Ch.160What on Earth Are You Thinking?

The Sigmillus Family Massacre.

It was a tragedy where all members of the Sigmillus family, a prestigious house of the Empire known for producing exceptional mages for generations, became monster feed overnight.

Because everyone involved was killed, the discovery was delayed; it took more than two days for the authorities to learn about the strange howls and dark mana leaking from the mansion.

“T-This is…”

“My God…!”

The knights dispatched urgently after receiving the report were left speechless at the horrific sight.

The once-splendid Sigmillus mansion was now filled with hollowed-out corpses and nests of insects, with no trace of its former glory.

The marble floors were slick with slime, and strange cocoons covered the walls and pillars everywhere.

Maggot-like monsters crawled around, leaving behind acidic secretions.

Looking up at the ceiling, moth and caterpillar-like monsters clung tightly together, flapping their wings.

Human facial skin was attached to their wrinkled hindquarters.

Between the eye and mouth holes of the skin, tentacles with sparse hair protruded like genitals, writhing obscenely.

“UWEEEEEK!”

A female knight vomited immediately upon seeing this.

No one reprimanded her.

As a new recruit who had just joined the knights, this was an excessively disturbing sight for her first mission.

It took two hours for the knights to eliminate all the monsters and purify the infested mansion by burning it down.

Despite searching the mansion thoroughly, not a single survivor was found.

It was truly bizarre.

While there were many monsters… they weren’t powerful enough to annihilate the Sigmillus family, which was full of mages—perhaps an ordinary noble house, but not Sigmillus.

After reviewing the investigation team’s report, the Imperial Knights identified Ophelia, the only person whose whereabouts remained unknown, as the prime suspect.

She was charged with conducting forbidden monster-related experiments under Imperial law, then killing everyone in her family after being discovered and fleeing.

Shortly after she was named a suspect, numerous pieces of evidence were additionally discovered, as if they had been waiting to be found. It was unusually quick work for the Knights.

Research records on monsters. Evidence of smuggling and concealing a robe of concealment, secretly replicating it.

Records of large amounts of funds used for unknown purposes and fabricated alibis to hide her movements.

These were sufficient materials to confirm Ophelia, who had merely been a suspect, as the perpetrator.

An arrest warrant for Ophelia van Sigmillus was issued throughout the Empire.

The Witch Ophelia.

It was an incident that brought the word “witch” back into the world after a hundred years.

“A witch?”

Isabella burst into laughter upon seeing the wanted notice.

—-

Normally, this would have been a case where they would mobilize numerous knights to find and arrest Ophelia at all costs.

It would have been the talk of the nobility for months.

However, rumors about Ophelia were erased from everyone’s minds in less than three days.

Because an issue dozens of times more significant than tracking down one evil mage or the destruction of a count’s family had occurred.

The Emperor had died.

The official cause of death was cardiac arrest due to old age.

The shameful truth that everyone hushed up was… a fatal accident while raping a maid young enough to be his granddaughter.

A fitting end for Ferdinand II, the Empire’s shadow emperor.

==============

I heard the news of the Emperor’s death two days after returning to the special quarters.

“…So he finally died. What happens to the throne now?”

“Since the senile Emperor died before naming a crown prince… it will be decided by the vote of the Prince-Electors.”

Frider, who had commandeered my sofa and was sipping tea, shrugged as he answered.

Well, I already know they’ll decide by vote in thirty-one days.

What I’m curious about is how the vote will turn out.

Though Leopold is said to be close to the secular Prince-Electors, if Ernst could win over just one of them, the outcome could be reversed.

Both princes must be frantically busy right now.

“So, until the vote, does Empress Isabella serve as acting Emperor?”

Frider shook his head.

“I don’t know how it works in Ka’har, but the Empire isn’t that simple. While the throne is vacant, all matters are discussed and decided by the court council. The Chancellor Lord Wien, the Empress, the princes, and various nobles all gathered together.”

“That council must run smoothly,” I remarked sarcastically.

It seemed like they would waste enormous amounts of time opposing and checking each other even to decide minor matters.

“Better than dancing to the Empress’s tune, right? At least for you.”

“Well… that’s true.”

Those who should know are already aware that I support Leopold.

If Isabella or Ernst’s faction had taken control of state affairs, I might have been subjected to all kinds of pressure during these thirty-one days.

“I don’t know why you got involved in the Empire’s succession dispute in the first place… but you should be careful anyway. You’re nothing but a thorn in the Empress’s side right now.”

Frider, who seemed about to leave as he rose from the sofa, sighed lightly as he offered this advice.

Seeing his sincere expression of concern, I could only nod in agreement.

I had planned to lay low for a while anyway.

As long as Isabella commanded Master-level knights as her pawns, recklessly going out to hunt monsters at this point would be throwing my life away.

Those insect knights—I could probably take down three or four of them well enough, but not knowing how many there are is concerning.

If eight or more of them ambushed me all at once while I was hunting monsters, even I would have a hard time surviving.

—-

After Frider left, I remained sprawled on the sofa for a while, pondering the situation.

Lena, who had been watching me cautiously, quietly slipped down to the dining room.

The Emperor’s death.

It wasn’t entirely unexpected. I had heard from Ludwig that the Emperor was on his deathbed.

But the fact that he died so suddenly when he wasn’t supposed to die at this point… it surely meant someone had intervened.

Circumstantially, Isabella was the obvious suspect, but I couldn’t be certain.

After all, Leopold’s side stood to gain more from this incident.

