Chapter 5: The Truth Revealed (13)

“Your Majesty, the direction of their infiltration seems odd.”

One of the knights guarding him rushed in, looking pale. It hadn’t been long since the trap had been set, but the unease he had felt was now becoming a reality. The assassins, who he had expected to make a reckless charge directly at Terian, had instead made an unexpected move.

In that moment, Terian felt as though his heart had dropped to his feet.

“To the Empress’s palace! Quickly!”

Without asking what was wrong, Terian immediately stood up. To gather clear evidence, he had deliberately leaked the information that his office was the closest to the entrance of the palace.

Now, at this very moment, he regretted it deeply. The Empress’s palace was far from the palace’s heart.

An overwhelming sense of anxiety surged over him. His legs moved urgently, but all he felt was increasing frustration.

Had the path been this long? The more steps he took, the more it felt as though his heart was being pierced by a sword.

Finally, when he reached the path to the Empress’s palace, a scene of immense relief unfolded before his tense eyes.

“Block them!”

“These audacious bastards, don’t let them pass this way!”

Men in black, armed with swords, were facing off with several knights. The path to the Empress’s palace seemed to be blocked.

The knights Terian had sent earlier arrived just in time. From their position, it was clear that the assassins had completely ignored the Emperor’s palace and were heading straight for the Empress’s palace, towards her.

Quietly, Terian drew his sword. His eyes seemed to burn with an intense, almost otherworldly fury.

“Your Majesty, please retreat. We will—!”

“No.”

The knights who arrived almost simultaneously were startled and attempted to shield Terian, but he firmly sent them on their way to the Empress’s palace.

His heart was pounding with a desperate, uneasy feeling. Though they had prepared for this, leaving only five knights as protection had clearly allowed the assassins to get their filthy feet into the Empress’s palace.

“Make sure the Empress does not hear of this disturbance.”

“But, Your Majesty…!”

“Now!”

Fortunately, the Empress’s palace was still some distance away. The assassins, perhaps mindful of making noise, were only armed with swords and bows, not firearms.

Even if there were some commotion here, it wouldn’t be heard at the Empress’s palace. Terian prayed that Larie would remain unaware that the assassins had come so close.

The thought of seeing tears flowing from her eyes again made him wish that a sword might pierce him instead.

“Die!”

As the knights began to close in, the assassins exchanged quick glances. Whether they were desperate or whether this was part of their plan, they all charged at Terian simultaneously.

The sound of blades clashing cut through the night air. Though the assassination attempt had been foolish, the skill of these assassins was far from ordinary.

“Ugh!”

The fierce attacks came relentlessly. Then, suddenly, one of them seemed to attempt a retreat, pulling back swiftly.

Their uniforms were all the same, making it impossible to distinguish their ranks. However, something in Terian’s gut told him that the one trying to flee was crucial to their plan.

“Damn it…!”

With a fierce determination, Terian charged forward, and as he closed the distance, the fleeing assassin cursed loudly.

He swiftly struck and incapacitated the assassin with a deadly stab to the throat.

As Terian focused on the retreating assassin, the knights took the opportunity to strike with lightning speed at the remaining assassins, exploiting the gap left in their defenses.

“Ugh!”

“…Ugh!”

The assassins’ final struggles were quickly brought to an end.

“My apologies, Your Majesty.”

The knights who had forced the Emperor to draw his sword bowed their heads in unison.

Even though the assassins were already weakened, if Terian hadn’t volunteered as the bait, the disturbance would have escalated into something far worse.

“Check the safety of the Empress’s palace.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Except for a minimal number of knights to handle the cleanup, the rest rushed to the Empress’s palace. Watching them go, Terian struggled to suppress his growing anxiety.

“Ha…”

A heavy sigh escaped from deep within him, sinking into the ground. His gaze, still sharp, remained fixed on the bloodstains on his clothes.

He couldn’t understand the situation.

Why had they been heading for the Empress’s palace?

He knew the one who orchestrated this was a fool, but this was beyond recklessness. His mind had clearly deteriorated. To lose all sense and, in this moment, dare target the Empress…

Or was there another reason?

“…”

Terian’s eyes, twisted with fury, glowed fiercely.

❖ ❖ ❖

“Ugh! Ughhh! Ugh!”

Gafel, who had been snooping around the gambling house, was captured in an instant.

His descent into gambling had been a trap set by Terian. Once ostracized from high society, Gafel had begun chasing after shallow pleasures. Pushing him into the depths of depravity had been an easy task.

However, his meddling with dangerous matters wasn’t part of Terian’s plan. He had simply fallen deeper into the abyss on his own.

“Let go! Do you know who I am? How dare you!”

As soon as the gag was removed, Gafel shouted wildly. He looked the part of a filthy, defeated man, perfectly suited to the dimly lit dungeon.

At first, Terian had feared that Gafel’s unstable state might cause things to unravel, as his behavior had grown more impulsive and violent.

Yet, absurdly, the Baron and his wife had failed to notice how disturbed Gafel had become.

In truth, they hadn’t realized because he had always been a pitiable person.

“Kneel.”

Terian, who had been standing in the shadows, stepped forward. As soon as Gafel saw him, he immediately shut his mouth and began nervously rolling his eyes.

Then, without warning, he shouted.

“It was Larie herself who asked me to do it!”

At those words, the eyes of the knights all snapped to Terian, their gazes fixed on him.

“I… I was just forced to do it… cough…”

However, Terian paid no attention, delivering a powerful kick to Gafel’s stomach. His blue eyes burned with the intensity of a raging fire.

