Except for knights of noble origin like Lord Callisto who had deliberately remained at the palace to protect the imperial family instead of returning to their mansions, there were no nobles currently in the imperial palace.

Messengers had just departed for each noble house. Now only servants, maids, and some knights who resided in the palace were busily moving about.

Elios ignored his feverish, staggering condition. He trudged up the stairs with his appearance disheveled, water dripping from the melting snow on his clothes.

“Your Highness, at least change into dry clothes!”

The knights advised, but there were more important matters now than changing clothes.

Elios ran into Crusis, who had been rushing around with a bewildered face, in the middle of the staircase.

“Brother! What on earth is happening?”

Elios’s body tilted forward unsteadily.

“Brother!” Crusis caught Elios to steady him.

“What’s wrong with you? You’re burning up! Good heavens, did you go outside and come back? In this weather? Brother, don’t you know yet? Father was nearly assassinated!”

“…Crusis. I know.”

Elios spoke in a voice that seemed about to extinguish. His body lacked strength, and even speaking clearly required much concentration. But meeting Crusis here was rather fortunate. He had been about to look for him anyway. Elios ordered all the surrounding knights to withdraw.

“But Your Highness!”

“I won’t say it twice. Everyone withdraw. I have urgent matters to discuss with Crusis.”

Elios said firmly. He looked at Crusis. Crusis hesitated briefly, then reinforced Elios’s words.

“Withdraw. I will take good care of my brother’s condition.”

Once the knights had moved far enough that they couldn’t hear his voice, Elios firmly gripped Crusis’s shoulder. Forcing his eyes open despite the feverish haze trying to close them, Elios enunciated each word clearly:

“Crusis. Listen carefully. The identity of the assassin in this case must not be revealed immediately.”

‘What?’ Crusis frowned at these incomprehensible words.

“That’s nonsense. Father was nearly assassinated. We need to capture the culprit, t*rture them to uncover any conspirators, and put them on the scaffold as an example.”

…T*rture and put on the scaffold? Who?

For a moment, Elios grabbed Crusis by the collar.

“Brother!”

Crusis exclaimed in surprise. His brother knew nothing. It was natural for him to react that way. Natural, but… “Haa”, Elios shook his head several times to calm himself, released his hand from Crusis, and briefly apologized.

“I’m sorry.”

“What’s wrong with you? What do you mean the culprit shouldn’t be revealed? What do you know, brother?”

Elios staggered again, holding his head. Crusis supported his brother.

“Let’s go to your room first, change your clothes, lie down, and then talk. I’ll listen, so please calm down, okay?”

But Elios had no time for that. Even at this moment, he didn’t know where Snow was or what she was doing. If she hadn’t really fallen, if she was safe…!

“I’m fine. Crusis. Listen carefully. The person who tried to assassinate Father was Saint Bernadette.”

Crusis stammered in shock, unable to properly make a sound.

He briefly thought his brother might be making a bad joke in this situation, but that couldn’t be. If the matter he wanted to discuss privately, even dismissing the knights who tried to support him, was about the identity of the person who tried to assassinate the Emperor, it made sense. But it was simply unbelievable.

“Evidence, do you have evidence?”

Crusis barely managed to ask. Elios, with his head throbbing again, closed his eyes tightly, frowned, and calmly answered Crusis’s question:

“I saw it. Me, Lord Callisto, and Father.”

“Ah, wh-what?”

Crusis had just rushed out of his room after hearing about the assassination attempt on the Emperor, so he hadn’t yet heard detailed information about whether there were witnesses or exactly what the situation was. At the news that Lord Callisto and his brother Elios had witnessed the incident, Crusis wore an expression of utter shock. In this urgent situation, why was one of the witnesses only now returning to the palace, soaked with snow?

Moreover, if someone tried to assassinate the Emperor, did that stupid assassin not even hide their identity? No, more importantly, that stupid assassin or would-be killer or whatever was Saint Bernadette? Why on earth would the Saint? And how? Despite being a Saint who performed miracles, wasn’t she just a woman who had barely turned nineteen? They say she hardly ever left the temple. All sorts of thoughts crossed Crusis’s mind.

“I know it sounds absurd, but could it be that some other force pretended to be the Saint to destroy the relationship between the temple and the imperial family? No, that can’t be. What am I saying? Are you sure you saw correctly?”

Elios nodded. Crusis frantically tore at his own hair.

“No, how could the Saint possibly? I heard she rarely leaves Santarium unless absolutely necessary. Isn’t she just an ordinary woman except for performing miracles? Well, I can’t really exclude that part, but still.”

