IWAP - Chapter 75

The Emperor's face hardened at the Empress's confident answer.

"There are quite a few rumors surrounding my daughter. Which rumors are you referring to, First Consort?"

Father, who had remained silent by the Emperor's side until now, spoke. His blue eyes shone piercingly, as if they would tear the First Consort to shreds if she were standing right in front of him.

I could see the First Consort flinch at my father's gaze. However, she was indeed a woman who had long survived in the imperial palace swarming with venomous snakes. The First Consort immediately straightened her disheveled body as if nothing had happened and met my father's gaze with a relaxed smile.

"There are many rumors about Lady Elliot, but there are few that can even question her qualifications to be the Crown Princess." 

The First Consort even showed the composure to smile at my father. As the First Consort said, there were quite a few unfavorable rumors about me, but there were not many that were controversial enough to even bring up my qualifications as the Crown Princess.

The door was opened by a servant, and a young lady with a youthful face entered the conference room with a terrified expression. She walked in with creaking steps and bowed at the waist toward the Emperor.

"He, Herion Panini Angryver, greets the Sun of the Empire, His Imperial Majesty the Emperor."

A pitifully trembling voice rang out softly. The Emperor looked back at the First Consort with a puzzled expression. The First Consort spoke to Lady Angryver.

"Lady Angryver, report to His Majesty exactly what you saw that day."

At the First Consort's words, Lady Angryver's gaze fell upon me. The Lady's face, which had been stiff with tension, turned venomous as she looked at me.

"A few days ago, I met Lady Elliot at a jewelry store owned by the Pison Merchant Guild. There was a slight argument between me and the Lady, and I followed her to apologize."

At Lady Angryver's words, some nodded as if they already knew about the commotion at the jewelry store, while others wore expressions that suggested they didn't know what her words had to do with the rumors surrounding me.

"Lady Eliant seemed very familiar with the interior of the Pison Merchant Guild. I barely managed to chase after her, and... and..." 

"Lady Angryver, it is alright. Just tell the truth."

The First Consort spoke affectionately to Lady Angryver with a benevolent expression, uncharacteristically for her. Seemingly empowered by the First Consort's words, the Lady continued speaking.

"I saw Lady Elliot kill the head of the Pison Merchant Guild." 

At Lady Angryver's shocking remark, the faces of everyone in the conference room were filled with astonishment. A silence like the calm before the storm enveloped the room. As everyone silently gaped, the Emperor's gaze turned toward me.

"Lady Elliot, do you have anything to say in response to that?"

“I didn’t kill him.”

“I saw it!”

No sooner had I finished speaking than Lady Angryver shouted in a shrill voice.

"I saw you stabbing that man with a knife with my own eyes!"

"It seems Lady Angryver was dreaming." 

At my indifferent reply, Lady Angryver shouted as if screaming.

"It's not a dream! You asked that man to die for you!"

At Young Lady's shout, the people watching our standoff began to murmur. Young Lady Angryver, as if she had forgotten that she was in front of the Emperor, shouted at me.

“You wicked woman!”

“Quiet!”

At the Emperor's shout, the noisy conference room fell silent in an instant.

"You are claiming different facts. Does Lady Angryver have a way to prove what she says?"

"I saw it clearly with my own two eyes. Your Majesty, that woman stabbed the man to death with a knife!"

"Is there any other evidence besides your testimony?"

"Well, that's..." 

Lady Angryver, who had been screaming at me, instantly turned pale at the Emperor's question.

"Are you saying you tried to frame an innocent person without any evidence?"

“Well, I..." 

At the Emperor's shout, Lady Angryver collapsed and slumped into the ground. She trembled, her face as pale as blue.

"There are more witnesses who saw blood on Lady Elliot's clothes that day, Your Majesty."

The Emperor furrowed his brow at the First Consort's words. As the First Consort gestured toward the attendant again, a man and a woman entered the conference room.

"A lowly person bows to His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, the sun of the Empire."

"I, I, a mere lowly being, greet the Sun of the Empire, His Imperial Majesty the Emperor."

As soon as they entered the conference room, they prostrated themselves on the floor and bowed to the Emperor. The fact that they lay prostrate on the ground as soon as they saw the Emperor meant that they were not nobles but commoners.

“What are they?”

"I am a lady-in-waiting to the Marquis of Elliot and a merchant belonging to the Pison Merchant Guild."

When the Emperor remained silent, the First Consort spoke to the man and woman who were lying prostrate.

"Report what you have seen exactly as it is." 

"I am a merchant belonging to the Pison Guild, and on that day I stopped by the main store to pick up the goods I had pre-ordered."

Of the two men who had been lying face down, the man spoke. Although he was a bit stiff, he spoke calmly without trembling, like a merchant who deals with many nobles.

