Ch.165What Will Happen, Will Happen in the End.

Two days later.

Contrary to my expectations, there were no rumors about Matthias dying or disappearing.

Though he refused invitations and visits from others, spending all day with the Empress, quite a few people had reportedly seen them walking around together.

Among the nobility, the consensus was that this made sense since the prince was still a boy who had reunited with his mother after five years, but…

“The fact that he even refused my request for an audience is certainly suspicious.”

Lacy declared with a hardened expression.

Well, although Matthias was a priest of the rival Church of Saulite, the two churches weren’t exactly mortal enemies.

It was merely a power struggle, so refusing to even meet a candidate for sainthood from the other church was undeniably suspicious.

“So, what was it called… the Secret Martyrdom Apostolate? Have you decided to contact them?”

“For now, I plan to observe a bit longer. There’s a limit to how long he can unconditionally refuse audiences with others, so he’ll likely show different behavior before long. I’d like to see that first.”

—-

It took only two days for Lacy’s words to be proven right.

On the evening of the third day,

Matthias headed to the Rose Pavilion outside the district to meet his sister Leonore—

On the morning of the fourth day, he was found as torn-apart pieces of a corpse.

The district was thrown into chaos.

Following the disappearance of the 5th Prince Josef, another tragedy had struck the Imperial House.

—-

So he died after all.

The smoke I exhaled tasted bitter.

Though I had anticipated this, I couldn’t completely shake off the complicated feelings seeping in.

That morning, I headed to the 1st Prince’s palace at Leopold’s invitation.

How long had it been since my last visit?

The office door was wide open.

Strangely, that Royal Guard I’d seen before—what was his name, Hektor?—was nowhere to be seen.

Leopold sat in a chair at the back of the office, repeatedly tapping his fingers on the desk, seemingly unable to hide his anxiety.

His other hand was clutching his forehead.

I deliberately knocked on the open door to announce my presence.

Only then did Leopold seem to notice me, raising his head.

“Ah, Princess. Thank you for coming. Please, come in.”

After stepping into the office, I placed one hand on my chest, bowed my head, and greeted him.

“It’s been a while, Your Highness Leopold. Is this our first meeting since the Battle of Ainfeld? Have the injuries you sustained then healed completely?”

“Those injuries were fully healed quickly thanks to the priests. Thank you for coming so promptly despite the sudden invitation.”

Seeing Leopold up close after so long, his complexion was extremely pale.

His once-neat hair was slightly disheveled, and traces of cold sweat remained on one of his cheeks.

It seems that even for him, Matthias’s death was an unexpected development.

“Given the circumstances, of course. I heard Prince Matthias was murdered—is it true? How did it happen…?”

Though I’d known about his death all along, I feigned ignorance with my question.

It seemed better to hear how the news had been conveyed to the Imperial House.

“Regrettably, it’s true. He was found in a terrible state with only his lower body remaining, buried among the scattered remains of a carriage in the middle of the path to Leonore’s villa. The paladin assigned to guard him also died in the line of duty.”

“Regrettable, you say? I would have thought this would be welcome news for Your Highness Leopold.”

I remarked as I sat down on the office sofa.

Perhaps my comment was too blunt, as Prince Leopold awkwardly stroked his chin.

“Princess, you might need to… relearn the Imperial language. Using honorifics isn’t everything…”

What’s this? He seems more serious than I expected.

Wouldn’t Leopold benefit from Matthias’s death severing the intimate relationship between Ernst’s faction and the church?

“Of course, if Isabella or Ernst had met such a fate, I would have raised a toast in celebration. But Matthias was still just a child.”

“Weren’t you planning to eliminate him anyway once you ascended to the throne? I assumed you wouldn’t want to leave potential problems behind.”

After all, Matthias, having lost his mother and brother, might harbor vengeful feelings toward Leopold.

Or rather, it would be natural for him to seek revenge.

“My goodness, did you really think me such a cold-blooded person…? I had no such intentions. I planned to leave him alone if he went to the Holy State and lived quietly, never returning to the Empire.”

“I see. I apologize for the misunderstanding.”

