At the same time, Pete, who was observing the movements within the palace near the castle, had a troubled expression on his face.
Before Killian could even get out of the temple, the soldiers led by Duke Sadie were rushing towards the Starr Mansion.
Cezanne ran into the restaurant with an anxious look on her face.
“What’s going on that makes you act so strangely?”
Alvin's expression also became serious at the sight of his unusual appearance.
“I just got a call from Pete. He said that the soldiers led by Duke Sadie are already heading towards the mansion.”
"What? Does that mean Killian hasn't entered the Imperial Palace yet?"
“Yes, Mr. Pete is still communicating with him, but it will take some time to enter the Imperial City.”
Duke Howard and Marquis Huppert were waiting near the castle, but if Killian, who was to lead them, did not arrive, the coup d'état that had been so painstakingly planned could have failed.
Emily, who was sitting there with them, bit her thumbnail and looked anxious.
“Madam... It will be alright. If it doesn’t work out, Duke Howard will lead the army, so don’t worry too much.”
Alvin tried to reassure her, but it didn't help much.
Timing was everything.
“I guess I should go back to the mansion.”
Ivan, who was sitting right next to Emily, strongly opposed Emily's decision.
"Yes? What do you mean? Absolutely not!"
“I know it’s dangerous, but for now, the only way to buy time is to keep Duke Sadie in the mansion as long as possible.”
“But if you go back there without any reason, Duke Sadie might take you hostage.”
Chili and Roxy nodded in agreement with Cezanne's words.
"Yes, ma'am. There's nothing we can do. I guess we'll have to leave it to fate."
In a situation where everyone was against it, Emily couldn't be stubborn any longer.
As she sat back down in her chair with a blank expression, Priest Franz, who had been concentrating on his prayers in a corner, stopped praying and came over to Emily.
“What is it, Priest?”
Emily asked, puzzled.
Since coming to the underground hideout, Priest Franz has been praying without talking to anyone.
“We must return to the mansion as Madame Starr said.”
“Priest! What do you mean by staying still all this time?”
The Starr family, who had a duty to protect Emily, all looked at him with sharp eyes, but Priest Franz was firm.
“Finally, God has answered. It seems there is work for us to do there.”
Emily and the Starr family, who arrived at the mansion just a hair ahead of Duke Sadie, calmly welcomed him.
“What brings you this morning, Your Excellency?”
Charles felt a sense of unease as he saw them not seem particularly flustered, even though they had barged in with the knights.
“Where is the Marquis of Starr?”
“He's out because he has some business to attend to.”
“He's out at this hour?”
Charles did not take that at face value.
“Don’t waste time. Where is the Marquis Starr?”
“It’s true. He had business at the estate and went out at dawn.”
Soon, Charles gave orders to the knights standing behind him in a cold voice.
“Search thoroughly and find the Marquis Starr.”
"All right!"
Duke Sadie's private soldiers, under orders, began to search for Killian by storming the Starr mansion.
“It’s strange, after all.”
It was questionable how Killian had disappeared without warning when they had come to arrest him, and it was also strange that he had sensed something was wrong and left Emily alone in the mansion.
“Are you going to hide him until the end?”
Charles looked at Emily with eyes filled with complex emotions.
But Emily still remained silent.
Charles, who had been waiting for Emily to open her mouth, soon discovered that there was a stranger among them.
“Looking at your attire, you seem to be a priest. Why are you here?”
Even amidst the commotion, Father Franz maintained a calm expression.
In fact, the rest of the group, including Alvin, also looked at such a priest with unfamiliarity.
They couldn't figure out how God had responded and why he was acting so differently than before.
“Don’t touch them, Duke Sadie.”
Charles frowned at the words that Priest Franz spat out without any reason.
“What are you talking about?”
Just as Charles was about to say something to the knights who seemed to misunderstand his intentions, the knights who had just finished their search rushed back to Charles and reported.
“Your Excellency! It seems the Marquis Starr isn’t here.”
“Instead, I found something suspicious.”
