“I apologize for causing you such hardship, Your Highness.”
She bowed politely to me, one hand on her heart.
Without even an inch of disregard for the reverence shown to the royal family.
I nodded and accepted her greeting. Veronica took a small box out of her sleeve and handed it to me.
I opened the box and held it up high so that I could see all the stones inside. I could sense that everyone was taken aback by the sudden turn of events.
“I submit this appraisal stone as new evidence.”
There was a sudden uproar. It was at that moment that the expression on the face of Duke Kairak, who had been leisurely looking down from up there, crumpled.
He shouted like thunder.
“Items that have not been approved in advance are ineffective as evidence!”
“It is an item that has already been approved as evidence.”
At that calm voice, Duke Kairak gritted his teeth and turned around. Admiral Reston of the East, Dmitry, and Count Tulear, Irina's father, raised their hands.
Duke Kairak gritted his teeth and shouted.
“The Princess is crazy and just picked up a stone. How dare you use something like that as evidence? You’re not in your right mind.”
He shouted, slamming the chair handle down.
“What are the guards doing! Get the Princess and that crude evidence out of the courtroom right now.”
At those words, the guards surrounding the judge ran towards Veronica.
Just as the guards were about to grab me and her arms, several people sitting in the crowd simultaneously took off their hoods and drew their swords. They immediately surrounded Veronica and me as if they were guarding us.
“Protect Her Highness and the Lady Veronica.”
Laskan, standing behind me, gave a soft command. As a sense of relief spread, a strange courage began to slowly bloom in me.
Jacqueline, Enoch, Cesare... I looked back at them all, and they nodded heavily as my gaze closed.
That was the last time we had the luxury of exchanging glances.
Zachary and his knights on the Duke of Kairak's side drew their swords with stern expressions. However, no one dared to take the initiative to attack first, and a tense standoff ensued.
I realized that everyone in the North was buying me time. The moment had come for me to finish my proof.
“Now, the moment I’ve been waiting for has come.”
I said that in a voice that deliberately sounded more arrogant.
I could feel everyone freeze at my voice. I could sense that they were wondering if I was the same person as the woman who had been shivering on the stage just a moment ago.
I looked at each of them and said.
“I will show you clearly who I am.”
Living at George taught me when to be humble and abject, and living at the palace taught me how nobles pat one another on the back.
The first competition taught me about trust, the second competition taught me the lesson of moving one step ahead of my opponent, and the third competition taught me what it means to exercise money and power.
From Laskan, I learned how to use strategy and tactics to make my opponents let their guard down, and because I lived my life risking my life every day, I was able to devise bolder strategies than anyone else when necessary.
And now, I was ready to sit down in a place where I didn't need anyone's proof.
I held the judgment stone in both hands and walked toward the altar.
Similarly, Duke Kairak let out a thunderous roar.
“What are you doing! Stop the traitors from getting near the leader! Attack them immediately!”
But even the guards standing guard in front of the statue hesitated and stepped back. I lifted the judging stone so that everyone could see it and said,
“This judging stone is the real one; it contains my blood.”
And then I carefully placed the judging stone on top of the bowl.
The effect was immediate. Two of the three stones became entangled and began to glow.
Cheers and whispers spread through the crowd. Some even took off their hats and knelt.
I waited for all the commotion to die down, then reached into the basin and picked up the uncluttered, unstuck, unmarked stone, and said:
“This identification stone is a fake that Duke Kairak spent a lot of money on. It looks like the real thing and has the same effects, but it is not a relic of Bartivesa. If you identify it in the temple, its authenticity will be immediately revealed.”
I took a deep breath and then spoke again.
“And this fake judging stone has Lady Veronica’s blood on it.”
Everyone in the courtroom felt a sudden sense of discomfort.
The identification stone was literally a means of proving that they were of the same bloodline. Veronica was listed as the heir to the throne because her mother was of royal blood...
So, if she really was of royal blood, those three stones should have been tangled together.
Veronica calmly continued speaking to me, accepting all the suspicious stares with a calm demeanor.
“That’s right. I am not the biological daughter of Duke Kairak.”
“It’s a lie.”
The Duke gritted his teeth and shouted. However, the atmosphere in the courtroom had changed considerably from the beginning.
