Chapter 53
It was truly a battle of spear and shield. Despite the Crown Prince’s angry shout, the Prince glared back, standing his ground. The murmuring started to rise again from this point.
To prove that Idelin’s scale was evidence of Elena’s assassination, as Carl said, they would have to prove that the Imperial Palace’s barrier didn’t react. The Crown Prince’s position was the same. If he hadn’t tried to eliminate the second heir to the throne, who had been a thorn in his side, under the pretext of Dragon King Elena’s assassination, he would have to provide appropriate evidence.
But neither side could have any evidence. Neither the Crown Prince nor the Prince had anything to do with Elena’s assassination.
‘It would have been clean if Carl had died.’
That’s why Reva had even used a throwing weapon made from the bones of a living dragon. Even if he hadn’t died on the spot, if Sian hadn’t saved him, he would have died inevitably from the poison of the weapon.
Then Prince Carlston Klaus would surely have been erased from the royal lineage, bearing the stigma of being the Dragon King’s assassin.
‘I wonder how Reva will act?’
Sian, who had been waiting in the back in case she needed to step forward as a witness who saved the Prince, coolly anticipated the next move as the situation unfolded.
The Marquis, who had been watching the fight between the Crown Prince and Prince restlessly without daring to intervene, was moistening his dry lips while exuding an air of wanting to play a role in their fight.
“How truly unpleasant! No matter how young, to not even be able to distinguish between what should and shouldn’t be said. I’m disappointed, Carlston.”
“I too am very disappointed, brother. Weren’t you once a calm person?”
Now the show had reached its climax, devolving from proving facts to an emotional battle. It was time to start wrapping up. The two of them were only escalating the peak of conflict without reaching any conclusion or resolution.
‘I need to induce Reva to let her guard down more and come to the forefront.’
Sian narrowed her eyes, her gaze sharp under the black veil. The Crown Prince, who had been trembling with anger at the Prince’s harsh words, clenched his mouth shut before speaking again.
“It seems clear that neither you nor I had any reason to assassinate Dragon King Elena. …I don’t want to talk anymore today, so let’s end this interrogation.”
“I will stay in the Imperial Palace and work to clear my name.”
“Do as you please. I too will somehow prove that you assassinated Dragon King Elena.”
The Crown Prince glared at the Prince and clicked his tongue.
“Dismissed!”
Still unable to contain his anger, the Crown Prince commanded loudly so that his attendant wouldn’t need to repeat the order. The noble seats were in an uproar as everyone loudly discussed their various opinions.
* * *
“I thought the royals would be too stiff-necked to act at all, but…”
Sian murmured, recalling the fiery confrontation between Hendrick and Carl.
“Both Your Highness and Carl were almost at the level of professional actors? It was unexpected.”
“In a palace where even a stiff expression due to poor condition sparks all sorts of rumors, this much is basic.”
Carl puffed out his chest proudly at Sian’s admiration. Though it wasn’t entirely praise. Sian thought this but laughed along, not wanting to dampen Carl’s good mood.
“Besides, I was surprised. His Highness the Crown Prince. He looks so much like you.”
“…I’ve heard that a lot before.”
His brother, Crown Prince Hendrick, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, looked much more grown-up than Carl remembered. Perhaps because he had been acting as regent since the Emperor collapsed, he seemed to have gained the dignity of a king that Carl hadn’t felt before.
Their strong resemblance was only in their facial features. Hendrick’s long silver hair and blue eyes were very different from Carl’s black hair and blue-green eyes.
“I almost cried…”
Sian said with a face full of emotion as she recalled the Crown Prince’s appearance anew. Carl tilted his head.
“Why?”
“Why, you ask. To see two such gracious faces at once… I could die without regrets…”
Sian was speaking while recalling the image of the Crown Prince floating before her eyes when she suddenly met Carl’s chilly gaze.
“Really, Lady. You’re brightening up quite a bit?”
Carl’s entire face was screaming ‘materialist’ at Sian. Sian cleared her throat with a cough.
“Who doesn’t like handsome and beautiful things? It’s not just me, you know.”
A smooth forehead pleasing to the eye, a sharp nose bridge, and plump lips with a healthy color. The sight of two handsome men, as if painted, facing each other and raising their voices for their own reasons was… truly a heart-fluttering scene.
“Me or my brother?”
Sian was inadvertently blushing as she recalled the scene she had witnessed in the noble assembly hall. Carl asked abruptly.
“What?”
“Me, my brother. Which one is more handsome?”
