“Nathan.”
“Why are you here?”
Nathan, who completely stopped eating and drinking after Bella collapsed, was noticeably skinny. There was a rumor that he cried to sleep every day, and his swollen eyes looked pitiful.
“Why are you here at this hour?”
“I was walking around with a lot of thoughts. And since I saw you here, I came over.”
“… Oh.”
“You’re having a hard time, too, these days, Brother.”
“…”
“Lissy… was a good follower of my sister. Wasn’t she the child who wanted my sick sister to wake up from her bed more than anyone else?”
“…”“I believe in Lissy. Any misunderstanding will be revealed soon. So hang in there, Brother.”
“Of course.” Lark smiled weakly and stood facing Nathan in front of him.
“If it’s a misunderstanding as you said, the truth will come out one day.”
Lark, holding Nathan’s skinny shoulder, quietly lowered his head. His lips moved against Nathan’s ear, “Nathan.”
“…”
“One should only build up karma as much as one can handle. I haven’t lived that long, but it’s one of the few truths I’ve gained in my short life.” Lark raised his head, looked down at Nathan indifferently, and passed by.
Nathan tilted his head at the strange words and stared at Lark for a long time.
When Lark’s back, which had become small like a dot, disappeared and became invisible.
“Khuhu.” Nathan smiled and swept his shoulder that had been touched by Lark’s hand.
“… What the fuck are you talking about?” His expression had changed so much that one couldn’t even imagine that he was a weak brother from a while ago. The voice filled with malice resounded through the dry air, “Your sister, whom you cherish so much, will be confined for the rest of her life to rot. Is your face going to be worth seeing at the trial? Ahaha.”
Nathan, who soon hardened his giggling expression, said as if chewing and spitting out, “Unlucky bastard.”
***
Two days after that.
A day before the trial of Princess Lisbeth, a meeting of nobility was held.
At this meeting, which had already been held eight times, 31 out of 32 high-ranking aristocrats of the capital belonging to the parliament attended without exception.
One absence might be suspicious, but no one questioned it because it was as it should be.
That’s right. It was the seat that belonged to Diollus VIII, Duke Leonard Diollus.
“Father, this is the last meeting before the final meeting where the sentence to be given to the 5th Princess Lisbeth will be decided.” Viego came to Leonard’s room early in the morning to persuade him. “Her dethronement is a fact, leaving only the debate on whether to impose confinement on Vaden Island.”
“…”
Confinement on Vaden Island.
This was the second largest punishment given to the guilty imperial family members after the death penalty. A life-long punishment on Vaden, a remote island in the Southwest of the Decarn Sea, the territorial waters of the Empire.
The imperial family member sent here spent their entire lives on an island where exchanges with the outside world were completely cut off.
There was only one way for them to come back. For their funeral with their dead body.
“Please attend today’s meeting and cast at least one vote against the confinement.”
“If I go against it, can I prevent the confinement?”
“Father, you know that one vote from you isn’t just one vote. If you attend, the nobles who supported the confinement will be shaken.”
“Oh.”
Leonard just flipped the page of the book he was reading, listening with indifferent eyes.
Viego bit his lip. “Princess Lisbeth is only thirteen. She didn’t mean to do anything and harm the 1st Princess.”
“…”
“There must be someone who used Princess Lisbeth to threaten the life of her 1st Princess. The intention is clear.”
“Yeah, of course. To abolish the crown prince.”
“Yes, everyone thinks that’s the case.”
“But so what?” Leonard raised his eyes and added, “The struggle for succession is as fierce as the battlefield in the Descarde Imperial family. Dozens of imperial family members are aiming for the throne.”
“…”
“This kind of conspiracy is not new. Perhaps the crown prince will think that this is also his destiny.”
“Father!” Viego raised his voice and said as he closed his eyes and held his breath, “The nobles in favor of confinement are all guessing Princess Lisbeth’s innocence, but they claim that even though it was unintended, it was still a direct harm to the 1st Princess, and so cannot be easily overlooked.”
“They’re not wrong. Whether it was a mistake or not, one should be held responsible. You will have to pay the price if you act stupidly on a stage like a battlefield without a sword.”
“Princess Lisbeth is young. She is the same age as Rubette or the twins.”
“Young age is not an indulgence.”
