For the heart - Chapter 66

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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 66

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That late afternoon.

Nina was summoned by the Emperor and headed to the study.

As she entered through the door opened by the Head Attendant, she saw Desmorak standing with the Emperor.

He merely nodded at Nina and smiled by lifting only the corners of his mouth as usual.

“You summoned me, Your Majesty.”

Nina greeted the Emperor who was looking at her with displeasure and met his eyes.

After collapsing at the sudden appearance of the Saint, his face looked somewhat more gaunt than before.

Though his gaze was coldly fierce.

“I hear you held the Saint’s funeral.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Bang!

Despite the loud sound of his fist striking the desk, Nina didn’t even flinch.

“The Saint’s body is as good as God’s. Even if her breath has ceased, how dare you hold a funeral on your own accord.”

“Arsed has no Grand Steward or priests. Since Your Majesty had collapsed, there was no time to wait for orders.”

“Weren’t you in collusion with the Saint from before?”

“I saw her for the first time that day. I’d like to ask if there’s any reason I should have been in collusion with the Saint.”

Nina struck back at the Emperor who made no effort to hide his suspicion, even narrowing his eyes.

“From Your Majesty’s words, it seems there are things I shouldn’t have discussed with the Saint.”

“Sh-shut up!”

Bang!

Rainer struck the desk once more and shouted, but unlike the first time, he was left speechless this time.

The area around his eyes that glared at Nina turned red, and his hands began to tremble.

Nina slowly took in Rainer’s condition.

He was definitely shaken. There was no longer any reason for her to hesitate.

“She was the only person who testified that I didn’t kill Michelle Puaco. As the Knight Commander of Arsed and as a Princess, if I had ignored such a Saint’s death, it would have brought more shame upon Arsed’s Imperial Court. I have no regrets about stepping forward. If you wish to punish me for touching the Saint’s body, I’ll gladly accept it.”

Desmorak, who had been watching Nina’s confident attitude, twisted one corner of his mouth.

He knew it would be difficult to charge her with a grave crime for holding the Saint’s funeral, but he hadn’t expected her to be so bold.

Moreover, Nina had even asked if there was a reason she shouldn’t have met with the Saint.

‘Nina Arsed… has changed somehow.’

Unlike the Emperor who only showed anger at Nina’s consistent boldness, Desmorak sensed it.

Those pale blue eyes that never showed any emotion now had an edge to them.

Having such an edge before the Emperor meant that Nina had gotten close to some truth she hadn’t known until now.

Desmorak’s eyes trembled faintly.

Nina’s blue gaze reminded him of Magnus, who had once looked at him with anger.

‘Could she really have learned the truth about the oracle?’

Desmorak swallowed and watched the confrontation between Nina and the Emperor.

The Emperor, who had been glaring at Nina with clenched fists, took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

Only now did he too sense that Nina had changed.

Until now, Nina had been nothing but a war weapon for continental unification. She was merely a tool to realize his ambitions.

This wasn’t the Nina Arsed who had been silently wielded as a war weapon all this time.

The Nina Arsed who looked directly at him was emanating the aura of his brother, Magnus Arsed.

Rainer brushed his throat once with his hand.

It felt as if his invisible brother’s hand was gripping his neck tightly.

That gaze, which clearly had no intention of backing down, made him feel suffocated.

“The one who achieved continental unification is me, Emperor Rainer Arsed, not you, a war weapon. Don’t be mistaken.”

“I’ve never been mistaken. Surely you don’t think I’m coveting the throne, Your Majesty?”

“With the people’s fervor for you burning so hot, how can I not be suspicious?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve never once coveted the throne.”

“Really? How can I believe those words? Aren’t you someone who can draw a sword at any time?”

As the Emperor finished speaking, the air momentarily stopped.

Nina looked at the Emperor without moving an eyebrow. Her eyes were cold and calm.

A blade-like silence descended upon the study.

In that stillness, Nina very slowly lifted the corners of her mouth.

“If I had wanted to, I would have long ago…”

Nina didn’t finish her sentence and smiled coldly.

If she had coveted the throne, she would have long ago taken the lives of the Emperor, Empress, and Lillien.

She had the skill to accomplish that much.

“You! How dare you!!”

Rainer, who understood the meaning of Nina’s smile, exploded in fury.

His anger flared up like flames again.

“When your wicked intentions are fully revealed, you’ll regret that insolent attitude! Attendant! Summon the Librarian!”

Nina’s eyes widened.

There would be only one reason to summon the Librarian. To check what books she had read in the library.

Had he been monitoring even her visits to the Imperial Library?

For a moment, she felt like she was caught in a tight snare.

Recalling the books she had read in the library so far, they perfectly matched what the Emperor was now claiming.

Moreover, the Librarian was someone who had lost his son because of her. He would certainly answer according to the Emperor’s intentions.

As if he had been waiting, the Librarian immediately entered the study.

Still with his stern expression, he carried a notebook against his chest.

Though he was before the Emperor, the old Librarian stood with an expressionless face showing no signs of tension or fear.

Librarian Roban’s face, who briefly made eye contact with Nina, was hardened like stone.

“Librarian.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Have you seen Nina Arsed in the Imperial Library during this time?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. She has been reading books in the library for over ten days.”

“Do you also know what books Nina Arsed read?”

“A librarian of the Imperial Library must not be negligent in book management. Even books that were not taken outside, if they were read within the library, are recorded without exception.”

Nina closed her eyes.

She now seemed to understand what that notebook he was holding was.

It would be filled with the titles of over ten years’ worth of Arsed chronicles that she had read while staying in the library for over ten hours a day, especially the history books related to Arsed’s oracles that she had focused on intensively.

The Emperor gestured to the librarian and said.

“Recite the list of books that Nina Arsed read.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Nina clenched both hands tightly. And she barely swallowed the heavy breath that rose from her throat.

The healers who had been sacrificed because of her flashed through her mind.

She had been prepared for such a day to come at any time, but she didn’t know it would be today.

Her fingertips grew cold and cold sweat began to seep out.

She could guess what the Emperor wanted to do to her using that list as evidence.

This was the Emperor who had adopted a mentally unstable witness to frame her for murder and put her, an Imperial Princess, on public trial.

‘Since he failed to get what he wanted, he’s trying to throw me in prison for treason.’

This time, he would present evidence that she could never refute.

The librarian stepped forward with unwavering steps.

He opened the notebook without hesitation, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Clearing his throat, he immediately began reading the list.

“Imperial Ceremonial Compendium, The Aesthetics of Noble Ladies’ Luncheons and Tea, Royal Gardening Manual, The Four Seasons of Embroidery and the Meaning of Patterns, The Origins of Classical Music and the Rhythm of the Harp, Banquet Seating and Noble Language, The Harmony of Flowers and Colors, The History of Imperial Balls and Dance Forms…”

The Emperor was left speechless by the list of books flowing endlessly from the aged librarian’s mouth.

Desmorak, who had anticipated this moment when Nina would be flustered, also hardened his lips with a face drained of color.

It was because the book titles that continued endlessly were so different from what they had expected.

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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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