episode_0047

“An engagement at the foundation….”

Empress Herphina of Mersenne.

She was feeling something inexplicable right now.

So, forgetting that the tea was getting cold, she absentmindedly tapped her fingers on the tea table.

“….”

Of course, the maids, who had been silent for quite some time, were at a loss.

“How is this possible…?”

At the sudden outburst of the Empress’s voice, the maids were all startled.

It seemed like she was angry, yet there was a strange demeanor that didn’t seem entirely angry.

Since it was difficult to adapt, they had been restless since teatime began.

But to the Empress, deeply immersed in thought, the maids were just a faint background compared to the white clouds outside the window.

“….”

Feeling a headache coming on, the Empress closed her eyes and pressed her temple with one hand.

The ten knights who had been hired to obstruct the Crown Prince were all relieved of their duties due to negligence and imprisoned in the underground dungeon.

Coincidentally, none of them remembered what had happened outside the palace.

So, the Empress could only intuit that the royal knights, who had disobeyed her orders, were indeed negligent.

Undoubtedly, someone unknown had intervened.

Although it was incomprehensible, she had considered the possibility, so it was not surprising.

However, how did the incendiary Matapju, who had promised a significant price, manage to be stopped?

According to her father, he had promised to use such powerful magic that it would lead to a war outbreak.

Certainly, with the Northern Army Commander of Rivengard, they might have somehow managed to stop Matapju’s attack.

But even if they had stopped it, the elves would undoubtedly know that it was a human attack.

“But why hasn’t a war broken out….”

With such a situation unfolding, there was no way to dispel the uneasy feeling that lingered.

Moreover, the next morning, the incendiary Matap seemed to explode as if attacked by a transcendental being and twisted.

“Retaliation from the elves…?”

But that seemed unlikely.

The incendiary Matap had been under the commission of Count Shulain for quite some time.

And most of it involved destructive operations.

Though the details were not disclosed by Matap, the Empress couldn’t know what had been done.

Whether small or large-scale, each time a massacre occurred, reports came in of magic raining down from the sky.

Even though they committed such acts, there had never been a single instance where the mastermind was exposed.

“Perhaps, if it were elves manipulating spirits, they might have succeeded in tracking….”

But no matter how true that might be, it was impossible for Matap’s involvement to be revealed in such a short time.

Even if it were revealed, would the elves attack the Matap near the capital?

That made no sense at all.

“….”

What was even stranger was that communication with Matapju abruptly ceased after the failed commission.

“Surely he isn’t dead…?”

Serbis, who was supposed to be the last hope to correct the disrupted plan, suddenly became unreachable as well.

What on earth was happening right now?

With no clear outline in sight, it felt like wandering in the dense fog of early dawn.

Of course, nothing would happen to her son.

He had already risen to the forefront of the empire’s strongest ranks and led the army that had been praised for its unbeatable victories.

The Empress elegantly took a sip from her teacup. But soon, her expression turned sour.

“Oh, the tea has gone cold.”

The maids started bustling around.

“I-I’m sorry!”

“Right away, let’s boil it again-”

“It’s too noisy; everyone, leave now.”

The maids rushed out, and the empress smirked.

It was due to a sudden unpleasant suspicion.

“But… could it be that both the emperor and the crown prince are not poisoned by the toxin?”

It stemmed from an inexplicable unease felt suddenly in a series of events.

It was truly strange.

The emperor was dying, and the crown prince was in a state no different from madness, having lost even the abilities of an elf.

Even though it seemed so, rumors spread throughout the empire that the prince had averted the crisis at Tenafel, almost as if someone had orchestrated it all.

Furthermore, as if anticipating it, the emperor even announced Eos’s engagement.

Moreover, the day of the engagement coincided with the opening of the national festival, drawing the attention of the imperial citizens.

“…Is it a coincidence?”

The situation was not easy to accept.

Wasn’t the emperor already distant from power long ago?

At the brink of death, it was not incomprehensible for him to want to do something for his son belatedly.

But whether it was intentional or not…

Even avoiding multiple layers of schemes and asserting his will, it seemed too unnatural to be mere luck.

“Surely, he hasn’t recovered his health…”

If there was any hint of doubt, it was Glyntino, the court physician who provided medicine to the emperor.

In the worst case, if their actions were exposed, both the emperor and the crown prince might have stopped taking the poison.

However, even if that were the case, it was a toxin they had been consuming for a long time.

The remaining poison in their bodies was undetectable, and there was no antidote available.

Moreover, there was hardly any evidence directly implicating them.

In such a situation, it did not seem likely that the emperor and the crown prince could do anything productive.

Yet, unable to dispel the suspicions that lingered to the very core, she once again set down her teacup.

The empress instructed the maid standing quietly behind to bring the maid who administered the medicine to the emperor. After the maid left, she also called for the court physician of the crown prince.

– “I delivered the poisoned drink every morning as instructed!”

– “I also followed orders and added poison to the medicine every day!”

However, the two individuals brought in with a slight time difference almost vehemently denied the accusations, as if they already knew this situation was coming.

