After the meeting, she went to Charte’s bedroom.

He was still unconscious due to his severe wound and poisoned state.

She was told that he was holding on without dying because the Tower Master and court mages had cast healing magic to prevent the poison from spreading.

The only options were to find the person who made the poison and get the antidote, or have the Imperial Medical Center create an antidote themselves.

It was during a separate meeting with Prime Minister Whyman, Duke Pahorder, Ivester, Viscount Catano, and Commander Rad.

They received a report that Baron Jent had arrived at the underground prison.

Duke Pahorder and Viscount Catano went to interrogate Baron Jent, while the rest continued the meeting.

Ivester spoke seriously and carefully.

“I suspect the noble faction is behind this. But why would they target Her Majesty the Empress? That point doesn’t make sense.”

Prime Minister Whyman responded with an agreeing expression.

“Yes. If it were Neiyard, there would be no reason to target the empress rather than His Majesty the Emperor at this point. It seems there’s something more that we don’t know.”

Less than an hour later, Duke Pahorder and Viscount Catano returned.

They said that Baron Jent, feeling betrayed and frightened, confessed everything even before being questioned.

He had been introduced to Yasrin through Neiyard and had helped execute the plan to drop the chandelier, along with his excuse that he never knew the target was the empress.

She read the statement but felt nothing.

She only thought that if she had died then, Charte would still be alive and well now.

She felt sad thinking that Charte was in this state because she was alive, but even such emotions were a luxury right now.

She tried her best to suppress her emotions and maintain only rationality, speaking in a dry voice.

“I understand why Princess Yasrin, who has fled, would target me. What do you think?”

“With her connections and wealth as a princess, it’s entirely possible.”

“Then assuming Yasrin is behind this, it makes sense that she would target me. Do you think she’s with Duke Neiyard?”

“I’ll have someone look into it.”

“This time we need to move decisively. And I think it’s time to attack rather than defend. We don’t have time. Neither His Majesty the Emperor nor I.”

* * *

Neiyard left the annex, secretly summoned his most loyal vassals, and then sought out his wife and Elisha.

“Oh! My love, my treasure, our daughter, Elisha!”

Neiyard embraced Elisha, the person he loved most in the world, and kissed her forehead.

Elisha felt that Duke Neiyard was different from usual.

She had never seen him so urgent and anxious before, when he had always been relaxed and confident, and this made her feel uneasy too.

“I need to talk to your mother alone, so I’ll see you later.”

Neiyard secretly told Elisha’s nanny,

“Have her prepare to go out quickly. In inconspicuous attire. No, dress her in a maid’s clothes and dress a young maid to look like Elisha.”

The nanny was surprised by the strange order but seemed to quickly understand the situation as she bowed her head and left.

The duchess, who had been watching, looked at Duke Neiyard with an anxious and uneasy face.

“First, leave the capital and go to our territory. Stay there, and if the situation worsens, take Elisha and flee far away. To another country.”

“Darling, what are you saying?”

Finally, tears that the duchess had been trying to hold back flowed down her face.

“We must save Elisha, mustn’t we? The things in the secret safe in the study at our territory will be enough to live on. I was too foolish. I wanted to give Elisha everything she wanted. Hurry now.”

Neiyard hurriedly sent his duchess and Elisha to their territory in a shabby carriage.

Then he prepared his private soldiers and ordered his vassals to gather their troops as well.

He had already prepared many things as he had dreamed of rebellion even before he thought of making Elisha the empress.

But he believed this plan would never be executed.

Because recently, he had been planning to make Elisha the empress and seize imperial power.

Perhaps this was an opportunity given by heaven.

Neiyard’s lifelong dream had been to stand above the emperor.

But he had given up because Elisha wanted to be with the emperor.

Now, however, everything had become useless, so he decided to fight to the death to achieve his dream.

In the current situation, staying still meant certain death, but struggling might give him a chance to live.

And even if he died, he didn’t want a meaningless death, so he thought he should at least take someone with him to the afterlife.

Even if he failed, he wanted to inflict at least some damage.

No, if possible, he wanted to inflict great damage.

Lost in thought, Neiyard was awakened by Yasrin’s voice.

“Duke Neiyard, are you really going to do this?”

Seeing Yasrin appear before him, he thought his chances of winning had increased.

“Have you decided, Princess? Will you let everything be taken from you without doing anything? Or will you destroy?”

Yasrin, who had closed her eyes for a moment with a despairing face, opened them with determination and said,

“But I will have the power of life and death over Charte.”

Neiyard responded with a displeased expression, not answering.

It was impossible to let the emperor live while staging a rebellion.

He couldn’t leave future trouble behind.

“What will you do if he continues to reject you to the end, Princess?”

“If I can’t have him, no one can. So give Charte to me.”