Another knight opened his mouth with an urgent look on his face.
“There are no weapons in the armory in the mansion.”
Charles's face hardened abruptly upon hearing those words.
He immediately grabbed Emily's shoulder and asked.
"Is it true that Marquis Starr is plotting a rebellion? Tell me honestly!"
His heart pounded, fearing that Emily might be in danger too.
He did not believe the Emperor's promise that if he arrested Killian for treason, he would be given Emily as his wife.
He only intended to prove his innocence by pretending to carry out the Emperor's orders.
But if it is true that Killian committed treason, then the story is different.
“Your Excellency, please let go of the madam!”
As Alvin and Ivan hurriedly pulled Charles's hands away from Emily, Charles's knights immediately turned their swords on them.
“Who dares to touch His Excellency's body!”
Despite the knight's shouts, Alvin answered without even blinking an eye.
“If you treat His Excellency carelessly, we will act the same way even if the Emperor comes.”
“What? Have you ever seen such rude people!”
“Stay still!”
Charles said, stretching out his arm and blocking the knight's path.
"There's no time to slack off. We must return to the palace immediately and stop the rebellion."
"All right!"
As Charles was about to go to the palace with his knights, Emily quickly grabbed his arm.
“Please listen to me for a moment, Your Excellency.”
Even though he was wearing armor, the area where Emily had grabbed him felt hot.
It was because she was left alone in the mansion and was blocked by someone who made her feel angry from the depths of her heart.
Charles said, shaking her hand away.
"Doesn't the Marquis of Starr know that he's threatening his wife's life? He's completely out of his mind!"
“The crazy one is the Duke who is still on the Emperor’s side!”
Emily was surprised at herself for having the courage to shout in front of the Duke of Sadie.
“Personally, we lost our families unjustly because of the Emperor, but don’t you know that this decision wasn’t made solely out of revenge?”
The situation was so dire that the finances were in shambles due to the money the Emperor had given to the Pope to maintain his power, and the public sentiment was so depleted that it could not be ignored.
“Even if it’s not us, someone will eventually judge the Emperor.”
Charles no longer knew why he was following the Emperor's orders to the end.
The only people left by the Emperor's side now were nobles who somehow managed to stick by him and maintain their power.
“But what do you mean you lost your family because of the Emperor?”
“...My father hid the young Prince Velvet. When the Emperor found out, he ultimately had my parents killed.”
Charles' face froze for a moment at the shocking truth.
Only then did the scattered puzzle pieces begin to come together as to why Count Sinope's house had suddenly fallen into ruin and why the Emperor had broken off his engagement to Emily.
He closed his eyes for a moment with a face filled with pain, then opened them and opened his mouth heavily.
“Even if you succeed in striking the Emperor, I cannot guarantee your husband’s life.”
“...What do you mean?”
"The Count of Blois has installed some kind of device in the reception room of the temple palace. I don't know the details, but if you go in without warning, you'll be fatally injured or even killed."
The Emperor's coronation ceremony is always held in the official reception room.
Enoch Blois, who believed that Killian coveted the throne, set a trap in the audience room in case Killian succeeded in his coup.
Enoch secretly informed Charles of this fact, emphasizing that he should eliminate Killian and take Emily.
Charles's heart was also uneasy when he saw Emily's face turn pale.
“Emily, let me ask you again. Is your husband headed to the palace now?”
Emily didn't answer this time either.
"I see. I'll do my best to ensure your husband doesn't lose his life."
Charles went outside, his military cloak fluttering, where the knights stood waiting.
Soon, the sound of horse hooves could be heard as they departed.
As soon as they left, Emily gave Cezanne instructions.
"Cezanne, you have a communication device? Contact Pete quickly."
"All right."
Cezanne took out the communication device from her bosom and tried to contact Pete.
“...Why doesn't it work?”
Cezanne felt very embarrassed and fiddled with the communication port.
The connection kept turning on and off, making a hissing noise.
“What’s wrong? Is the communication not working well?”