“The Princess doesn’t even recognize her own father. That’s right! That impostor, he even deceived my Princess...!”
Duke Kairak jumped up from his seat and shouted. Then he suddenly froze with a bewildered expression, and his face twisted into a hideous grimace.
Because the throne he sat on was higher than my field of vision, he couldn't quickly realize what was happening at first.
“This... ungrateful...”
While Duke Kairak was gnashing his teeth, a faint metallic sound of rotation was heard. To my ears, who had learned to shoot... it sounded like the sound of a gun being loaded.
Looking closely, I saw that a revolver was pointed at Duke Kairak's head.
“The only two Dukes in the Empire are both accused of treason... Igrantia’s future looks bright.”
The figure hidden in the darkness stepped forward with an elegant smile.
He nodded at Count Osbord, his finger firmly on the trigger of his revolver.
“With the two Dukes out of office, I understand that the President of the Privy Council will now be my Batistan, the third in command. And as President, I will demand an explanation from Princess Kairak of the whole situation.”
Veronica took a deep breath, then lowered her eyes and bent her knees.
"Yes."
The 'real Veronica' died in the winter when she was just three years old.
Duke Kairak did not attach much significance to his daughter's death, but was furious when the doctor said that it would be difficult to see any more successors from the Duchess.
He immediately looked for another woman of imperial blood. However, there was no other woman in the imperial family's collateral lineage old enough to marry him, and there was no way to turn down a marriage proposal he had personally proposed to the Emperor.
The Duke immediately found a child who matched his daughter's appearance. Before the Duchess could even fully accept the fact that her daughter was dead, she held the 'Veronica' that the Duke gave her.
From that day on, the Duchess gradually went crazy. Even when singing a lullaby at her bedside, she would scream hysterically, saying that it wasn't her daughter.
The Duchess's precious body was marked with the marks of her own nails several times a day.
Two years after she began living in the ducal palace, the Crown Princess and her husband died, and the Emperor's only granddaughter, Princess Anastasia, went missing.
It was around that time that Duke Kairak became enthusiastic about creating fake identification stones.
The Duke of Kairak was suspicious of many people, but he did not hide anything from Veronica. He treated her as livestock that he had raised with his own hands, not as a human being.
Veronica heard about the fake gemstone from the Duke of Kairak's own mouth.
When a successor raised outside the royal family ascends to the throne, everyone must undergo a blood test. You are a flawed object, which is why I am putting in so much effort.
Veronica gradually became accustomed to the violent upbringing of the Duke of Kairak.
She lived to fulfill the Duke of Kairak's wishes as if they were her own, became an obedient substitute for the Duchess, and tried desperately to forget her birth, as if she were really the rightful heir to the Emperor.
“When he first got hold of this stone, he probably intended to stain it with the Duchess’s blood, not my own.”
Veronica took a moment to catch her breath before continuing.
“Then Princess Anastasia appeared, and Duke Kairak planned to switch her identification stone with the one with my blood on it.”
“It was okay to put someone else’s blood on it, but why... did it have to be you?”
The question was asked by a member of the Privy Council. Veronica answered without even turning her head in his direction.
“The biggest difference between the two stones is that the stone cannot ‘purify.’”
“What is that...”
“They say that even if you soak it in holy water for over a decade, the blood you eat won’t be purified.”
“...”
“If I had ascended to the throne, it would have been suitable as a leash to threaten me at any time.”
Veronica bit her lip and stepped back.
Although many questions were not answered at once, the answers alone were enough to raise people's suspicions.
"Oh my God!"
“Then, that person really...”
The courtroom was already half in chaos.
Amidst the commotion, Laskan raised his sword diagonally and aimed it at Duke Kairak.
“Duke Kairak. Now ask again.”
“...”
“Is it you or I who manipulated the imperial system?”
At those words, Duke Kairak glared at us with bloodshot eyes. He was breathing so hard that you could see his ribs moving under his thick clothes.
“Put your sword down!”
As Jacqueline shouted, the knights of Kairak all dropped their swords on the ground and raised both hands.
They seemed to have lost all will to fight for their master. Our knights quickly captured them.
"Veronica."
I held onto Veronica's hand tightly, frozen in place, as if she were pale. She looked up at me with trembling eyes.
