A coffin containing the body and a letter from Duke Claudio arrived.
"These people look at me like a bigot!"
Minister Etienne was so angry that he tore up the letter before he could finish reading it.
The contents of the flying pieces were roughly as follows.
The real culprit of the drug attack was not Birna, but her close maid, who became enraged upon seeing the owner being humiliated at the banquet and played with the drinks of the VIPs.
As the situation became more serious, the fearful maid took poison and died, saying she would apologize by death.
"Now that we have found the real culprit, I hope we can resolve our anger and regain our former friendship. Crawling piece of shit!"
The minister also had no intention of sticking with his ally, the Prince Regent, until the end.
He tried to step back within an appropriate line that would not hurt each other.
However, when the Prince Regent even sent a fake culprit to steal his daughter away, anger arose.
"Can you treat me like this, Prince Regent?"
It seems like he thinks he's stuck with him because he's lacking something.
"I'll show you who has more regrets."
Etienne moved without hesitation.
Baron Brega, a vassal of the Duke of Regent, was appointed to the position of Collector of the South, whose term was about to end.
It was a valuable position with a lot of waste, as he was responsible for collecting taxes in the relatively fertile southern region of Valdina's country.
However, Etienne brought up Baron Brega's long-standing corruption and dismissed him, replacing him with his son, Lord Pecs.
He used his influence as Minister of the Palace to suppress his ally, the Prince Regent. It was no different from a declaration of war.
"Etienne, let's go!"
The Regent slammed the desk.
Starting with him, the strong power of the Prince Regent began to be divided.
"You don't say these are the words of His Excellency the Prince Regent!"
"We are not the Duke's subordinates, but Valdina's trust-eating officials. Why is he giving orders?"
"Hmph, you didn't say that when you took His Excellency's money, right?"
The Prince Regent's vassals plotted the minister's subordinates to resign, and the minister's subordinates took issue with the vassals' administrative handling and halted the proceedings.
They started blaming each other and biting each other.
The minister was a hereditary nobleman, so he had vassals and connections. That was why the Prince Regent wanted to recruit him in the first place.
The Prince Regent at the time could not have imagined that the minister's strength would cause him trouble again.
The Prince Regent and the Minister were each leaders of the people, and they could not easily step down, even if only because of their pride.
With the ups and downs, the antagonism that brought more harm than good dragged on.
When the arrows, which had been aimed at one place, turned towards each other, it became very painful.
It was Cesare who most welcomed the conflict between the Prince Regent and the Minister that was growing day by day.
"I can't believe a day like this is coming!"
Was this what the Princess meant when she said the opportunity would come soon?
"Her Royal Highness is really... Is she helping us?"
Cesare paused.
This is because the spy caught by Medea not long ago came to mind.
"Kill me, Master! I will never betray you again."
The maid sent to the Princess's palace returned, sobbing, and confessed the events of that day.
Everything from finding out that she had fed him poisoned tea to finding out that the maid's son was being held hostage by the Princess.
It was surprising that the spy was found, but the Princess's resourcefulness in covering her mouth afterward surprised Cesar even more.
"If you want to be forgiven, keep telling the Prince Regent. I keep drinking this poisoned tea."
He thought he knew why the maid's disposal was entrusted to him. The regent's misunderstanding will open an opportunity for them.
A changed Medea is breathing life into the precarious throne.
"So, don't worry, Sir, but think about how you can remove the minister who split with my uncle from office."
"Loss of power... Then, I have prepared something for the minister."
Cissere muttered.
For the first time, color returned to his face, which had been dead from gray fatigue.
***
Cesare's movements were soon conveyed to the Prince Regent.
"Your Excellency, the Prime Minister's subordinates are investigating Minister Etienne's corruption."
"What is the market price? Aha. It looks like the minister and I have split, so shall they try to attack one of them?"
The Prince Regent snorted.
"Valdina's reputation as a young genius is all in vain. I don't think the young guy will try to attack me with such spirit."
