In response to the Emperor's question, Albrecht bowed his head deeply and answered.
"I fed him poison."
"Did that monster get poisoned?"
"I heard that Princess Elona said so. I heard that she checked it out herself."
Elona? To the Emperor who asked, Albrecht gave a more detailed report.
"Yes, with the help of Princess Elona, a meal was arranged, and we were able to make him let his guard down and feed him poison. She says the effects take time to take effect, so I think it would be best to wait for now."
"Why didn't you come and see for yourself that he died?"
The Emperor's voice, which had softened for a moment upon hearing the report of poisoning, became cold again.
Albrecht hurriedly added an excuse.
"I aroused his suspicion. I planned to work secretly, pretending to be an ordinary servant and hovering around, but since he was very cautious from the beginning, it was very difficult not to arouse his suspicion. If I used a poison that would take effect immediately, I would immediately be identified as the culprit. In that case, Your Majesty, who sent me. would also be suspicious..."
"Are you saying that you poisoned him to avoid suspicion and then ran away before he died?"
"...Yes."
Albrecht bowed his head even deeper as he read the clear anger in the Emperor's voice.
Sure enough, a moment later, a heavy glass vase was thrown at him by the Emperor.
Boom! The vase shattered with a loud noise, sending shards flying.
"You idiot! I ordered you to come back after checking to the end, since he's someone who doesn't die easily!"
"Your Majesty..."
"Aren't you saying that you ran away to avoid the risk of being identified as the culprit and executed? To save your worthless life!"
Albrecht could not raise his head because there was nothing wrong with what the Emperor said.
He made the excuse that if he were captured, it would be a problem even for the Emperor, but in reality, what he was worried about was his own life.
Elona's threat that Albrecht would not be safe if it was discovered that the Archduke had been poisoned seemed to have worked.
As the Emperor, unable to contain his anger, approached him, holding the metal statue on the table as a weapon, Albrecht hurriedly opened his mouth again.
"Don't worry too much. It's something Princess Elona has planned, so there's no way it'll fail."
"That kid planned it?"
"Yes, that's right. From start to finish, it was something the Princess prepared. She is so thorough, so you can trust her."
At those words, the Emperor's anger subsided slightly.
Elona, whom he had been watching, rarely made mistakes.
There were times when he felt frustrated because things were slow, but she was able to achieve perfect results without making any mistakes.
Hearing this, the idea that if Albrecht was captured, it could be detrimental to the Emperor himself seemed somewhat plausible, so he put down the statue he was holding.
"Good. Let's wait and see for now. If we don't hear news of his death within one or three weeks, you'd better prepare yourself."
"Yes, Your Majesty. If I fail, I will pay with my life."
The Emperor muttered a few swear words nervously and gestured for Albrecht to leave.
Albrecht pulled his hood back over his head and went out into the hallway, sighing.
'...That was almost dangerous.'
Lately, he could sense that the Emperor's mind had become somewhat unstable.
He could tell just by looking at the fact that he sent Albrecht down to kill Kishian.
The past Emperor was as cold-blooded as ice, so even if he had taken revenge on Kishian, he would have chosen a more covert approach.
But as time went by, he was losing more and more of the coolness of his youth.
When things didn't go as planned, he would lose his temper and throw things or execute his subordinates more frequently.
If he hadn't rushed and brought up Elona just now, he might have been beaten to death and executed the next morning.
'Is it possible that even His Majesty could not be free from the family curse in the end? If things continue like this...'
If things continued this way, it was only a matter of time before he would become mad and destroy himself.
Albrecht walked, thinking that he might have to leave the palace soon.
He had come a long way, and heavy fatigue was weighing on his shoulders.
So, he hurried to his room and swallowed the antidote that Elona had given him.
Since he drank poison with Kishian, he had to take the antidote today to avoid dying.
He had already checked on the way here to see if it was safe, so there was nothing to be afraid of.
He put it all in his mouth without a doubt and went to bed.
And that morning.
He died after struggling in excruciating pain as his insides melted away.
***
Since he realized that I was hurt because of him, Kishian started to overprotect me.
It wasn't surprising, considering that he had previously carried me in his arms to Elvin with a slight bruise on my wrist.
It doesn't suit him, but he seems to have a tendency to get a little upset when I get hurt.
Unlike before, this time he was particularly overprotective, perhaps because he was the one who hurt me.
When I tried to feed him, saying that he would have a hard time holding utensils because of his injured shoulder, I eventually couldn't stand it anymore and ran away to my office.
I barely managed to escape to my own space under the pretense of having something to take care of, and I sat there and let out a long sigh.
'It's better than being so aggressive like when he's contaminated, but it still seems a bit too detailed... I didn't know you had that kind of side.'
Kishian, who came to the palace after completing the subjugation, was a man so cold that you could feel the coldness in every word he said.
Thinking back to the past when I was forcibly dragged out of the carriage while I was too scared to get off, I began to doubt whether I was dreaming.
I never dreamed that he would become such a blunt man.
It was then that a sudden knock on the door broke my thoughts.
"Who is it?"
I asked once but got no answer.
If it had been Anne, she would have answered right away, but it wasn't Anne.
So, just as I was about to ask again, the person outside the door finally revealed his identity.
"This is Walter. I have something to tell you."
He was an unexpected person.
In the meantime, Walter seemed to have stopped being my escort and devoted himself solely to commanding the Archduke's private soldiers.
He, who would occasionally run away when we ran into each other at the mansion, came to see me in person for some reason.
Did he avoid me because he felt guilty about telling Kishian about me?
I was curious, but since he came at a good time, there was no reason to refuse his visit.
"Come in."
Walter opened the door and came in, bowed his head unusually politely, and approached the desk.
I asked him, looking at him from my chair.
"What brings you here?"
"I came to apologize."
"Apology?"
He hesitated for a long time, which was unusual for his size.
Just when my patience was starting to run out, his mouth opened.
"I have been looking at and judging Your Highness through a narrow perspective. Since Your Highness was a member of the royal family until recently, I thought that you might harbor ill will toward the Grand Duke."
It was a new story. It was so strange that I wondered why he was apologizing now.
But the story I heard next was a bit unexpected.
"So I followed Your Highness."
"... following?"
"It was an action that arose from the suspicion that you were plotting something with a spy sent from the imperial family. After following you, I was able to eavesdrop on the conversation between Your Highness and the man."
"..."
"After hearing you speak with that man, I concluded that Your Highness was planning to assassinate His Highness the Grand Duke. I recorded the conversation with my magic tool and played it for His Highness."
The image of Kishian pushing me while he was contaminated came to mind.
At that time, Kishian already knew that I had plotted an assassination with Albrecht.
As expected, it was Walter's doing.
I thought it was strange that he spoke as if he had actually heard the conversation with Albrecht, but I thought he had heard a recording.
I think I know why Kishian was so upset that day.
Even though the contamination was already progressing, he heard with his own ears that I was planning to kill him, so trust must have been damaged.
Are you hurt?
It must have been so.
Even though I knew it was all just smoke, I still...
"I recently heard from the Archduke himself that it was all part of a plan to end that spy."
"..."
"I'm sorry for having such a stupid suspicion."
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