The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin - Chapter 76: Cutting Off the Tail (3)
The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin chapter 76
**Chapter 76: Cutting Off the Tail (3)**
10 seconds.
That was the time it took for me to look at her face and start talking.
I wasn’t so much stunned as I was flooded with all sorts of thoughts.
Then, thinking that pondering was pointless, I simply asked her straight out.
“What’s going on?”
In response to my short and concise question, she replied with focus-less and dark eyes.
“It looks like you’re face-to-face with someone who should be locked up in the imperial palace, undergoing interrogation.”
She knows too much.
I wouldn’t have thought she had been tortured, but I had assumed her sanity wouldn’t be intact. However, she seemed no different from when I had first met her before the banquet.
Lunev Rainriver.
The woman who should have been in the underground investigation room of the imperial palace was right in front of me, steam rising from the hot food between us.
“Please have a seat. You need to eat.”
It just so happened that the seat she offered was directly across from me.
Since I couldn’t just stand there, I sat down.
“You seem curious as to why I am here?”
“Why don’t you just tell me, if you know? Surely you didn’t break out of jail, did you?”
“Yes.”
I almost choked on my own breath, and Emily and Brian followed suit with fits of coughing.
“I’m kidding.”
I naturally didn’t believe her.
If it had truly been a jailbreak, the surroundings wouldn’t be this silent.
“Don’t worry. I’ve completed all the due interrogations and have been officially released. It has been determined that our Garam Magic Society had absolutely no involvement in this incident.”
That’s unlikely.
The current incident is entirely under the jurisdiction of the First Prince’s forces.
There’s no way they’d just release them; it wouldn’t make sense for people so keen on covering their own corrupt deeds.
“It seems you’re not too pleased?”
She pouted slightly, her cheeks puffing up a bit.
“Pleased or not, is it really all over? After all, wasn’t it someone from your side who brought out the Daze Stone?”
“Yes, while it was indeed someone from our side who had brought it, the society itself had no involvement with it. It was orchestrated by a single individual, and no one else was aware of it.”
“And the empire accepted that?”
“They decided to focus the investigation on that suspect first. It’s not too late to start with us afterwards. But…”
Lunev continued with the same composed look on her face.
“He’s dead. It seems he bit his own tongue and committed suicide…”
A sardonic laugh escaped me the moment I heard it.
Are they resorting to cutting off the tail even in this?
That meant the Garam Magic Society was even more wronged than I thought.
The primary suspect who could’ve cleared everything up had died without saying anything.
“But how were your charges cleared? Given the circumstances, they should have been more focused on investigating your side?”
“I don’t know much, but it seems there were imperial orders to release us without charges. Both the empire and the kingdom promised not to publicly politicize this matter.”
Orders to release without charges from the imperial family?
It’s unlikely the First Prince would issue such orders given he holds the authority.
If there were someone who could issue such orders, it would obviously be someone above the First Prince, and in this empire, there’s only one such person.
The Emperor.
If her words were true, then the one who ended this matter was none other than Emperor Dione.
“That’s why I was released. And the moment I was, I came to see you.”
“How did you know I was here?”
“Just thought that, maybe, you would be here enjoying a meal with a maid and a knight. So I just started looking for a restaurant that would be open in the imperial city. Luckily, I found it quickly.”
Quite a carefree little girl.
She’d come to see my face, even though she could have made a beeline back to her own country.
I truly couldn’t understand her state of mind.
“I should probably go before the society sends people to find me. Enjoy your meal, senior.”
After getting up from her seat, she briefly waved and then turned and left.
She didn’t linger as much as she appeared to.
“Sir~?”
Emily stared at me, fixedly, with an awkward smile and an unsettled gaze.
It was clear what she wanted to say.
She wanted me to escort the girl.
Despite my irritation, I moved naturally.
“…?”
When I stepped outside, Lunev’s half-closed eyes opened about 0.5cm wider.
Was she startled by this?
“Don’t misunderstand. It’s just a simple escort.”
I walked with her for about 300 steps.
“That should be enough. Thanks for walking me out, senior.”
Her voice was lively, seemingly pleased with the fact that I walked with her.
“Take care, and—”
I intended to send her off with a farewell greeting, when she suddenly embraced me tightly.
“You don’t seem to be hurt…”
As she said that, she gently rubbed the injury on my shoulder.
I brushed her off, like a piece of luggage.
“The wound is fine, don’t worry. There’s no need for you to check it like this.”
“I hugged you just fine before…”
She pouted her lips in a display of inexplicable dissatisfaction.
“I’m really going now. See you at the academy, senior.”
With a brief farewell, I nodded silently, and soon Lunev disappeared from my sight.
[Whew~]
As soon as she left, I heard the sound of Ceyram’s mocking whistle.
[Isn’t that just like a prince on a white horse? Shouldn’t you thank me twice now for all this?]
I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.
To anyone listening, it would seem like he had planned it all.
[Whether you like it or not, you’ve foiled that undesirable man’s plans, haven’t you? In the end, they gained nothing, right?]
“That’s right. By now, they’re probably frowning quite hard.”
I did have some regrets about not seeing that face myself.
[But setting everything else aside, how does that prince have the power to use puppets like that? That kind of magic isn’t easy to wield, even for the most talented human beings.]
“It wasn’t the prince who did it. Even Aschel wasn’t the one behind it.”
[Then who was it?]
“There is someone. Unlike me, who worked behind the scenes, he once dominated everything from the forefront, the greatest confidant of that devil…”
I almost forgot.
It should be around this time.
