Chapter 142
Four days later.
[EMPIRE’S PLAYBOY SECOND PRINCE AXION PENTAUM FINALLY CAST ASIDE BY THE IMPERIAL FAMILY]
Second Prince Axion Pentaum committed grave crimes—using his royal authority to force a noblewoman to become his mistress, then attempting to murder her through black magic, an absolute taboo.
The Second Prince has ultimately been exiled to the barren northern land of Eodor, far from the Imperial Palace.
This unprecedented exile of a prince in imperial history essentially means the Second Prince has been abandoned by the imperial family. The path to Crown Prince he once dreamed of has completely crumbled…
[EMPRESS LARIELLA PENTIUM FULFILLS HER IMPERIAL DUTY DESPITE HER SON’S CRIMES, CLOSES THE EMPRESS’S PALACE TO OBSERVE A PERIOD OF REFLECTION]
Due to the Second Prince’s charges, his birth mother, Empress Lariella Pentium, permitted the extraordinary search of the Empress’s Palace, but true to her reputation, no evidence of black magic was found.
However, the Empress declined the apology promised by Duke Dearrut and instead took the lead in punishing the Second Prince.
Moreover, as soon as the Second Prince departed for exile, she closed the doors to the Empress’s Palace, stating that as the nation’s Empress and the Second Prince’s mother, she felt great responsibility for everything that had occurred.
The nobility expressed admiration for her dedication to her imperial duties, even as her own child fell from grace…
[VISCOUNTESS ROSETTA DECLINES EMPEROR’S OFFER TO RECOGNIZE HER ILLEGITIMATE CHILD AS ROYALTY]
The Viscount and Viscountess have expressed their intention not only to renounce the child’s imperial succession rights but also to register the child within the Viscounty rather than as royalty.
[UNFORTUNATE THIRD PRINCE EMERGES AS THE STRONGEST HEIR APPARENT]
The Third Prince, once called the imperial family’s disgrace, no longer exists as such.
Chosen by the Dearrut Duchy, the Third Prince returned to the palace revealing his brilliant ability as a Fire Spirit Mage.
The Emperor granted him the Astel Palace near the Sun Palace, rather than the abandoned palace he once occupied.
With the Second Prince banished from the imperial family and the First Prince unconscious, the Third Prince has become the most powerful candidate for Crown Prince, drawing the attention of all nobles.
The Third Prince, having prepared to rise from the lowest to the highest position in the imperial capital—his life story, reminiscent of a hero’s myth, has brought great surprise to the empire’s people…
“Hmm, three pieces of good news and one bad, is it?”
Alice finished reading the newspapers detailing the aftermath of events that had swept through the empire.
After placing the last newspaper on the table, she sipped the tea Aileen had poured for her and organized her thoughts.
The Second Prince’s trial, the search of the Empress’s Palace, and the Wraith of Darkness’s magic circle.
Four days had already passed since that day when so many things had happened.
During those four days, the empire had been in constant uproar. Enough to generate all these articles.
First, the Second Prince’s case had progressed with lightning speed.
The Second Prince had already been cornered during the trial.
Moreover, evidence related to black magic that Kylus had prepared in advance was found during the search of the Prince’s Palace, making it impossible for him to deny the charges.
Of course, he wasn’t the real culprit, but he had perfectly taken the fall for the Empress’s crimes.
The nobility naturally rose up demanding that the Second Prince be made an example of.
The Emperor resisted for two days but finally ordered the Second Prince to be driven from the palace and sent into exile.
The Second Prince’s matter had ended quite satisfactorily, but…
The Empress, who was Alice and Kylus’s real target, had slipped through this entire affair unscathed.
This was because no evidence of black magic had been found in the Empress’s Palace.
In truth, evidence did exist—undeniable, extraordinary evidence.
The Wraith of Darkness’s magic circle on the floor beneath the Empress’s Palace.
But unfortunately, Alice, chosen by the Deity, was the only one who could see it.
So no matter how thoroughly the knights searched, they couldn’t find evidence they couldn’t see.
In fact, when Kylus had mentioned searching the Empress’s Palace, Alice hadn’t really expected they would find any evidence.
‘I just thought it would be a good opportunity to infiltrate.’
But actually finding nothing in the Empress’s Palace left a bitter taste in her mouth.
The Wraith of Darkness was also in a state much more difficult to eliminate than expected.
On top of that, this incident had generated even more public sympathy for the Empress throughout the empire.
They said she fulfilled her duty as Empress until the moment she sent her own son into exile, and then confined herself to her palace.
The Empress claimed all responsibility for this incident and even refused Kylus’s apology that had been promised before the search.
From the outside, she certainly appeared to be a responsible and benevolent Empress.
But Alice didn’t believe it.
‘Self-confinement my ass. She’s definitely in there plotting something with the Wraith of Darkness.’
She wasn’t the type of person who would engage in self-reflection.
After all, the crimes the Second Prince took the fall for were all committed by the Empress.
The black magic, the assassination attempt.
Yet disgustingly, she feigned sorrow and instead petitioned the Emperor to punish her own son.