Sian’s eyes widened. It wasn’t a question of ‘Do you like daddy or mommy?’ but suddenly throwing out a comparison like acorns, it was an impossible question of the century.
“What, are you jealous just because I said that?”
“Jealous? Me, of my brother?”
Ha, Carl let out a laugh.
“You wish my brother was jealous of me, don’t you? I’m a prince and Idelin’s owner, after all!”
“The other side is a Crown Prince higher than a prince, and he’s a dragon owner too, isn’t he?”
“The class of the dragons is different, the class!”
“Oh my, you’re spouting words that could get you arrested so casually.”
Sian laughed out loud.
“To answer your not-so-funny question seriously… The atmosphere was so different, wasn’t it? How should I put it, His Highness the Crown Prince just seemed like a Crown Prince.”
“Are you saying I didn’t seem like a prince?”
Carl’s expression turned sulky. Sian could only laugh it off again.
“Well… It was because of the situation. Right now, anyone would say you look like a prince.”
Sian looked at Carl again as she spoke. Having returned to the palace and dressed in formal attire one might only see at important ceremonies, with his hair styled by a beautician, Carl looked like a completely different person from the casually dressed man she had seen until now.
Seen like this, his beauty shone even more. Come to think of it, even the young prince she had briefly seen in her faint memories long ago had been neat and luxuriously dressed despite the long journey from the Imperial Palace to the southernmost part of the empire.
A strange sentiment welled up from time to time, feeling as if she had met that prince from back then again. But Sian couldn’t bring herself to say such things outright, feeling awkward and somehow embarrassed.
“Saying a prince looks like a prince. I’m hearing all sorts of strange compliments.”
“Oh my, did you not like it? I can take it back if you didn’t.”
“…”
Carl pouted sulkily, but he closed his mouth without responding to Sian’s words. It was obvious that he who had been jealous of the Crown Prince’s praise was somewhat satisfied.
Sian laughed inwardly.
“By the way, did you see the expression of the uncle next to my brother? It seems he was trying to drive a wedge between my brother and me. He looked thoroughly taken aback.”
He probably hadn’t expected the Crown Prince and Prince to engage in such an intense emotional battle in a public place.
Recalling the image of the Marquis watching the fight between the Crown Prince and Prince restlessly, unable to settle down, Sian also twisted the corners of her mouth in a smirk.
“I fully understood why you initially excluded the Marquis from the list of suspects. Certainly, even if he coveted the throne, he didn’t seem to have the guts to commit such a tremendous act as assassinating the Dragon King.”
“The same goes for Sir Carter. Although he was chosen by a dragon and became a knight, he’s someone who hasn’t adapted to noble society and remains an outsider.”
Hmm, Sian made a small nasal sound and folded her arms.
“We shouldn’t judge people by appearances alone, but…”
“There’s a third person controlling them. I need to see this woman called Revenant.”
“It won’t be easy.”
Sian cut off Carl’s words. Carl looked at her.
“Whatever her real purpose is, when she put the timid Marquis and the dragon knight at the forefront, she must have had some reservations. Unless Reva willingly reveals herself, it will be difficult to find her easily.”
Carl’s expression showed agreement with Sian’s words. Turning his gaze to empty space, he nodded, lost in other thoughts.
“We need to know what that woman’s purpose is to draw her out…”
“…Dragon.”
As Carl groaned in contemplation, Sian, who had been quietly watching him, spoke firmly as if something had occurred to her.
“What did you say?”
Too short and resolute, and with even the syllables not being long, Carl couldn’t understand her words at once and tilted his head.
“Dragon. Well, I don’t know if she’s started coveting other things secondarily, but anyway, Reva’s interests and goals have been consistent from the past.”
Carl’s straight eyebrows contorted.
“What, do I have to hand over Idelin or something?”
At the unreasonable greed of someone not chosen by a dragon, the corners of Carl’s mouth twisted mercilessly.
“If that were possible, it seems like quite a good idea…”
“It’s absurd. Just a glimpse of Idelin’s wings in the capital would cause an uproar.”
Carl spoke sharply, showing his displeasure. Sian smiled, wrinkling her nose bridge.
If Idelin showed himself for a moment, Reva would surely come running out to claim him, dropping everything else. But revealing a dragon’s form in the heart of the empire would have a vastly different impact compared to briefly appearing around Ivarid.
It was an absurd idea. Then, was there nothing else appropriate that could make her reveal herself? Sian was lost in thought for a moment.
— Knock knock.