With the Emperor dead, Ernst would be finished if he couldn’t persuade Leopold’s Prince-Electors within the thirty-one day time limit.

Thirty-one days. Not exactly a generous timeframe.

Even if she was wary of Leopold’s growing influence, this seemed like an excessively extreme method…

What is Isabella thinking?

If her goal is to make Ernst emperor, her every move seems disastrous.

She surrounds the 3rd Prince’s faction with nothing but human garbage.

She kills the Emperor despite the unfavorable situation, making time even more pressing.

It was the same with Claire.

Setting aside how easily she discarded her, it would have been a perfect opportunity to assassinate me, yet she squandered it.

Since only three insect knights were deployed against me, I initially thought that was all there were.

But later, when I was breaking through their encirclement, three or four more appeared.

If all seven had attacked me at once from the beginning, they might have been able to kill me, but thanks to their divided forces, I was able to defeat them one by one.

I wondered whether this should be seen as strategic incompetence or if she never intended to kill me in the first place.

No, wouldn’t the obvious decision for anyone be to kill me and retrieve Claire?

Her unpredictable behavior left me confused.

======[Ernst]======

In a private chamber of the Imperial Palace.

The entire room, lit by purple light, was filled with thick smoke like fog.

“I heard Lady Sigmillus lost her life. Is that true, Mother?”

Ernst questioned his mother, Isabella, with an accusatory tone.

Frowning as each breath made his head spin.

Isabella, reclining on a bed draped with translucent curtains, took a deep drag from the hookah pipe beside her bed and smiled strangely at her son.

Around her lay unconscious boys and girls, completely intoxicated by drugs and pleasure.

Looking at the scene, Ernst struggled not to show his contempt.

“Claire? Well, she’s probably dead? At least, you won’t be seeing her again.”

“How calm you are. Wasn’t she important to you as well, Mother?”

Though Ernst didn’t like her, Claire van Sigmillus was, in his opinion, quite a useful talent.

She was close not only to the 3rd Prince’s faction but also to nobles in the neutral faction.

Having lost her, expanding their influence through social circles would be difficult from now on.

“Important? Huh… Ernst. You still don’t understand power.”

Mocking Ernst with a leisurely attitude, Isabella half-raised herself.

The thin blanket slid down, revealing her stark naked white body.

Ernst slightly averted his gaze.

“Ernst, remember this well. There are no important people in this world. Not to me, not to you.”

Showing her naked body bearing obvious traces of sexual activity to her son, Isabella exhaled hookah smoke nonchalantly.

“All people are the same. They just have different roles… but in essence, they’re all just chess pieces. Expendable items that naturally disappear after fulfilling their purpose. Even if they break, there are plenty of replacements. Why should one be attached to such things?”

It was difficult to completely deny her words. Especially for Ernst, who had extensive experience commanding armies.

On the battlefield, soldiers were indeed just chess pieces.

However, even in his opinion, treating people as expendable items was not the mindset that the ruler of the Empire should have, though it might be acceptable for a mere commander.

‘Indeed, this woman must not be given real power.’

Ernst reaffirmed to himself with his head bowed.

Yet he couldn’t strike down Isabella now.

Although it was called the 3rd Prince’s faction, the core forces were essentially Isabella’s pawns.

Befitting nobles gathered by such a woman, they were all despicable trash… but they formed the backbone of the 3rd Prince’s faction.

While there were quite a few nobles in the military who were pure Ernst supporters, Leopold was not an opponent who could be defeated with just those.

Therefore, eliminating Isabella at this point would be tantamount to suicide for Ernst, though it might be different after ascending to the throne.

“…Chess pieces. Did you think of Father that way too?”

“Ferdinand? Surely you don’t think this mother killed him?”

Of course he thought so.

After all, there was no one else who would do such a thing.

“If not you, then who? Our faction has been put in considerable difficulty due to his sudden death. What were you thinking to do such a thing…?”

Ernst’s voice carried a hint of reproach.

If the Prince-Electors’ succession vote were to take place at this point, the probability of losing was high.

The secular Prince-Electors were likely to support Leopold.

Of course, Ernst had plans to draw the secular Prince-Electors to his side.

While Ludwig might be impossible, one of the other two might be persuadable.

The Duke of Faelrun, constantly struggling with werebeast attacks, might be convinced if offered imperial troops and some Masters.

Though the possibility was low, given the recent quiet from the werebeasts, a large-scale invasion was expected eventually, and Ernst planned to gain support by offering substantial aid when that happened.

Lord Wien always wanted a fully independent autonomous territory like the Duke of Faelrun… so ceding the western or southern imperial territories would suffice.

If that wasn’t enough, he could even propose a political marriage like Leopold did.

While this would move away from the centralization Ernst desired, ascending to the throne was a more urgent matter.

Whether either of these issues could be resolved within thirty-one days was questionable.

“Difficulty? Rather, I’ve given you an opportunity. I’ve hastened the moment of choice before the Prince-Electors’ hearts firmly settle on Leopold. The rest is up to you, isn’t it?”

‘How easily she says it.’

As if guessing Ernst’s inner mutterings, Isabella smiled mockingly and waved her hand.

A gesture to leave.

With her other hand, she was stroking one of the boys.

Ernst obediently left Isabella’s room.

It wasn’t a pleasant sight, and he had nothing more to say.

____

A few days later.

The 4th Prince Matthias, who had been receiving priestly education in the Holy State, returned to the Empire after hearing the news of his father’s death.