I Won’t Pick Up The T*ash I Threw Away Again - Chapter 242

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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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#242

The fact that Prince Hes had decided to take full charge of Empress Solia’s affairs meant that he would also be responsible for punishing Duke Giltian, the main culprit behind the incident.

Of course, since it was a matter involving the imperial family, the final decision would be made by Kalian as Emperor, but Prince Hes would have to handle the entire process.

Everything from interrogating Duke Giltian to deciding what punishment to impose.

“You’ve assigned His Highness a harsh task.”

“I thought so too and tried not to assign it to him, but Hes said that since this happened because of him, he wanted to finish it himself.”

Ah, so that’s how he steeled his resolve.

I was relieved that things hadn’t gone in a strange direction, but I was still worried.

Would Prince Hes really be able to handle this well?

Would he ruin things because of misplaced sympathy?

And I was concerned that his tender heart might get hurt.

And there was one more thing that worried me.

“Are you alright?”

Kalian answered with a faint smile.

“Are you worried about me?”

“Yes.”

“As I said before, I don’t particularly like Duke Giltian.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

Since it was a delicate topic to bring up, I stopped there without saying more.

Perhaps realizing what I wanted to say, Kalian smiled bitterly.

“I see you heard that Her Majesty the Empress took her own life.”

I nodded.

After Prince Hes left, Nes had returned shortly after and informed me.

Kalian sighed and leaned back against the sofa.

“It would be a lie to say I’m unaffected.”

Of course. Suicide, not poisoning.

Feeling sorry for him, I squeezed Kalian’s hand tightly.

“Why do you think the former Empress made such an extreme choice?”

“I wonder. If she had consulted with me, I would have somehow killed Duke Giltian for her.”

“Killing… Don’t think such thoughts.”

When I was startled by his chilling words and tried to dissuade him, Kalian chuckled.

“I know. I was just saying.”

I don’t think so.

Though I felt uneasy, I didn’t think it would be good to dig deeper, so I just asked.

“What kind of punishment will Duke Giltian receive?”

And I smoothly changed the subject.

“Since he attempted to assassinate a member of the imperial family, it would be execution, right?”

“If clear evidence of assassination comes out, then yes, but if not, it might just end with stripping his title and exile.”

“Hasn’t evidence that Duke Giltian tried to assassinate the former Empress come to light?”

“No. Even the divine trial couldn’t reveal that. All it revealed was the fact that he continuously fed poison to Her Majesty the Empress.”

I see. If the criminal had been a commoner or lower noble, execution might have been possible, but since he was a duke, even that was difficult.

Moreover, Prince Hes wouldn’t want Duke Giltian to be executed either.

So I thought this matter would end with Duke Giltian being exiled, but my expectations were spectacularly wrong.

* * *

Four days after Duke Giltian’s divine trial, morning in the Nobility Council Chamber.

“I request that Duke Giltian be sentenced to death.”

Hes, attending his first nobility council meeting, dropped a bombshell from the start.

A death sentence.

Not only the nobles who followed Duke Giltian, but even those who had been on bad terms with him looked at Hes in surprise.

Normally, he would have been flustered and not known what to do under such concentrated gazes, but not now.

“Duke Giltian forgot his duty as a noble and dared to dream the absurd dream of taking the Empire into his own hands.”

Hes looked at Kalian sitting at the head table with an unusually serious expression and stated his opinion clearly.

“This is an act that insults the Imperial Court and His Majesty the Emperor, and furthermore, it’s safe to say he harbored treasonous intentions.”

“T-treason, what do you mean…”

When a noble who usually followed Duke Giltian tried to object, Hes glared at him fiercely.

“I haven’t finished speaking yet.”

“So it seems.”

Kalian chuckled and took Hes’s side.

“My apologies.”

The noble’s face turned bright red as he apologized.

“Moreover, to achieve his ambitions, Duke Giltian continuously fed poison to his own daughter, my mother, the former Empress Solia.”

Hes continued in an unwavering voice.

“Of course, my mother didn’t die because of that poison.”

At that moment, Hes hesitated briefly, but only a few people including Kalian noticed this fact.

“However, it’s a definite fact that he fed her poison to harm the former Empress Solia. Therefore, I believe he deserves to be executed. Otherwise, the same thing might happen again.”

After Hes finished speaking, a brief silence fell.

A noble who judged that Hes had finished speaking raised his hand to request the right to speak.

When Kalian nodded in permission, he stood up and asked Hes.

“Just now, Your Highness said the same thing could happen again. Does that mean you suspect us nobles?”

“That’s correct.”

When Hes answered without hesitation, the nobles murmured quietly.

While most were displeased, Hes spoke in a clear voice.

“Have any of you ever thought that Fillen Williot would betray the Empire and join hands with the Kingdom of Stella?”

