Chapter 13 – Part 5

“The viscount. Isn’t he a little strange?”

True to his word, Callian seemed overly nervous.

Some members of the noble faction were talking to him, but he seemed unable to respond properly.

Tenere watched him and nodded.

“He’s overreacting. I don’t know if he’s usually good at handling tension, but this time…”

Tenere replied softly, then glanced over at Leonard.

He seemed to be thinking the same thing, carefully observing the seats where Callian and Alaina were sitting.

“Your Majesty, have you spoken with Viscount Stewart?”

Tenere asked, and Leonard shook his head.

“Nothing has changed from our initial plan.”

“Then why…….”

“Something seems to be going on.”

“The medicine… did you make sure he took it?”

“Of course, actually…….”

Leonard was just about to say something when he heard the door open.

Through the open door, the Marquis staggered in.

He grimaced, as if in some sort of pain.

The palace servant brought a small table, and the doctor placed a vial of fluid on it.

He was just about to pull out a reagent.

“I heard an interesting story while in prison, Your Majesty.”

It was Isaac who spoke up.

Leonard turned his head to look at him.

Isaac looked around at the silent crowd.

“Five days ago, someone slipped a suspicious powder into the food sent from my residence.”

“…….”

“I was almost set up, but fortunately, someone took pity on me and informed me of the truth, Your Majesty. They even went as far as to switch the poisoned food with someone else’s.”

Isaac sounded triumphant.

Someone who understood what he was saying gasped and inhaled.

Tenere looked back at Leonard, surprised that he had been caught, but his face remained impassive.

“So, what do you want to say?”

“If you thought you could frame me for infertility, Your Majesty, you were mistaken. Because I didn’t eat the poisoned food!”

“So…… you’ve just confessed with your own words to planting a man in the palace.”

Leonard concluded dryly.

Isaac’s face twisted—not quite the reaction he’d hoped for.

“You have resorted to cowardly means to deny your blood! If you are truly convinced that I am not your father, then you will not…….”

“Even so, it seems one of the stewards responsible for the underground prison has been colluding with the prisoners. I ordered him to be found out.”

“…….”

“You didn’t think that a mere servant tampering with a prisoner’s food wouldn’t have reached the ears of his superiors?”

“Such…… but your majesty!”

“If you wish, call the prisoner who ate your food instead. He can be examined alongside you, can’t he? Of course, he likely had no problems as he had a soup with a little extra salt.”

Having said that, Leonard turned back to the doctor.

The doctor ruffled his hair and pulled out a small vial. Inside the clear vial was a silver-colored reagent.

It glittered in the light, almost like mercury.

Leonard looked back at Tenere with a smile on his face.

“Are you …… surprised?”

“A little.”

“I didn’t handle it sloppily.”

He’d already heard from the jailer’s report that someone was looking out for Isaac’s comfort in prison.

He needed to find out who it was, because it would disrupt their plans if they left him alone.

Was he trying to appear as competent as possible with such a long-winded story to cover up his childish intentions?

Leonard was barely relieved to see the corners of Tenere’s mouth turn up.

“……Before we begin the examination.”

The doctor opened his mouth in a small voice.

“There are a few medications that can cause infertility.”

His voice was quiet and languid, but the crowd was holding its breath, so his words came through quite clearly.

“However, there are symptoms that can be seen when infertility has been forcibly induced through medication: temporary spots in certain areas, an inability to function except for excretion, an inability to breathe, or…….”

“…….”

“Of course, that last one is a joke. Because dead people are naturally infertile.”

It was a joke that no one laughed at, but the doctor didn’t seem to mind.

“There’s a grass in the north that causes infertility without any other symptoms, but it’s not well known and usually has to be fed a week to ten days in advance to be effective.”

If there had been someone colluding until five days ago, as the Marquis claimed, even if the Emperor had put infertility drugs in his food, it would have been futile.

Tenere looked at Leonard in surprise, though he’d said it to lend credence to the Emperor’s innocence.

Leonard feigned nonchalance, but it was clear that he was as bewildered as she was.

“Your Majesty, the medicine…….”

“……Twice, a day ago, and four days ago.”

Leonard muttered in a low voice. It was only a week ago that Duke Travell brought him the medicine.

Leonard put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Perhaps it would be better to kill him before proceeding with the examination.

First, dispose of him, and as the doctor suggested, if he’s already dead, there’s no need to examine him; just accuse him of infertility.

It would defeat the point of holding a trial at all, but it might as well be done here and now.

“…… Your Majesty.”

Tenere grabbed the back of Leonard’s hand. When their eyes met, she shook her head invisibly.

“Not yet.”

“…….”

