It was my fault that Perdes ended up getting poisoned, so I felt guilty and stayed by his side until he woke up.
May, Jack, and Lord Aldor offered to stay by his side and tell me when Perdes woke up, but I refused.
Because I wanted him to see my face first when he opened his eyes.
I chose to stay by his side until the end because I didn't think I would be able to sleep well until I saw him wake up.
How much time has passed like that?
“...”
As the light of dawn was almost fading away, Perdes opened his eyes.
“Are you awake?”
When I called out to him with a smile, Perdes turned his eyes to look at me.
His golden eyes were a symbol of royalty, and the Emperor also had eyes of the same color.
That's why I used to feel a little creepy every time I saw myself reflected in those golden eyes, but now it wasn't like that. I just felt happy.
How long have I waited for my face to be reflected in those eyes?
Perhaps because he had only just woken up from a long sleep, Perdes just stared blankly at me.
I held Perdes' hand tightly and asked him various questions.
“Does anything hurt anywhere?”
“...”
“Aren’t you thirsty? If you need anything, just tell me. I’ll get it for you.”
"...Why."
The voice coming from his dry lips was cracked like a land severely affected by drought.
Perdes paused for a moment, perhaps surprised by his own voice, before continuing.
“What happened to me...?”
“Well, to put it simply, it was a fight between whales where a shark’s back got crushed.”
When I said shrimp, Perdes looked too shabby, so I changed it to shark, but Perdes frowned, probably because he didn't like it.
“What the hell is that?”
No, it's just that you didn't understand.
Well, it's a difficult thing to understand at once.
“What happened is...”
Since the person involved, Perdes should know the whole story, I explained it in detail from the beginning.
Everything from when Chernosser broke off the Pura deal because he slapped Perdes in the face before, to Kobe's case.
Perdes' face crumpled like a broken cookie after hearing my story.
Of course, he'd be angry. He drank poison.
“Don’t worry. I will definitely get revenge on you this time.”
"... Revenge?"
“Yes. I plan to cut off both of her legs so that the Empress will never touch you again.”
While waiting for Perdes to wake up, I thought about how I would take revenge.
After hearing my story, Perdes looked into the sky, thought for a moment, and then said to me.
“...I wish you hadn’t done that.”
"Yes?"
“I hope you don’t take revenge on the Empress.”
I looked at Perdes in slight surprise, since I didn't know he would stop me, saying that he should have said yes, that he really wanted to do it.
Perdes raised his heavy upper body and looked down at me with a serious face from a slightly higher eye level and spoke again.
“Don’t seek revenge.”
I wondered if he was just saying empty words or joking, but he wasn't.
He truly hopes that I will not take revenge on the Empress.
"...Why?”
The inside of my neck itched as if someone had scratched it.
“Why don’t you take revenge on the Empress? Are you afraid that I might lose?”
"No."
“Then why are you stopping me?”
“Are you planning to buy up all the bonds at Max’s top and collect the debt to get revenge on the Empress?”
How do you do that...
I was taken aback by the question that seemed to see right through my plans, so I kept my mouth shut.
Perdes continued speaking.
“Max’s company, which is already struggling financially, will eventually go bankrupt due to debt collection, which will deal a huge blow to the Empress.”
“...If you know that well, why are you telling me not to do it?”
“Then not only the Empress but also the Young Lady will suffer a great blow.”
This time it was spot on.
That's understandable since the bonds of the bankrupt company become worthless scraps of paper.
So if the Max top fails, I will also suffer a huge financial loss.
At least three years' worth of Pura's profits will be lost.
The reason I went ahead with it even though I knew that was because revenge on the Empress was more important than money.
“... I can always earn money again.”
“That doesn’t mean that the money you lose will come back.”
Perdes responded calmly.
“And the person Yeong Lady wants revenge on is not the Empress, but the Emperor.”
“...”
“So don’t engage in a useless war of nerves with the Empress. If the Emperor falls, the Empress will fall as well, so just worry about that.”
Every word of what he said was true, but...
“... I cannot forgive what the Empress did.”
Strength entered my tightly clenched hands on its own.
“And if I stay still, the Empress will find me ridiculous and try to do worse things than this.”
“I told you not to seek revenge, I didn’t tell you to stay still.”
What does this mean?
Perdes asked as he looked at the unintelligible words.
“What does Young Lady need most now to get revenge on the Emperor?”
What do I need most?
That...
“It’s time.”
