“……We will discuss the issue of the divine item, the Blessing of the Blue Sea, at a later date. That is not the focus for today.”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

Empress Frédérique quickly resolved the unexpected development. The audience politely bowed their heads. They were surprised and curious, but it was only right to wait now that their lord said so.

My teacher told Isabelle and Christelle to go to one of the Empress’ living rooms to rest, but they politely declined. The two of them wanted to watch the trial of Simon de Sarnez until the end. They also wanted to stay respectful to the people he had sinned against. They chose to stay by Joanne, the Duhem siblings, and the Bellangs for that reason. Laura got some hot quince tea for everyone. Vice Captain Élisabeth continued the trial.

“We will bring in some witnesses now, your Majesty. Our first witness is the mother of the recently deceased young master Robert Blanquer, Duchess Cecil Blanquer.”

The rest of the trial proceeded quickly. The prosecution and the important witnesses all came and went. Duke Sarnez answered all questions, but his gaze was blank as if his soul had left his body. Isabelle’s words of despair must have stabbed him hard in the heart. Whether it was regret that was way too late or him feeling apologetic…

“The wet nurse found this in the dead Robert’s hand. It is a portion of the envelope that Duke Sarnez sent him.”

Duchess Blanquer, who was dressed in all black, opened a small magic glass box with her gloved hands. There was a mottled piece of paper in there. As the Imperial Crown Prince’s aunt and the Empress’s sister-in-law, she had not been staying in the Tousart Palace but the Strauder Palace. Her husband and the young Duchess were by her side, also wearing all black. The father-daughter duo were wearing veils, making it hard to see the looks on their faces.

I couldn’t look away because I was worried about Eva. She seemed okay when I saw her the other day, but the loss of a family member tended to rush in without any warning. It would be even harder to handle in a place like this.

“Before death arrived…… He must have felt something was weird. He grabbed the envelope that he threw into the furnace with his bare hands.”

“My goodness.”

“Both hands of the corpse were burned black. He was holding it so tightly that it was hard to open his hand even before rigor mortis set in.

“How could there be such a death?”

Duchess Blanquer quietly testified while the nobles covered their mouths or looked up at the ceiling and gasped. The Archbishops closed their eyes and quietly prayed. Duke Sarnez now had his head down, but his shoulders were moving up and down.

I thought that it was smart not to bring the little guys here as I clenched my teeth. Robert Blanquer’s last moments had been miserable. I got chills looking at the Duke, who would have gone about his day as usual, even after coming up with such a method of getting rid of Robert. The Grade 8 mage who dueled against crown prince Cédric last summer… His specialty was magnetic force. The Duke used the negative feelings the young master had for me to use him as a messenger.

I wasn’t feeling pity for the dead. I also had no plans on talking about how his talents were wasted because he died so young. The last letter he sent Eva was full of verbal abuse and greed. He also seemed to have abused the staff while living imprisoned in the villa. However……

“There was a tiny amount of poison on the piece of envelope the young master was holding. It is so volatile that it would disappear without a trace in a few days if it is not contained in a sealed environment. Thankfully, the reactions were clear. It was not a plant poison that is easy to detoxify but a critical poison from a demonic beast.”

Vice Captain Élisabeth’s father, Sir Michel Moutet, who was here as a witness, explained. He was a renowned botanist and surgeon, providing critical help for this incident.

The Empress moved one eyebrow. Basically, Duke Sarnez used Robert but did not trust him. It was because he was carefree and conceited. That was why he was willing to use another human being as a ‘single-use’ card. He had placed poison on the opening of the envelope and waited for Robert’s death. He believed the young master would naturally die by the time he changed the envelope and burned the one that he had sent. It ended up happening exactly like that. However, the Duke had overlooked Robert’s level of malice. He didn’t expect that guy to cough up blood and dig through the fire with his bare hands after sensing his death.

“That…… That is impossible. Young master Blanquer received my Divine Oracle. He would not have been able to do anything that could harm Duke Sarnez or myself! Maybe the evidence is fabricated?” A rough voice cried out.

Everybody looked toward the woman. It was the other defendant, Eugénie Kessié, who had been quiet until now. The old woman’s eyes sparkled under her grey hair.

“I was planning on addressing that next, Archbishop.”

Kessié glared after hearing Vice Captain Élisabeth not call her ‘your grace.’ The young Countess didn’t care and continued.

