chapter_0240

239 – Make Them Pay the Price

239 – Make Them Pay the Price

Arno’s pupils dilated.

He felt instinctive fear as the wolf in front of him bared its teeth.

Arno swallowed hard and shouted.

“Daniel Steiner! Do you know what you’re saying? I am royalty! A legitimate heir who inherited the blood of my late father, the Emperor!”

Daniel didn’t stop walking.

Thanks to that, Arno turned pale and raised his voice.

“Stop! Don’t come any closer! Daniel Steiner! I’m giving you a chance right now! A chance to bring down that monster for the sake of this empire and enthrone me, the rightful Emperor!”

The closer Daniel got, the more terrified Arno became, breaking out in a cold sweat.

Realizing that the situation was getting increasingly serious, Arno forced an awkward smile.

“Okay. I think I know what you’re trying to do. You’re worried about what will happen after I become Emperor, right? Then you can rest assured. I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”

Arno’s smile faltered.

“What do you say? If you join hands with me, this empire will be yours. You won’t have to worry about Selvia, that monster, anymore! For example… a comrade. Yes! I’ll be your reliable comrade!”

Desperate attempts at persuasion continued, but Daniel’s expression remained indifferent.

Terrified by that, Arno stumbled backward until his back hit a cold wall.

Thinking he could no longer escape, Arno gasped for breath.

“Answer me… say something, anything.”

The moisture in his voice spoke volumes about Arno’s state of mind.

Daniel stopped walking and stared intently at Arno.

“Arno. Do you think you are the rightful Emperor?”

Arno nodded blankly.

“I’d like to hear why you think you’re the rightful Emperor.”

Arno, watching Daniel’s expression, began to speak.

“If you saw the memories of the past, you would know. It’s because I am the only one who inherited my father’s blood.”

“Does bloodline make an Emperor? If so, shouldn’t the responsibility for that blood be heavier than others?”

As Arno looked puzzled, Daniel took out a leather glove from his pocket.

“Before coming here, I did a little research on your past. It was so easy that it wasn’t even worth calling it research. The head of the Inner Court, perhaps out of spite, told me everything about what you did in the past.”

Arno could only stare blankly as Daniel put on the leather gloves.

“You killed a maid who followed Selvia in the past because she wouldn’t undress in front of you. Around the same time, an arson incident occurred on the outskirts of the Imperial City, and an entire family lost their lives. Do you remember?”

Daniel, wearing the leather gloves, lightly clenched and unclenched his fist.

“The people who died in the arson incident were the maid’s family. The only reason they died was because they made you uncomfortable.”

Arno’s pupils trembled slightly.

“But you were not punished. The late Emperor, fearing that the authority of the Imperial Family would be greatly diminished if it was known that the prince was the culprit of the arson, concealed the truth.”

“That’s…”

“Besides that, you played with the lives of countless people according to your mood. All of them were crimes too terrible to even mention. Nevertheless, they did not resist. No, they couldn’t resist.”

Daniel’s cold gaze reached Arno.

“Because you inherited the Emperor’s blood.”

Because he was born as the Emperor’s son, Arno could stand above the law.

Even if he committed numerous crimes, the Imperial Family would side with Arno.

Punishing Arno would be admitting the Imperial Family’s fault, so it was natural to defend him.

Also, there were many nobles who wanted to enthrone Arno as Emperor, so Bertham couldn’t punish his son even if he wanted to.

The moment he admitted his son’s sins, he would be turning all the nobles who sided with Arno into enemies.

Thanks to that, Arno lived under the illusion that trampling on others was his natural right.

He acted as if violating and destroying the inherent rights of others was a fun game.

But Arno’s pleasure was not eternal.

When he lost the succession battle, all the nobles who had protected Arno left his side.

Duke Belvar was no exception.

Since he was no longer useful, he no longer felt the need to defend Arno’s misdeeds.

That’s why Arno hated Selvia even more than before.

He thought that Selvia had taken away all his pleasure.

That hatred made him turn away from reality.

Even though he had completely lost the succession battle, he couldn’t accept it and became obsessed with bringing Selvia down.

After digging into Selvia’s weaknesses with his eyes blazing, he found the truth that ‘Selvia is not of the late Emperor’s bloodline.’

He didn’t even think that the truth would end up strangling himself.