It took time to lay the foundation for revenge.
If we could just lay a solid foundation, everything else would proceed smoothly.
“Then how about using the Empress to buy that time?”
“...!”
“There is a saying that goes, ‘Treat an enemy as an enemy.’”
Yeah. Why did I forget that fact?
While using my uncle, Geluan, to deal with Chernossor!
After hearing Perdes' story, a better way to take down Max's top came to mind.
“Judging by your expression, I guess you’ve come up with a good idea.”
"Yes."
"Fortunately..."
For a moment, Perdes' body shook and he leaned limply towards me.
“Lord Perdes!”
I was surprised and supported Perdes.
It was only then that I realized that his body was as hot as a ball of fire.
“See your doctor right away...!”
When I tried to call my doctor after learning the truth, Perdes grabbed my arm.
"It's okay."
“Your whole body is like a ball of fire!”
“It’s a natural phenomenon that occurs during the detoxification process. It’ll be okay after a while.”
I swallowed my words as I was about to ask how you knew that.
This is because the fact that the 5th Prince fed Perdes various things came to mind.
Poison was probably one of them.
“But just in case, I’ll call the doctor.”
“I told you, it’s done.”
"But..."
“If you’re so worried, just pat my head. I think it’ll get better.”
That was nonsense. There was no way that the fever would go down like that.
But his expression was so serious.
“Please do it quickly.”
He wanted me to do that so desperately that I couldn't say anything and just patted his head.
***
“Your Majesty, please spare my son.”
When Count Alstein heard that Kobe Alstein had been arrested for poisoning Perdes, he ran barefoot to the Empress and begged her earnestly.
“My son’s only crime is following Your Majesty the Empress’s orders!”
“Watch your tongue, Count Alstein.”
Unlike the very anxious and desperate Count Alstein, the Empress spoke leisurely, picking up her teacup.
“If anyone hears this, they will know that your son really did it at my command.”
The moment he heard those words, Count Alstein had a gut feeling.
That the Empress had no intention of saving his son.
That she's going to blame everything on Kobe Alstein!
“Oh, how could that be..."
Count Alstein's face turned pale as he realized the shocking truth he had never dreamed of. His lips trembled.
“My son was loyal to Your Majesty the Empress, so how could you...”
“Oh. Even if your mouth is crooked, you should speak straight, Count.”
The Empress put down her teacup and smiled elegantly.
“If your son had been loyal to me, he would never have mentioned my name under any circumstances.”
“...!”
“I am truly sorry about your son. And you too, Count Alstein.”
The Empress dismissed Count Alstein without batting an eye and called for her father, the Margrave Prasis.
The Marquis of Prasis also heard the news and came running as he was waiting for the Empress to call him.
The Empress's once relaxed expression turned nervous as soon as she saw her father.
The Empress urged the Marquis in a sharp voice.
“How did you handle things so easily that you got caught?”
“I am truly ashamed, Your Majesty the Empress.”
The Marquis of Prasis bowed deeply and apologized to his daughter.
“I didn’t know that Kobe Alstein would stupidly hide Ethos in Adele Leopold’s private garden.”
It was an inevitable choice for Kobe.
Ethos had to be burned or hidden in a place where people would not find it, but this was not easy because Duke Leopold's house was guarded tightly by knights.
However, it was impossible to take Ethos out, as the items taken out of the Duke's residence were carefully checked and written down into a single coin.
As Kobe pondered what to do about this, the place that came to mind was Adele's personal garden.
The private garden was Adele's private space, so even the guards were not allowed to enter.
So, he sneaked in there and buried Ethos, but unfortunately, Adele caught him doing so.
“There should be no public trials.”
The Empress said firmly.
“Attempted murder of a member of the royal family is a serious crime that can be punished immediately, so don’t delay and tell them to punish you right away.”
“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress.”
That would solve Kobe Alstein's problem.
'What about that woman?'
Adele Leopold. It was very disturbing that the woman knew that the Empress was behind it.
Of course, since there is no evidence, the Empress cannot be held responsible, but instead, Adele will try to get revenge in other ways.
Just like how she broke off the Pura deal and even broke off the deal with the Wizard's Tower.
To stop that, she had to move before Adele.
“Gather the nobles with bonds at the top of Max. And...”
While the Empress was calculating possible numbers and giving various instructions to her father, unexpected news was heard.
“Your Majesty the Empress, Lady Adele Leopold has arrived.”
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