Though day had broken, I was so restless I couldn’t tell if my breakfast was going into my mouth or my nose.
For now, setting aside the question of whether Cesare could produce an heir from last night’s incident, I checked through the information I knew one by one while piecing together a new hypothesis.
- Cesare and Cedric are half-brothers, and their mother is the Empress.
- No one knows about the rebellion, and the Imperial Family is trying to secretly bring down Yanox.
- Lampel, who had been cold about the Empress’s story, reacted excessively sensitively.
- The Empress hasn’t appeared in public for a long time.
If Lampel and the Empress had given birth to Cesare, it meant the two had some kind of relationship. Then the two plotted rebellion, and somehow it was discovered beforehand.
However, the Imperial Family couldn’t publicly reveal that the Empress was a traitor, so they secretly confined or imprisoned her, then tormented the Yanox family who knew the truth. This was the full story I’d come up with.
‘This fits together way too perfectly, doesn’t it? Then is Cesare trying to start a rebellion to rescue his mother, the Empress?’
Whatever Cesare’s specific goal was, if I assumed he was plotting rebellion because he’d learned these facts, it made sense.
‘I think I’ve gotten caught up in something way bigger than I thought…?’
On top of that, I seemed to have earned Lampel’s deep suspicion. Clearing that suspicion was the urgent priority. Otherwise, before I could even break the Addiction, Lampel would silence me and I’d be killed without anyone knowing.
I thought if I played my trump card, the enemy would back down on their own like in satisfying novels, but it seemed I had to fight while gauging my opponent.
‘The Empress… the Empress. But there are too few clues about the Empress.’
The Empress of Torusian, Elaine Hurotina von Torusian. The legitimate imperial princess who had been the only daughter of the previous Emperor, Elaine had married Hortega, who was from a count’s family at the time, and ascended to Empress. She had always been frail and was a source of worry for the Imperial Family, and after marriage she didn’t appear in public at all, focusing on recuperation.
Still, since Emperor Hortega and his son Cedric worked hard externally in the Empress’s place, her absence wasn’t greatly felt. There weren’t any citizens who expected anything from the frail princess in the first place.
‘Wait? Then clues about the Empress aren’t something only I lack. Even if I make up something roughly, Lampel won’t know either!’
According to what I’d heard from Cesare, Lampel had been continuously dispatched abroad and assigned missions to subjugate magical beasts. There was no way he’d properly know the Empress’s current news.
If my hypothesis was correct, the Empress would have strict surveillance on her, so mutual contact would be impossible.
‘For now, throwing out something… is right, isn’t it?’
Since I’d be trembling and clinging to my lifeline anyway, it was better to boldly confront things. The Korean quick-quick mentality I’d built up in the Republic of Korea couldn’t be ignored.
* * *
I waited next to the commander’s tent of the Principality army where Lampel would be. Sure enough, Lampel exited the tent with his still-irritating tone, provoking the Principality soldiers.
“Even though I said there’s no need to assemble, you stubbornly came and said you’d send out just one kid, and now you can’t do anything so you must be embarrassed. If I were you, I wouldn’t be able to eat breakfast, gentlemen.”
“Duke!”
“…Oh, crawling in on your own feet. Little puppy.”
As Lampel raised his staff as if to use magic, I quickly blocked him.
“Wait! I’ve met Her Majesty the Empress! That’s why I asked!”
“…There’s a limit to lying. How dare you mention her?”
Along with Lampel’s angry voice, my body began to float up. As expected, he reacted sensitively to talk of the Empress. Afraid he might seal my mouth again with the roughened wave of mana, I quickly took the initiative.
“It’s true! I asked because Duke has something attached to your staff that’s exactly the same as Her Majesty the Empress’s!”
“……!”
– Thud!
The body that had been floating up dropped to the ground with a thud. My ankle was already uncomfortable, and it twisted again so the pain was considerable, but before I could even rub it, Lampel pressed me.
“What did you say?”
“Ugh! My foot. I also met Her Majesty too briefly before so I don’t know in detail, but that thing, the silver wing-shaped pendant. There was a brooch that looked exactly like this but in a symmetrical shape.”
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a lie. Because Cedric had said his brooch belonged to Her Majesty the Empress.
“Hah.”
“So at dawn I threw it out there just in case, but you sealed my mouth like that, which is too much, Duke. *Sob sob.*”
Since I seemed to be branded as a stupid kid anyway, I thought it wouldn’t be bad to keep acting stupid, so I pretended to be pitiful and squeezed out some tears.