Since saying they had thought about it would be shooting themselves in the foot, everyone kept their mouths shut.

“Did you know that Duke Giltian was such a heinous person who would feed poison to his own daughter to fulfill his greed?”

Again, the nobles couldn’t answer “yes.”

The noble who had spoken earlier quietly sat down, and the nobles who had been in the same boat as Duke Giltian also kept their mouths tightly shut while watching each other.

“As you can see, no one thought they would do such things. And these were people who held the title of Duke in the Empire.”

“…”

“So how can I trust any of you?”

Who knew Hes could speak so well.

Kalian looked at Hes with somewhat curious eyes, then soon realized whose bloodline he carried and smiled.

Duke Giltian was one thing, but Empress Solia wasn’t exactly a pushover either.

Moreover, thinking back now, Hes had been a spirited and clever child who spoke his mind clearly when he was young.

Duke Giltian had ruined all of that.

He was an irritating person in many ways.

“…For these reasons, I would like you to sentence Duke Giltian to death.”

While Kalian was thinking, Hes’s story came to an end.

Kalian looked at Hes silently for a moment, then asked.

“Once you eliminate someone, you can never bring them back.”

Hes clenched his hands that had been neatly placed on his knees.

“Will that still be alright?”

“…I don’t want to lose more and regret it because of small lingering attachments.”

“I see.”

Having heard Hes’s resolve, Kalian solemnly declared.

“I sentence Norbert Giltian to death.”

* * *

Since Duke Giltian was branded not simply as the Empress’s assassin but as a traitor, not only he but his entire house collapsed completely.

Following the Williot Duchy, the Giltian Duchy also disappeared from the list of noble houses.

With two ducal houses called the pillars of the Empire committing the grave crime of treason and disappearing one after another, the entire Empire was in turmoil.

Rumors even spread that Kalian was recklessly stirring things up to seize the crumbling imperial authority.

This was understandable since Kalian had conducted a massive investigation, declaring he would root out all the rotten elements using this opportunity.

Of course, since Kalian was busy preparing for war, Hes took full charge of the investigation.

While Hes received help from various people during the investigation, the person who helped him the most was Leilah.

“It would be better to overlook crimes of this degree, wouldn’t it?”

Leilah carefully reviewed the documents and nodded.

“Yes. If we arrest all these people too, we might have to replace more than half of the administrators, so it would be better to let it slide.”

“But we can’t keep turning a blind eye to selling official positions for bribes.”

While Hes and Leilah put their heads together discussing various matters, Duke Giltian’s execution date approached rapidly.

Usually, no matter how heinous crimes nobles committed, they weren’t subjected to public executions like hanging, but traitors were the exception.

Public executions were carried out to demonstrate the majesty of the Imperial Court and to show others that treason was absolutely forbidden.

The same applied to Duke Giltian. Hes had wanted it that way too.

‘Did His Highness the Prince really want this?’

Perhaps he was forcing himself to show others that he would no longer be manipulated by Duke Giltian?

No, that was certainly the case.

Though he tried to maintain a composed expression, he sometimes showed a lonely look as if he had no attachment to this world.

Having thought that far, Leilah pondered for a moment before taking her coat and leaving the room.

She went straight to the Royal Infirmary and received a small medicine bottle from the court physician.

“You must never use this for anything else, Countess.”

“Don’t worry.”

Leilah calmed the anxious court physician and then went to the prison where Duke Giltian was confined.

The soldier, knowing that Leilah was investigating nobles together with Hes, readily allowed her entry.

Though he was a traitor, being a duke, Duke Giltian was confined in a small room with only iron bars instead of a door, but properly equipped with a bed and sofa.

Still, it was a prison, so his appearance was shabby, but the dignity flowing from his upright posture remained unchanged.

“You’re quite composed even in this situation.”

Duke Giltian, who had been sitting on the sofa with his eyes gently closed, finally opened them and looked at Leilah.

“What brings such a precious person carrying an imperial grandchild all the way here?”

“I have something I want to say to you.”

Leilah asked the guards and soldiers who had followed her to step back a few paces, then slipped a small medicine bottle through the iron bars.

The bottle containing purple liquid rolled and stopped at Duke Giltian’s feet.

Seeing this, Duke Giltian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“…What are you scheming?”

“I have no intention of doing this for your sake. What I’m worried about is Prince Hes.”

Duke Giltian let out a small scoff.

“It’s quite disgusting how you pretend to care for Hes on the surface while secretly planning to make the child in your belly the emperor.”

“Delusions are free, so I won’t comment on that. But my desire for you not to become a laughingstock is sincere.”

“…”

“That way, His Highness the Prince will suffer a little less heartache.”

Leilah straightened her body, which had been slightly bent to pass the bottle through, and looked directly at Duke Giltian.

“If you care even a little for His Highness the Prince, please don’t refuse this offer.”

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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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