If I Were Reborn, I Wouldn’t Marry You - Chapter 154

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

Chapter 154
Prince bit down on his lip so hard that blood began to seep from the corners of his mouth.
Then, his face twisted with fury, he suddenly opened his mouth.
Prince raised his voice in accusation toward Viscount Perington.
“How could you commit such a heinous act! Viscount!”
It was a shameless and flawless deflection of blame.
‘Just as Miela predicted, he moves exactly as she orchestrated.’
Leonhardt’s inner thoughts turned cold and cutting.
Viscount Perington, abandoned in an instant by the master he had served his entire life, widened his eyes in betrayal.
“Y-Your Highness! What do you mean by that…!”
It was the moment the Viscount was about to expose all the truth and pour out his grievances.
“Silence!”
Prince, raising his voice in sharp command, turned to the Emperor with a sorrowful expression and pleaded.
“Neither I nor the Prince’s Consort Elodie knew of this. Please believe me, Your Majesty.”
It was an unmistakable threat directed at Viscount Perington. A silent warning: if you don’t quietly shoulder all the blame and die alone, I will tear your daughter Elodie to shreds and kill her too.
Viscount Perington gasped at the murderous glint in those eyes, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly. His shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
The air in the Grand Conference Hall grew heavy and suffocating.
Under Prince’s pressure—with his daughter’s life held as collateral—Viscount Perington finally bowed his head.
But the excuse he uttered was subtly twisted away from the truth.
“…Though we have not yet fully settled our past, everyone here knows that my family has deep ties to the Underworld. As the reinvestigation of the Grand Duke Orcain’s assassination began in earnest, I feared that the family’s shameful secrets, which emerged from recent internal power struggles within the Underworld, would come to light. So, foolishly, I set fire to cover up the traces.”
Instead of the charge of treason for attempting to assassinate Grand Duke Orcain, Viscount Perington chose the excuse of arson to conceal the family’s disgrace.
“I also thought that since the Underworld is a cancer upon the Empire, it would be better to eliminate it altogether.”
It was an obvious crime, yet simultaneously a cunning manipulation wrapped in the guise of “good for the greater outcome.”
Viscount Perington drove the final nail home with a trembling voice.
“I deeply regret my foolish judgment. I will voluntarily bear all the costs necessary for rebuilding the Underworld by liquidating my entire fortune. Please, grant me the opportunity to atone.”
Voluntary contribution rather than asset confiscation.
It was Perington’s last desperate attempt to prevent the worst outcome.
Not missing that crucial moment, Prince arranged his expression into one of sorrow and added his support.
“Your Majesty, though the Viscount’s methods clearly overstepped the line, at their foundation lay a misguided loyalty born of concern for the Empire. Since he himself offers to provide substantial assets to take responsibility for rebuilding the Underworld, would it not be wise for the Empire’s stability to show mercy just this once?”
Prince’s tongue was smooth as silk.
While appearing to rebuke the Viscount, he was subtly guiding the Emperor toward using the Viscount’s vast wealth to rebuild the slums and thereby appease the angry populace.
The Emperor, seated upon his throne, regarded Viscount Perington and Prince in turn with cold eyes.
A tense silence hung over the Grand Conference Hall.
“Viscount Perington.”
The Emperor’s weighty voice fell like a gavel.
“The residents of the Underworld are also citizens of the Empire. The crime of harming and injuring their homes under the pretense of misguided loyalty is not a light one. However, since you offer to atone by surrendering your own wealth, I shall spare your family from annihilation. In exchange, I hereby revoke your title of Viscount, effective immediately.”
It was a clear deflection of blame and, in its own way, a political compromise by the Emperor.
Viscount Perington, once a pillar of the Empire, lost his title in an instant, yet his family’s lineage would endure.
“…I am grateful for your merciful judgment, Your Majesty.”
Viscount Perington offered his thanks in a hollow voice.
Prince lowered his eyes and exhaled a subtle sigh of relief.
Leonhardt’s crimson gaze, which had been watching that repugnant performance, grew cold and distant.