Really now. What’s the difference?

Saying you’d leave him alone if he behaved means you were ready to deal with him at the first sign of suspicious activity.

Leopold nodded lightly, seemingly unbothered.

“Very well. We don’t have time to waste, so let’s move past the mourning talk and get straight to the main point.”

“The main point?”

Leopold let out a deep sigh.

“Things are taking a very serious turn. And not in my favor.”

—-

The investigation team that arrived at the scene concluded that this incident was a monster attack.

Their evidence included the completely shattered carriage, claw marks on the debris, and the body with more than half missing as if devoured.

They said faint traces of dark mana and strange footprints, presumably from monsters, were also found around the scene.

Given that a paladin had been killed, the possibility of it being the work of a simple monster or bandits was completely ruled out.

Naturally, no one believed such a story.

What were the odds that two of Isabella’s children would die from monster attacks?

Since monster traces could easily be fabricated, anyone would suspect foul play.

And indeed they did.

Upon hearing the investigation results, people began pouring out their own speculations about what really happened.

As if they were investigators themselves.

These were hardly speculations—they were nothing more than rumors.

Among them was the rumor that Prince Leopold had ordered his subordinates to assassinate Matthias.

Of course, no one was foolish enough to openly make such claims against a powerful heir to the throne.

“Can’t you just dismiss such nonsense as slander?”

“It’s not that simple… Unfortunately, this conjecture is half-mixed with truth…”

What?

Mixed with truth?

My mind snapped to attention.

…Wait, what does that mean?

“Wait, did you really assassinate him? You just said it was regrettable!”

I thought Isabella had killed him.

I didn’t think Leopold would do something so insane.

“I never gave such an order. But the one who killed Matthias was… my guard knight, Sir Hektor.”

Leopold gritted his teeth.

As if he had completely abandoned his princely dignity.

“…So you were set up. Is that why that guard knight wasn’t visible?”

“Yes. He’s been missing since yesterday… He’s probably not even alive anymore.”

I could roughly guess what had happened.

Isabella must have used Hektor to disguise Matthias’s murder.

Whether Hektor was a traitor from the beginning or was somehow manipulated by Isabella remained unknown.

“Because of this, I’m in a very difficult situation.”

Leopold sighed.

======[Isabella]=======

“But, Your Majesty, will people really believe that?”

In Isabella’s bedroom.

Unconscious boys were sprawled under the bed, while on top, two naked women were entangled with each other.

One was voluptuous, the other fresh and youthful.

Both showed clear traces of lovemaking, presenting an extremely lewd appearance.

Isabella’s lady-in-waiting, Silvia, wrapped her arms around the Empress’s waist and rubbed her flushed cheek against her.

The girl who had been Kenneth Bernstein’s younger sister.

Her pupils were half-dilated, intoxicated by drugs and pleasure.

Isabella smiled as she stroked Silvia’s hair.

“Silvia, when people hear an implausible explanation, they naturally become suspicious. They’ll think there must be some hidden truth. If you then subtly reveal a more plausible lie to such people, as if it were the truth accidentally exposed, what do you think happens?”

That’s why she deliberately left just enough traces of Hektor—just enough to be discovered by someone investigating with suspicion.

“Some will still be suspicious, of course. But most people will say, ‘See! My suspicions were right!’ and be satisfied. And once satisfied, they stop questioning. They don’t realize this too is a lie, and instead believe it to be the truth.”

It wasn’t as simple as she made it sound. She had to deliberately leave traces while carefully judging the appropriate level.

If Hektor’s traces were too easy to find, people would suspect it was intentional and remain suspicious. But if they were too difficult to discover, they might not be noticed at all.

The difficulty had to be just right—enough to give the discoverer a sense of self-satisfied achievement.

She had been somewhat clumsy with Josef, but this time, even Isabella herself thought it was perfect.

“Is that so…?”

“Yes, it is. Now, let’s stop with these headache-inducing topics and come here.”

Isabella cupped Silvia’s face with a sweet smile, lifting it slightly.

“Yes…!”

Silvia smiled broadly as she kissed the Empress.