‘……Agent to the Queen? Wasn’t that Werner Venetiaan? Did it change to crown princess Elise? What is going on in the Holy Kingdom now?’

“The country that schemed to kill the vassal of another country is sending a message at an odd time.”

“……”

“I’m sure it is not a birthday card. We are not friendly enough to celebrate each other’s birthdays.” Empress Frédérique sharply added on.

The surrounding had turned completely silent as if someone had poured cold water over them. That was right. The trial taking place in the audience room right now was neither light nor simple. One of the Pair de Riester, Simon de Sarnez, had betrayed his liege and his country. He received orders from an enemy nation’s royal family to murder me, a Marquis, while also framing multiple of the Empress’s vassals in the process. He committed murder and violence to cut off his tail as well. He also messed with the Imperial Capital Garrison and the Imperial Guard to use force. They were all crimes of high treason and felonies. It was understandable for the Empress to feel upset about a message from the Holy Kingdom at this time. It would not end with just her anger if they were trying to blame someone for this. If they had no idea about the current situation at all, that would also make her have suspicions.

The Imperial Crown Prince and I made eye contact. His orange eyes were slightly shaking.

‘Did he sense the ominous feeling I was getting? Honestly speaking, it would not be weird if a battle broke out at any moment. You’re anxious too, right?’

“……Yes, your Majesty. Based on how no presents were sent with it, I believe it is not a birthday greeting. However, this message was urgently sent through the Vatican. The messenger was Queen Christanne’s close confidant, Count Palatine Roosegaarde.” The messenger bowed deeply as he reported.

The Archbishops started exchanging glances after hearing the family name of Roosegaarde. I focused on getting used to Riester and learning about it since transmigrating here so I lacked information about Venetiaan.

‘But I think I heard Roosegaarde before somewhere. Did I read it in a history book?’

The Empress scowled. “The House of the High Priest of the Rose Garden?”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

“Now that I think about it, I heard the Archbishop had some fun going in and out of the Vatican.” Her cherry-colored gaze instantly glared at Eugénie Kessié. She resembled a cheetah on the plains that would not forget about her prey.

The old woman flinched and her neck shook. The husky voice became even lower.

“Deliver the letter from the crown princess to the Cardinal. This Empress will not read it right now.”

“…As you command, your Majesty.”

The young knight showed his respects and got up. Everybody’s gazes moved with him. The young man’s armored back had the flag of the Imperial family as well as a leather bag. He held the bag with both hands as he offered it to my teacher’s attendant. She bowed back at him and pulled a purple parchment out of the bag and offered it to Natalie. There was a refined crest that felt very different from the Riester coat of arms on it. It was the same as the letter I received from Christanne last time. The only differences were the decorative white gold ropes on either end, with no other golden threads or jewels as decorations.

‘Is that the symbol of the agent of the Queen?’

“Let’s return to the trial.”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

Vice Captain Élisabeth immediately bowed her head at the Empress’s words. Duke Sarnez took a deep breath and sat up straight. As for Kessié, she was shaking as if someone had fed her poison that caused convulsions. The spirit that allowed her to ask for anything but execution was no longer visible.

“Eugénie Kessié went back and forth between the Empire and the Vatican to work as a spy for the Holy Kingdom. She received direct orders from the Cardinal of a hostile nation. She would fulfill the orders and receive compensation through carriages belonging to the Vatican. She wickedly used the fact that this Empress could not inspect the property of the Pope. Helping the Duke’s scheme was neither coincidence nor accidental.”

“Ha, ha…… I must have been out of my mind……” I heard Kessié mumbling. The pale priests dropped their jaws in shock. Some of them looked dizzy and disgusted. They seemed quite shocked at the fact that someone they prayed and preached with had sold off her country.

My teacher was opening the parchment from the crown princess. I peeked my head to look at her face but the Empress’s soulmate, as expected, showed no clues at all.

“This is what you admitted to the Imperial Guard last night. Do you admit to your sins?”

“I must have been out of my mind to say that……!”

I couldn’t help but jerk my head. Kessié was not upset about her sins, she was regretting her confession. I was astonished.

“What ludicrous statements are those?!” The old woman did not stop despite the Pair de Riester dissuading her. She screeched in a grumpy voice and shook her head while scolding herself. “You stupid thing. You believed them when they said they will let you live?! Why did you hang onto her so easily? Did you think that the Imperial Princess who left the palace would help you?! Eugénie!”

“Hey, Archbishop!”

