Ch.189Suppression (8)

“Damn it… All the stairs going up are blocked.”

Naturally, the longer they drag this out, the more disadvantageous the intruders’ position becomes.

Since the intruders are disguised as retainers and guards, their numbers are inherently limited, while the king’s royal guards and soldiers vastly outnumber them.

Above all, even with a map in hand, they can’t possibly know the layout better than the royal guards who actually work in the palace. No matter how much they try to evade, they can’t completely shake them off.

Breaking through the royal guards might be possible if they use all their strength, but what comes after is the problem. With such a significant numerical disadvantage, they can’t afford to carelessly waste their manpower.

‘No choice.’

“When we reach the next staircase, we charge through whether there are enemies or not! We must eliminate the tyrant by any means necessary!”

“Yes, sir!!”

But if they remain idle, more soldiers will keep pouring in, and the king might use that opportunity to escape. The only option left is to break through, even at great cost.

Tch… I should have pushed through from the beginning, even if it meant taking losses.

Things have gotten too complicated because the royal guards are unexpectedly fanatical.

‘It’s absolute chaos outside.’

Judging by the occasional sounds coming through the windows, soldiers must be retreating to attack Dijon, yet so many have gathered around the palace.

Is it because the walls allow them to defend with minimal personnel? Or does it mean the king prioritizes his own life even if Dijon falls?

There could be several possibilities, but what matters now is that soldiers are spread all over outside the palace.

If we capture and kill the tyrant, it’ll be difficult to escape alive, so perhaps taking him hostage would be—wait, what’s that?!

“Stop!!”

At my command, the guards halt instantly. We need to keep moving constantly to avoid being surrounded, so they look confused by the order to stop.

Stupid fools, moving blindly without observing their surroundings.

*Swish*—

“…!”

As I point with my sword tip behind a pillar and tilt my chin, the guards finally seem to understand what I’m trying to say.

It’s very faint and only visible if you look carefully, but there are bloodstained footprints leading behind that pillar.

Which means someone is hiding behind it.

Whether that someone is an ordinary servant or an enemy in ambush is impossible to know at this point, but we should proceed assuming the worst.

“Who’s there?!”

“Eek…!”

‘…Not an enemy, it seems.’

It appears my worst assumption was wrong.

The guards who cautiously approached the pillar from both sides attacked the figure hiding behind it, and judging by the brief startled cry, it seems to be a maid who couldn’t escape in time.

Tsk, we’ve just wasted time.

“If it’s not an enemy, let her go. We’re in a hurry.”

Despite clearly not being an enemy, the guards drag the maid out from behind the pillar. The maid is so terrified she can’t even scream.

Really, why bother with such pointless actions? We should just leave her and quickly find a way up to the upper floor—

…Huh?

“El… len…?”

……….

“What’s the situation? Skip the salute since the enemy might spot us.”

I rushed to the palace, and from what I can see, the intruders haven’t been subdued and are still moving around inside.

I had hoped the situation might have been resolved peacefully, but that seems unlikely now.

“Yes, Your Majesty. The rebels are currently contained on the second floor. We’ve sealed all exits, but since they might escape through windows, we’ve surrounded the palace with soldiers and obstacles.”

“What about Jeanne and Ellen?”

“Lady Jeanne successfully escaped through a different secret passage than Your Majesty, as confirmed. As for Lady Ellen… some servants witnessed her entering the palace, so we believe she hasn’t managed to escape and is still somewhere inside.”

…My bad premonitions are never wrong, it seems.

“However, the intruders seem completely unaware of Lady Ellen’s presence. If they had captured her, they would certainly use her for leverage or threats, but there’s been no sign of that.”

“That’s at least some good news.”

Given that the person behind this madness is trying to kill me, they would certainly use any means necessary, including taking hostages. If they haven’t done so, they must not have discovered Ellen yet.

I hope she stays well-hidden until this is over.

“Captain, I need to let them know I’m here.”

“What?! But that would—”

“Enough, I know. When those crazed rebels learn I’m here, they’ll charge desperately toward me. Use that to annihilate them.”

The captain of the royal guard is shocked and tries to dissuade me, but my following words prevent him from doing so.

As someone trained in tactics, he understands perfectly what value I hold and what an enticing bait I am. Above all, my firm resolve makes him abandon any further attempts at persuasion.

The captain looks at me as if I were a knight from a story willing to sacrifice even his life for his beloved, but his expression also seems to ask if I’m really doing this for a mere concubine.

…Come on, pick one expression or the other.

“How soon can you announce my presence?”

“…Please wait ten minutes. We need to completely block all routes to Your Majesty in case something goes wrong.”

Ten minutes… it should be a short time, but why does it feel so long?

“Very well, do your best.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!!”

I’d like to urge them to hurry, but I’m not an expert, so I should refrain.

When a completely uninformed superior rushes field workers, the results invariably turn out terrible.

