Chapter 148
“Until now, I’ve never been injured except when protecting you.”
“Einar, you don’t mean…”
“When I’m not with you, I’ve never even had a scratch like this.”
Listening to his words, Riina voiced the thought that had begun with “you don’t mean”:
“Are you suggesting your luck is disappearing?”
“Perhaps.”
Despite this uncertain and ambiguous answer, Einar was smiling.
And a faint but definite smile appeared on Riina’s lips as well.
If there was a possibility that his luck was disappearing, then surely her misfortune could too.
“But to happen so suddenly…”
Riina let her words trail off, but Einar understood precisely and answered:
“That’s why I’ve been thinking about the cause on my way back to you. It must be…”
“Must be?”
When Einar paused and only smiled slightly, Riina tugged at his sleeve impatiently. He finally responded with a laugh that resonated in his throat:
“My deal with Max.”
“Ah!”
“He said it wasn’t of this world. Well, not in those exact words, but anyway, my price was light. Too light to even call it a ‘deal.'”
“Then that means the missing price was taken from your luck?”
“It’s just speculation, but remember how Max’s eyes flickered when he talked about our ‘luck’?”
“His eyes did turn quite red.”
“Max said he lost out, but merchants never lose, so…”
His answer sounded like midday nonsense, utterly surreal, yet somehow entirely plausible.
“And your misfortune will disappear too. Luck and misfortune stand back to back, so when one begins to disappear—”
“The other will vanish as well.”
Though they didn’t know the exact reason, and the disappearance of their luck was still just a possibility, if those forces that had controlled their lives like unstoppable natural disasters were truly fading…
The mere possibility was enough to make them smile spontaneously.
“What would life be like without luck or misfortune?”
“Ordinary, I suppose. A life where we hope to catch occasional good fortune and pray to avoid misfortunes that come at random.”
“I like that.”
“Yes, it’s nice.”
They both sincerely wished for it.
That someday in the future, they could freely share stories of the absurd events caused by their luck and misfortune as mere amusing anecdotes.
“Though it’s a bit earlier than planned, Einar.”
Riina stroked his bandaged hand and whispered:
“It’s time for us to return.”
On the night of the crescent moon, the same day the Emperor fell into a coma, the Second Prince and the Bolshevik Duchy’s heir returned to the capital.
“Two items of the deal are complete!” shouted Max with sleepy eyes, rubbing them as he spoke.
“His—His Majesty! His Majesty has—!”
With one attendant’s cry, the Imperial Palace instantly became a pit of chaos.
Shortly afterward, the Emperor’s closest confidants, led by Duke Bolshevik, entered the palace.
They and the princes headed toward the most secretive council chamber in the palace, used only in times of imperial emergency.
—Thud.
As the massive, heavy door closed, an eerie silence descended upon the council chamber.
Everyone seemed to be gathering their thoughts, and no one readily spoke up. After some time had passed—
Finally, the Finance Minister broke the silence with a grave expression.
“I don’t know exactly what happened, but fortunately, His Majesty handled all urgent documents before this occurred, so there won’t be major confusion for the time being.”
Pressing his brow so forcefully that he felt pain, he continued:
“However, since we don’t know when His Majesty will wake…”
“I heard his heart stopped several times.”
At the general’s somber voice, everyone sealed their lips.
Could there be a bolt from the blue more shocking than this?
Until just a few days ago, the Emperor had been so robust that he seemed likely to live for thousands of years, and now he was suddenly bedridden, hanging between life and death.
Not only had he lost consciousness and wouldn’t open his eyes, but his heart had stopped multiple times, leaving the imperial physicians unable to confidently guarantee his recovery.
A marquis, another of the Emperor’s closest confidants and the recipient of both fear and hatred from foreign diplomats, turned his gaze toward the princes and spoke:
“Did His Majesty perhaps give any prior indication? First Prince?”
Though the First Prince, who had made a rare official appearance after a long absence, maintained a grave silence, everyone present knew he had nothing to offer.
As if he hadn’t expected an answer anyway, the marquis quickly looked at the Second Prince’s empty seat with regret, then forced himself to address Smith:
“Third Prince?”
“His Majesty did mention something in passing. It seems…”
Smith refrained from rambling unnecessarily.
He had previously heard from Riina that the people gathered here distrusted those who spoke too much.
“…therefore, I dare say that the Second Prince must be behind this incident. Along with his fiancée, the Bol—the Bolshevik lady.”
Putting on a deliberately devastated expression, he confidently produced documents that his trembling aide had handed him.
“These will prove my words.”
Since only authorized individuals could enter this chamber, he didn’t hesitate to personally distribute the documents.
“Well, well.”