“You testified before coming here. You said that you gave Divine Oracles to many people to help Duke Sarnez. Please reveal to us who else in addition to young master Blanquer you did that to and when.”

“……Please promise that I will not receive the death penalty if I do so.”

“Oh.”

The Archbishops groaned and shook their heads at the old woman’s answer. They must be feeling frustrated as some of them took off their mitres and fanned themselves with their hands. The Empress’ blood-colored gaze was calm as if she didn’t hear the nonsense.

“Realize the situation you are in, Archbishop!” Someone shouted, but Kessié glared in our direction with a vicious gaze. I became anxious and looked at the crown prince and the attendants next to me, but I was not wrong.

She was glaring at me like that.

‘Why? Was this the issue that Benjamin was talking about?’

“That was what I was told while being dragged here. I was told that I would not receive the death penalty if I cooperated……!”

– Swiiiiiish, stab!

“Aaah!”

Something flashed! Kessié screamed.

‘Gaaaaaaaaasp!’ The audience gasped and moved back.

I gasped, leaned forward and tilted my head. There was a familiar dagger stabbed in front of the old woman’s knee-

“……Your Royal Highness?”

‘It’s you this time?’

“You can reach your death earlier by running your mouth like that.” The young man growled at the Archbishop like a hungry black panther.

“A lowly bat wishes to live above ground?”

I urgently lowered my gaze to see that the dagger that should have decorated the side of his boot was not there. He must have pulled it out and thrown it because he was not allowed to use magic inside here. The two adults and even his teacher, Sir Johann, did not look like they wanted to scold him.

I opened and closed my mouth a few times before just staying quiet. I couldn’t even scold him since the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. ‘This is what he’s seen and learned, so……’

“I secretly contacted young master Blanquer during the Masquerade. It was the day the sky opened and the golem ran wild.”

‘But it worked!’ Vice Captain Élisabeth pulled the dagger and put it away as if she was used to this.

Kessié continued to speak like water flowing down a mountain. “Duke Sarnez first met the young master on the balcony and explained the scheme. I offered to interrogate him when he was imprisoned in the Blanquer Duchy. I thought that they would not reject my offer as the Lord’s Castle did not have an Archbishop. I pretended to listen to his confession while putting the Divine Oracle on him during a private meeting. I met with the others secretly in the Sarnez Lord’s Castle……”

The listeners became full of astonishment every time the old woman said something else. Starting with the Assistant Leader of the Imperial Capital Garrison, a majority of the soldiers and knights that Duke Sarnez personally offered to the Empress had gone through her Divine Oracle. The Archbishop’s strong brainwashing in addition to the loyalty to the Duke made it almost impossible for them to become free from the shackles. That was why the Imperial Guard tried to kill us without any hesitation and the Garrison attacked the Duhem Lord’s Castle without any issues. The two of them had bravely placed the Empress’ name on their puppets.

The things that I saw during the Masquerade suddenly filled my mind like flashbacks. The guests who were spinning to the music… The ballroom where the grim reaper, the witch, the angel, and devil were all gathered together. The magnificently sparkling chandelier.

‘Did you properly plant the tulip roots?’

That was the clue I had heard from Robert Blanquer.

‘It was different from a normal revelation. Everything turned dark and I could smell the stench of a terrible plot.’

Little Bacary’s prophecy was the second clue. But that was not enough. Finally……

‘Your grace. To do this all of the sudden-’

‘What do you mean all of a sudden? I told the Duchess that I was going to leave last night as well.’

Archbishop Eugénie Kessié had caused a scene saying she would leave the sealed Lord’s Castle when the dungeon suddenly opened. I finally realized the reason she wanted to leave. She didn’t want to stay in the dangerous area any longer since she had done her job. Especially since she was someone who cherished her life so much.

“You don’t know how the dying Robert Blanquer was able to break the Divine Oracle?”

The Empress asked. Kessié’s lips shook as she looked at the Empress.

“It’s because that punk was different from you guys.”

“……”

“He was such a disgrace that everybody in the Imperial Capital knew about it. He upset the Duchess quite a bit. But he at least knew the importance of honor. That was something instilled in him his entire life.”

“Your Majesty!”

“He didn’t want to die so shamefully. He didn’t want to dirty his name even if it meant burning both of his hands. He did not do it out of a desire to get revenge on you bastards. That is why he wasn’t affected by the Divine Oracle.”