“Father!” Viego, who couldn’t stand it, screamed. “Father, why are you so inhumane?”
“What?”
“Rubette, Lillia, Ricky! Imagine if any of them is confined for the rest of their lives!”
“Viego Diollus.”
“Yes!”
Tak. With the book closed, Leonard crossed his arms and looked straight at the agitated Viego.
“Take care of your little sister.”
“… What?”
“If you have time to step up because you feel sorry for other people’s children, pay attention to Rubette.”
Viego paused.
Leonard sighed sharply at his son’s expression, which seemed to be bothered.
Soon he looked up and said, “I know you think it’s disgraceful to see my face. I know you think you don’t deserve to be blamed for not taking care of Rubette.”
“…”
Viego lowered his head.
“… No. My shortcomings are great.”
“…”
The father and son were silent.
The time when each other had a lot of thoughts passed for quite a long time, and soon Viego rose up. “I understand what Father thinks. I’ll leave first.”
“…”
At that time.
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door.
“Dad, it’s me.”
“Come in.” Leonard immediately responded to Rubette’s voice.
Rubette, who peeped open the door, paused when she found Viego, who was about to leave.
There was an exchange of awkward gazes in the air for a few seconds.
Viego, who had avoided his eye first, tried to leave the room, but Rubette caught him. “Brother, where are you going?”
“Huh?” Viego, bewildered by Rubette, who spoke to him first, replied in a hurry, “I’m going to prepare for an aristocratic conference in the imperial court in the afternoon. It’s a meeting to discuss the punishment of the 5th Princess Lisbeth.”
“Oh, I see. I came here to tell Father something, but please listen as well.”
“…?” Viego looked at Leonard, puzzled.
Leonard raised his eyebrows, asking with his expression, and Rubette, who made eye contact, cleared her throat.
“Dad.”
“What is it?”
Rubette said with an awkward smile, “I made an accident.”
***
The imperial conference hall.
Five minutes before the meeting started at 2 o’clock, nobles filled in the empty seats.
The crown prince, Lark, sat on the supreme seat, fiddling with the projector stone in his hand until it was worn out. It was the stone containing Rubette’s perjury scene.
“Please release my video at the ninth meeting the day after tomorrow.”
Lark neither nodded nor shook his head at her request.
Even today, the day of the ninth meeting, he was hesitating.
‘I’m surprised and embarrassed that you’re thinking about this.’
Lark smiled self-deprecatingly. He’d already received a lot of help from Rubette. How could he survive his shamelessness if he burdened her again?
‘Lissy…’
Over Rubette’s face, the face of his sister, who knew nothing, also appeared.
If there was anything Lisbeth was guilty of, it was because she was his sister. She was framed only because of that reason.
“…”
After long agony, Lark put the projector stone in his hand deep in his jacket’s inner pocket.
At that moment.
Creak—.
Bang.
Clank-tang, clank-tang.
Marquis Rossel, one of the nobility of the Parliament, came in through the conference hall door.
Everyone in the crowd frowned at the frivolous and frivolous appearance that was not aristocratic.
“M-Marquis Rossel? What rudeness is this?” Duke Reiger glanced at Lark as he rebuked Marquis Rossel.
“D-Duke Reiger, t-the one on his way r-right now-”
“Excuse me, Marquis!” Duke Reiger put his index finger over his lips and whispered, “Why are you stuttering so much? Please calm down and lower your voice. His Highness the Crown Prince is here…”
“This is not the time to calm down!”
“No, what-”
Thud, thud.
Lark slammed the table and drew attention, and everyone held their breath.
2 o’clock on the hour.
It was the signal to start the meeting.
Lark murmured, looking at the two empty seats just to the left of the upper seat.
“Is Young Duke Diollus absent today?”
“No, Your Highness,” said Marquis Rossel.
“He’s coming. I saw him.”
“Really?”
“But he’s not alone-”
Bang!
Then, the conference hall door, which had been closed, opened slightly harshly. Lark’s eyes widened at the face he saw from the top.
“Gasp!”
“Oh, my…”
At the same time, the conference hall turned noisy, and the nobles doubted their eyes. The one who appeared in the meeting room with a beast-like gaze…
… was none other than Duke Diollus.
Yes, it was his first appearance in ten years.
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