“That dagger. Isn’t it the one carried by the Commanders of the Lapion Imperial Knights?”
Prince Calvain glared at Commander Macrom and said to Linel.
“I deliberately kept quiet while the Commander and I stopped the Prince’s wounds due to concerns about him escaping.”
Only then did I notice the pattern engraved on the blade of the dagger that had fallen to the floor.
At first, it was hard to see because of the blood, but upon closer inspection, it was indeed the dagger carried by the Commanders, just as Prince Calvaine had said. And the name of Commander Macrom was engraved on the blade.
There was no denying that the dagger that had entered and exited Prince Tesla’s side belonged to Commander Macrom.
“What! You dare stab my brother?! Your Majesty, arrest him! He must be executed immediately!”
Princess Resilia shouted, pointing her finger at Commander Macrom.
Unlike the calm expression of Commander Macrom, Bonis, who was next to him, held her breath with her chest puffed out.
I knew from Bonis’ expression.
‘It wasn’t Commander Macrom who stabbed Prince Tesla, it was Bonis.’
What should I do?
I looked at Linel. He called the Commander in a flat voice.
“Macrom.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Is that dagger yours?”
“Yes.”
Princess Resilia jumped up and ran at the Commander at Commander Macrom’s answer.
“Calm down, Princess!”
Grand Duke Martins tried to stop her, but she still swung her hand and slapped Commander Macrom in the face.
“You murderer!”
It was a pretty sharp sound.
Prince Tesla wasn’t even dead, but he’s a murderer.
I let out a small sigh and looked at Commander Macrom.
The Commander, who was slapped by Princess Resilia, stood there expressionlessly, as if he had been stuffed.
Instead, Bonis, next to him, swayed, and I quickly supported her.
“Are you okay?”
When I asked, Bonis looked at me.
Her eyes seemed to be asking for my help, but there was nothing I could do in the current situation.
Even though Princess Resilia called Commander Macrom a murderer, the Commander did not refute her.
Linel’s eyes, watching him, did not waver either.
His questions continued.
“Yes, your name is engraved on that dagger, so I cannot deny it. Then I will ask you again.”
In the meantime, the knights brought a stretcher and carefully moved Prince Tesla, and the magician Big followed them.
Linel watched Prince Tesla being carried out on the stretcher and then stared at Commander Macrom again.
Before asking the question again, the two people’s gazes met in the air.
Their eyes seemed to know what the other was going to say, and I could also predict it.
“Did you attack Prince Tesla with that dagger?”
“...Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You wouldn’t let such a shameless person live, would you! Your Majesty?”
Princess Resilia squirmed again. Grand Duke Martins tried to stop her, but fell backwards in frustration.
I glanced down at the Grand Duke and frowned, and the Grand Duke suddenly got up again and grabbed the Princess’s arm.
“What is the reason?”
Linel asked.
Then Bonis, who had been leaning against me, shook off my hand and took a step forward to say,
“No, Your Majesty! The Commander simply...!”
“Miss Bonis, be quiet. Macrom answers.”
Linel raised a hand to cut off Bonis and commanded.
His voice was firm and more majestic than ever.
However, Bonis disobeyed his order and raised his voice again.
“Prince Tesla tried to rape me! So...”
“Yes, Bonis cried out for help.”
Commander Macrom cut in, covering Bonis’ mouth as he spoke the truth.
“I happened to be nearby and ran into the reception room to stop the Prince, which led to a physical fight, and I ended up using a dagger in the process. However, I made a mistake because I couldn’t see. It was an unintentional accident.”
The VIPs gathered in the reception room murmured at Commander Macrom’s words.
If that were true, it was difficult to blame it solely on the Commander.
Is that crazy, Bonis?
I wanted to immediately run to the magician and order him not to treat Prince Tesla.
“Didn’t you overreact against the drunk Prince Tesla?”
Prince Calvain spoke as if defending Prince Tesla.
“It wasn’t a hasty response. The situation was very urgent and dangerous.”
Commander Macrom looked in Bonis’ direction and answered.
“As you said, Prince Tesla was so drunk, and he was even molesting Bonis, so I had no choice but to use force.”
“That can’t be true! How could my brother do something like that to me? This is a false accusation! Even if what you said were true, Bonis must have seduced him!”
Princess Resilia immediately retorted.
“The Princess, refrain from talking!”
I couldn’t stay still either.
She flinched in surprise at my shouting.
Then she strode toward me with an indignant expression.
Grand Duke Martins held onto the Princess, but since he was weak by nature, he was unable to defend himself well and let her go.
However, Princess Resilia couldn’t hit me like she hit Grand Duke Martins.
She knew very well that if she hit me, her head would fly off.