Veronica was out of breath, as if she had just finished a long run. Just like when she had come to see me at Dmitry's hideout a few days ago...
Suddenly, I remembered the last conversation we had.
"Is it okay for me to reveal in court that the Princess is not Kairak's biological daughter?"
"Yes."
“Princess. Why are you doing this to me? If it is discovered that Duke Kairak manipulated the imperial lineage... You will not be safe either.”
"I'm really, really sick of all this."
Veronica smiled faintly.
“And I just wanted to see the empire that Your Highness rules.”
“Your Highness. I feel sick.”
“Ah... I’m sorry, Young Lady.”
I realized that I was squeezing Veronica's hand as I recalled the past events.
Suddenly, color returned faintly to Veronica's face. She looked scared and relieved, as if she had just woken up from a long nightmare.
She said shyly.
“It went according to plan.”
But I couldn't smile back. Behind Veronica, knights were standing there waiting to capture her.
“Our plan was so good. But, since you had to sacrifice yourself, I...”
I stammered and rambled, trying to delay the time somehow, even though I knew that I could not escape the guilt since she had revealed herself to be involved in treason.
Veronica squeezed my hand again.
“Sacrifice? Don’t think of it that way.”
“...”
“We’ve given and received from each other, so now we really don’t owe each other anything. Do you understand?”
The meaning of those words was clear. She was telling me not to save her, who had turned the tables on me.
How can a person be this strong? Even if I really died and woke up, I wouldn't be able to imitate even her shadow.
I bit the tender flesh inside my mouth to hold back my tears.
It was then that a loud commotion arose.
"Caution!"
I don't know whether it was Dmitry's shout that came first, or whether it was Duke Kairak's attempt to wrest the revolver from Dmitry's hand.
All I remember is the gun pointed precisely at me and the joyous eyes of Duke Kairak.
The ceiling of the courtroom shook with the loud sound of a gun being fired.
The next moment passed very slowly. A large, warm embrace blocking my path, strong arms holding me, a muffled moan echoing in my ear, and the sight of him slowly collapsing...
Everything was so unrealistic.
I screamed out loud.
“Laskan!”
She bowed politely to me, one hand on her heart.
Without even an inch of disregard for the reverence shown to the royal family.
I nodded and accepted her greeting. Veronica took a small box out of her sleeve and handed it to me.
I opened the box and held it up high so that I could see all the stones inside. I could sense that everyone was taken aback by the sudden turn of events.
“I submit this appraisal stone as new evidence.”
There was a sudden uproar. It was at that moment that the expression on the face of Duke Kairak, who had been leisurely looking down from up there, crumpled.
He shouted like thunder.
“Items that have not been approved in advance are ineffective as evidence!”
“It is an item that has already been approved as evidence.”
At that calm voice, Duke Kairak gritted his teeth and turned around. Admiral Reston of the East, Dmitry, and Count Tulear, Irina's father, raised their hands.
Duke Kairak gritted his teeth and shouted.
“The Princess is crazy and just picked up a stone. How dare you use something like that as evidence? You’re not in your right mind.”
He shouted, slamming the chair handle down.
“What are the guards doing! Get the Princess and that crude evidence out of the courtroom right now.”
At those words, the guards surrounding the judge ran towards Veronica.
Just as the guards were about to grab me and her arms, several people sitting in the crowd simultaneously took off their hoods and drew their swords. They immediately surrounded Veronica and me as if they were guarding us.
“Protect Her Highness and the Lady Veronica.”
Laskan, standing behind me, gave a soft command. As a sense of relief spread, a strange courage began to slowly bloom in me.
Jacqueline, Enoch, Cesare... I looked back at them all, and they nodded heavily as my gaze closed.
That was the last time we had the luxury of exchanging glances.
Zachary and his knights on the Duke of Kairak's side drew their swords with stern expressions. However, no one dared to take the initiative to attack first, and a tense standoff ensued.
I realized that everyone in the North was buying me time. The moment had come for me to finish my proof.
“Now, the moment I’ve been waiting for has come.”
I said that in a voice that deliberately sounded more arrogant.
I could feel everyone freeze at my voice. I could sense that they were wondering if I was the same person as the woman who had been shivering on the stage just a moment ago.
