Ch.2727. Scream

The chapel within the Imperial Palace.

Several of the most dignified individuals in the Empire had gathered here.

The Emperor, his direct descendants, and imperial family members residing in the capital. Also present were the Cardinal of the capital’s diocese and some ministers from the Court.

These were people whose status was so high that simply calling them the privileged class would be insufficient.

They were individuals who, even if they committed crimes, would face sanctions through agreements between powerful figures rather than through law, and whose minor transgressions could simply be overlooked.

On one side sat influential figures from outside the capital.

The Duke of Archknight, who governed the largest territory after the Emperor’s direct domains, along with heads and representatives of other powerful houses were present. They had been staying in the capital since the Cordana crash began.

It was extremely rare for representatives of the imperial family, nobility, and church to gather in one place.

“…Is all this really necessary?”

“Since my brother—I mean, since His Majesty ascended to the throne, we haven’t had anything like this. But this isn’t something we can handle discreetly as an imperial family matter anymore.”

“Good grief, what a mess he’s made. Tsk.”

Only the Emperor’s relatives could whisper like this; everyone else maintained grave expressions, their eyes fixed on just one person.

A young man with disheveled hair and dark circles under his eyes, forcing occasional coughs as if pretending to be ill.

It was the Prince.

Sitting uncomfortably in a chair without armrests, rolling his eyes around—he looked no better than a criminal awaiting execution.

Until very recently, no one had expected the Prince to fall so far.

In fact, quite the opposite was true. The Prince had enjoyed a good reputation both inside and outside the capital and had been meaningfully ahead in the succession race.

Although discussing succession was taboo given the Emperor’s robust health, among politicians there had been a growing sentiment favoring the Prince.

This was due to his seemingly clever moves before the market crash.

“It’s true that Hero Gwon Heejin has a poor attitude. It’s also true that he falls short in ability and character compared to previous heroes. But the Goddess must have had a clear reason for sending him to oppose the Demon Lord.”

The Prince was the first to defend Gwon Heejin when he was initially summoned and accumulating ill will.

One might say supporting the Hero was only natural—it’s not as if they could return him—but at the time, it was somewhat of a risky judgment. This was during the period when rumors circulated that Heejin would be defeated without even defeating one member of the Tetrad.

“I’m aware that Cordana is being traded secretly as the Hero’s reputation improves. I also know this is causing problems. So why not establish an official exchange where people can trade safely? This is the Hero’s suggestion.”

The Prince also collaborated with the Hero to establish the Cordana Exchange.

Thanks to this, Cordana, which had been traded privately, finally gained a market price. The previously erratic prices that fluctuated according to individual traders’ skills became standardized, and scandals from private transactions were greatly reduced.

And there was another decisive achievement.

“The Hero promised me he wouldn’t profit from Cordana himself. He said the war funds raised from the initial Cordana issuance were sufficient. However, he views investment in Cordana by imperial nobles positively.”

The Prince had also prevented the Hero, as the issuer, from selling Cordana directly. The Hero’s use of the exchange was officially prohibited at this time.

This measure eliminated investors’ greatest fear, as only the Hero knew the exact number of Cordana and only he could create them.

With these many accomplishments, the Prince had steadily expanded his support base.

In truth, he had merely acted as the Hero Gwon Heejin’s patron and spokesperson.

However, in an era when the Cordana frenzy swept through the Empire, friendship with the Hero was the greatest asset. Many nobles viewed the Prince as a money bag simply because of his close relationship with the Hero.

But now, all those achievements had become shackles.

“Your Highness. When did you become aware of the Hero’s false reports? Please don’t claim you learned about it after proposing over-the-counter trading to our Papal State.”

The Cardinal, looking half-broken mentally, desperately interrogated the Prince.

“There are rumors that Your Highness sent someone to the exchange to sell your Cordana holdings after the crash. Please clarify this.”

The Minister of Justice was attacking the Prince using even unsubstantiated rumors. In fact, more than half the questions were coming from the Minister of Justice.

The Prince looked hopefully toward the Emperor, but the Emperor was no longer a refuge for him.

***

‘Somehow, I must survive.’

The Prince barely held onto his fading consciousness. He was extremely tired from lack of sleep after his plan to use Erick as a scapegoat had failed.

Difficult questions were now pouring in under the pretext of investigating the truth.

With the Emperor present, no harsh words were spoken, but the questions being casually thrown contained clear hostility.

How could he escape this predicament?

Deposition, expulsion from the palace, the despair of possibly not receiving a title despite being the Emperor’s legitimate son, plus the crisis of potentially losing his fortune.