“Arno. The only advantage you have, you incompetent and hideous being, is that you inherited the Emperor’s blood. You yourself knew that that blood was protecting you, didn’t you?”

Daniel reached into his coat.

“But you didn’t know how to be grateful for the blood flowing through your body. You didn’t know how heavy the responsibility engraved in that blood was.”

In Daniel’s hand, which he took out of his coat, was a pistol.

“So, on behalf of everyone who died because of you, I will execute the law.”

With a casual gesture, Daniel pulled the slide of the pistol back and released it.

Click—

Confirming that the pistol was loaded, Daniel pointed the muzzle at Arno’s head.

“Do you have any last words?”

Arno’s mouth hung open blankly.

At first, he thought it was just a threat.

He judged it was a threat to gain an advantage in the negotiation.

But Daniel Steiner was really trying to kill Arno.

Arno, dumbfounded by that, moved his trembling lips.

“Are you out of your mind? You’re going to kill me? The last of the Imperial Family? Selvia, that monster, will…”

Daniel pulled the trigger.

Bang—

The bullet that flew pierced Arno’s head.

Blood splattered from the back of Arno’s head, staining the murals.

Arno, who had an expression of incomprehension, knelt down with a thud.

Then he slowly lowered his head.

Daniel, who had been looking down at Arno silently, threw the pistol.

The thrown pistol fell near Arno’s hand.

Bang!

Almost simultaneously, the door of the cathedral burst open, and Police Chief Bent and his accompanying police officers rushed in.

“What’s going on? Are you alright!?”

They had been outside the cathedral and rushed in because they suddenly heard a gunshot.

Bent, who ran to where Daniel Steiner was to assess the situation, could only gasp.

“This is…”

The royal Arno was dead, leaning against the wall.

It felt strange that the saints depicted in the murals and stained glass were looking down at Arno.

Bent, flustered, couldn’t say anything, and Daniel let out a low breath.

“His Highness Arno committed suicide.”

“…Suicide, you say?”

“Yes. The moment I told him that he was involved in the crimes committed by the Labor Union Party, he showed a pessimistic attitude and made a rash choice.”

“Yes? Even so, His Highness Arno would make such a choice…”

Bent, muttering in disbelief, raised his head and felt his body stiffen.

It was because Daniel Steiner was silently looking down at him.

“It’s suicide, Police Chief.”

A chill ran down his spine.

It seemed like he was being told not to question it, so Bent could only nod.

“…I understand.”

Daniel patted Bent on the shoulder and turned around and walked away.

Only then did Bent, who had been holding his breath, exhale and approach Arno’s body with the accompanying police officers.

The shock was long, but the two soon regained their senses and set out on their respective tasks.

One of the police officers, kneeling on one knee, carefully examined Arno’s body and wore a puzzled expression.

“Chief. Isn’t something strange? In the case of suicide, people usually put a pistol in their temple or mouth and shoot, but His Highness Arno has a gunshot wound in the middle of his forehead.”

The police officer’s brow furrowed.

“Besides, if he had shot with the muzzle pressed against his skin, there should be soot around the gunshot wound due to the gunpowder. But look at this now. I need to wipe off the blood to know for sure, but there is no soot visible on the skin, is there? No matter how you look at it, this is—”

“It’s suicide.”

Bent’s voice, interrupting the police officer’s words, was subtly trembling.

The police officer, who slowly raised his head, saw Bent with a fierce expression.

“This is suicide. Do you understand?”

The police officer, hearing Bent’s threat, understood what it meant and nodded.

It was because he was afraid of what would happen if he didn’t follow Daniel Steiner’s statement.

Daniel Steiner was a war hero and the real power holder of the empire.

In addition, he was running a private organization and killing people silently, so it was right to be careful.

The police officer, who didn’t want to die, turned his gaze to Arno’s body and opened his mouth.

“…I understand. No matter how you look at it, this is suicide.”

But why would Daniel Steiner do this?

‘Could it be? To completely take control of the empire?’

The police officer, who couldn’t know the inside story of the incident, was just scared.

A word from the author (Author’s Afterword)

Thank you for the 100 coin donation, qkqq****! Ah… I’m really sorry ㅠㅠ I’ll try to show you as quickly as possible in the future. Thank you so much for your support!

Thank you to all the readers who read my work!

Then I’ll see you again tomorrow!

Thank you for watching!