The aide agreed and glanced at the Prince Regent.
"What you say is truly correct, Your Excellency. Look, she's digging into the minister's hidden slush funds. I guess we should let him know, right?"
No matter what the internal fight is, he cannot allow it to be defeated by the common enemy called Cesare.
The Prince Regent was about to tell him to do so, but stopped and shook his head.
"Hmm, no. Leave it alone this time. Let the prime minister continue the investigation."
"Yes?"
"Once the minister bites the bullet, he will realize how much he needs me. Etienne seems to have forgotten who it is thanks to me that he has safely maintained his position as minister."
"But, Your Excellency, what if he catches an important case?"
"Don't worry. Even if he succeeds anyway, Cesare won't be able to last long."
The Prince Regent smiled sinisterly.
It has been more than half a year since he was given poison tea that caused mania. The time has come for a response to come slowly.
"How long will that guy's extraordinary brain remain intact?"
Once the mania manifests, everything, including Etienne's punishment, will be in vain.
"I know the result anyway, so it's just a matter of showing the arrogant old man a little bit of spiciness. Is it such a big problem?"
The Prince Regent chuckled.
***
One sunny afternoon.
"What kind of people are they?"
Knights stormed into Count Etienne's residence.
Their epaulets bore the emblem of the Valdina royal family.
"Do you not know who this body is? Where are the royal knights coming in without fear?"
Before the minister could solemnly shout, he was forced to his knees with both arms grabbed.
"Lark E. Etienne, you are under arrest for human trafficking, murder, and military violations."
"Let go, let go! What are you doing!"
"You won't say you don't know about the former head maid Cuisine and the children who disappeared from the palace, right?"
The leader of the Knights of the Fierce Eyes unfolded a scroll filled with a list of missing people.
"You stole children belonging to the royal family, played with them, and killed them. The surviving children were sold and the money was used to create a slush fund. Hell will spit out an ugly person like you."
"How to do that!"
As if everything had already been prepared, the movements of the knights presenting the gift were unhindered.
Cold sweat appeared on the minister's face for a moment, but he soon regained his composure and became shameless.
"Ha, even so, do you think you can touch this body to the extent of killing commoner children?"
All he has to do is pay a fine and have a servant do the punishment for him. Money and power were as plentiful as flower pots.
As if anticipating his point, the knight commander raised his eyebrows.
"Minister, I said earlier that it was a violation of military law. Do you know that the children sold here are sold back to other countries through black eyes?"
"What, what?"
"The Black Eyes financed your slush fund. In other words, you leaked the palace's manpower to another country during wartime."
Violations of military law during wartime are subject to immediate punishment. The minister's face turned pale.
"Then I will transfer you to prison. Catch it."
The tightly laid rope that they tied around his neck all at once. Even the cunning minister could see no way out.
He refused arrest and was dragged by the knights with both arms held tightly together.
"Claudio! Tell Duke Claudio! I was captured! Do you understand?"
Before leaving the final door, he turned with all his might and shouted to the servant.
"Hurry now! Immediately!"
"Yes, yes! Don't worry, Master!"
Umberto continued to nod with an expression that seemed to barely contain his fear.
Meanwhile, the sight of the minister being dragged through the layers of sparkling silver armor quickly disappeared.
"W-what happened?"
The Count's people were confused.
Suddenly, royal knights came in and kidnapped the owner, turning the house upside down.
"Why are they digging up our house? Master, why was he captured?"
"Found it! I found one more here!"
"Collect all remains!"
Amid the chaos, Umberto calmly did his job.
"I will leave this to the butler. I have to write a letter to Duke Claudio and go to prison."
"Yes. Umberto. "Don't just trust anyone."
The butler left.
Instead of writing down as the minister instructed, Umberto mumbled and scribbled on the parchment.
"Card... Every... This dog... Baby..."
The New Series, Hoping For My Death is out now!You can check it here!
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment