A Fortune-telling Princess - Chapter 223

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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“Marquis Duriel.”
At Crown Prince Edsen’s call, Marquis Duriel met his gaze without concealing the slightest hint of coldness in his expression.
Within that gaze lay an unwavering resolve—he would no longer extend the courtesy due to a member of the imperial family.
“I heard your account well. Quite vigorous for your years, I must say.”
Marquis Duriel’s face stiffened slightly. Had he heard everything I said earlier from outside?
“Ha.”
His shock was brief; Marquis Duriel let out a short laugh. What did it matter if he had heard? Nothing would change.
“Then there’s no need to separately explain what the most pressing matter of today is, I presume.”
Marquis Duriel had convened this council today to strip Crown Prince Edsen not only of his position as crown prince but of his very claim to the throne.
He had no desire to drag this out any longer. The sooner this situation was resolved, the better it would be for everyone.
That was why he could not help but wear a bewildered expression upon hearing Crown Prince Edsen’s next words.
“You’ve gone to great lengths.”
…Great lengths?
“What do you…?”
Did he not understand his own precarious position at all?
‘Surely he’s not so oblivious as that?’
He had expected the Crown Prince to fly into a rage, yet instead of anger, Crown Prince Edsen merely chuckled, and Marquis Duriel’s brow furrowed.
Crown Prince Edsen did not avoid his gaze. Rather, he shrugged his shoulders and deliberately adopted an even more irritating expression.
“I mean you’ve labored hard to seize this moment when the three Dukes are absent.”
It was obvious why a noble assembly had been convened now, when the three Dukes had left the Capital to deal with the remnants of the Eba Cult. He wanted to settle matters while they were gone.
Crown Prince Edsen clicked his tongue lightly and examined each person gathered in the Council Chamber one by one.
“While others shed blood and sweat to stabilize the Empire.”
All these people ever did when they gathered was this.
At the contempt in his gaze, everyone without exception grew uncomfortable and hastened to avert their eyes.
They all understood that when Crown Prince Edsen spoke of “others,” he was referring to the three Dukes currently absent from the Capital.
Those who had become petty in an instant flushed with shame. They had nothing to say.
“Qualification.”
Crown Prince Edsen muttered softly to himself, then swept his gaze across the assembly once more. The corners of his mouth rose slightly.
“I acknowledge it as well.”
“Your Highness!”
“That is…!”
Was he agreeing with Marquis Duriel’s words now? Acknowledging them when he should be refuting them?
Several nobles who had steadfastly supported Crown Prince Edsen through any circumstance suddenly rose from their seats, their faces plainly showing their alarm.
He had seemed exhausted of late—surely he wasn’t considering abandoning his claim to the throne? They had to prevent that at any cost!
But Crown Prince Edsen lightly raised his hand to stop their attempt to interrupt the council.
“Losing the seal created by the First Emperor—it’s certainly reasonable to conclude that from that point, the qualification was lost.”
Crown Prince Edsen actually reiterated what Marquis Duriel had just said.
“Your Highness! You know well when that occurred!”
“Why do you keep bringing up something so long ago…!”
The Crown Prince’s faction nobles grew even more flustered. They could not comprehend why he kept mentioning words that worked against him.
The same was true for Marquis Duriel.
‘What is this?’
Watching Crown Prince Edsen agree with his own words and the nobles attempting to dissuade him, Marquis Duriel’s mind grew equally turbulent.
‘What scheme is he plotting?’
That cunning fox—why would he back down so readily? He wasn’t the type to surrender without a fight. Had he devised some other stratagem?
‘That can’t be it.’
What could he possibly accomplish at this point?
Regardless, this matter had to be concluded before the three Dukes returned to the Capital.
“Your Highness speaks wisely.”
Marquis Duriel continued immediately. Whatever that man was thinking, there was no reason to miss this opportunity now that he had voluntarily renounced his own legitimacy.
“As everyone knows, the seal of the First Emperor is an object of supreme importance symbolizing the Empire itself. Its disappearance is tantamount to the loss of imperial authority.”
“Then.”
Crown Prince Edsen paused briefly, then looked at Marquis Duriel with the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
At that characteristic smile—one that subtly irritated those who witnessed it—Marquis Duriel’s expression twisted involuntarily.
‘He’s smiling?’
At a time like this?
An inexplicable unease crept over him.
“What would happen if I were to find that seal?”
“…Pardon?”
Yet that unease did not linger.
