Chapter 13 – Part 5

“Ahhh!”

“Y-Your Majesty!”

A noblewoman’s cry resounded through the banquet hall.

The shocked Emperor was rushing over.

The Empress, clutching her belly, sat on the floor with a pained expression.

‘There’s a problem with the baby.’

Though no visible changes were evident, even minor issues could lead to significant problems for a pregnant woman.

Despite knowing the Empress was her enemy, Anne instinctively tried to approach, but two people blocked her simultaneously.

“Howard…? Lady Davis?”

“Don’t go now. You know it could cause unnecessary misunderstanding.”

At that moment, Howard dropped a silver brooch adorned with a transparent gem into Anne’s champagne, seemingly from nowhere.

The gem turned purple.

“D*mn.”

Cursing under his breath, Howard urgently pulled a potion from his pocket and quickly gave it to Anne.

“Swallow this quickly.”

“Howard?”

Anne, swallowing the potion, looked at Howard with confused eyes.

Howard’s eyes, blazing with fierce intensity, were directed at the Empress.

Anne tensed up, sensing a dangerous energy in Howard’s gaze for the first time.

‘Howard shouldn’t be here!’

“Howard, why are you here? I told you to wait outside.”

“Stay still.”

Howard carefully scanned the surroundings and moved Anne behind him.

“Aah! My belly, my belly…”

“Call the imperial physician! Bring the imperial physician!”

At the Emperor’s urgent shout, everyone panicked, staring blankly at their glasses.

Everyone saw the purple gem in Anne’s glass.

They thought it was a method to detect poison, and that their own glasses might also be poisoned.

The hastily summoned imperial physician grabbed the Empress’s wrist to check her pulse. He had already examined her once before the banquet, knowing the truth of the situation.

However, obeying the Empress’s order to keep it hidden for the time being, the imperial physician bowed his head deeply.

“…It seems she has been poisoned.”

“…What? What about the baby!”

“Well, it’s still safe, but the situation is unstable. We need to monitor it closely and keep her at rest to see how it progresses.”

At those words, Javier sighed in relief and said.

“That’s fortunate. As expected of my child, it doesn’t succumb to poison easily.”

The imperial physician and Mary were stunned into silence by the emperor’s words. The imperial physician, knowing it was a phantom pregnancy, was especially taken aback.

Feigning treatment, the physician slowly let a fake medicine trickle between the Empress’s lips.

“Your Majesty, please reveal the details of who poisoned her and what poison.”

A noblewoman’s shout prompted everyone to agree tearfully. Some panicked noblewomen even screamed.

At this, the emperor gave a brief command to his aide.

“Search the belongings of everyone present at the banquet.”

Mary, hiding among the murmuring nobles, spoke up quietly.

“Isn’t Lady Anne Vanessa the most suspicious? Why did she drink a potion alone?”

Everyone began to murmur. The atmosphere grew colder, and Yvonne shouted in disbelief.

“You all saw Lady Anne Vanessa drink it too!”

Mary, sensing an opportunity, planned to grab Anne’s hand and shout that it had poison.

Realizing her luck, she countered Yvonne’s statement.

“So what? If there’s poison, it can be detoxified.”

“Wasn’t Lady Vanessa a medical corps officer?”

“Oh my, then she must have extensive knowledge about poison!”

Anne, taken aback, couldn’t speak. She needed time to explain herself.

The situation was absurdly turning against her, making her appear guilty.

Joseph, watching from a distance, tried to intervene, but the emperor’s angry voice interrupted.

“Anne Vanessa, is it you again?”

“That, that is….”

“Imprison Lady Vanessa and the man next to her.”

“W-Wait a moment. He is a servant from the Vanessa estate. He came only to assist me!”

As Anne explained, the emperor smirked.

“Assist? Do you need assistance?”

The emperor’s undisguised contempt made Anne bite her lip.

“Being born of good lineage but raised in poor conditions, you cause nothing but trouble.”

Just then, the sound of running footsteps grew louder, and a man blocked Anne, who was sobbing. Anne recognized the familiar scent.

“Evan?”

The man, catching his breath with his tie loosened, was Evan Davis. A drop of sweat fell from his chin, showing how hard he had run.

Rolling up his sleeves, Evan moved Anne behind him.

‘Why was he here?’

Evan Davis had no reason to be here.

The people around, their eyes sparkling, watched the scene unfold.

“I’m sorry I’m late, Anne.”

“Brother, you came?”

“Yes.”

Anne felt like she couldn’t breathe. The fear that he might be arrested engulfed her.

Anne grabbed Evan’s hand with trembling fingers.

“Why did you come here!”

Smiling faintly at Anne’s scolding, he said softly.