Please stay hidden for these ten minutes, Ellen.

……….

“Ellen!!”

“…Student Louis.”

Louis finally finds Ellen and calls her name with joy, but Ellen looks back at him with undisguised disgust.

After all, Louis is with an armed group covered in blood that Ellen has never seen in Dijon before, and he had spoken of “dealing with His Majesty”—terrible and treasonous words.

Ellen has no doubt about who is behind this incident. She merely despises the traitor who dared invade the palace to assassinate His Majesty.

“Thank goodness, really… Come, follow me quickly.”

But Louis fails to notice Ellen’s emotions.

The guards beside him immediately realize something is wrong from Ellen’s expression.

That’s because Ellen has never shown Louis any other kind of expression.

“It must have been so difficult for you all this time by the tyrant’s side. Being of common birth, you couldn’t properly resist—”

“Get lost.”

“—What?”

Naturally, Louis receives a cold rejection from Ellen and his face fills with bewilderment.

Why?

Why is Ellen refusing?

Surely she must have been hurt greatly while serving by the side of a tyrant who takes and violates women at will.

Being of common birth, she couldn’t speak out against the king and must have been manipulated in all sorts of ways. So why is she refusing?

‘…Brainwashing?’

Yes, that’s entirely possible. No, it’s certain.

The cowardly and despicable tyrant has clearly twisted Ellen’s mind.

How dare he do such a thing…!

I should have protected Ellen, a commoner by birth. I should have killed my father sooner.

“Poor thing… Come, let’s go.”

“Ugh…! Let go!!”

“Stay still!! What are you all doing?! Quickly, Ellen—”

*SLAP!!*

Finally, Ellen’s hand strikes Louis’s cheek, and Louis stares at her with a confused expression, as if he simply cannot comprehend the situation.

“Student Louis… No, you… I’ve never liked you! You always act as if I should naturally obey your words because you’re a noble!”

The intruders, who should be protecting their lord, don’t subdue Ellen. It would look bad for grown men to rush at a single unarmed woman, and given the situation, their bodies aren’t following their minds.

In the strange silence, only Ellen’s angry voice echoes.

“What?! ‘You shouldn’t meet so-and-so because they have ulterior motives’?! ‘The arrangements are ready, just come quickly for the ceremony’?! Did you think I would naturally accept your words?!”

Ellen recalls past days with indignation.

Louis holds the belief that nobles have a duty to guide commoners and lower classes onto the right path, which is essentially no different from a severely twisted sense of superiority.

Since falling for Ellen, Louis has consistently treated her with the mindset that she would naturally accept his demands while trying to guide her onto the “right path.”

“But if you become a duchess…”

“Shut up!!”

Moreover, Ellen, having been granted a title, could never be treated like a pet by Louis. This shows that Louis has unconsciously looked down on Ellen’s origins.

From Louis’s perspective, as someone from a prestigious family, Ellen may have received a family name, but she’s fundamentally a commoner—someone ignorant of proper etiquette and without a lineage.

The intelligent Ellen, with her sharp perception, had long noticed Louis’s attitude and felt an indescribable aversion toward him.

Since Ellen had been educated by Claude in her childhood—someone completely opposite to Louis in character—that aversion had turned into disgust over time.

“Why, why…”

Ellen, having received a family name and working as a university professor, is exceptionally beautiful. If left alone, she would surely be harmed by someone, so I should have protected her by any means necessary.

Because I didn’t protect her, she ended up being abducted by the tyrant, leading to this situation.

Ellen couldn’t have refused me, the heir to a duchy—or rather, she shouldn’t have… So why…

Urgh…!

*GRAB!!*

“Ugh…!”

“Stop talking and come with me now!!”

Finally giving up on persuasion, Louis grabs Ellen’s hand for the first time and tries to drag her away. The intruders, witnessing their lord’s unseemly behavior, exchange glances, hesitating over who should intervene first.

Come with him? Is this even reasonable?

They need to reach the third floor as quickly as possible to take the tyrant’s head, but how can they achieve their goal while dragging along a weak woman?

“Your Highness, please calm down. Miss Ellen…? Anyway, if you wish to take her with us, we should bind her properly and come back for her after achieving our objective.”

“No, absolutely not! We might lose her again that way!!”

“Your Highness…! Please—”

“Hmm… What a spectacle.”

“—?!”

Suddenly, the intruders are startled by an unfamiliar voice coming from directly behind them.

It’s a slender, beautiful woman’s voice, but not just any woman’s voice.

Slender yet powerful, beautiful yet sacred.

Yes, like the voice of a saint in prayer.

“What—grrk…”

The intruder at the back of the group dies instantly as Jeanne’s straight sword severs his cervical spine before he can even realize what’s happening.

The intruder collapses forward with a gurgling sound, and Jeanne, who had been hidden behind his body, reveals herself to everyone.