Tenere’s gaze snapped to Callian. He didn’t even look up and just sat there.

Leonard gave a small nod at the sight. The doctor opened his mouth.

“Let us begin the examination, then.”

His voice sounded so meaningful, but the process was so simple.

A drop of silvery reagent dripped into a vial of fluid.

And then.

“…It’s emitting black smoke.”

Someone muttered softly, and true to its word, the small vial emitted a puff of black smoke.

Callian covered his face in despair.

Isaac’s face fell.

“What… what is this…”

“What? Was it really poison?”

It was Eric who spoke loudly and sarcastically. With that, the courtroom erupted into an uproar.

“My God, so a man with a defective seed…….”

“And what about Lady Alaina? She looks like the Marquis.”

“You heard what His Majesty said earlier, there’s a Viscount Stewart who looks like him…….”

The cacophony of voices sometimes searched for Callian, sometimes for the dead Marchioness.

And in the midst of the commotion, Callian could only sit, his hands shaking.

“Uh, what happened, Viscount?”

The nobles, who had sided with Isaac, grabbed Callian and shook him.

But Callian did not respond. No, it was closer to not being able to do it.

“Viscount. Answer me……!”

“It’s a fabrication!”

Isaac, who had been sitting dumbfounded, suddenly yelled. A sheen of blood stood on his aged neck.

“Your Majesty, didn’t you secretly feed me medicine? Didn’t you manipulate the examination results! To hide the fact that you’re not of royal blood…!”

“Oh, there’s so much nonsense.”

Eric muttered gruffly, the words eliciting a few chuckles here and there.

Despite shouting to the point of hoarseness, Isaac continued to protest.

“Run the test again. Get another doctor! Get the Marquis’s physician! If Alaina is not my daughter, then whose daughter is she? Has his Majesty been playing tricks on me while I’ve been in prison? This is outrageous, my lord; what kind of child in the world treats his parents like this?”

Leonard raised his hand, and the guards quickly seized the Marquis.

“I guess we need to check this too.”

Leonard flicked his head with his finger.

Then he stood up. Thud, thud, thud, footsteps echoed.

“I ask you again, Marquis. On what basis are you so sure I am of your blood?”

“Y-Your Majesty… You… You secretly… put medicine in my food…”

“You said so yourself earlier. You switched your food with someone else’s. Are you claiming that a medicine you didn’t take made you infertile?”

“…….”

“It would be more believable if you said you’ve grown old and lost the ability to make excuses.”

At Leonard’s sarcasm, Isaac shut up, but his face was still flushed with frustration.

Leonard glanced back at Callian. Callian shuddered as his eyes met his, and he bowed his head.

“Viscount Stewart. No…… is now Viscount Salvatore.”

“…….”

“I have little interest in your intimate family affairs, but apparently there was a reason you were so desperate to stop me.”

Leonard sneered and returned to his seat.

The judge, who had been watching, spoke up.

“Marquis Salvatore, do you have any other basis for your claim that you are the Emperor’s biological father?”

It was a question that seemed to give him one last chance, but it was impossible for a man who had been declared infertile to sound credible.

Isaac looked around, his face flushed with shame and anger. A sneering gaze was directed at him.

‘How dare you pull this ridiculous stunt…….’

Isaac looked over to where Callian and Alaina sat.

Callian’s head was still bowed, and Alaina, who had been trying to feign embarrassment, raised the corners of her mouth in a sneer as their eyes met.

Isaac’s stomach twisted at the sight.

‘You did this; you conspired with the Emperor.’

‘You thought I would let you get away with this. You dared to think that you would not pay the price for bringing your father to this state…….’

“Then, I will denounce that girl!”

Isaac shouted, glaring in Alaina’s direction.

“If the examination results are true, Alaina is not my daughter. Then, it’s only right to denounce her from the Salvatore family!”

Isaac knew that if Alaina were to prove herself to be of Callian blood, she would have no trouble taking over the marquisate.

But it would be too much of an injustice to let her betrayal go unpunished.

Isaac lunged at Alaina like a madman.

Of course, there was also the hope that Alaina, who felt threatened, would confess to conspiring with the emperor to avoid being denounced in the family.

It was the moment when Leonard was about to open his mouth to protect Alaina.

“Oh, no!”

It was Callian who suddenly shouted.

Her face was still white with anger.

“Noo. Oh, Alaina can’t be denounced…….”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t Alaina who felt threatened by Isaac’s words.

Fearing that the Emperor would take him at his word and that she would be removed from the marquisate as it was, Callian spoke up.

“Alaina is my daughter. I am of the Marquis of Salvator’s blood, so she is of the Marquis’s blood!”