Marionettes, summoning spells, necromancy, dark magic.
He had mastered all magical realms that a human can reach—the strongest dark sorcerer.
“Boris Lehelm…”
Boris would be by Aschel’s side now in Aschel’s place.
* * *
The only space in the imperial palace reserved for one person, the Emperor’s office.
In the Emperor’s eyes, laden with deep thought, one could glimpse a multitude of emotions.
The desk was littered with dozens of documents, but he showed no intention to tidy them up.
–Thud, thud.
A person approached the office slowly.
From the speed of the footsteps, it looked like they were carrying urgent news.
The Emperor glanced neither at the footsteps nor at the person when they entered the office.
“I heard you released the Garam Magic Society representatives.”
“……”
“Why? They have humiliated our Empire and committed irreverent acts of disturbance right here in the imperial palace under your presence!”
The Emperor remained silent, unresponsive to the tirade.
“Even if the Society itself was not involved, this is an important political tool that we can use against the Kingdom of Garam…”
“Luinel.”
The weight of the Emperor’s voice seemed to settle the very air itself, and Prince Luinel fell silent.
He called him, but the Emperor didn’t continue right away.
Instead, he waited for Luinel to gather himself before speaking.
“I won’t ask why you did it. I won’t ask how you did it.”
“What, what do you mean?”
Luinel’s sweaty face betrayed his distress.
“This is your last warning. Do not cause further turmoil in the Royal Household, no, in the Empire.”
“……!”
Luinel struggled to control his expression, his eyes twitching to betray his tension.
“Despite all my shame, I do not understand what you wish to convey, my father.”
“Don’t play dumb with me. You can deceive everyone else in the palace, but not me.”
“You accuse me with baseless suspicions?”
“Sometimes those suspicions are so sure, I have no choice but to ask.”
The Emperor continued with a dark look.
“Luinel. You possess many abilities. You have leadership to guide others, and you have strong decisiveness. You are fully qualified to be the next Emperor after me. However, there is one thing you lack.”
“And what might that be?”
“Tolerance.”
Prince Luinel couldn’t help but wince at the words.
“You generously favor those with talent, but on the other hand, you cast away everyone else you deem worthless. Do you think otherwise?”
Luinel had no answer.
“A ruler that only promotes talents but belittles and fails to embrace others is doomed to fall and never be recognized by all.”
This was the sole piece of advice the Emperor, as a father, could offer his son.
“It doesn’t matter if the Nephris family obstructs you, my place will undoubtedly go to you. So you, too, should not reject them but embrace them. That’s the virtue of a ruler.”
With the Emperor asserting his succession, Luinel should have shown happiness, but nothing of the sort could be seen on his face.
“I hope that my heart now continues to do so in the future.”
For a moment the prince trembled violently, but as he raised his head, Luinel’s face resolved into a calm mask, accepting the Emperor’s advice.
“…I will take your words to heart, father.”
Walking from the office to his Eastern Pavilion, Luinel managed to suppress the welling emotions.
And at last, when he reached his room and the door closed behind him,
–Bang!
Unable to hold back any longer, Luinel punched the desk violently.
“huff… huff…”
Without words, all he could do was repeat heavy breaths as a frightening intent filled his eyes.
* * *
Aschel opened his eyes, which had been closed in meditation.
Beside him sat a man other than his usual companion Kellin.
“How fares the prince?”
“It seems there was quite an infuriating event with the Emperor. He ordered not to be sought out for a while and remains in his room.”
Aschel stared blankly at the ceiling without much expression.
“Marionettes and summons annihilated by an unknown entity, the scheme to kill my younger brother and the Fifth Princess with the Daze Stone failed, and the plan to pin it all on Garam Magic Society fell apart due to the Emperor’s command. All in all, we’ve achieved nothing…”
It was strange that he was still alive given this unprecedented taste of failure and humiliation.
“I did, however, discover something interesting amidst the failure.”
“Something interesting?”
“Have a look at this, would you?”
The man pulled a small orb from his clothes, presenting it.
“I caught a strange aura while analyzing the remains of a marionette; it contained an unfamiliar energy.”
Gently rubbing the orb a couple of times, it shifted from transparent glass to a dark color and soon filled with a mysterious black smoke.
Aschel could scarcely believe his eyes.
“What is this aura? It’s not magic, or even the energy of demonic creatures, is it?”
It felt like the power of some spiritual entity, something inherently not human.
“This is the aura of a Demon Sword.”
Aschel’s question was quickly answered.
“The divine weapon imbued with the power of the higher beings. The marionettes and hellhounds I summoned all lost power because of this energy.”
“Are you certain?”
“I can assure you.”
Such wasn’t light boasting. The mere aura exuded from the orb was vile and dark enough to be inextricable from a Demon Sword.
Aschel found it easy to consent.
“So, the owner of the Demon Sword was present in the imperial palace at the time.”
“Do you have anyone in mind?”
Aschel crossed his arms, sinking into deep contemplation once again.
A being capable of wielding a sacred weapon of the gods had disrupted their plans.
It could be a member of the palace or even one of the attendants of the banquet.
Therefore, it could be a noble, but who would dare bring such a monstrosity into this sacred imperial palace?
“By any chance, does controlling the Demon Sword have anything to do with elemental attributes?”
“Of course. Given the nature of Demon Swords, it’s likely associated with dark attributes.”
Upon this, Aschel’s lips curled into a knowing smile.
“Boris.”
“Yes, Aschel.”
“How about paying a visit to the Academy?”
(To be continued)