Somehow, through their unnaturally similar denials, it dawned on the empress that something was amiss.

Undoubtedly, these two had betrayed her.

But still.

There was no problem.

After all, the venom coursing through their bodies was currently devouring the emperor’s body and the crown prince’s mind.

The mastermind behind these two would be easily discovered with a brief interrogation.

The emperor would not last more than a year, and the crown prince, with a significant portion of his emotional control already destroyed, would soon cause another major incident.

Thinking how inconvenient it would be if such an event occurred during the engagement ceremony, the empress felt a sense of relief.

Handing a letter to each of the maid and Glyntino, who were present, she instructed them to deliver it to Duke Shulen.

Tasks like interrogations and witness eliminations would be left to the knights of the duke.

Even if these two did not catch on beforehand, it wouldn’t matter.

After all, within the palace, there were countless skilled individuals disguised as servants.

Soon, they would discreetly remove them from the palace.

And the crown prince’s engagement ceremony as well.

It would surely not meet the emperor’s expectations.

Already, she had prepared a grand event for her son, Servis, on that day.

To firmly establish their power, the barbarian king and the queen had entered into a hostile symbiotic agreement.

For the prosperity of the empire, the empress had maintained steady communication with the barbarian king through the duke.

The barbarian king readily accepted the empress’s proposal.

On the glorious morning of Mersen’s founding day, they decided to invade the western border of the empire.

After ruthlessly pillaging the small villages near the border, they had pre-planned to swiftly defeat the barbarian army once enough enemy soldiers had fallen at the forefront.

In return, Shleyn had promised a considerable amount of food and a vast sum of money. But that was not a loss; it was an investment.

Once Servis became emperor, those things would be insignificant.

And there was Bart, the marquis who had rushed over just because his daughter had been called to the empress’s palace once.

Although he didn’t show any signs of compliance yet, well…

What if their daughter faced unjust torment in high society in the future?

Or if more significant threats were suddenly directed at her?

Snickering—

Only then did the empress finally smile satisfactorily.

Eventually, even that stubborn man would bow down to her before long.

Anyway.

When the founding day ends, the only one receiving the admiration of the masses will be Servis, the empress’s son who prevented a severe disaster from befalling the empire.

The prince’s merit in averting the war with the elves?

The engagement ceremony?

Such things would soon be forgotten, buried under the prince’s achievements.

Of course, for some reason, she couldn’t reach her son at the moment.

But knowing her son, he wouldn’t forget about that important matter and would return to the palace soon enough.

As the empress began her descent, gazing at the sun outside the window, she murmured, “So, Your Majesty, enjoy that brief victory to the fullest for now.”

***

The maid and Glentino, who had been poisoned by the emperor’s potion, both ran to me in tears, begging for their lives.

Without waiting for anyone to speak first, the empress abruptly handed me a letter she had written.

“….”

Though the letter feigned defeat and was filled with useless words, I already knew from the novel how the empress exchanged secrets.

Finding hidden writing was a simple task.

Sprinkle black ink on the paper as if you won’t see anything.

Then the parts written in special ink will resist turning black, revealing their presence in stark white spaces.

Interrogate the messenger who delivered the letter to uncover the mastermind behind it, then burn them alive.

The clearly revealed words left no room for doubt about the empress’s intentions.

It seemed evident that she had caught on to the emperor and my deciphering.

“….”

I stared silently at the faces of the maid and Glentino, both pleading desperately.

Please spare us.

But I felt no sympathy for them.

It was because of these two that the emperor and the prince would meet their end.

I had kept them alive until now precisely for that reason.

It was a scheme to make them struggle in the hellish reality of anxiety, not knowing when they would be exposed due to my command.

While I had thought it might be helpful to keep them alive, given the current situation, it was questionable whether saving them despite the discomfort I would face was the right thing to do.

However, punishing these individuals, who had committed terrible crimes, with death seemed too lenient, leaving a sense of regret.

…Perhaps they could be used as bait.

As I smiled brightly, the two were vividly surprised.

“I will protect you, so both of you don’t go to the Duke’s residence and live as usual.”

I split Aqua into three pieces, leaving one and putting the other two inside the bodies of the maidservant and Glentino.

Now, even if they ingest poison or sustain significant injuries, Aqua will immediately heal them.

And at any moment of danger, I could instantly become aware.

“….”

After the two who had been bowing in gratitude left,

I looked at the yellow sky through the transparent window.

Before I knew it, a day had passed, and the sun was setting.

It was time.

I got up from my seat and went outside the Prince’s Palace with Astia.

Soon after, a magic circle appeared beneath our feet.

From a ship floating in the dark sky, magic was activated to board Astia and me.

The reason for boarding the Matop’s ship at this point, with the engagement ceremony approaching, was simple.

To prevent a disaster on the founding day, tonight I was determined to preemptively strike the barbarians.

Of course, first, I had to secure the magic stone that Count Bart had saved.

With that, I would be able to incinerate the barbarians who had already reached near the border with fire magic.

Next, I planned to take Marquis Felios and his knights aboard.

And the final destination of the night flight was.

The westernmost village of the Mersen Empire, Labrione.