“Did Elaine perhaps… No. That can’t be. It must be a coincidence.”
But whether I cried or not, Lampel had a complicated expression by himself. However, what was certain was that my strategy that Lampel wouldn’t know the Empress’s news either had worked. After pacing for a while, Lampel took out the pendant attached to his staff and checked with me again.
“Is it this one? Are you sure?”
That’s right. It was definitely a half-piece artifact, a pendant in a symmetrical shape to the one Cedric had. Then a good idea occurred to me and I deliberately blurred my answer with an uncertain voice.
“Um… I think it’s right, but now that I look closely, it also seems different…”
“Look carefully. Is this it or not!”
Lampel, who had become twice as sensitive about the Empress, grabbed my shoulders and shook me. There was definitely something entangled with the Empress.
“I can’t remember well. Is that an important issue?”
Lampel made eye contact with me. Thinking he might use Brainwashing Magic like Cesare, I swallowed dry saliva while carefully hiding the bracelet the priest had given me inside my clothes.
“If I hadn’t sworn never to use Brainwashing Magic on people again, I would have immediately thrown you into a pigsty to make you oink. But just because I can’t use magic doesn’t mean I can’t make that happen.”
Ugh. That’s a scary thing to say. Still, hearing that he wouldn’t use magic on people gave me some peace of mind, so I boldly asked.
“Did something happen between you and Her Majesty the Empress?”
“Enough. I don’t have time to waste on the likes of you.”
I grabbed Lampel again as he tried to leave quickly and brought up the main point.
“That pendant. Give it to me.”
“What?”
“You’re curious whether Her Majesty the Empress’s pendant and Duke’s pendant are the same, aren’t you? You’re thinking of checking that, right?”
“……”
I tried probing once, and seeing no answer, it must be right.
“But Duke is in an awkward situation to go to the capital. Because Duke doesn’t want to get involved with the Imperial Family.”
Lampel snorted. It seemed funny that someone like me was trying to bargain. I put strength in my eyes so as not to be overwhelmed by his gaze and pressed on.
“If so, I’ll go check for you instead.”
“Hah.”
“I have no intention of pressing further about why Her Majesty the Empress and Duke have the same pendant. I won’t tell others either!”
Lampel ground his teeth and gripped my shoulder tightly. His hand strength was so strong that my brow furrowed involuntarily.
“Impudent thing. You dare try to bargain with me? What’s your scheme?”
“…Heh. I don’t want anything. But there is something I hope for.”
Once I got this pendant and met Cedric, I could break the Addiction anyway. Thinking about returning the pendant could wait until later. In that case, I had to ask for something more productive instead.
“I want to help Cesare.”
“What?”
“You know, Duke. Whether he’s the ringleader or not, how great the price of rebellion is. Cesare isn’t simply trying to save the ducal family. That’s why I’m staying by his side even knowing I’m being brainwashed.”
I spoke euphemistically just in case, but this much should make Lampel notice that Cesare was plotting something.
Just yesterday I’d suspected he might be in league with Cesare, but at dawn, Lampel’s tone sounded exactly like someone who had given up everything. I was certain that wasn’t the tone of someone plotting rebellion.
“They say Cesare is gathering troops. There’s evidence too. But he’s making an effort in his own way. Though the method is wrong.”
“……”
“I don’t want to see that guy get hurt. Cesare is… Cesare is precious to me. You know how good a guy Cesare originally was, Duke!”
I pleaded while firmly grasping Lampel’s hand. Lampel stepped back as if flustered, but I stubbornly clung on.
“It’s fine to be used. Because I want to do anything that can be of help to him. But I can’t help with ‘that’ alone. Because that’s… not truly the path for Cesare’s sake.”
Lampel, who had been looking down at me with a bewildered gaze, seemed to gather his wits again and pushed me away hard.
“There’s no reason or evidence to trust you.”
Even though his son was walking into danger, at his cold attitude I forgot about needing to get the artifact and poured out my frustrated heart.
“Duke is right that I’m stupid. That’s why I keep being manipulated by him. But what about me, who has to just watch even knowing Cesare is going down the wrong path?”
“Give up. Get far away from him. That’s all I can tell you. If it’s hard to escape from Cesare because of the brainwashing, I’ll help with that.”
Give up? Cesare? The moment I heard Lampel say he’d help me escape from him, something hot burst out from my heart without me knowing.
“I’ve thought about it countless times!”