“It’s okay. Yvonne, take Anne and step back.”

“Alright.”

Evan nodded to the man beside Anne.

“I came just in time, Your Highness.”

Evan, who had been thought to be dealt with, was causing a commotion at the banquet.

The emperor, enraged, asked in a loud voice.

“What nonsense is this?”

Howard stepped forward.

Guards surrounding the emperor pointed their spears at him, but Howard, unfazed, revealed his identity confidently.

“I am Howard Vails.”

At the mention of his surname, the hall erupted in murmurs.

Vails! That was the royal family’s name from the former enemy kingdom of Vails.

“Howard, are you the youngest prince of the Vails royal family?”

The youngest prince had been considered insignificant due to his low ranking, but recently, he had risen as a strong contender for the throne, overshadowing the first prince.

Howard nodded, and Anne was stunned.

What had she been saying to Howard all this time?

Anne, her mind blank, let out a low groan at the realization of her mistakes.

Ferrell, who had quietly approached, supported Anne and whispered in her ear.

“I’m sorry. It was my suggestion to disguise ourselves as slaves, as we needed to make sure these people got into the palace safely….”

“Then… the people who came with him!”

“They are all His Highness’s guards. And the Duke of Davis would never send you to a dangerous place alone.”

Ferrell laughed softly.

There was one thing Anne didn’t know.

Although the bluebird was also trained to go to Anne, it sometimes acted as a messenger between the Duke and Ferrell.

The bluebird would visit Anne if she was nearby, but it was primarily trained to go to Evan.

In other words, it was all Evan’s plan that the Prince of Vails safely met the Emperor of Terossa.

Even before Anne came to visit the house-arrested Evan, he had been communicating with Ferrell through the bluebird.

Of course, Evan was often troubled by the bluebird rushing off to visit Anne right after untying the note from its leg.

Through his back-alley informants, Evan was able to exchange letters with the youngest prince of the Kingdom of Vails.

Thanks to this, he realized that the eldest prince was playing tricks between the two nations.

And Ferrell desperately tried to bring the youngest prince of the Kingdom of Vails from the border.

It was difficult for the youngest prince, rather than the eldest prince, to come as a guest of the empire, and in the end, they had no choice but to choose infiltration.

For this, they needed a noble who could attend the banquet freely, unlike Evan who was under house arrest.

Someone who seemed harmless to anyone and had never entered the palace before, and Anne was perfect for the role.

However, Evan strongly opposed this. The reason was that it was too dangerous for Anne to enter the palace.

Despite Ferrell’s persuasion leading Anne to unwittingly perform this task, Evan still didn’t like that Anne was there.

Since returning, everything Evan had done was for Anne. As long as Anne was safe, he didn’t care about his own safety.

But after Anne visited the Duke’s mansion, Evan’s feelings changed.

He was influenced by her optimistic nature, believing that everything would be resolved without anyone getting hurt despite the risks.

If everything went well, as Anne said, and his charges were cleared and the war ended,

Then, there would be no reason not to approach Anne.

A small hope ignited in Evan’s weary heart.

Since then, Evan had been in contact with Ferrell, planning to create the current situation.

While forging invitations, evading numerous watchmen, and riding ceaselessly, Evan’s mind was filled with thoughts of Anne.

Then it happened.

Ferrell’s despairing voice was heard.

“Oh dear. This is not the kind of meeting I wanted….”

Among the approaching figures, there was a familiar face.

Ferrell hastily turned his head, but it was of no use to the one who had seen their commotion from afar and was now approaching.

A long dress dragged haphazardly along the ground. Carly dropped the flyers she was holding and ran over.

The fluttering flyers slowly fell to the ground. The nobles who picked them up were shocked by the contents.

The flyer contained an excerpt from a certain ledger below the main text.

…

<Gerentof Weekly>

Traitors Playing Both Sides Between the Empire of Terossa and the Kingdom of Vails

Wishing for mutual prosperity, the Empire of Terossa and the Kingdom of Vails signed a truce agreement.

However, we must know that there are traitors who have thwarted the recent victory of the Empire.

This illegal act has prolonged the war endlessly, causing many deaths.

In lamentation, I present the name of one of the traitors and evidence of his treason.

– Connor Johannes.

Secret ledger of the border investigation deliveryman.

Mecarte 593g / Recipient: Connor Johannes / Imperial Calendar: 1845.01.29

Mine gemstones (refer to gemstone ledger for detailed quantities) / Recipient: Baron Gale / Imperial Calendar: 1845.03.25

Dekart 963g / Recipient: Connor Johannes / Imperial Calendar: 1845.04.09

Huban 4.2kg / Recipient: Connor Johannes / Imperial Calendar: 1845.07.48