Chapter 52
Compared to Hendrick’s seemingly languid attitude, Carlston’s upright posture seemed quite tense. To Hendrick’s simple string of words, uttered with his chin resting on his hand, Carl responded naturally, as if familiar with the procedure.
“Now then, speak. You say you’ve brought evidence of your innocence?”
Marquis Daniel watched the Crown Prince Hendrick’s expression. As the emperor’s brother, the Marquis, who held the third right of succession to the throne, was assigned a seat closest to Crown Prince Hendrick, who held the first right of succession. This made it perfect for observing even the slightest changes in the Crown Prince’s expression.
However, Hendrick’s expression was a cold poker face. Above his straight nose bridge, his sunken eye sockets held sea-colored pupils that gleamed with an icy light.
“This is it.”
The Crown Prince and Prince seemed determined to prove they were brothers. As if competing to see whose temperament was more impatient, when the Crown Prince abruptly spoke to the point, the Prince immediately raised his hand to show what he had brought as evidence.
The Prince raised his hand to chest height. Then, a silver light rose above his outstretched palm, and soon a branch with green leaves appeared.
“A branch?”
Someone muttered in disbelief. Since everyone knew this was magic only possible for a dragon’s owner, no one was surprised. They were just quite taken aback that the alleged evidence had appeared floating in the air.
“It’s a branch of Yggdrasil.”
Hendrick immediately recognized what it was.
“Is that all the evidence of innocence you’ve brought from the Dragon’s Temple? That object, which has nothing to do with this incident, doesn’t prove your innocence.”
“Of course, this doesn’t directly prove that I have nothing to do with Dragon King Elena’s assassination. However, it sufficiently proves that I visited the Dragon’s Temple. If I had killed Dragon King Elena, the Dragon’s Temple would have executed me on the spot. The fact that I’ve returned alive with this proves the Temple’s judgment of me, which stands above the empire’s laws.”
In the Marquis’s view, what the Prince was holding in his hand was undoubtedly a branch of Yggdrasil. Even from a distance, the broken branch exuded an unknown vitality. It was clearly part of the tree he had seen when recognized as a dragon’s owner.
……It was too absurd to insist it was fake. Seeing the vivid green leaves still glowing on the broken branch without withering, even those who weren’t dragon owners had to admit it was part of a mystical tree.
‘Disrupt the atmosphere. Nitpicking is fine, so is being unreasonable.’
Recalling Revenant’s voice, the Marquis barely suppressed a groan that was about to escape.
Easier said than done…..
He had no idea how to shake up the Prince who was boldly defending himself. The Marquis decided to observe the situation further, trying hard to hide his perplexed expression.
As the Marquis kept his mouth shut and watched carefully, the Crown Prince, who had let out a small laugh, raised his hand and produced something just like the Prince had done earlier.
“Do you know what this is?”
What appeared above the Crown Prince’s hand was a large scale that scattered brilliant silver light. As the scale, about the size of a grown man’s palm, revealed itself, the Prince’s eyes widened in surprise and he stumbled back.
“No, that is!”
“Yes, it’s Idelin’s scale. This was found along with Dragon King Elena’s corpse. With such clear evidence, you claim your innocence with just a branch of Yggdrasil from the Dragon’s Temple?”
The Crown Prince spoke in a deliberately solemn voice. The Marquis looked at the Crown Prince’s profile, feeling something subtly off.
“It wasn’t me and Idelin who did this!”
The Prince exclaimed, placing his hand on his chest with an aggrieved look.
“Then how do you explain this scale?”
“It must be someone’s false accusation. Even if it’s a superior being, a dragon is still just a living creature. Old scales fall off and new ones grow frequently, so how can you suspect me just because Idelin’s scale was there, Your Highness?”
“You speak as if I’m pinning an absurd charge on you, Carlston Klaus.”
The Prince frowned at the Crown Prince’s continued questioning.
“That’s not it, it’s just the truth. Idelin hasn’t left the nest for 12 years since I left the Imperial Palace. Moreover, if Idelin had killed Dragon King Elena in the underground nest of the Imperial Palace, he would have had to pass through the Imperial Palace’s barrier, but how is that possible? This not only falsely accuses me but also disregards the thousand-year-old defense of the venerable Imperial Palace.”
“Watch your words. How would we know if you used some evil sorcery?”
“No matter how great I am as the owner of Idelin, a direct descendant of the great dragon god Yggdrasil, I don’t have the ability to penetrate the Imperial Palace’s barrier without a sound.”
For the first time, the Crown Prince narrowed his brows and folded his arms at the Prince’s claim. It was hard to refute that statement. However, he seemed unwilling to accept it, especially disliking the Prince’s own claims about the dragon’s lineage.
“On the contrary, I dare to ask Your Highness the Crown Prince. You attacked my innocent self and my territory based solely on Idelin’s scale. For such a tremendous event as the assassination of the Dragon King, you did so without even receiving the oracle from the Temple, which oversees all matters of dragons and the empire. Because of that, I nearly died for no reason, and the outer and inner walls of Ivarid that I had worked hard to build crumbled.”