“Yes, I will go outside and try.”
Emily began to feel uneasy as Cezanne moved from place to place, trying to communicate.
"Something seems strange. The communication keeps getting cut off, so I think there's a problem with his communication port."
Finally, Cezanne, who had failed to communicate, came inside weakly and reported.
“Perhaps Pete’s communication device was damaged.”
“Haa, this is a big problem.”
Alvin, who was listening from the side, sighed in embarrassment.
‘What should I do...?’
Emily hesitated for a moment, then spoke with a solemn expression as if she had made up her mind.
“There’s nothing we can do. We have no choice but to go to the palace and block the door to the reception room.”
“Madam, please stay here. We will go.”
“Stop telling me it's dangerous. I’m stronger than you, Alvin.”
Emily's commanding tone of voice made no one, including Alvin, dare to try to stop her.
“...Then how do we enter the palace?”
When Ivan rolled his eyes and asked, Roxy cautiously opened her mouth.
"The entrance I know is on the side with the reservoir. There's probably a separate passageway specifically for the reservoir maintenance staff."
Alvin swallowed a sigh and looked back at Father Franz.
“Will you come with me, Priest?”
Alvin, realizing that he could no longer stop Emily, had no one to turn to but the divine power of the priest Franz.
“I will go with you.”
The priest Franz thought that the reason he was here must be because of Heaven's will.
'In return for helping with this matter, I earnestly request that the position of Pope be given to someone else.'
He prayed with tears in his eyes.
"Anyone who wants to stay here can stay. Our goal is to block the door to the reception room anyway."
Everyone shook their heads at Emily's words.
“Mayo, will you go with me?”
When Emily asked with a worried tone, Mayo puffed out his chest with a look of hurt pride on his face and said,
“Madam! So, I’m the one who went from being a gangster to a mafia member with just one punch.”
“I think it would be better to take at least one more person.”
Emily nodded at Alvin's words.
So, Priest Franz and six other members of the organization, including Alvin, Cezanne, Roxy, Chili, Mayo, and Ivan, followed Emily.
Before Killian could even get out of the temple, the soldiers led by Duke Sadie were rushing towards the Starr Mansion.
Cezanne ran into the restaurant with an anxious look on her face.
“What’s going on that makes you act so strangely?”
Alvin's expression also became serious at the sight of his unusual appearance.
“I just got a call from Pete. He said that the soldiers led by Duke Sadie are already heading towards the mansion.”
"What? Does that mean Killian hasn't entered the Imperial Palace yet?"
“Yes, Mr. Pete is still communicating with him, but it will take some time to enter the Imperial City.”
Duke Howard and Marquis Huppert were waiting near the castle, but if Killian, who was to lead them, did not arrive, the coup d'état that had been so painstakingly planned could have failed.
Emily, who was sitting there with them, bit her thumbnail and looked anxious.
“Madam... It will be alright. If it doesn’t work out, Duke Howard will lead the army, so don’t worry too much.”
Alvin tried to reassure her, but it didn't help much.
Timing was everything.
“I guess I should go back to the mansion.”
Ivan, who was sitting right next to Emily, strongly opposed Emily's decision.
"Yes? What do you mean? Absolutely not!"
“I know it’s dangerous, but for now, the only way to buy time is to keep Duke Sadie in the mansion as long as possible.”
“But if you go back there without any reason, Duke Sadie might take you hostage.”
Chili and Roxy nodded in agreement with Cezanne's words.
"Yes, ma'am. There's nothing we can do. I guess we'll have to leave it to fate."
In a situation where everyone was against it, Emily couldn't be stubborn any longer.
As she sat back down in her chair with a blank expression, Priest Franz, who had been concentrating on his prayers in a corner, stopped praying and came over to Emily.
“What is it, Priest?”
Emily asked, puzzled.
Since coming to the underground hideout, Priest Franz has been praying without talking to anyone.
“We must return to the mansion as Madame Starr said.”
“Priest! What do you mean by staying still all this time?”