“You’re talking nonsense.”

“Cough, cough…”

Gafel, squirming like a worm on the filthy dungeon floor, continued to writhe. Some of the knights lowered their heads in shame.

The people present were the Emperor’s closest confidants, meaning they knew exactly what Gafel had sent in the letter to the Empress’s palace.

Yet, despite that, the mention of the Tromperie family, the Empress’s background, had caused a momentary hesitation. Especially those who knew better than anyone that the Empress’s palace was secured tightly.

In an instant, the shame of even considering doubt washed over them.

“Do not dare speak the Empress’s name with that filthy mouth of yours.”

“What…?”

Gafel coughed violently, but Terian’s cold gaze swept over the knights who had lowered their heads in obedience. Still, he found himself gripped by a troubling feeling.

Did he even have the right to chastise them?

The torchlight in the dungeon flickered, swaying as though disturbed by an unseen wind. The shadows around him seemed to stir, as if fanning the flames of his growing unease.

As the shadows crept closer to his feet, Terian glanced down at Gafel, who was still on the ground. He intended to uncover what exactly they were scheming around Larie.

Before he could act, Gafel suddenly screamed in a maddened rage.

“That damn b*tch…!”

Whatever madness had taken hold of him, Gafel now exuded the wild, animalistic energy of someone completely unhinged.

The faces of the knights interrogating him grew stiff.

“Larie, that b*tch, she attached herself to you like a damn rat! How dare she… after all I did for her…!”

It was truly crude and repulsive language, the kind that left no dignity behind. The knights, disgusted by Gafel’s words, quickly pressed his neck down.

“Shut up!”

“You’re without any sense of decorum.”

“Ahhh!”

Terian’s face, which had been filled with distaste as he looked down at Gafel, suddenly hardened. It was a reaction that far exceeded his expectations.

“Make sure his mouth can only open to speak quietly.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

For a brief moment, caught in the chaos, Terian motioned for the knights. They immediately silenced Gafel, who had been causing such a commotion.

There would be more noise soon enough.

“Wait, wait… If this goes on, our… my father… the… the… Coal… Ugh!”

Gafel, who had been so brash just moments ago, now looked pale with fear, and his expression was thoroughly repellent. Still in confusion, Terian exited the dungeon.

“To the office, Your Majesty?”

“Yes.”

Even as he answered the knight standing next to him, Terian couldn’t shake the overwhelming sense of unease. He could even feel the ground beneath his feet swaying as though it were unstable.

Although brief, Gafel’s reaction revealed much.

At the very least, it showed that Gafel didn’t see Larie as a beloved family member. His casual blaming of her seemed almost familiar to Terian. It was something that could only happen with the Baron’s tacit approval. If the Baron truly cared for Larie, he would never allow someone like Gafel to act with impunity.

“Your Majesty!”

As Terian nearly reached his office, someone urgently ran toward him from the opposite side.

“Captain of the Guard.”

“What in the world were you thinking, putting yourself in such danger?”

It was the Captain of the Guard, who had gone to explore the village where Larie had lived. Having heard of the assassination attempt, his face was filled with urgency and panic.

“Calm down, please. Report quickly, Captain.”

The chamberlain, who had approached after hearing the commotion, gently stopped him. He too, holding several documents, seemed to have something to report.

The Captain of the Guard, having finally composed himself, gave a sharp nod and bowed respectfully.

“I have urgent news to report.”

When he returned under such circumstances, Terian was engulfed by a strange feeling. It was as if the shadow that had previously clutched at his ankle was slowly creeping up his body.

“Speak.”

“I understand you ordered the chamberlain to investigate the Empress’s past,” the Captain began.

“…There was a matter requiring the cooperation of the Order,” Terian replied, a growing sense of unease rising in his throat.

Silently nodding, the Captain began his report with a grave expression.

“First, we discovered that the Empress spent the last two years in that village.”

“…Two years?” Terian asked, his voice tight with tension.

“Yes. It’s certain that she spent the last two years there. So… we are continuing to investigate the person you are looking for.”

From the start of the report, something felt off. Two years meant that Larie had been there continuously since leaving the Grand Duchy, which didn’t match with what Terian had known.

Why hadn’t she been found all this time, despite being so close? And why was Rui’s biological father nowhere to be found in that small village?

But that wasn’t the key issue at the moment.

So, Baron Tromperie hadn’t been hiding anything?

“I thought it was odd, so I came to report it immediately… Ugh…”

The Captain, unable to hold back his frustration, sighed deeply. The information he had just encountered had left him disoriented.

He stepped back, gesturing toward the chamberlain, who took a step forward to speak.

“We managed to track down a former maid who had worked in Baron Tromperie’s estate years ago.”

This too seemed strange. Even a modest family would have had a sizable number of servants, let alone a wealthy baron. It had never occurred to them that finding someone who had worked there would be difficult.

“Those who worked in the estate, strangely, all became entangled in some matter, and either died or were silenced.”

“…”

 “Only one quick-witted maid managed to escape and hide. From what we could piece together from the obvious facts, it seems the servants suffered misfortune around the time the Baron purchased the estate in the capital.”

As though anticipating the question, the chamberlain continued calmly.

The more the facts came to light, the more Terian felt as though his soul was slowly sinking into a lake.

“…So?”

He urged for a conclusion, and the chamberlain lowered his head grimly. He then handed over the documents he had been holding.

“…It’s too inappropriate to speak of openly…”

“…”