“My goodness, how awful.”
“This cannot be.”
While the Emperor’s confidants examined the documents and each uttered different exclamations, Duke Bolshevik simply stared at Smith in silence.
Uncomfortable under that gaze, Smith felt compelled to add:
“It’s a regrettable situation, Duke.”
Only then did Duke Bolshevik finally speak.
“Regrettable indeed.”
Though they used the same words, Smith didn’t realize that the object of the Duke’s regret was not the Emperor.
Smith momentarily shrank from the Duke’s reaction—showing no surprise despite Bolshevik being implicated—but soon straightened his shoulders and thrust his chest forward.
“I will certainly rectify this calamity and ensure that governance continues without disruption…”
Just as Smith was proclaiming loudly, as if he had already become Crown Prince though nothing had been decided—
—Bang!
The firmly closed door, which should have remained shut, burst open with a thunderous sound.
“What is the meaning of—!”
The general in charge of national defense leapt to his feet, drawing his sword like lightning and rushing toward the door.
“Unless you intend to kill me right now, lower your sword.”
Einar smiled brightly as he looked down at the sword tip that had stopped right before his face.
“S-Second Prince?”
Though the general was shocked, his eyes wide at nearly running the Second Prince through, he did not lower his sword.
No matter who it was, even the Second Prince couldn’t force his way into this space without prior notice.
But at Duke Bolshevik’s heavy words from behind, the general had no choice but to withdraw his sword.
“Lower your weapon, General. I forgot to mention that the Second Prince would be joining us.”
With no Crown Prince yet determined, the person with the strongest voice in this chamber was none other than Duke Bolshevik.
This wasn’t something tacitly agreed upon through silent exchanges among the Emperor’s confidants.
For some reason, the Emperor had recently summoned all his confidants and said:
‘If something happens where I cannot even open my mouth, all of you must listen to Duke Bolshevik.’
As the general sheathed his sword and stepped back, the Finance Minister was already eyeing Duke Bolshevik and Einar alternately with suspicious eyes.
More sensitive to “currents” than anyone else, the Finance Minister had likely intuited that something unknown to him was transpiring.
And there was one more person who instinctively realized that a strange flow of events was unfolding.
From the moment the door flew open and Einar appeared, Smith’s heart had been pounding wildly, as if it were beating in his temples.
Warning bells were clamoring loudly in his ears that something had gone wrong, but Smith couldn’t accept it.
Hadn’t everything gone perfectly according to plan?
But why was the man who should be at the border here now?
Even if he had set out from the border after hearing that the Emperor had collapsed, there was no way he could be here now.
Smith had repeatedly confirmed through his aide that Einar was not in the palace—not even in the capital.
In that instant, a thought flashed through Smith’s mind like lightning—correct, yet not correct:
Could the aide have betrayed him? Had that incompetent, dull-witted man fed him false information?
“Hmm, interesting documents. So, you brought these.”
Einar pressed his finger on the Third Prince’s official seal clearly stamped on the documents that Smith had personally distributed, then slowly turned his head toward Smith.
Meeting those ash-gray eyes that revealed nothing, Smith felt the back of his neck tighten and his fingertips begin to tremble.
Unable to bear the fact that he was visibly sweating after just one glance from that man, Smith shouted vehemently:
“How dare you show your face! How can you, who attempted to assassinate His Majesty, brazenly stand here, of all places…”
But he couldn’t finish his enraged shout.
Because Einar had somehow appeared right before him.
Having been struck by Einar several times before, Smith’s tongue froze instinctively, and Einar whispered with a slight smile:
“Why do you think your stupid, utterly incompetent plan succeeded?”
The moment Einar closed his mouth, Smith’s jaw dropped as his mind raced faster than ever before.
“You, you… You couldn’t have.”
“Ah, Riina is truly remarkable. How does she always get it right? Your perceptiveness is indeed one of your few useful traits.”
Whispering while staring into Smith’s wide, bulging eyes, Einar then raised his voice so everyone present could hear, his lips curled with contempt:
“I will present witnesses and evidence to prove my innocence and expose the true culprit.”
With his gaze fixed on Smith, Einar’s words were picked up by Duke Bolshevik:
“Enter.”
No sooner had his permission ended than the Third Prince’s aide entered the council chamber, hunching his neck as deeply as possible and bending his back in an awkward posture.
Seeing his aide, Smith was momentarily overcome with rage and tried to shout, but nothing emerged from his gaping mouth except a hissing sound.
This was because Einar had gripped his throat with one hand.
Witnessing this scene, the Third Prince’s aide finally straightened his hunched shoulders and took a deep breath.
“As the Third Prince’s aide, I am here to reveal the truth.”