The Starr family, who had a duty to protect Emily, all looked at him with sharp eyes, but Priest Franz was firm.
“Finally, God has answered. It seems there is work for us to do there.”
***
Emily and the Starr family, who arrived at the mansion just a hair ahead of Duke Sadie, calmly welcomed him.
“What brings you this morning, Your Excellency?”
Charles felt a sense of unease as he saw them not seem particularly flustered, even though they had barged in with the knights.
“Where is the Marquis of Starr?”
“He's out because he has some business to attend to.”
“He's out at this hour?”
Charles did not take that at face value.
“Don’t waste time. Where is the Marquis Starr?”
“It’s true. He had business at the estate and went out at dawn.”
Soon, Charles gave orders to the knights standing behind him in a cold voice.
“Search thoroughly and find the Marquis Starr.”
"All right!"
Duke Sadie's private soldiers, under orders, began to search for Killian by storming the Starr mansion.
“It’s strange, after all.”
It was questionable how Killian had disappeared without warning when they had come to arrest him, and it was also strange that he had sensed something was wrong and left Emily alone in the mansion.
“Are you going to hide him until the end?”
Charles looked at Emily with eyes filled with complex emotions.
But Emily still remained silent.
Charles, who had been waiting for Emily to open her mouth, soon discovered that there was a stranger among them.
“Looking at your attire, you seem to be a priest. Why are you here?”
Even amidst the commotion, Father Franz maintained a calm expression.
In fact, the rest of the group, including Alvin, also looked at such a priest with unfamiliarity.
They couldn't figure out how God had responded and why he was acting so differently than before.
“Don’t touch them, Duke Sadie.”
Charles frowned at the words that Priest Franz spat out without any reason.
“What are you talking about?”
Just as Charles was about to say something to the knights who seemed to misunderstand his intentions, the knights who had just finished their search rushed back to Charles and reported.
“Your Excellency! It seems the Marquis Starr isn’t here.”
“Instead, I found something suspicious.”
Another knight opened his mouth with an urgent look on his face.
“There are no weapons in the armory in the mansion.”
Charles's face hardened abruptly upon hearing those words.
He immediately grabbed Emily's shoulder and asked.
"Is it true that Marquis Starr is plotting a rebellion? Tell me honestly!"
His heart pounded, fearing that Emily might be in danger too.
He did not believe the Emperor's promise that if he arrested Killian for treason, he would be given Emily as his wife.
He only intended to prove his innocence by pretending to carry out the Emperor's orders.
But if it is true that Killian committed treason, then the story is different.
“Your Excellency, please let go of the madam!”
As Alvin and Ivan hurriedly pulled Charles's hands away from Emily, Charles's knights immediately turned their swords on them.
“Who dares to touch His Excellency's body!”
Despite the knight's shouts, Alvin answered without even blinking an eye.
“If you treat His Excellency carelessly, we will act the same way even if the Emperor comes.”
“What? Have you ever seen such rude people!”
“Stay still!”
Charles said, stretching out his arm and blocking the knight's path.
"There's no time to slack off. We must return to the palace immediately and stop the rebellion."
"All right!"
As Charles was about to go to the palace with his knights, Emily quickly grabbed his arm.
“Please listen to me for a moment, Your Excellency.”
Even though he was wearing armor, the area where Emily had grabbed him felt hot.
It was because she was left alone in the mansion and was blocked by someone who made her feel angry from the depths of her heart.
Charles said, shaking her hand away.
"Doesn't the Marquis of Starr know that he's threatening his wife's life? He's completely out of his mind!"
“The crazy one is the Duke who is still on the Emperor’s side!”
Emily was surprised at herself for having the courage to shout in front of the Duke of Sadie.
“Personally, we lost our families unjustly because of the Emperor, but don’t you know that this decision wasn’t made solely out of revenge?”
The situation was so dire that the finances were in shambles due to the money the Emperor had given to the Pope to maintain his power, and the public sentiment was so depleted that it could not be ignored.