“My money! All those years of my life! Why did I do all those things to get to this spot?!”

“My goodness. She’s out of her mind!”

“Aaaaaaaaaak!”

– Bang! Bang bang!

The woman knelt down and slammed her forehead on the ground. Christelle moved quickly from the witness seats to hide Eva in her arms. Maria and Thérèse also buried their faces in their older brother and sister’s shoulders while Baroness Ann Bellang hugged her emotional daughter and closed her eyes.

“I should have ran! I should have just run away!” Boom! Boom boom! The crazed screeching continued. Her wrinkled face instantly became bloody. It was a terrible sight.

I covered my mouth with the back of my shaking hand. I could feel my lips shaking as well.

“You stupid Eugénie Kessié! You rolled around the Beau Monde for decades! Yet you believed something like that so easily!”

Boom! Boom!

“Keep it up.”

“Aaah! You should have just stayed in the countryside……”

Kessié stopped screeching and looked up at the Empress. Blood had dripped into her eyes. The blood that dripped down the tip of her chin wet the similarly colored carpet.

I focused my gaze at the tip of crown prince Cédric’s boots. It was hard to watch.

“It won’t be bad if you die like that. In fact, that would be beneficial.”

“……”

“An execution costs money after all.” The Empress’s voice was chillingly stoic. Her voice didn’t sound like she was trying to convince her to stop, but it also did not sound overly cold as if she was egging her on. It was just dry and stoic. It was as if she didn’t care how a traitor met her end.

“Haa……” Kessié let out a cry-like sigh and stopped her self-harm. She must have felt dizzy as she touched the ground with her hands. Nobody stepped forward to help the criminal wipe off the blood.

The Empress clicked her tongue and continued to speak. “The religious figures of the Empire are temporarily banned from entering the Vatican. All of the foreign priests in the Empire will be banished in the next month. This is an Imperial Decree.”

“Ah……”

“……”

A cold silence swept through the audience room. I blinked my eyes.

This was an extremely grand proclamation. The Empire and the Holy Kingdom were in a thoroughly hostile state, but religious interactions had been an exception. The now naturalized Sir Johann and Sand had also come to the Empire through the Vatican. The reason Gerrit was able to safely get here was also thanks to us smartly using the servitor process. The children of the nobles also spent a few years getting religious education there, so there was nothing else that needed to be said. The Vatican had always been the bridge between the two countries and the door to the Vatican had never been closed since the Warring Era. It was understandable to see this as an ominous precursor.

“Your Majesty.” One of the Archbishops cautiously spoke up. It was a face I had seen at the Annual Prayer Meeting. “If you would allow this old one to say something… Since old times, cutting off access to the Vatican-”

“It will not be for a long time. I only plan to cut off external access until we take care of things internally.”

“……Yes, your Majesty.” The old man complied and stepped back.

A senior figure like him accepting it and with the situation being as serious as it was, none of the religious figures dared to say anything else. The Empress and the Cardinals must have already discussed this in advance.

The monarch leaned against the throne and released her cravat a bit.

“Let’s continue.”

“Yes, your Majesty. The next to testify is Baron Fabrice Bellang. The Baron was framed by the propaganda material created by the Duke, said to have secretly brought in child soldiers from the Holy Kingdom to train them……”

The Vice Captain of the Imperial Guard earnestly continued the trial. Natalie quietly approached me at that time.

“Prince Jesse.”

“Yes, Natalie.”

“Her Eminence requests you to come to her side.”

‘My teacher?’ I looked at the Cardinal with confusion. Her profound and mysterious beige-colored eyes still did not give off any information. I got up silently and moved to the highest spot. I saw the crown prince’s gaze follow me so I just mouthed that big bro will be right back.

‘I hope he didn’t actually understand that. I wonder if Elise talked about me?’

“You summoned me, your Eminence?”

“My dear student. Did you happen to be unwell in the past few months?”

My teacher looked up and warmly whispered.

‘Huh?’

“Uhh…… Not including Portal Nausea or overheating, your Eminence?”

“Yeah, those are exceptions.”

“What about when my ether was blocked?”

“Let’s take that out as well.”

“I was very healthy, your Eminence.” I immediately responded. The Cardinal tilted her head.

“Any time you suffered in silence until you got better?”

“There are people who would scold me if I did that, your Eminence. That would be impossible for me to do.” I thought about Benjamin and Ganael and almost chuckled as I answered. Percy and the little troublemakers were there as well, so it was rare for me to be completely alone these days. I had no reason to be sick either. I had always been pretty healthy and Prince Jesse seemed to be the same.