“Young Lady Bonis, is what Commander Macrom said true?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Prince Tesla indeed tried to rape me. However, who stabbed him...”
“It was I who stabbed him.”
Commander Macrom interrupted Bonis again.
“Once Prince Tesla wakes up, we will investigate again. However, before the Prince wakes up, we must take appropriate measures against him.”
Linel was silent for a moment, as if he were pondering the matter.
It was obvious that Prince Tesla was at fault.
However, Linel had no idea how to handle this matter.
“Macrom, follow the order.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Commander Macrom knelt down on one knee in front of him and bowed his head.
All the distinguished guests gathered in the reception room looked at Linel.
“From this moment on, all your positions and authority will be revoked.”
Linel ordered in a cold voice.
As soon as he finished speaking, Bonis fell to the floor.
“Your Majesty! That is too much...!”
I raised my voice without realizing it.
“As I said just now, once Prince Tesla wakes up, we will investigate the truth again and take appropriate measures against him.”
It was difficult to argue further since his decision was not wrong.
“He might run away!”
Princess Resilia asked as if she was not satisfied with Linel’s decision.
“That’s right, we need to keep an eye on the Commander.”
Prince Calvain also joined in with the Princess.
“Of course, we will assign separate personnel to keep an eye on Macrom.”
Prince Calvain nodded and closed his mouth at Linel’s words.
I tried to comfort Bonis, who was sobbing.
“It’s because of me, because of me, Commander...!”
“Bonis, calm down.”
I had nothing else to say in the current situation.
“Stiane, call the vice-Commander. And Raphael, instruct the knights to detain Commander Macrom in the room and place guard troops in front of the door.”
“Yes... Your Majesty.”
“I will follow your orders.”
Stiane and Raphael also looked at Commander Macrom with pitiful eyes, but they also seemed to have no other way to help at the moment.
Princess Resilia and Prince Calvain could not ask Linel any more questions after he quickly made a decision.
After a while, the knights took him out to the reception room, holding both arms of Commander Macrom.
Princess Resilia finally calmed down, and Bonis continued to cry.
“I have something to discuss with the vice-Commander, so the Empress and Lady Bonis should go up first.”
Linel said to me when the vice-Commander arrived outside the reception room.
Then Princess Resilia took a step closer to him and whispered,
“Your Majesty, it’s something related to my brother, so I can stay, right?”
Why, when you weren’t even a witness to the scene?
I glared at Princess Resilia. She was holding up her beautiful face in front of Linel with an expression that seemed to be clinging to him.
“You should go up, too, Princess. Grand Duke, you’ll take care of the Princess.”
Linel said to her politely and then looked at Grand Duke Martins.
“Yes, Your Majesty. Princess, let’s go.”
Grand Duke Martins persuaded Princess Resilia, and Prince Calvain also sneaked out and went up to his room.
Sharon, who had heard the news from Chief Chamberlain Stiane, came down to the reception room late and helped Bonis up with me.
***
Bonis, who had arrived at her room, cried again, which had stopped for a moment, and complained to me.
“I stabbed Prince Tesla. It was me, Your Majesty!”
“I know. His Majesty knows.”
“But why...”
“You really don’t know? Commander Macrom did it to protect you.”
I said, patting Bonis on the shoulder.
“He's an idiot. I don’t understand why he's being falsely accused because of me.”
“If you had said you stabbed him right then, the situation would have been more complicated. And I think Commander Macrom decided that it would be better for him to take the blame for you rather than you being locked up.”
Commander Macrom was blind, so he could pretend to make a mistake.
Of course, even though he lost his sight, he was a person who could never make a mistake when handling a sword, but he was good at making excuses to the outside world.
It would be problematic if Commander Macrom had swung a weapon at Prince Tesla and injured him, but it was something that happened while he was trying to stop the Prince from raping Bonis, so it could be somewhat overlooked.
The only problem was that Prince Tesla didn’t die.
“I’m a little worried about what he’ll do when he wakes up.”
“If he try to say he didn’t try to rape me, then I’ll really kill him!”
Bonis clenched her teeth and squeezed the blanket with both hands as if strangling Prince Tesla.
“I don’t think he’ll make a big deal out of it since he has dignity. However, I don’t know how His Majesty will treat Commander Macrom. He’s the prince of the Shattonil kingdom, so other guests are watching, so it’ll be hard to just let it go.”
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, the Empress...”
Bonis kept her eyes focused, then relaxed them again and apologized to me.
“What do you have to be sorry about? This is all because of that piece of trash.”
I said, recalling the face of Prince Tesla, who had passed out in the living room.
When I heard that Prince Tesla had tried to rape Bonis while drunk, I really wanted to put that dagger back in the Prince’s side.
If no one was watching, I might have really done so.
