I Just Wanted Revenge, But Everyone Loves Me - Chapter 55
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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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Chapter 55
The sword used when assassinating the Crown Prince.
In other words, the object that had triggered this entire affair.
Around the time I was examining it with curiosity,
the Duke spoke up suddenly.
“Get out, little one.”
“Pardon?”
Before I could even ask if he meant right now, the Duke continued.
“This isn’t something a child should see.”
The Duke gave a pointed look toward my sister.
Veronika then laughed awkwardly, hastily concealing the Bloodstained Sword behind her back.
Watching the two of them in turn, Hyacinth spoke up.
“But isn’t she the brave little one who destroyed an entire building? Surely someone who went that far with Izutail wouldn’t be afraid of something like this…….”
“Would you like to leave as well?”
“My apologies.”
Hyacinth, who had been defending me so earnestly just moments before, bowed her head obediently.
Just then, my sister rang a small bell nearby.
“How about we go get something delicious to eat, Karin?”
* * *
“Ugh.”
How unfair!
‘I’m not even scared!’
Banished to my room, I picked at the pudding the maidservants had brought, eating it bit by bit.
‘I never imagined they’d have an Image Stone.’
The newspapers I’d seen before didn’t record what specific evidence it was, only that it was something undeniably powerful.
‘With evidence like that, though……’
Even setting aside the Bloodstained Sword, the Image Stone—one of the other pieces of evidence—would serve as decisive proof that Bangcadium had not murdered the Crown Prince.
‘He said he’d move in time for the Birthday Celebration.’
I wondered how he’d get in.
‘My sister said she’d need to think about it from now on,’
so since he said he’d reveal it somewhere with many people present, it seemed he’d enter the banquet hall directly.
‘Then he’d go in disguise?’
Hmm, no.
If it were anyone else, perhaps—but the Duke didn’t seem like the type to sneak in and hide.
Or else he’d blow the entire palace apart…….
‘If he did that, it really could become actual treason.’
I shook my head firmly.
We’d finally gotten the chance to clear his name; I doubted he’d go around destroying other places.
‘They must be discussing it right now.’
Now that Hyacinth had brought back the evidence, there was nothing holding them back anymore.
They were surely talking about how to enter the Imperial Palace and what their plan would be going forward.
‘I’d like to see that maidservant sister once more, though.’
Since she collapsed the moment she arrived, she was probably still sleeping.
‘Well, she must have gone through so much.’
Escaping the Imperial Palace alone was impressive enough, and hiding from the Imperial Court’s eyes while remaining in hiding required the kind of willpower that few possessed.
‘She never gave up.’
Despite the fact that she could have died at any moment, I admired her for never surrendering.
‘I hope she wakes up safely.’
With that thought, I scooped up a generous spoonful of pudding and popped it into my mouth—whoosh.
‘I wish I could go to the Imperial Palace too.’
I wanted to see with my own eyes whether things went well, but the risk was far too great.
‘The Count must be searching for me like crazy.’
Even if I changed my appearance with magic, it wouldn’t matter. He already knew my face.
‘What if we run into each other?’
Nothing could be worse than that.
‘They’ll do it well enough anyway.’
What I could do was essentially finished. The Duke would handle the evidence far better than I could.
I trusted them both.
Knock, knock.
“Miss. Veronika is here to see you.”
“!”
I leapt from my chair, having just popped the last spoonful into my mouth.
The pudding lingering on my tongue was wonderfully sweet.
* * *
‘How, exactly, do you obtain the gems?’ he’d asked.
‘That is…… I’m afraid I cannot speak of it easily, Your Excellency. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but our business has been passed down through our family in secret, and……. I apologize.’
I’d made time to meet him, and when I asked a question, the least he could do was give me an answer I found satisfactory.
Yet Count Amelot offered nothing but vague responses and kept all information about the gems to himself.
‘Family secrets, he says.’
Well, if quality gems like that came from somewhere, he’d want to keep mining sources hidden.
It must have become a major source of income for his house.
But that was his concern.
When I asked a direct question myself, shouldn’t I deserve a proper answer regardless of the reason?
‘How strange.’
This excessive caution.
Prime Minister Zerban, turning over their previous conversation in his mind, narrowed his eyes.
Where exactly was he mining that he needed to be so evasive?
‘He could be operating illegally.’
Given Count Amelot’s money-obsessed temperament, it was entirely possible.
The man wouldn’t hesitate between legal and illegal if there was profit to be made.
‘It’s unfortunate I couldn’t get the gems,’
but the Emperor wasn’t fond of gems alone. I could think of something else instead.
Besides, there was so much to do right now. I couldn’t waste time over a single gem.
‘This matter alone,’
Prime Minister Zerban adjusted his spectacles and looked down at the document in his hand.
Father: Frankly Amelot
Mother: Olivia Amelot
‘Karin.’
Now that was familiar.
Prime Minister Zerban had heard this name—written in sharp, flowing script—several times before.
The youngest prisoner ever admitted to Izutail.
The child who deceived and mocked the Imperial Court in every way imaginable.
But most importantly, the fact that Duke Bangcadium kept this child at his side.
A people who were extraordinarily wary of outsiders.
‘While the name Karin is common enough,’
could such a perfect match truly be coincidence?
His gaze sharpened as he studied the document.
There was a possibility they were merely namesakes, but—
‘The age would hardly match by chance.’
His grip tightened on the paper.
He’d been wondering what information he should bring to ease the Emperor’s suspicions.
‘This pleases me.’
Meeting that dimwitted man hadn’t been a complete waste of time after all.
* * *
Several days later,
the Crown Prince’s maidservant, who had been suffering from aches and high fever, miraculously regained consciousness.
“Is this… really Bangcadium? Is this really it?”
“It is.”
“……Sob.”
The moment she grasped her reality, tears spilled forth. The maidservant, who had worried she might never wake again, soon introduced herself as Charlotte.
“His Highness the Crown Prince unsheathed his sword with his own hands and gave it to me. He told me to take the evidence and go to Bangcadium at once.”
“…….”
“There was nowhere else to go.”
Charlotte spoke through swollen eyes as she retraced her memories of those past moments.
When Veronika heard this, she offered a comment.
“It makes sense—the Imperial Court had no one else who favored Bangcadium.”
Listening to my sister’s words, I agreed completely.
At some point, the Imperial Court had begun to distance itself from Bangcadium, and that wariness had never truly lifted.
The Imperial Court, for their part, must have wanted to establish stronger Imperial Authority.
Excluding the Mage Tower and the Temple, which maintained Neutrality, Bangcadium was the most troublesome force that remained.
So publicly they supported Bangcadium, but in truth, they despised them like cat and dog.
“As for everything else,”
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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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