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Had about an hour passed? The Emperor, having taken the sleeping draught, had fallen asleep in his bed.
Riel’s personal physician examined the Emperor’s condition.
“I used a strong sleeping draught, so he won’t wake up for about a day.”
Riel stood beside the bed, looking down at the Emperor, and said in a low voice.
“We must handle everything within that time. The Empress’s deposition and Grand Duke Ervin’s execution…”
Riel’s eyes, as she gazed at the Emperor, were beyond emotionless, almost arid.
“Y-yes, we must.”
Fear was etched on the physician’s face.
“Did you also send word to His Grace, Duke Havel, to come to the Imperial Palace as quickly as possible?”
“Yes, I sent a messenger to the Duke’s estate when His Majesty wrote the order.”
“Time is of the essence. Duke Havel must act before the Imperial Family can intervene, to deal with the opposing forces.”
The Imperial Family would surely debate the rights and wrongs and oppose the Empress’s deposition.
To suppress them, force was needed.
Tap, tap-.
In the fierce storm, tree branches struck the window.
Riel watched them for a moment, then a thought occurred to her.
“I have things to do, so please watch over His Majesty here for a while.”
“Yes, Lady Riel.”
As the physician replied, she quietly left the bedroom.
All the Imperial Guards seemed to have gone to the Empress Palace, as Havel family knight were guarding the front of the bedroom.
The secretaries also seemed to have followed the Imperial Guards and were nowhere to be seen.
One of the Havel family knight asked politely.
“Lady Riel, is there anything you require?”
“I need to see with my own eyes how things are unfolding at the Empress Palace.”
A wicked smile spread across Riel’s lips.
She headed to the Empress Palace, escorted by the Havel family knight.
Wham, bam!
Outside the palace, heavy rain lashed down on the ground.
When Riel arrived at the entrance of the Empress Palace, she could hear loud voices.
The Empress, bound and dragged away by the Imperial Guards, was resisting fiercely.
Riel watched the scene with interest from under the umbrella held by her escorting knight.
“Let me go! His Majesty the Emperor would never do such a thing. This is Riel Estina’s slander!”
The Empress shouted. But the captain of the Imperial Guards was resolute.
“His Majesty the Emperor issued the order himself.”
“Our family orchestrated the Crown Prince’s poisoning attempt!”
“We only follow the orders of His Majesty the Emperor.”
The Imperial Guards mercilessly beat the Empress Palace maids and servants who tried to block them.
As the Imperial Guards dragged away the Empress and those who resisted, Riel stepped into the Empress Palace.
As soon as she entered the Empress Palace, Riel ordered the Havel family knight following her.
“I will go alone from here.”
“Yes, Lady Riel.”
The Havel family knight bowed sharply.
Then, her eyes fell on the dagger worn on the knight’s arm.
Riel gestured towards the dagger and said.
“That, please…”
At her words, the knight quickly handed over the dagger he was wearing.
Clack, clack.
Riel held the dagger in her hand and slowly walked down the corridor of the Empress Palace.
The Empress Palace was silent.
Riel’s footsteps echoed loudly in the corridor.
Wham, bam!
Thunder and lightning struck fiercely beyond the window.
Riel’s gaze was fixed on one place only.
The Empress’s portrait hanging at the end of the corridor.
As if to declare who the mistress of the Empress Palace was, the Empress in the huge portrait looked dignified.
Riel walked, drawing the dagger from its sheath.
'Father, are you watching? Unlike my incompetent and foolish father, I have done it.'
Then, Iana’s face, mocking her, suddenly came to mind.
“You’re enduring your hellish life like that, aren’t you? Dreaming a vain dream of becoming the Empress.”
'A vain dream?'
Riel stopped in front of the portrait, clutching the dagger.
Now that she held the Empress and Grand Duke Ervin’s lifelines in her hands, even Iana, with her strong magical power, could not move recklessly.
'Iana, in the end, I won.'
Flash-.
It was the moment lightning struck.
Riel swung the dagger at the portrait and shouted.
“I won!”
The Empress’s portrait was torn sharply and hung in tatters.
At the sight, Riel began to laugh with a face full of joy.
Her rising laughter echoed eerily within the Empress Palace.
✦ ✦ ✦
At that moment, inside the underground prison of the Imperial Palace.