“Bonis, you should exercise a bit from now on.”
“...Huh?”
Of course, even though he lost his sight, he was a person who could never make a mistake when handling a sword, but he was good at making excuses to the outside world.
It would be problematic if Commander Macrom had swung a weapon at Prince Tesla and injured him, but it was something that happened while he was trying to stop the Prince from raping Bonis, so it could be somewhat overlooked.
The only problem was that Prince Tesla didn’t die.
“I’m a little worried about what he’ll do when he wakes up.”
“If he try to say he didn’t try to rape me, then I’ll really kill him!”
Bonis clenched her teeth and squeezed the blanket with both hands as if strangling Prince Tesla.
“I don’t think he’ll make a big deal out of it since he has dignity. However, I don’t know how His Majesty will treat Commander Macrom. He’s the prince of the Shattonil kingdom, so other guests are watching, so it’ll be hard to just let it go.”
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, the Empress...”
Bonis kept her eyes focused, then relaxed them again and apologized to me.
“What do you have to be sorry about? This is all because of that piece of trash.”
I said, recalling the face of Prince Tesla, who had passed out in the living room.
When I heard that Prince Tesla had tried to rape Bonis while drunk, I really wanted to put that dagger back in the Prince’s side.
If no one was watching, I might have really done so.
“Bonis, you should exercise a bit from now on.”
“...Huh?”
“I think your hands are a little weak.”
If I were Bonis, Prince Tesla would no longer be alive.
If you don’t hold the sword, you won’t know, but once you hold the sword, you have to finish it off.
Bonis and Sharon, who didn’t understand what I was saying, looked at me with wide eyes, waiting for me to explain.
But I sighed and said it was nothing.
“Will Prince Tesla regain consciousness?”
Sharon asked as if it would be very difficult if the Prince regained consciousness.
“Probably. Not only the wizard Big, but the magic tower lord’s healing skills are excellent. Just look at how he treated Misha yesterday.”
“I feel bad saying this, but I hope the magic tower lord heals him slowly. Or just pretend to heal him.”
Sharon said with sincerity.
Yes, that’s what I meant.
“By the way, Sharon. Did any of the servants come into my room 30 minutes ago?”
“30 minutes ago?”
“Yes, I was in the bathroom at that time, and I think someone came in and out.”
“No. The other servants must have been resting in their rooms since you gave the order to rest 2 hours ago.”
“Right? Not the Empress’s palace attendants, right...?”
“Your Majesty, why is that?”
Sharon asked with a puzzled expression.
“Actually, I left this on the dressing table.”
I continued, taking out a magic potion bottle from my robe pocket.
“I forgot about that, and when I heard Prince Calvain shouting, I went out with His Majesty, and this was left outside the door.”
“Oh my! Did someone take something from the dressing table and put it outside?!”
Sharon stared at the magic potion bottle in shock.
“If it was 30 minutes ago, wasn’t it when... that... that made you lemon tea?”
Bonis asked, furrowing her brows.
“Oh, Nancy? Yes. That was around that time. Did that put it outside the door? But why? Do you know what it is?”
Nancy was the only one who came into our room at that time.
I had the same thoughts as Bonis, but even if Nancy had taken the magic potion, many things didn’t make sense.
“Who’s Nancy?”
Sharon asked, looking at me and Bonis.
“She’s a maid in the cooking department. I met her by chance in front of the master’s room.”
I told Sharon what I had told Bonis.
“Cooking department maid Nancy...? I’ve never heard that name before.”
Sharon’s brown eyes slowly rolled, and she finished her sentence.
“Do you know the names of all the cooking department maids?”
Bonis asked, and Sharon smiled as if it was obvious.
“Even if you don’t know all of them, you’ve at least heard the names of all the cooking department maids who joined this hunting competition at least once.”
“Really? She definitely said the cooking department. And she made some lemon tea. It wasn’t that great, though.”
“Lemon tea, was it not that great?”
Bonis blinked and asked,
“Yeah, it was really weird. If you’re in the cooking department, you should be able to make lemon tea.”
“Hmm, that’s suspicious. I’ll go to the cooking department and see if they have a servant named Nancy.”
Sharon muttered, trying to recall Nancy’s name.
***
The next morning.
Knock knock.
When Linel and I were almost done getting dressed, there was a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
The door opened after he gave permission.
“Your Majesty! Prince Tesla has regained consciousness!”
Raphael had had bad news since morning.
“I see. Tell Bellos to knock him out again and make him wake up in three days.”
Linel said to Raphael as he buttoned up the last button of his uniform.
“Yes? Seriously...?”
Raphael stood there blankly for a few seconds, then scratched his head and asked.
Then he answered in a confident tone.
“Yes.”
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