I looked at each of them and said.
“I will show you clearly who I am.”
Living at George taught me when to be humble and abject, and living at the palace taught me how nobles pat one another on the back.
The first competition taught me about trust, the second competition taught me the lesson of moving one step ahead of my opponent, and the third competition taught me what it means to exercise money and power.
From Laskan, I learned how to use strategy and tactics to make my opponents let their guard down, and because I lived my life risking my life every day, I was able to devise bolder strategies than anyone else when necessary.
And now, I was ready to sit down in a place where I didn't need anyone's proof.
I held the judgment stone in both hands and walked toward the altar.
Similarly, Duke Kairak let out a thunderous roar.
“What are you doing! Stop the traitors from getting near the leader! Attack them immediately!”
But even the guards standing guard in front of the statue hesitated and stepped back. I lifted the judging stone so that everyone could see it and said,
“This judging stone is the real one; it contains my blood.”
And then I carefully placed the judging stone on top of the bowl.
The effect was immediate. Two of the three stones became entangled and began to glow.
Cheers and whispers spread through the crowd. Some even took off their hats and knelt.
I waited for all the commotion to die down, then reached into the basin and picked up the uncluttered, unstuck, unmarked stone, and said:
“This identification stone is a fake that Duke Kairak spent a lot of money on. It looks like the real thing and has the same effects, but it is not a relic of Bartivesa. If you identify it in the temple, its authenticity will be immediately revealed.”
I took a deep breath and then spoke again.
“And this fake judging stone has Lady Veronica’s blood on it.”
Everyone in the courtroom felt a sudden sense of discomfort.
The identification stone was literally a means of proving that they were of the same bloodline. Veronica was listed as the heir to the throne because her mother was of royal blood...
So, if she really was of royal blood, those three stones should have been tangled together.
Veronica calmly continued speaking to me, accepting all the suspicious stares with a calm demeanor.
“That’s right. I am not the biological daughter of Duke Kairak.”
“It’s a lie.”
The Duke gritted his teeth and shouted. However, the atmosphere in the courtroom had changed considerably from the beginning.
“The Princess doesn’t even recognize her own father. That’s right! That impostor, he even deceived my Princess...!”
Duke Kairak jumped up from his seat and shouted. Then he suddenly froze with a bewildered expression, and his face twisted into a hideous grimace.
Because the throne he sat on was higher than my field of vision, he couldn't quickly realize what was happening at first.
“This... ungrateful...”
While Duke Kairak was gnashing his teeth, a faint metallic sound of rotation was heard. To my ears, who had learned to shoot... it sounded like the sound of a gun being loaded.
Looking closely, I saw that a revolver was pointed at Duke Kairak's head.
“The only two Dukes in the Empire are both accused of treason... Igrantia’s future looks bright.”
The figure hidden in the darkness stepped forward with an elegant smile.
He nodded at Count Osbord, his finger firmly on the trigger of his revolver.
“With the two Dukes out of office, I understand that the President of the Privy Council will now be my Batistan, the third in command. And as President, I will demand an explanation from Princess Kairak of the whole situation.”
Veronica took a deep breath, then lowered her eyes and bent her knees.
"Yes."
***
The 'real Veronica' died in the winter when she was just three years old.
Duke Kairak did not attach much significance to his daughter's death, but was furious when the doctor said that it would be difficult to see any more successors from the Duchess.
He immediately looked for another woman of imperial blood. However, there was no other woman in the imperial family's collateral lineage old enough to marry him, and there was no way to turn down a marriage proposal he had personally proposed to the Emperor.
The Duke immediately found a child who matched his daughter's appearance. Before the Duchess could even fully accept the fact that her daughter was dead, she held the 'Veronica' that the Duke gave her.
From that day on, the Duchess gradually went crazy. Even when singing a lullaby at her bedside, she would scream hysterically, saying that it wasn't her daughter.
The Duchess's precious body was marked with the marks of her own nails several times a day.
Two years after she began living in the ducal palace, the Crown Princess and her husband died, and the Emperor's only granddaughter, Princess Anastasia, went missing.
It was around that time that Duke Kairak became enthusiastic about creating fake identification stones.