‘It’s just the weather that bothers me.’

“I thought the same, but the crown princess seems to think differently.”

“Excuse me?”

She whispered and showed me the parchment. It was a familiar handwriting. It was the same handwriting from the letter ‘Usil’ had sent me. “……I received information that my younger brother has been accused of an unreasonable dishonor in her Majesty’s land. I know that you would be very much aware of this fact but, before Prince Jesse is a diplomatic hostage, he is the son of the esteemed Queen Christanne. As a result, unless it is a major crime such as rebellion or murder with indisputable evidence, he has immunity from being arrested for any reasons. Furthermore, he has eternal qualifications to get the greatest lawyer on the continent to represent him and be protected……’

‘Ugh, I guess they heard about it.’ I pursed my lips and read the letter. As there was a significant distance between the two countries, Elise seemed to only have information from the early days of the incident. I could sense her deep concern and affection in each word.

‘However, even before all of this has started, I have determined that the prince is in a physical state where he is unable to protect himself. This is a private issue of the Venetiaan Royal Family, so I hope that your Majesty understands why I am unable to……’

‘Wait a minute. A physical state where I am unable to protect myself? Me?’

“Wasn’t the imperial gift embezzlement case under the Duke’s jurisdiction?”

“How could he have lived with two faces like this?”

“He messed with an unresolved case to place the blame on the Baron!”

The room was getting rowdier. I raised my head with a chaotic gaze. Baron Bellang, who was on the stand, looked extremely sad. The Duke was blankly staring at a spot on the ground as he slowly testified.

“The imperial gift theft…… That was Victoire D’Andresy’s doing. However, we didn’t have a thief with such a name at the time.”

“Victoire? Are you talking about Madame Victoire?”

The man nodded his head at a noble’s questioning. I urgently rummaged through my ‘gabag.’ My teacher looked at me with an odd gaze.

“We found that person’s business card at the site, but…… Nobody knew of her identity at the time. There were traces of something being buried and dug up, but that was it. There were no witnesses and we wanted a way to find the large amount of wealth that the inn owner had extorted. I had informed her Majesty that the incident was showing signs of being prolonged. However…… Not long after that, a thief with the same name appeared and her exploits spread all the way to the Imperial Capital by fall.”

“Yes.”

The young Countess coldly answered and the Duke weakly admitted it.

“By that time, it was…… After I had received the order. I kept the incident as unresolved just in case.”

“You were even planning on using that as one of your cards?”

It was a sharp question. The man was dripping burnt discharge as he answered.

“It is a common method in the Beau Monde. Bring up small past events that nobody remembers to expand and exaggerate it…… It is something any of the Pair de Riester would have easily thought about.”

“Please don’t disparage the other Pair de Riester. Accept your sins as yours alone.”

“Don’t even think about rationalizing it on someone else!” I shouted in anger. Everybody looked toward me in surprise. I opened the notebook in my hand. It was not mine. “Late May was when you started searching Lucas Village. This is the diary of Henriette D’Andresy, the original Victoire in question. I have received it as a keepsake.”

“……”

His jaw dropped open in disbelief.

‘I’m sure he didn’t know.’ This had been the responsibility of my friends and I. This was a case that the Bakery Detective Office had received.

“There were no talks of when and what she stole. I don’t think her Majesty would have given this to me had that been the case. However, it does say something else. ‘May 15, in the year 1613 of the Holy Calendar. It was on our way back from watching the Great Clearance of Demonic Beasts. We ended up staying at a place called Lucas. All of the people laughed at our clown act. This was the first time I was gifted a basket of flowers. Something happy had happened to the village and they wanted to share.’”

I read Henriette’s words out loud. Christelle and I exchanged glances. I was certain that we were thinking about the same spring incident. I did my best to maintain my composure as I read the entry from a few days later.

“May 20th. I finally arrived at the sea. I heard that the Sarnez territory was plentiful, but the bottom was no different from my hometown. This time, I gifted a flower basket.”

“……”

A really long period of silence followed. I looked right at the Duke who looked at me with the stupidest expression in the world. My throat was hurting from pure anger. But I still had to say this thing.

“Madame Victoire stole that money to help the people in the slums of your territory. But you tried to frame that same deceased person for rebellion.”

The incident he had covered up for the future was the only record of theft that Henriette had left behind.

—
Translator’s Comments

Shiiiiiiiiiit. Who cut the onions?!

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