"Just as I was about to leave with the cargo loaded, I saw Lady Elliot coming out. She was wearing a cloak, but there was blood on the dress visible through the opening. Since it was a light sky-blue dress, the red was very vivid."

"Are you sure the person you saw was Lady Elliot?"

" Of course. I am certain because I have met Lady Elliot before."

The man answered the nobleman's question in a voice full of conviction. He was a nobleman belonging to the Crown Prince's faction who had defended me until now. He looked at me and his face contorted.

"I... I am a lady-in-waiting of the Elliot family. When the Young Lady returned to the mansion that day, she came back wearing a cloak that she hadn't been wearing when she left. B-but when she took off the cloak, blood... blood... all over her face and dress..."

The maid trembled uncontrollably and finally burst into tears. A servant dragged her outside. The Emperor's hardened face showed no signs of softening even as the maid disappeared from view.

"There are still more witnesses, Your Majesty." 

The corners of the First Consort's red lips curved upward as she looked at me. The Emperor turned his gaze to the First Consort and looked at me.

"Lady Elliot, do you have anything to say in defense?"

"I don't know why I have to make excuses."

Along with the sound of clicking tongues, voices criticizing me began to be heard. The Emperor also frowned, but did not take his gaze away from me.

"Are you admitting guilt?" 

"What sin have I committed?" 

“Huh!”

"Have you ever seen such shamelessness!"

"Her shamelessness is beyond words." 

The nobles belonging to the First Prince's faction vied with one another to criticize me, as if they had been waiting for this very moment. The First Consort was leisurely enjoying the words the nobles were spewing. The First Consort's gaze turned toward me. Her lips, painted with bright red rouge, curved into a smile of satisfaction.

"Is Your Highness the First Consort who is certain of what you are saying?" 

At my question, she laughed at me with a look of contempt.

"There is more than one witness. Doesn't the young lady know the truth better than anyone?" 

Her tone already condemned me as a sinner. I took my eyes off the First Consort and looked around the assembly. The nobles belonging to the First Prince's faction wore blatant excitement as they thought about what was about to happen, while the faces of the nobles belonging to the Crown Prince's faction were extremely grim, with the exception of a few.

I looked back at the man who had stepped forward as a witness. He was still lying face down on the floor.

"How can you be so certain that what is on my dress is blood?"

"It was a vivid red. If that isn't blood, then what on earth is it?" 

He answered calmly. His voice, devoid of even pitch, seemed to assert that he was speaking only the truth.

It seemed like he was doing it.

"Just because something is red doesn't mean it's blood."

"I saw you stab him with a sword! I saw with my own two eyes blood gushing like a fountain, drenching your body!"

Lady Angryver's voice was heavy, perhaps because she thought the tide was turning against me. Her triumphant face turned toward me.

I took my eyes off them and looked to the Emperor's right. There sat the Marchioness Engrail with a face full of worry. Our eyes met. I nodded slightly toward her.

"Your Majesty, may I say a few words?" 

The First Consort furrowed her brow at the Marchioness's sudden remark. There would have been no involvement of the Marchioness Engrail in the plan the First Consort had established. The Emperor was just as bewildered, but unlike the First Consort, he did not outwardly reveal his emotions.

“Tell me.”

"On that day, I also saw Lady Elliot covered in something red."

The audience stirred again, and some hot-tempered nobles stood up and pointed their fingers at me.

"Your Majesty, it is not worth listening to any further." 

"How can you even think of appointing such a wicked woman as the Crown Princess? This must absolutely never happen."

“Shame on the Empire!”

"That is correct. Your Majesty, I hope you make a wise decision."

"Your Majesty!"

"Everyone shut your mouths!"

The mouths of the nobles, who had been chattering incessantly, snapped shut like seashells in a hurry. The Emperor frowned and glared at them.

"Once again, if anyone speaks presumptuously without my command, they will all be punished for insubordination." 

No sooner had the Emperor finished speaking than the Royal Guards, the only ones permitted to carry swords in the meeting hall, reached for their blades. It was the Emperor's resolve to not hesitate to resort to summary execution.

"Keep talking."

At the Emperor's permission, the Marchioness de Engrail looked at me and swallowed hard. Although she was the Emperor's daughter and had become a Marchioness by marrying the Marquis de Engrail, she was nothing more than an ordinary woman far removed from politics. Had it not been for my request, she never would have come to a place like this.

I smiled at her to reassure her. Perhaps encouraged by my smile, she slowly moved her lips.

"What Lady Elliot was covered in was not blood." 

“It’s not blood?”

At the Emperor's counter-question, the Marchioness swallowed dryly once again. She took a deep breath to compose herself, then continued speaking.

"Yes, the red color looked like blood from a distance, but it was not blood; it was red dye."

"Can you take responsibility for those words?"

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