Charles leaned against the wall, recalling the words the Emperor had said in his office.
“Charles, should we run away? Actually, I’m afraid of becoming the Emperor.”
The Emperor’s expression and tone.
It was exactly how the Third Prince had looked when he confided in him just before the coronation ceremony.
Charles was overwhelmed with deep regret and complex emotions.
Overlapping with that was the image of his mother, who kept losing her mind.
“Ha…!”
He sighed deeply.
But he could not afford to be lost in emotional thoughts.
He could not know what the Emperor, whose mind was not sound, would do.
It was then.
He heard the sound of people busily walking outside the iron gate.
There was no reason for the guards to be rushing around late at night.
'Has Aden come in?'
Charles’s eyes sharpened.
Just as he was watching the outside of the iron gate, he heard a familiar voice.
“By His Majesty’s command. Open it.”
When the iron gate opened, the Emperor’s elderly secretary was standing there.
“What brings you here at this hour?”
When Charles asked, the secretary spoke in a dry voice.
“I have come to deliver His Majesty the Emperor’s command. Execute Grand Duke Ervin, who disobeyed the imperial order to blockade the capital. Also…”
“……”
“It has been revealed that the Diane family was the mastermind behind the assassination attempt on the late Crown Prince. Therefore, the Empress, who comes from a family of traitors, is to be deposed.”
“What? His Majesty the Emperor ordered the deposition of Her Majesty the Empress?”
Charles frowned sharply.
The secretary held out an order with the Emperor’s seal on it.
As Charles received the order with an unbelievable look, the secretary slipped a note underneath and winked.
At the sight, Charles could guess what the situation was, and he knew exactly that the secretary was on his side.
'I have to inform Iana of this situation.'
Charles quickly grabbed the secretary’s hand, then strongly choked the secretary’s neck with his arm.
“Your Highness, what are you doing?”
The Imperial Guard knight nearby shouted.
“If you come closer, the secretary will die on the spot.”
The secretary pretended to be in pain and said to the knight.
“D-don’t come closer. I will persuade His Highness.”
As the two moved backwards, distancing themselves from the Imperial Guard knight, Charles whispered lowly.
“Tell Iana about this.”
The secretary nodded slightly and deliberately spoke in a tearful voice.
“P-please spare me. I am just a secretary who came to deliver the imperial order.”
Charles slowly released his arm around the secretary’s neck. As if he were accepting this situation with resignation.
As the Imperial Guard tried to capture Charles, the secretary stopped them.
“He’s the one who ended up like this while protecting the outer castle. At least we should show respect to the Imperial Family, shouldn’t we?”
“……”
At the secretary’s words, the Imperial Guard knight silently went out through the iron gate.
Bang!
When even the secretary left and the iron gate closed, Charles unfolded the note he was holding in his hand.
[Havel family knight are blocking access to the Emperor’s Palace. All of this is a conspiracy by Lady Riel and Duke Havel.]
'The two of them must be keeping my brother, whose mind is not sound, locked up and playing tricks.'
Charles thought with a dark face, clutching the note in his hand.
'The anti-government forces must arrive at the Imperial Palace today…'
✦ ✦ ✦
Swish-.
A fierce storm blew at the entrance of Mikron Mountain.
The military forces of four of the Emperor’s closest families, including the Havel family, and some of the Imperial Army were encamped in front of it.
Fortunately, no movement of monsters had been detected.
'If a coup occurs, Duke Havel will call these people as reinforcements, right?'
Iana had cut off the forces that would support Duke Havel from the rear. She then looked towards the outer castle, waiting for news from Marcel.
She had her own conviction about Marcel.
A conviction that her calculating brother would be able to read the situation well.
In the course of the war, the Emperor was incompetent, and as long as Riel was by his side, the situation would surely spiral further into the worst.
It was then.
Thump, thump, thump.
A The First Order of Knights knight on horseback came running from afar.
He was one of Charles’s confidants.
A moment later, the knight jumped down from his horse and said.
“As you commanded, the Ascetic Forces and the magic legion have moved to the Imperial Palace.”
“I see.”
Iana answered calmly and felt a small sense of relief.
The knight looked around and whispered into her ear.
“Right now, Havel family knight are gathering at the Imperial Palace.”
“……?”
“To depose Her Majesty the Empress and execute His Highness the Grand Duke.”
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