…Should he blame everything on the Hero?

He had considered that option.

‘But… the Hero is irreplaceable. I might end up being the only one to die despite our shared wrongdoing.’

The Prince was not irreplaceable. There were other princes and princesses.

But there was only one Hero.

Unless he died or defected, no new Hero would appear. Even if he died, the Goddess wouldn’t immediately summon another Hero.

Of course, if the missing finger became known, expectations for the Hero would plummet, but complete purging seemed unlikely. After all, they couldn’t hang a Hero summoned by the Goddess.

So he had to endure on his own. The Prince gathered his resolve and looked straight ahead.

First, he needed to escape the allegations of being involved in the false reporting controversy.

The Prince forced himself to act, shrugging his shoulders. Then he addressed the particularly aggressive Minister of Justice.

“Minister of Justice. You keep speaking as if the false report is fact, but that premise is wrong. The Hero never made a false report.”

“What did you just say?”

“I said it wasn’t a false report. If we must be precise, we could call it an inaccurate report without malicious intent.”

“……”

The Minister of Justice’s face twitched, but the Prince continued reciting his hastily constructed logic while trying to appear as calm as possible.

“Even before the Lizardmen, who are the same species as the current Beastman King, joined the Demon Lord’s forces, we had frequent conflicts with them. Their appearance and build vary slightly by tribe… but they have one thing in common. Do you know what it is?”

“…What is it?”

“They have a habit of playing dead when cornered. Any experienced adventurer or knight would know this fact.”

A lie that the Beastman King, defeated by the Hero, had escaped danger by playing dead.

Naturally, this elicited incredulous reactions among the nobles. Several people laughed helplessly, seemingly forgetting the Emperor was present.

“The Four Heavenly Kings aren’t some pet dog names to joke about.”

“Thanatosis? That’s just a concept from books. How many people have actually seen it?”

However, the Prince continued undeterred. He needed to push forward as brazenly as possible to buy time.

“Haven’t you heard reports that the Beastman King was covered in wounds when he rushed into battle to save his kind? The Hero truly believed that Beastman King Leoneo had died.”

“…Are you saying the Hero didn’t even verify whether the Beastman King was dead or alive?”

“I know. The Hero was careless. He honestly admitted it right after the false report controversy erupted. He looked remorseful.”

By this point, people began tilting their heads in confusion.

Regardless, judging that his logic had somewhat worked, the Prince decided to push harder.

“It was an exceptionally unique situation. Beastman King Leoneo was immune to the holy power of paladins. The fact that he didn’t panic and managed to defeat the Beastman King even after the Papal State’s elite paladin corps were all killed deserves recognition.”

“…!”

“I understand why I might be misunderstood. …But I promise. Neither the Hero nor I knew the Beastman King was alive. The Hero temporarily left the capital out of concern for unnecessary misunderstandings.”

The Prince pressed his lips together after this difficult explanation, thinking he had done well.

Though he hadn’t escaped the crisis entirely, he thought he could at least provoke a debate about the truth.

But what was this?

The expressions of everyone in the chapel were filled with dismay. The Prince swallowed hard, unable to understand their reaction.

The silence was broken a moment later.

“All… killed…?”

The Cardinal, who had been muttering blankly, suddenly shouted “No!” and began violently slapping both his ears with his palms.

As if trying to remove what he had just heard from his ears, as if wanting to pretend he hadn’t heard it at all.

“Aaaaaaah-!!”

The elderly Cardinal’s hysterical scream echoed through the quiet chapel.

By this point, someone should have restrained him, but unfortunately, the others were not in a normal state either.

“So you were with the Hero when it was revealed that the Beastman King was still alive? And the Hero was in the capital before fleeing right after the crisis erupted…?”

Only after hearing the trembling question from the Minister of Justice did the Prince realize he had confessed everything.

He hadn’t revealed the missing finger or the proxy trading that had continued since the market’s inception, but that was hardly comforting.

“Ah.”

A short exclamation escaped the Prince’s lips.

Simultaneously, the Minister of Justice collapsed in his seat, and the elderly Cardinal who had been slapping his ears began to wail.

One nobleman who had been sitting quietly suddenly burst into loud, hysterical laughter with tears in his eyes.

The Emperor closed his eyes tightly, and even the Crown Prince, who had maintained a composed expression until now, stared blankly at his brother with disbelieving eyes.

For a while, the chapel was filled with wailing, hysterical laughter, sighs, and groans.

In this chaotic situation, a few follow-up questions were barely managed. There was no reversal, and the investigation concluded in a miserable atmosphere.

After that, three punishments were handed down to the Prince.