What nonsense was this? Find a seal that had vanished ages ago?
“Ha.”
A hollow laugh escaped Marquis Duriel’s lips.
He had thought the Crown Prince might be concealing some trump card, but was he merely grasping at straws, speaking whatever came to mind simply to buy time until the three Dukes returned?
Well, in a situation where his claim to the throne was already precarious, he had to try something.
‘Even if they return, nothing will change.’
Certainly, resolving this matter would take longer, but Crown Prince Edsen possessed nothing to substantiate his claim to the throne.
“Then naturally, Your Highness must succeed to the imperial throne.”
Marquis Duriel’s voice grew noticeably softer.
“Did not the First Emperor leave behind a decree? That he who inherits the seal shall be Emperor of the Empire.”
There was a certain amusement in watching his final desperate struggle.
A seal lost five hundred years ago—how could he possibly find it now? For centuries, countless individuals had endeavored to locate it, yet all their efforts had proven futile.
‘This is certainly strange.’
If someone had stolen the seal, it should exist somewhere.
But why had it never been found despite all these long years? The seal, crafted from dragon bone, could not have been destroyed.
What he had said moments ago to incite the people—he now felt genuine conviction about it.
Perhaps the First Emperor’s seal had abandoned the Empire and hidden itself of its own accord? It had vanished because false royalty had no right to possess it!
“Hmm.”
A mysterious smile appeared at the corners of Crown Prince Edsen’s mouth once more. His gaze remained fixed upon Marquis Duriel.
Marquis Duriel did not avert his eyes either. Rather, he met that gaze directly and returned a scornful smile, signaling that the Crown Prince was welcome to do as he pleased.
“How much time should I grant you, then?”
A month? A year? Surely you’re not trying to drag this out any longer than that?
“One minute will suffice.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“Let him in.”
At Crown Prince Edsen’s brief command, the Council Chamber doors swung open and a single figure stepped inside. It was the newly appointed Chamberlain Joiner.
‘Why is he here?’
Marquis Duriel’s brow furrowed slightly at the sight of Chamberlain Joiner.
Chamberlain Joiner was a man who had been driven from the Imperial Palace when Duriel’s daughter served as Empress.
Empress Javela had been deeply displeased with his presence in the Imperial Court, citing his service to the late Crown Prince Edsen’s biological mother as reason for his dismissal.
Yet now, Crown Prince Edsen himself had appointed this very man as the new Chamberlain, drawing him back into the Palace.
A single realization flickered through everyone’s minds.
‘The previous Chamberlain was also of the Eba Cult.’
The former Chamberlain who had served the Emperor was likewise a member of the Eba Cult. When this scandal erupted, he had taken his own life, and Joiner had risen to fill the vacancy.
In any case, all eyes turned toward the Chamberlain as he entered.
“Your Highness.”
Joiner approached Crown Prince Edsen with a respectful bow, then carefully extended forward what he held in both hands as an offering.
It was the wooden box that Camilla had gifted to Crown Prince Edsen mere moments ago.
“Do not forget what you just said.”
At Crown Prince Edsen’s faint smile, Marquis Duriel’s expression hardened visibly.
Crown Prince Edsen, missing not the slightest shift in the Marquis’s countenance, fixed his gaze upon him and slowly opened the wooden box.
Click.
“What is that…?”
“…Is that not a seal?”
A seal? At the crowd’s exclamation, Marquis Duriel felt an involuntary chill run down his spine.
‘Surely not…!’
No, it couldn’t be. Absolutely not! It was clearly—
“Wait, just a moment!”
“That’s…!”
“Gasp!”
Those who had initially wondered what it was soon gasped in astonishment.
A seal of deep black ink. How could anyone fail to recognize it?
The legend that the people of Faybler held most dear and cherished.
The tale of the hero who slew the Black Dragon—the evil god—the First Emperor himself, was known to every citizen of the Empire. Raised hearing it from childhood, there was scarcely a soul who did not know it.
The seal of the First Emperor, said to be crafted from the bones of the Black Dragon, was equally renowned. One could find depictions of the seal’s form in any library with ease.
“Your Highness, surely you don’t mean to say that this is…”
Given the conversation just exchanged with Marquis Duriel, could it truly be what they all suspected?
“Indeed.”
His smile deepened further.
“The seal of the First Emperor.”
“…!”
So it was true after all!
At Crown Prince Edsen’s affirmation, the crowd gasped once more in shock.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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