She was someone who would use and discard even her own child as a shield when necessary, so she would certainly be seething over this incident.
‘She’s probably preparing a counterattack. Someone with her temperament won’t just sit back and take it.’
So before the Empress could scheme anything, the Deity needed to find a way to eliminate the Wraith of Darkness.
But even now, four days later, the Deity still hadn’t called for her.
That meant an answer hadn’t been found yet.
She knew it wouldn’t be easy, but… was it alright to just keep waiting like this?
“Argh, this is driving me crazy.”
Alice thumped her forehead against the table and ruffled her hair.
She looked rather like a madwoman, but that was fine. Sir Ruyd was outside the door, and Aileen had stepped out of the room for a moment.
‘Since I’m alone, I can do whatever I want.’
Alice tugged at her hair, then turned her head to the side.
She stroked the pretty teacup with her fingertips, which contrasted with her complicated feelings, and muttered:
“Well, Kylus did say he’d keep watch…”
Like Alice, Kylus didn’t trust the Empress, so he began surveillance as soon as she closed the doors to her palace.
But he knew nothing about the Wraith of Darkness inside…
Alice let out a small sigh and thought of Kylus.
“…I wonder if he’s completely back to normal now.”
Four days ago, Kylus’s unusual behavior at the temple.
He had uncharacteristically failed to hide his anxiety as he looked at her.
Her physical contact had calmed him down quickly, but… she was still curious about why he had acted that way.
But Alice deliberately didn’t ask.
No, she barely had time to ask. Kylus had been too busy over the past four days sorting out the series of situations.
‘We’ve only met face to face a few times.’
“I miss him…”
‘I wonder if he’ll work until dawn again today before leaving the palace.’
Alice had been tracing the pattern on the teacup with her fingertips, but as her mood sank further, she suddenly stood up from her chair.
If she kept thinking negative thoughts, her mood would only continue to spiral downward.
‘It’s not all bad news.’
That was true. Apart from the issue with the Empress’s Palace, everything else had gone well.
The garbage Second Prince was beyond salvation, and the Viscountess she had saved had regained a stable life.
And the Third Prince had made a triumphant return to the Imperial Palace, properly establishing himself there.
As the most promising candidate for the next Crown Prince.
Today Kylus was supposed to be personally organizing the Third Prince’s knightly order, and once that was perfectly established, the Third Prince’s path forward would be smooth.
Anyway, the Empress would likely remain quiet for a while, so it would be good for the Third Prince to solidify his foundation during that time.
So that even if she tried something later, he wouldn’t be shaken.
‘And the Deity will surely find a way to deal with the Wraith of Darkness.’
He was a god who cared for his world more than anyone, so he wouldn’t stand by and watch its destruction.
Alice energetically ran her positivity circuit and gathered her strength.
At that moment, the door opened with perfect timing, and Aileen returned. Alice saw Sienna entering with her.
“Sienna? Didn’t you say you were doing poison tests with Helkin today?”
Dr. Helkin, who had been researching monster paralytic toxins, had finally produced several poisons.
She had said she would be testing them with Sienna today.
Sienna sat down across from Alice and said:
“Oh, the tests finished quickly. Dr. Helkin’s skills are quite impressive. As soon as we poured the poison on the monster’s corpse, not only was it paralyzed, but within minutes the skin completely dissolved and the bones…”
“That’s enough. I get the picture… So the results were good?”
Alice had no taste for gore, so she cut Sienna off.
‘I already feel queasy just from hearing that little bit.’
“Yes. It was more successful than expected.”
“That’s good.”
Truly. Although many of the original storyline’s events had changed, if the monster wave happened as scheduled, they would be safe with Helkin’s poison.
The majority of the duchy’s knights wouldn’t die off as they had in the original story.
Alice took a sip of tea to settle her stomach after hearing the good but gruesome news.
At that moment, Aileen placed a box on the table.
“Madam, the Rosetta Viscounty has sent you a gift.”
“From Viscountess Rosetta?”
Alice set down her teacup and opened the gift box. Inside were a ruby necklace and earrings.
Alice widened her eyes at the jewels that were clearly expensive.
“She didn’t need to send something like this… The Viscounty’s financial situation probably isn’t even good yet…”
Although they had escaped the Second Prince’s clutches and found stability, the Viscounty’s financial situation would still be precarious. It hadn’t been particularly wealthy to begin with.
As Alice felt uncomfortable about accepting it, Sienna spoke as if understanding her feelings:
“It’s fine to accept this much. You’re practically the Viscountess’s lifesaver.”
“Well… but this still seems too expensive…”
As Alice trailed off with concern, Sienna said:
“Even though the Viscountess decided not to register the child as royalty, His Majesty the Emperor said the child is still of imperial blood and granted the Viscounty lands and great wealth. I heard he said he would raise their rank to Count when the child is born?”
“Really? That’s wonderful.”
“All thanks to you, Madam.”
Sienna looked at Alice with sparkling eyes, as if personally proud of the achievement.
Alice handed the box lid to Aileen.
“Please put this in the jewelry box in the dressing room.”
“Yes, Madam.”
As Aileen entered the dressing room, Sienna called out to Alice.