“Even if it’s not us, someone will eventually judge the Emperor.”
Charles no longer knew why he was following the Emperor's orders to the end.
The only people left by the Emperor's side now were nobles who somehow managed to stick by him and maintain their power.
“But what do you mean you lost your family because of the Emperor?”
“...My father hid the young Prince Velvet. When the Emperor found out, he ultimately had my parents killed.”
Charles' face froze for a moment at the shocking truth.
Only then did the scattered puzzle pieces begin to come together as to why Count Sinope's house had suddenly fallen into ruin and why the Emperor had broken off his engagement to Emily.
He closed his eyes for a moment with a face filled with pain, then opened them and opened his mouth heavily.
“Even if you succeed in striking the Emperor, I cannot guarantee your husband’s life.”
“...What do you mean?”
"The Count of Blois has installed some kind of device in the reception room of the temple palace. I don't know the details, but if you go in without warning, you'll be fatally injured or even killed."
The Emperor's coronation ceremony is always held in the official reception room.
Enoch Blois, who believed that Killian coveted the throne, set a trap in the audience room in case Killian succeeded in his coup.
Enoch secretly informed Charles of this fact, emphasizing that he should eliminate Killian and take Emily.
Charles's heart was also uneasy when he saw Emily's face turn pale.
“Emily, let me ask you again. Is your husband headed to the palace now?”
Emily didn't answer this time either.
"I see. I'll do my best to ensure your husband doesn't lose his life."
Charles went outside, his military cloak fluttering, where the knights stood waiting.
Soon, the sound of horse hooves could be heard as they departed.
As soon as they left, Emily gave Cezanne instructions.
"Cezanne, you have a communication device? Contact Pete quickly."
"All right."
Cezanne took out the communication device from her bosom and tried to contact Pete.
“...Why doesn't it work?”
Cezanne felt very embarrassed and fiddled with the communication port.
The connection kept turning on and off, making a hissing noise.
“What’s wrong? Is the communication not working well?”
“Yes, I will go outside and try.”
Emily began to feel uneasy as Cezanne moved from place to place, trying to communicate.
"Something seems strange. The communication keeps getting cut off, so I think there's a problem with his communication port."
Finally, Cezanne, who had failed to communicate, came inside weakly and reported.
“Perhaps Pete’s communication device was damaged.”
“Haa, this is a big problem.”
Alvin, who was listening from the side, sighed in embarrassment.
‘What should I do...?’
Emily hesitated for a moment, then spoke with a solemn expression as if she had made up her mind.
“There’s nothing we can do. We have no choice but to go to the palace and block the door to the reception room.”
“Madam, please stay here. We will go.”
“Stop telling me it's dangerous. I’m stronger than you, Alvin.”
Emily's commanding tone of voice made no one, including Alvin, dare to try to stop her.
“...Then how do we enter the palace?”
When Ivan rolled his eyes and asked, Roxy cautiously opened her mouth.
"The entrance I know is on the side with the reservoir. There's probably a separate passageway specifically for the reservoir maintenance staff."
Alvin swallowed a sigh and looked back at Father Franz.
“Will you come with me, Priest?”
Alvin, realizing that he could no longer stop Emily, had no one to turn to but the divine power of the priest Franz.
“I will go with you.”
The priest Franz thought that the reason he was here must be because of Heaven's will.
'In return for helping with this matter, I earnestly request that the position of Pope be given to someone else.'
He prayed with tears in his eyes.
"Anyone who wants to stay here can stay. Our goal is to block the door to the reception room anyway."
Everyone shook their heads at Emily's words.
“Mayo, will you go with me?”
When Emily asked with a worried tone, Mayo puffed out his chest with a look of hurt pride on his face and said,
“Madam! So, I’m the one who went from being a gangster to a mafia member with just one punch.”
“I think it would be better to take at least one more person.”
Emily nodded at Alvin's words.
So, Priest Franz and six other members of the organization, including Alvin, Cezanne, Roxy, Chili, Mayo, and Ivan, followed Emily.
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