‘To conceal the power struggles within the Underworld.’
It was a remarkably cunning excuse.
Leonhardt stepped forward and opened his mouth toward the Emperor.
“Viscount Perington—or rather, Baron Bordo now, I suppose. Baron Bordo still has remaining sins to answer for, Your Majesty.”
Leonhardt cast a brief glance toward Prince before continuing.
“The crime of deliberately obstructing the investigation into Grand Duke Orcain’s murder and attempting to destroy critical evidence.”
At Leonhardt’s chilling voice, the Grand Conference Hall stirred once more.
“In the mirror’s recorded image we confirmed earlier, the former Viscount clearly instructed to ‘burn down the entire Underworld.’ If the purpose were merely to conceal family shame, would there truly be any need to incinerate the entire Underworld?”
The Emperor’s expression, which had begun to harden as he prepared to conclude the matter, froze completely.
Leonhardt pressed on without hesitation.
“To simply package this as concealment of family disgrace and move past it would be to overlook a grave matter—the murder of Imperial blood.”
Prince drew in a sharp breath, seized by an ominous premonition.
“This is purely speculation, of course, but what if Baron Bordo obtained evidence of Grand Duke Orcain’s murder and then burned down the Underworld to obstruct the investigation….”
Leonhardt trailed off deliberately, and a cold smile played at the corners of his mouth.
“What are you suggesting now! Are you claiming Baron Bordo manipulated the succession competition for the throne?”
Prince, grasping the implication behind Leonhardt’s words, reacted with fierce resistance.
Having swallowed the expertly disguised bait, Leonhardt’s smile deepened further.
“I merely said it was speculation, did I not?”
The murmuring that had quieted resumed and grew louder, and the Emperor exhaled sharply.
Now that suspicion had been raised, Prince’s defeat in the succession competition was all but assured.
Ultimately, the Emperor sided with Leonhardt.
“The Second Prince’s words hold considerable merit. Given that Baron Bordo and the First Prince are related by marriage….”
In truth, the Emperor could never have imagined that Prince himself was the true perpetrator of Grand Duke Orcain’s murder.
He had simply judged that Prince, who failed to properly control Baron Bordo as he repeatedly overstepped his bounds, was unworthy of inheriting the throne.
At length, the Emperor spoke with grave finality.
“Even should the First Prince bear no direct involvement in this incident, he cannot escape responsibility. Therefore, the First Prince shall withdraw from the succession competition and practice self-restraint for the time being.”
At the Emperor’s resolute declaration, Prince’s face contorted before he lowered his head in despair.
Recognizing that further agitation would only worsen his position, he appeared to accept withdrawal within the bounds of accepting ‘moral responsibility.’
‘A pity. There were still so many loose ends to sever.’
As Leonhardt quietly smiled to himself, the Emperor’s gaze turned back toward him.
“With the First Prince excluded from the succession competition, there remains no rival for the competition. Therefore, it is fitting that you, Leonhardt, assume the position of Crown Prince.”
Everyone in the Grand Conference Hall held their breath for a moment.
“From this day forward, I name you Crown Prince. By the authority of the Crown Prince, you shall personally oversee both the reconstruction of the Underworld and the remaining investigation into Grand Duke Orcain’s murder.”
Leonhardt, who had expected the Emperor to prolong matters even after muddying the succession competition, was inwardly startled.
“I accept your command.”
Yet the expression displayed outwardly was as composed and commanding as that of a born ruler.

* * *
As Leonhardt emerged from the urgent state council and stepped into the corridor, the Crown Princess of Tervan, who had been waiting, approached him with a cold expression etched across her face.
“Is the culprit the one I suspected?”
It was the keen insight befitting Tervan’s future Emperor.
Rather than answer, Leonhardt met the Crown Princess’s gaze in silence.
It was an unmistakable affirmation through silence.
A frigid smile spread across the Crown Princess’s lips.
“Do not forget the conditions of the peace accord. Whoever shed Tervan’s blood must pay the price—without exception.”
A chilling murderous intent flickered deep within the Crown Princess’s blue eyes.

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