but I couldn’t just feel sad about it.
I glanced once more at the note I had scribbled earlier. Ian and I had a conversation before the servant entered the room.
“We need to find evidence somehow.”
I nervously tapped on the paper with the tip of my pen, expressing my thoughts.
“Proof that the Emperor assassinated His Majesty the Former Emperor.”
There was no other way to legitimately remove the emperor from the throne….
“It has been over ten years…”
Ian said it with an expressionless expression.
“There is no way he would have left any evidence.”
“There must be some way.”
I glanced downward at the note.
Finding evidence of an old crime from more than ten years ago would never be easy. However, for some inexplicable reason, I couldn’t bring myself to abandon hope. It is true that I did not want to let go.
“There is no need to necessarily look for fair procedures and methods.”
Ian said.
“Because there is a method called force in the world.”
“That story has already been concluded.”
I coldly cut Ian off.
As in the original work, I will prevent Ian from leading the Holy Knights into the imperial palace. I had already made up my mind to do so.
Ian didn’t respond to me. The side of his face, as he looked indifferently into space, was so opaque that it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
But I could roughly guess what was going through his mind. If I don’t find the right way, he will go ahead with his original plan. Ian Esteban was not a man so soft-hearted that he would overturn a long-established plan just because others persuaded him.
‘So we have to come up with a plausible way. A plausible way to…’
I had to come up with a plausible method to completely convince Ian.
As I stared at the note for a while and thought about it, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
“The place where the emperor assassinated His Majesty the Former Emperor.”
I muttered as if possessed by something.
“Where is that place?”
“Do you mean the abandoned palace?”
At Ian’s words, I opened my eyes wide.
“The abandoned palace?”
“The palace where His Late Majesty lived has long been closed since the death of Her Late Majesty. Now, the knight is always guarding so that no one can enter.”
“They’re always protecting it? Still?”
It smelled suspicious. Very fishy.
I saw Ian gently suppressing my heartbeat.
“Is there any evidence available at this time if they have been kept so far?”
“We can use the restoration magic.”
Ian said.
While talking about his parents’ revenge, his voice was insensitive. I didn’t know it was because it was repeating what he had already thought of dozens or hundreds of times.
‘By the way, restoration magic?’
My heart raced even faster.
Then I already knew the existence of the magic.
‘Where did I hear it? … Ah. Right.”
Soon there was a hint of memory.
It came naturally. The restoration magic was introduced towards the end of the original story, just before the final scene.
“If it’s a restoration magic that can replay the memories of a particular place, you can play the scene from the time of the assassination, right?”
“Is it worth using it, then? The knight is guarding, but if you are or Joan, they can’t overpower it!”
“If you forcibly enter and cast magic, you won’t get anything.”
Ian spoke in a hushed tone, as if he had just finished reading the newspaper.
“Because it has already been damaged by fire and poison.”
“…….”
“Even one convenience of the past will not be found in it.”