“……”

“I am not a priest. It’s laughable how you as an Archbishop do not understand something like this.”

Kessié closed her mouth and lowered her head. Silence filled the room for a moment. The Empress watched the scribes recording away at the bottom of the steps and motioned to the Vice Captain of the Imperial Guard with her eyes. It was a signal to continue.

“……Yes. According to the autopsy performed at the Blanquer Lord’s Castle on the day of the young master’s death, poison was discovered in his body. Sir Moutet has confirmed that the poison matched the demonic beast poison found on the envelope.”

“Furthermore, that same poison was found on the body of the deceased young master Andresy as well.”

“What?!”

The young Countess and her father took turns explaining.
The nobles started to whisper loudly at the sudden mention of Andresy. Young master Andresy was responsible for the terrorist incident at the opening ceremony of the Officer Candidate School.

The Empress and Cardinal had calm gazes as they waited for what would be said next. Sir Michel’s grey eyes sank low.

“His Royal Highness, who found it suspicious that the deceased terrorist foamed at the mouth, requested that I perform an autopsy. We were able to confirm a reaction to poison. The impact of the explosion of the magic tool was the cause of death; however, it seems like the young master was told to take the poison prior to the incident in the case that he survived. I’m sure it was to hide the ones responsible for it.”

“My goodness!”

“How could a human being have such thoughts?!”

“He was only fifteen, fifteen! What would a kid like that know?!”

“Please don’t put the blame on your great grandmother. You are a devil as well!”

“……”

Both nobles and religious figures raised their voices to condemn Duke Sarnez. The Duke lowered his gaze and silently accepted the fingerpointing.

I tightly clenched the warm holy stone orb. It was a similar situation to that time. The audience room had been in this same atmosphere when the Count’s House of Andresy was tried for throwing away sick children for generations. At that time, I thought that everybody who was in the room felt the same way. I fully trusted that they meant it when they got angry about the evil deeds and pitied Old Lady Pomme and Henriette.

However, that was not the case. Simon de Sarnez had been thinking about how to use the Count’s minor son even at that time. He urged a child, someone not mature enough to have keen judgment, and led him to his death.

I clenched my eyes shut and shuddered. It was probably just my imagination, but I felt like the flame inside the orb was burning even warmer.

“I’m sure it was your misguided faith that caused you to use a traumatized child to cause a terrorist incident and destroy the positive public sentiments he holds. Furthermore, you made yourself a victim so that you were removed from the suspects list early on. Did you think that there would be no future trouble as the child’s parents were in prison?”

“……Yes, your Majesty.”

A rough voice answered the Empress’ question. I could hear sighs all around.

The middle-aged woman glared at the man who was once her favorite vassal.

“Your plan would have been perfect. If only young master Blanquer did not splatter ink on the envelope sent to Lady Belliard. No, it would have been perfect had Belliard not brought the envelope to me.”

The Duke jerked his head up. His chin was shaking as his jaw dropped. He must have not expected what happened. Cardinal Boutier chimed in.

“That was your mistake, Simon. You don’t see people as people. You can’t fathom the thought of humans showing different reactions based on different variables. Did you think that people were just pawns on your chess board?”

“Why, why did that end up coming to her Majesty-”

“Because Lady Belliard is indebted to the prince. It was just a cause and effect that you did not know about.”

“……”

“Simple, isn’t it? I’m sure you feel despondent though.”

The Duke’s face looked completely lost. On the other hand, the Empress who had been mocking him was no longer smiling.

“Not only did you betray your Empress and turn your back on your motherland, you dared to mess with my vassal, a Pair de Riester with the blood of the Imperial family. In addition……”

It was at that moment.

– Boooom!

The audience room door opened without any notice and an Imperial Palace Knight wearing silver armor entered. Both the Empress and the crown prince glared at the same time. He received everybody’s attention. The man’s armor clanked as he quickly walked over and knelt down underneath the stairs. He was breathing heavily. I suddenly had an ominous feeling.

“Your Majesty, please kill this lowly one if you must! But I had no choice but to interrupt your precious time because of an urgent message.”

“What is it?”

The young man caught his breath and slowly raised his head. I felt like he made eye contact with me for a moment.

“Venetiaan’s…… The crown princess of the Holy Kingdom has sent an urgent message. The scroll has the symbol of the Agent of the Queen.”

—
Translator’s Comments

Oh snaps. What’s Elise doing?

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