Chapter 44
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Chapter 44
"Everything was rather muddled, but in any case, the problem was resolved thanks to Miss Namia Loapi."
At the mention of "Namia" once more, the Emperor and Empress exchanged uncomfortable glances.
Crown Prince Kiaros exhaled deeply and decided to steer the conversation in a different direction.
"Ah, now that we're facing each other directly, I've remembered something I needed to tell you. I've entered a Dark Period."
The Emperor and Empress were startled by this revelation.
Crown Prince Kiaros explained the situation calmly, his expression grave.
His second Dark Period had arrived at precisely the wrong moment—he'd been attacked during it and nearly died, surviving only because of Namia Loapi's intervention.
"It was truly extraordinary."
Crown Prince Kiaros spoke with utmost seriousness.
For someone whose emotions typically remained measured, the phrase "truly extraordinary" carried considerable weight.
"The attack came exactly when my Dark Period began.... I'm still bewildered by it. They acted as though they possessed knowledge of the future itself."
The Emperor furrowed his brow and crossed his arms.
"A Dark Period.... Then Kiaros, you must take precautions for the time being. I shall have to resume my duties at the Imperial Palace."
"But...."
"It's fine. I can manage until your Dark Period ends. Don't worry, my son."
With illness visibly etched across his features, the Emperor smiled faintly.
"You've endured much hardship, Kiaros. In circumstances like these, it would be absurd for me to remain withdrawn."
Crown Prince Kiaros bit his lip with concern but found no words to speak.
He understood better than anyone how powerless he had become.
"In any case, this is truly where things begin."
The Emperor murmured as though driving home a final point.
"We face a formidable enemy—one bold enough to infiltrate not merely the nobility, but the Imperial Palace itself. That enemy has now turned its sights upon you and the Empress."
The mastermind behind it all, with their tail severed, remained unidentified.
Their true objectives remained unknown.
Yet one thing was certain....
"That woman certainly cried out, 'For evolution!'"
Those words, like a rallying cry.
"There exists a faction with strange and powerful convictions—so fervent they would abandon their own lives without hesitation."
"Evolution... evolution. Evolution."
The Emperor furrowed his brow. Crown Prince Kiaros spoke quietly.
"It reminds me of the Goblin from long ago. Hearing the word 'evolution.'"
The Goblin—a low-ranking magical beast.
An organization in the Southern Region had modified and experimented upon it, elevating its intelligence to human levels.
At that time, they had pursued the leadership to the end and eliminated them all.
Yet some of their subordinates had managed to survive.
"Yes."
The Emperor, understanding Crown Prince Kiaros's meaning, nodded heavily.
"I was thinking of them as well. It seems we must pursue this investigation further."
And gazing upon the Empress, he smiled gently.
"Still, it's thanks to you, Fron, for holding on to the very end that I learned even this much. From the moment you were captured yesterday until the Trial Court, you've been through so much."
"I didn't do anything special...."
The Empress spoke with embarrassment, scratching her chin.
"I simply did what Namia Loapi told me to do. She was clever. I failed to make her my daughter-in-law, but... I honestly understand why she found the thought of marrying Crown Prince Kiaros horrifying. The position of Empress was burdensome for me too."
As the Empress recalled the trial, her face came alive once more.
"Namia Loapi just told me to hold my ground and insist on my story, so I just kept squawking and shouting all sorts of things! And then, right at that moment, His Majesty the Emperor appeared and everything was resolved."
Receiving the Emperor's affectionate gaze, the Empress continued excitedly, swinging her fists about.
"Honestly, how would someone like me, a blockhead, have known anything? That girl Namia Loapi, it was as if she knew the future...."
That was when it happened.
"Wait a moment."
Crown Prince Kiaros interjected with a serious expression.
"Wait a moment, Your Majesty the Empress."
"Yes?"
"What did you just say?"
Startled by Crown Prince Kiaros's fierce momentum, the Empress immediately bowed her head and cried out.
"I apologize, Your Highness the Crown Prince! I mentioned again the fact that Namia Loapi risked her life to refuse marriage to you! I was thoughtless!"
The Emperor linked his arm through the Empress's and muttered, "Yes, that was wrong... I waited so many years...." The Empress cried out in a voice as if coughing blood.
"Please severely punish the crime of displeasing the Crown Prince!"
"No, that's not it...."
"Not that? Ah, so you're saying you can understand her kicking the Crown Prince? I was shortsighted! In any case, to say such things when the outcome isn't favorable...."
"No, no, no. That's not it!"
Crown Prince Kiaros waved his hand as he spoke.
"Didn't you say 'as if she knew the future'?"
The Empress, who had been bowing her head in confusion, carefully raised her eyes.
"...Yes, I did?"
With an expression sharper than ever before, Crown Prince Kiaros added.
"Isn't there another group that acted as if they knew the future?"
[Right when my dark period struck, I was attacked... I'm still quite bewildered by it. They acted as if they knew the future.]
Those who had attacked in perfect timing with the second dark period that even Crown Prince Kiaros had not anticipated.
"Doesn't that seem suspicious to you?"
Crown Prince Kiaros spoke, his eyes gleaming.
"People who set traps as if they knew the future, Namia Loapi who saved us as if she knew the future. Might there be some connection?"
"...Are you suggesting that you suspect Namia Loapi, Your Highness?"
The Empress asked cautiously, gauging his reaction.
"Namia Loapi saved you and me when we were children, and saved you and me again fifteen years later. Yet you suspect her simply because she refused to marry you? Could it be...."
"No, being rejected for a proposal really doesn't bother me at all. Truly."
Crown Prince Kiaros spoke with a serious expression.
"But now that I think about it... it's strange how, as if she truly knew the future, she prepared so many defensive scrolls precisely timed for the day I was attacked. Certainly, Namia Loapi never took independent action in that department before that."
The Emperor interjected with a somewhat weary expression.
"But Kiaros, even being generous, let's say you found that girl suspicious. Even so, what can we do about it? That old fool of a Tower Master, who's so tactless he'd clap his hands with someone else's wife, has already completely fallen for that girl."
The Emperor's voice was soothing, yet carried an unmistakable firmness.
"You understand as well as I do that we cannot strip someone of their position or imprison them merely on suspicion without rational cause. And it certainly appears as though you're retaliating simply because she rejected your proposal."
"I am aware of that, Your Majesty."
Crown Prince Kiaros wore an expression more serious than ever before.
If Namia Loapi were truly the mastermind behind everything? The consequences would be catastrophic beyond imagination.
'If she builds trust by saving the Royal Family from enemy threats multiple times, only to betray us when it matters most?'
Had the Empress not already fallen completely under her spell?
It would be equivalent to placing the enemy's leader in a ministerial position.
"Is it not true that Miss Namia Loapi resolved this matter far too perfectly? As if she possessed knowledge of the future itself. Certainly, fortune may have favored her, but given that the Empire's future hangs in the balance, we must exercise caution. Therefore."
His expression was impeccably composed, not a single flaw in his reasoning, as he spoke with unprecedented rationality, contemplating the Empire's future.
"I must personally oversee and monitor Miss Namia Loapi."
His noble bearing and the arrogance befitting a Crown Prince came naturally to him.
Gazing upon his perfect and beautiful son, the Emperor marveled.
"My beloved son...."
His voice trembled slightly.
"...you are truly despicable."
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