After being momentarily startled by Idelin’s scale, the Prince soon regained his composure and attempted a counterattack. The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow, looking at the Prince with eyes full of displeasure.
“That was an accident. A soldier from Ivarid, surprised by the dragon’s appearance, fired an arrow. If that hadn’t happened, there would have been no armed conflict.”
The Marquis quietly watched the sharp confrontation between the Crown Prince and the Prince, then his eyes suddenly lit up. No one in the noble assembly dared to speak up, merely observing the situation as the royal family members argued.
‘Make the Prince resent the Crown Prince.’
The Marquis recalled Revenant’s words. Now was the opportunity, with the Prince showing such a sensitive demeanor. By adding strength to the Prince’s opinion, it seemed possible to further worsen their relationship.
“Your Highness, that’s an uncharacteristically cowardly excuse. Even if an Ivarid soldier had fired an arrow, it’s an undeniable fact that you came to Ivarid with Uncle Marquis Daniel and the dragon knight Antonio’s dragon as well. I had to live a harsh life on the run after being seriously injured by Antonio’s attack.”
Before the Marquis could say anything in support of the Prince, the Prince rebutted. Biting onto the weakness that Revenant had hinted at beforehand.
“Sir Carter, the dragon knight, received a punishment of a one-year salary cut and a three-month ban on contact with dragons for injuring you. Also, as you said, Idelin is a direct descendant of Yggdrasil. He’s a being of a different class even among dragons. We had to be cautious before confronting such a being.”
“No matter what, does it make sense to bring along three dragons? That’s another cowardly excuse.”
The Prince glared at the Crown Prince, his eyes narrowed. The Crown Prince’s eyebrow twitched, his expression showing displeasure with everything.
The Marquis inwardly tilted his head. There wasn’t even a chance for him to step in. It was all falling into place as if they knew the Marquis’s original intention.
Meanwhile, Sian, who was watching the situation from behind the door where Carl had emerged, was changing her preconceptions about the royal family.
What a rare show.
The sight of the Crown Prince and Prince becoming clowns and acting in front of so many nobles.
Carl’s line “No, that is!” when he saw Idelin’s scale was a bit awkward, but apart from that, the Prince and Crown Prince’s acting was quite convincing.
Sian watched motionlessly as the Crown Prince and Prince overwhelmed the many nobles, questioning and suspecting each other. Her gaze, scanning the high-domed assembly hall, stopped on the middle-aged man next to the Crown Prince.
Marquis Daniel.
From his seat closest to the Crown Prince and his expensive-looking attire, it was immediately clear that he was Marquis Daniel Gregory, uncle to both the Crown Prince and Prince.
The Marquis was discreetly glancing at the Crown Prince, trying to gauge the situation.
‘Uncle doesn’t have the guts for that.’
Sian immediately understood why Carl had naturally excluded Marquis Daniel from the list of suspects.
His sophisticated hairstyle that undoubtedly felt the touch of a stylist, and accessories made of various colored gems, gold, and silver.
Though his appearance was lavishly adorned as if to flaunt his royal lineage, his gaunt physique and sunken eyes revealed a sensitive and timid nature.
‘Is Reva controlling them…?’
Sian stood with perfect posture as she thought. She scanned the noble assembly hall thoroughly but couldn’t see Reva. Well, not being a noble, she had no reason to accompany the Marquis to the assembly hall, even if they were in cahoots.
“You’re making frequent slips of the tongue, Carlston. Do you dare accuse me, the Crown Prince, of making excuses? I might forgive one or two mistakes with a generous heart, but I won’t forgive a third. I warn you. Be careful.”
“It’s not a slip of the tongue, so you don’t need to try to understand with a generous heart. If that’s not an excuse, then Your Highness should prove with other evidence that you didn’t intend to kill me without the Temple’s oracle.”
“What reason would I, born of dragons and the firstborn, holding the Crown Prince’s position, have to want to kill you?”
“If you say so, then I too have no reason to assassinate Dragon King Elena.”
“Nonsense!”
Bang! Hendrick, who had been calm until now, shouted angrily and slammed the table.
“Why wouldn’t you have a reason? With Dragon King Elena assassinated, it would surely affect His Majesty who’s bedridden! Didn’t you want to slander our father and start a war for the throne with me?”
At the Crown Prince’s angry shout, the Prince laughed fearlessly.
“If I had coveted the throne, I would have attacked Your Highness’s Nathan first, not Dragon King Elena.”
The Crown Prince’s handsome face crumpled.
“Rather, it’s you, brother, who has always been wary of Idelin, descended from Yggdrasil’s blood. Weren’t you trying to eliminate me, a potential political rival, under the pretext of the Dragon King’s assassination?”
“You!”