The Duke of Kairak was suspicious of many people, but he did not hide anything from Veronica. He treated her as livestock that he had raised with his own hands, not as a human being.
Veronica heard about the fake gemstone from the Duke of Kairak's own mouth.
When a successor raised outside the royal family ascends to the throne, everyone must undergo a blood test. You are a flawed object, which is why I am putting in so much effort.
Veronica gradually became accustomed to the violent upbringing of the Duke of Kairak.
She lived to fulfill the Duke of Kairak's wishes as if they were her own, became an obedient substitute for the Duchess, and tried desperately to forget her birth, as if she were really the rightful heir to the Emperor.
“When he first got hold of this stone, he probably intended to stain it with the Duchess’s blood, not my own.”
Veronica took a moment to catch her breath before continuing.
“Then Princess Anastasia appeared, and Duke Kairak planned to switch her identification stone with the one with my blood on it.”
“It was okay to put someone else’s blood on it, but why... did it have to be you?”
The question was asked by a member of the Privy Council. Veronica answered without even turning her head in his direction.
“The biggest difference between the two stones is that the stone cannot ‘purify.’”
“What is that...”
“They say that even if you soak it in holy water for over a decade, the blood you eat won’t be purified.”
“...”
“If I had ascended to the throne, it would have been suitable as a leash to threaten me at any time.”
Veronica bit her lip and stepped back.
Although many questions were not answered at once, the answers alone were enough to raise people's suspicions.
"Oh my God!"
“Then, that person really...”
The courtroom was already half in chaos.
Amidst the commotion, Laskan raised his sword diagonally and aimed it at Duke Kairak.
“Duke Kairak. Now ask again.”
“...”
“Is it you or I who manipulated the imperial system?”
At those words, Duke Kairak glared at us with bloodshot eyes. He was breathing so hard that you could see his ribs moving under his thick clothes.
“Put your sword down!”
As Jacqueline shouted, the knights of Kairak all dropped their swords on the ground and raised both hands.
They seemed to have lost all will to fight for their master. Our knights quickly captured them.
"Veronica."
I held onto Veronica's hand tightly, frozen in place, as if she were pale. She looked up at me with trembling eyes.
Veronica was out of breath, as if she had just finished a long run. Just like when she had come to see me at Dmitry's hideout a few days ago...
Suddenly, I remembered the last conversation we had.
"Is it okay for me to reveal in court that the Princess is not Kairak's biological daughter?"
"Yes."
“Princess. Why are you doing this to me? If it is discovered that Duke Kairak manipulated the imperial lineage... You will not be safe either.”
"I'm really, really sick of all this."
Veronica smiled faintly.
“And I just wanted to see the empire that Your Highness rules.”
“Your Highness. I feel sick.”
“Ah... I’m sorry, Young Lady.”
I realized that I was squeezing Veronica's hand as I recalled the past events.
Suddenly, color returned faintly to Veronica's face. She looked scared and relieved, as if she had just woken up from a long nightmare.
She said shyly.
“It went according to plan.”
But I couldn't smile back. Behind Veronica, knights were standing there waiting to capture her.
“Our plan was so good. But, since you had to sacrifice yourself, I...”
I stammered and rambled, trying to delay the time somehow, even though I knew that I could not escape the guilt since she had revealed herself to be involved in treason.
Veronica squeezed my hand again.
“Sacrifice? Don’t think of it that way.”
“...”
“We’ve given and received from each other, so now we really don’t owe each other anything. Do you understand?”
The meaning of those words was clear. She was telling me not to save her, who had turned the tables on me.
How can a person be this strong? Even if I really died and woke up, I wouldn't be able to imitate even her shadow.
I bit the tender flesh inside my mouth to hold back my tears.
It was then that a loud commotion arose.
"Caution!"
I don't know whether it was Dmitry's shout that came first, or whether it was Duke Kairak's attempt to wrest the revolver from Dmitry's hand.
All I remember is the gun pointed precisely at me and the joyous eyes of Duke Kairak.
The ceiling of the courtroom shook with the loud sound of a gun being fired.
The next moment passed very slowly. A large, warm embrace blocking my path, strong arms holding me, a muffled moan echoing in my ear, and the sight of him slowly collapsing...
Everything was so unrealistic.
I screamed out loud.
“Laskan!”
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