Seeing Crusis’s confusion, Elios felt himself becoming a bit calmer.

“Crusis. Think about it. Father’s room is located almost at the top floor of the palace. The windows are made of glass so thick that even arrows can’t penetrate, and to sneak in through the corridor, one would have to pass by numerous guards. Yet that thick glass was shattered as if it were thin ice melting away. The corridor guards were all asleep as if dead, without a single wound. If they had been affected by some sleeping agent, since I and Lord Callisto passed through the corridor, we should have been affected to some extent as well. Moreover, outside, a fierce blizzard is raging, making it difficult even for a strong adult man to move properly. The castle walls are frozen so slippery that they cannot be climbed. No matter how excellent an assassin might be, it’s not something possible by common sense.”

Something beyond common sense had occurred. That’s what Elios was saying.

“And above all, it was definitely her. I and Lord Callisto confirmed it, and Father confirmed it too.”

She who was strangling his father as if entranced was definitely Snow. That body was definitely Snow’s. She who staggered back toward the broken window, afraid of hurting Elios with her own hands, was definitely Snow.

Crusis sighed deeply, dragging his hand from his hair down his face.

“If what you say is true, what should we do now? Even if religious authority only holds some symbolic significance, Akelan is fundamentally a holy empire. We can place the temple below us but cannot be at odds with it. The Saint trying to assassinate the Emperor—it’s not even a funny joke.”

“That’s why we need to hide the true culprit for now.”

Crusis, who had initially jumped up when Elios suggested hiding the true culprit, now maintained a quiet silence. His brother’s words made sense. He still didn’t fully believe it, but if the true culprit really was the Saint, it wasn’t a matter to be easily revealed. However, it wasn’t something that could be hidden forever, and it certainly wasn’t something that should be covered up completely. After keeping his mouth shut for a while, Crusis finally asked:

“We can’t hide it forever. What are you planning to do?”

“I intend to secretly investigate why she acted that way. Something was strange. Sno—I mean, the Saint at that time looked like someone possessed by a ghost.”

Elios relayed to Crusis almost exactly what he had seen in his father’s room. He told him how she had acted as if she were Freia, how his father had simply stared blankly at her without resisting, and how she had… jumped out the window and disappeared without a trace.

Crusis could now understand why his brother, despite witnessing an assassination attempt, was entering the palace from outside, soaked with snow. He must have gone to find, or perhaps capture, the Saint who had jumped out the window.

Although Elios didn’t specifically explain it, Crusis also realized the deeper meaning behind his brother’s insistence that the assassin’s identity as the Saint shouldn’t be revealed immediately. Regardless of whether the Saint had some circumstances or had simply acted out of murderous intent, the mere fact that the Saint had tried to assassinate the Emperor would undoubtedly cause tremendous confusion. That would make it even more difficult to properly uncover the truth of the matter.

“What if the Saint targets Father again in the meantime?”

Elios shook his head again, trying to clear his mind from the fever-induced haze. Crusis’s assumption was the worst-case scenario among all possible situations.

This time, because no one could have predicted such an absurd assassination attempt, she had been able to get close to his father and escape, but from now on, all forces would be mobilized to protect the Emperor until the culprit was caught.

If Snow were to lose her mind and appear again in such a situation, she might really be captured. Then not only would all the relationships built between the imperial family and the temple since the founding of the nation be fractured, but…

As Crusis said, Snow might be tortured and executed.

Elios staggered. Crusis immediately supported his brother.

“Please, let’s go back to your room. Brother, you’re not in your right mind now.”

Despite Crusis’s plea, Elios firmly opened his mouth to express his opinion.

“She has performed many miracles, but she cannot face hundreds or thousands of soldiers alone. If the Saint comes to target Father again, she won’t be able to escape so easily this time. She will be caught.”

“Then if the Saint is caught for attempting to assassinate the Emperor, who isn’t just any royal family member, what happens to this country? What if the t-temple declares independence from the empire?”

Crusis spoke with a horrified expression. He was a prince concerned about his homeland. Looking at such a Crusis, Elios unconsciously blurted out:

“Indeed, you are more suited for the throne than someone like me.”

At those words, the color drained from Crusis’s face. He had always felt that his brother was uncomfortable with his position, but he had never spoken to him like that. It must be the fever affecting his mind, making him not himself. Those words, especially from a prince who was soon to become Crown Prince to another prince, were words that should never be uttered.