For the heart - Chapter 64

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 64

Count Puaco was the kind of person who had even tried to kill Casian in the Blanche Duchy to get revenge on Nina.

Even though his niece who had ordered that deed was imprisoned, he didn’t bat an eye.

‘Emperor Rainer will never be able to remove Count Puaco. At this point when he’s achieved continental unification, he’s not the type of person who could tolerate his corruption being exposed.’

Desmorak knew better than anyone how much Rainer staked his life on his reputation.

On the other hand, Count Puaco was someone who would stop at nothing in the face of his daughter’s death.

‘Damn it… If it’s revealed that this was Princess Lillien’s doing, all my efforts over the past 20 years will turn to nothing. Nina. I need to either make Nina Arsed into the worst princess, or eliminate her entirely.’

Just as Desmorak was agonizing over this, a carriage passed in front of him.

It was a carriage bearing the crest of the Puaco County.

Realizing that the Count had entered the Imperial Palace for the first time in two weeks, Desmorak’s face went pale with an ominous premonition.

* * *

When he hurriedly arrived in front of the Emperor’s Audience Chamber, he could hear the Emperor’s thunderous roar from behind the closed doors.

Desmorak urgently asked the Head Attendant standing guard at the door.

“Who is inside?”

“It is Princess Lillien.”

He had hoped his prediction would be wrong.

Without even telling the attendant to announce him, Desmorak knocked quickly and opened the door to enter.

The Emperor glared at Desmorak with his face completely scrunched up.

“Your Majesty, I entered without permission, risking rudeness, to quickly report the situation outside.”

Seeing Desmorak bow deeply, Rainer sharply turned his head and raised his voice again.

“Answer me! Did you really kill Michelle Puaco?!”

“No, Father! I didn’t kill Michelle!”

“Then why are such rumors spreading! Count Puaco, who heard those rumors, came by. He asked if I was holding a public trial and putting Nina forward to protect you, who killed his daughter, never mind the account books!”

Rainer trembled with rage that seemed ready to explode.

He had been busy making excuses about that day’s events to Count Puaco, who had barged into the Audience Chamber and questioned him like an interrogation.

It was utterly humiliating, but it was true that he had killed the witness, completely ruining the attempt to charge Nina with murder.

“From now on, I will request a new investigation. Starting from the beginning, step by step, excluding Princess Nina. If someone else is revealed to have killed my daughter, Your Majesty must hold a public trial then too and punish them according to the law.”

It meant that even if it was Lillien, she wouldn’t be able to escape the murder charge.

Rainer asked coldly, clenching both fists tightly.

“It really wasn’t your doing, right? Lillien, stake everything you have and answer.”

Lillien swallowed dry saliva at her father’s cold gaze, which she was experiencing for the first time.

And without realizing it, she glanced sideways at Desmorak standing beside her.

As if he had been waiting for Lillien to look at him, he shook his head very slightly.

At that signal, Lillien quickly put on a face that said it really wasn’t true and let her eyes well up.

“Yes. It’s really true, Father. I didn’t kill Michelle.”

“Haa…”

Of course. There was no way his daughter could have committed such a horrible act.

As if sighing in relief, Rainer waved his hand at Lillien. It meant for her to leave.

After exchanging another quick glance with Desmorak, Lillien curtsied to the Emperor and quickly left the Audience Chamber.

“What do you think? Do you agree that Lillien didn’t kill Michelle?”

“Of course, Your Majesty. The Princess is absolutely not that kind of person.”

“Exactly. She may be immature, but she’s not such a vicious child. There’s no way she would have killed Michelle, who had been her maid for 10 years. So, how was the atmosphere outside?”

After hearing the answer he wanted from Desmorak, the Emperor finally seemed to calm down from his excitement and requested a report.

“Princess Nina’s reputation among the people has improved remarkably. Thanks to the Saint, she’s even cleared of the murder charge, and she’s the greatest contributor to continental unification, so it’s only natural.”

Desmorak subtly watched the Emperor’s expression. His face clearly showed his displeasure.

As if he had been waiting for this moment, he took a step closer.

The light spreading from his brown eyes burrowed into his target like a snake.

“Right now it’s just rumors… but later when Princess Lillien inherits the throne, this matter could become a major obstacle. Your Majesty.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Don’t you know? Once someone begins to be deified, once they steal away all the people’s hearts, no one can defeat them.”

Rainer glared at Desmorak.

A powerful being with an immortal body who was born receiving divine oracles, but who tried to unify the entire continent through cooperation rather than force.

A tragic emperor who met his death at the hands of his beloved wife.

Magnus Arsed.

The person most loved by the people of the Arsed Empire and still revered like a god was none other than him.

Rainer’s obsession with continental unification was also to become a greater emperor than Magnus.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he had lived with the single-minded determination that he, not his brother, would accomplish that great feat.

Because he wanted to mock the divine oracle triumphantly.

And in the end, he had achieved what he longed for.

But somehow, all the credit was going only to Nina Arsed.

To Nina Arsed, who was his brother’s child, not his own child or himself.

On top of that, the sudden murder accusation against Lillien was enough to trigger his deep-seated inferiority complex.

He had believed that once he achieved continental unification, all the people would consider him a far greater emperor than his brother…

It seemed as if God was mocking him, proving the difference in bloodlines.

No matter how much he struggled, it seemed he could never surpass Magnus Arsed.

Bang—!

Rainer’s rage finally exploded as he struck the desk hard with his fist.

“What are you trying to say, Desmorak?”

“I’m saying we need to cut off the sprout of deification. Before holding the Arsed Integration Banquet that will gather representatives from across the continent.”

Desmorak slowly pulled up the corners of his mouth.

Rainer, who had wondered if he was being mocked, relaxed his shoulders and leaned back against his chair.

“By what means. When even the opportunity to pin a murder charge has flown away.”

“Do you know where Princess Nina spends all day these days, Your Majesty?”

“That child would be at the Satellite Palace or the Training Grounds.”

“No. Since achieving continental unification, Princess Nina has not gone to the Training Grounds even once. Instead, she spends all day in the Imperial Library.”

“The library?”

Desmorak had carefully observed Nina’s movements after the Saint appeared and disappeared.

Because the Emperor also suspected the possibility that she had contacted the Saint, and suspected she might have learned the truth about the oracle.

“If Princess Nina truly contacted the Saint, she might have been frequenting the library to find clues about her birth parents, the Former Emperor and Former Empress, and the oracle.”

“What, what?!”

Rainer’s eyes darted rapidly back and forth.

Twenty years ago, all the annals recorded during the Former Emperor’s reign had been burned. Everything about the oracles too.

The Emperor, tracing through his vivid remaining memories, slowly shook his head as if it couldn’t be.

“Everything was burned, so even if she tried to find it, she couldn’t.”

“That’s right. But couldn’t the mere act of trying to find such records be considered a crime?”

“A crime?”

“She dared to touch the Saint’s corpse without the Emperor’s permission, and furthermore, if she tried to find records about the Sacred Order that Your Majesty disbanded twenty years ago… Wouldn’t that signify treason, Your Majesty?”

“Treason…”

Rainer gazed up into the air and muttered to himself.

“Summon the Librarian of the Imperial Library to check the list of books Princess Nina has read. We’ll be able to trap her with something.”

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