“The contract is established. Now contact your kingdom.”

Neiyard headed to a safe house he had prepared on the outskirts of the capital, along with Yasrin and his vassals.

* * *

“There is no movement at Duke Neiyard’s mansion; it remains quiet.”

The reports on the first and second days showed no problems.

But on the third day, Rad sensed something strange and ordered a detailed investigation, and the report they received that afternoon left us dumbfounded.

“They say neither the duke nor his household members can be seen. The merchant who supplies food ingredients says they haven’t ordered the rare ingredients that Lady Elisha likes for several days.”

We, who were quite dismayed, directed the Capital Guards to investigate. And we learned that Duke Neiyard had left on the night of the lockdown, saying he was going to his territory.

But upon investigation, only his wife and Elisha were at the territory, while the duke’s whereabouts remained unknown.

On the fifth day of the capital’s lockdown, they arrested the person who had made the poison.

Surprisingly, the culprit was an old woman who sold herbs.

The old woman had made and sold poison because of her son’s gambling debts, but she had been frightened and on the run as she hadn’t expected to be involved in such a major incident. She was finally caught while trying to secretly escape from the capital.

Since Charte was still unconscious, finding the antidote was more urgent than punishment.

She said the client had asked her to make a poison without an antidote, so she had mixed the most toxic herbs to create the poison.

With the old woman’s testimony, they identified the poison’s components, and the mages and Imperial Medical Center began creating an antidote.

And the person who commissioned the old woman was revealed to be Yasrin’s head lady-in-waiting.

When they drew a composite sketch based on the old woman’s description of her appearance, everyone recognized her, and they immediately issued a wanted notice.

They also learned that the attempted poisoning with tea leaves was commissioned by the same person.

After receiving the report, we gathered with the ministers for a meeting.

“It’s certain that Yasrin, who has fled, is in the empire. And there’s no better place for a fugitive to hide than a duke’s residence. What do you think their next plan might be?”

As soon as I finished speaking, Ivester answered with a devastated expression.

“I believe Your Majesty the Empress is correct. To be honest, there is nothing more these people can do. Except for one thing.”

“One thing?”

“Yes.”

Ivester couldn’t easily open his mouth, and the other ministers also remained in deep silence, unable to speak readily.

“Are you talking about rebellion?”

“Yes. Both Duke Neiyard and Princess Yasrin have no other way out.”

As attention turned to Prime Minister Whyman, he spoke carefully.

“We will strengthen security.”

“We have always been too late. But this time, we cannot be late. Raise the security level of the palace and the capital to the highest grade.”

As a serious tension enveloped the meeting room, the Grand Chamberlain of the emperor’s palace rushed in and greeted them.

“What is it?”

“His Majesty the Emperor has awakened. He has regained consciousness!”

We hurried to Charte’s room with the ministers.

Inside, the Tower Master and court mages were explaining to Charte about the poison.

“Charte!”

She ran to him in one breath, embraced him, and shed tears.

After the first day, she hadn’t had time to cry as she focused on protecting Charte.

Fortunately, now tears of relief were flowing down.

Charte gently patted her back.

And then came the horrified voice of the royal physician.

“Your Majesty the Empress, the wound has not yet healed.”

Startled, she pulled away and saw a small amount of blood seeping through the bandages. She was about to move further away in alarm, but Charte was faster.

Charte embraced her and said quietly,

“I think it would be better for my wound if the empress hugged me rather than me hugging her.”

“Neither is allowed. Kill me first before you embrace each other.”

At the royal physician’s desperate cry, we finally separated, and the court mage said with a smile,

“The poison hasn’t been completely neutralized yet. You need to take the antidote for ten days.”

“Seeing that Your Majesty has awakened, I am relieved. I will now return to the tower.”

“You’ve worked hard. I will repay this separately.”

“It’s not a problem at all. The mages in the tower are also citizens of the empire, and we have only done what is natural.”

After the Tower Master and court mage finished their greetings and left, the ministers who had come together greeted Charte with joyful hearts.

Then Catano began reporting on the situation so far.

When the report was finished, she could feel Charte was upset and took his hand.

“It seems like everything is my fault.”

She could no longer bear to see Charte’s eyes tinged with regret.

“How can it be Your Majesty’s fault that evil people harbor evil intentions! Even as emperor, no, even God would have no way to prevent this. Now is the time to focus on resolving the situation.”

Before leaving, she wanted to personally see Charte recover and all enemies eliminated to ensure safety.

So her heart was urgent, and she hurried.

“Yes. The empress is right. Capturing the criminals is the priority.”

She judged that it would be better to make Neiyard and Yasrin move quickly rather than giving them more time to prepare. Everyone pondered and discussed ways to draw out the enemies.

“What about spreading a rumor that Your Majesty is in critical condition?”