Chapter 92
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92.
It was the second day since Cassian Artez had left the Palace, yet I found myself conducting my investigation in remarkably pleasant circumstances.
The overwhelming daily administrative duties were, gratefully, being shouldered by the Fourth Prince,
"Please allow me to assist in whatever way I can, Salice Advisor. I understand I lack the authority for the investigation itself, but I wish to at least help with the routine matters and lighten your burden."
He had taken a considerable portion of the work, earnestly requesting it for the sake of his mother.
Meanwhile, the First Empress was actively pressuring Duke Lopez to keep his attention diverted elsewhere.
How suspicious the House of Jamoti and the First Empress had been during the Third Consort's riding accident, and how carelessly the matter had been handled despite it involving a foreign princess-born consort—these points were being relentlessly exposed.
'Because of that incident, Duke Lopez nearly lost his position as heir.'
Since diplomacy fell under the purview of the Lopez Duchy, they had suffered greatly following the riding accident.
The Third Consort's homeland demanded a proper investigation into the truth, yet the case had been concluded far too swiftly.
'At that time, Duke Lopez was away on trade negotiations with the Basmakh Kingdom, the Third Consort's homeland, so he could only bear the brunt of it all.'
He had rushed back upon receiving word, but by then the case was already closed with suspiciously perfect testimony and evidence.
The Empire deemed it satisfactory, but the Basmakh Kingdom was not convinced.
To make matters worse, the House of Jamoti and the First Empress had mobilized nobles close to them to execute the Third Consort's knight, who had been designated as the culprit.
Afterward, the Basmakh Kingdom, enraged, severed all trade with the Empire.
As a result, trade with other nations in the southern regions of the Empire became considerably difficult, and the Lopez Duchy bore the full weight of responsibility for it all.
After losing a substantial portion of the diplomatic domain they had long maintained to the House of Jamoti, they exerted every effort to avoid being pushed out in the power struggle.
'Well, despite suffering such humiliation, the fact that they still included First Prince Charlie as an option shows a certain shrewdness.'
Resentment aside, when no clear advantage is visible, the posture of lowering one's stance is a difficult attitude for long-established high nobility to maintain.
Yet despite such caution, once they determined their direction, their offensive was relentless—which is why I understood they hadn't maintained their house for so long without reason.
'Indeed, they were dependable as allies, uncomfortable as neutrals, and thoroughly irritating as enemies.'
So the First Empress must be utterly frazzled by now, stretched to her limits, suffering under the reality that she had no one in her own household to trust and had to struggle alone!
I felt a small surge of satisfaction and redoubled my efforts in the investigation.
*
'As I suspected... the Second Empress didn't merely inform me of the Third Consort's fall to distract the First Empress.'
On the third night after Cassian Artez departed the Imperial Palace, I reviewed the statements and remaining evidence, and my conviction solidified.
'The methodology was too similar.'
Particularly the fact that one of the servants imprisoned in the Underground Prison had been subjected to multiple assassination attempts.
Though not yet announced, both the Knight Commander and I had concluded that one of the servants was far more likely to be the culprit than the Second Empress or the Head Maidservant.
If the Emperor's assassination were the true objective, the mechanism would be far too complicated, and the poison itself was not easy to obtain.
Had assassination itself been the goal, there would be no reason for those two, who were always at the Emperor's side, to choose such a method.
Because the poison used...
'...only became effective when it came into contact with a man's saliva.'
This was why, in the Imperial Physician's examination on the day of the incident, a poison reaction appeared only in His Majesty's cup.
When male saliva was subsequently added to other cups for verification, a faint poison reaction emerged.
This was precisely why the probability of the Head Maidservant or the Second Empress being the culprit had diminished.
'It was a poison that had to be stored at temperatures cold enough to freeze water, and it gradually lost potency if exposed to anything warmer.'
Had the Head Maidservant or the Second Empress administered it themselves, the Imperial Physicians' assessment was that His Majesty would not have survived that day, regardless of how expertly any follow-up measures were executed.
'Conversely, it meant that anyone could accomplish it if they bribed a servant.'
The problem was that one of the medicinal herbs absolutely necessary for compounding this poison grew naturally only in the Northern Snow Kingdom and near the Clupea Territory I had received.
After the Imperial Physicians uncovered this, the Knight Commander insisted that this information must not leak out.
'Not to shield the guilty, but to prevent innocent people from being harmed.'
Of course, I trusted the Knight Commander and the other knights who participated in the investigation.
What I didn't trust was...
'...the Imperial Physicians.'
As the investigation results came to light, their attempts to implicate both me and the Second Empress became increasingly blatant—not just during the incident itself, but throughout.
And the First Empress had even laid double and triple traps for us, hadn't she?
The only thing that fell outside her calculations was her inability to interfere with the investigation itself.
Given that, it would be difficult for her to grasp the situation through the Imperial knights, making it reasonable to assume the First Empress would attempt to bribe the Imperial Physicians.
'Still, I know which servant administered the poison.'
During interrogation, one servant's answers contradicted themselves, and there were peculiarities in his record.
'Moreover, that servant wasn't even subjected to assassination attempts.'
The pattern was clear—the one nearly killed was the one with a history of service in the Lilac Palace long ago.
As if to cast suspicion on the Second Empress.
So the culprit was virtually certain, but the problem lay in what came after the announcement.
'The Knight Commander, being a cautious man, said he would complete the final investigation before making it public.'
When he revealed the full truth, the likelihood of me and the Second Empress being named as the masterminds was far too high.
'Just as with the Third Consort's riding accident.'
Back then too, the knight wasn't suspected from the beginning.
But then a servant testified that he had instructed someone to tamper with the saddle.
Moreover, a maidservant who worked in the Third Consort's Palace came forward, testifying that a week prior, the knight and the Consort had quarreled fiercely.
'Speaking of matters too shameful to mention, and such.'
And indeed, when the Imperial Physician conducted the pulse diagnosis, the months of pregnancy didn't align with when the Emperor had last shared her bed, and the incident spiraled rapidly downward from there.
After all, suspicion comes easily, but proving innocence is truly difficult.
So I wasn't letting my guard down for even a moment.
I wouldn't let what the Second Empress had told me go to waste.
Just as I was organizing the final documents, those who burst into the Winter Palace office were none other than the maidservants from the Rose Palace.
They were attendants of the Rose Palace.
"You really must come with us this time, Roselita Salice."
They'd even stripped away my rank and title in their form of address.
"What seems to be the matter, attendants of the Rose Palace?"
"How shameless of you! The Empress knows all about your wicked schemes, including how you silenced the Knight Commander!"
"I silenced my superior's voice, you say?"
That was far too grave an insult.
"Stop playing innocent! The First Empress has summoned everyone in her fury, starting with the Knight Order—you won't escape this time!"
About two days after the composition was revealed, should I perhaps commend the Imperial Physician for not succumbing easily to temptation and holding firm?
'Still, after this matter is settled, he'll need to receive at least a suspension, won't he?'
I spoke briefly—saying it was a tedious affair that would transfer to the Rose Palace if I didn't finish—and bought myself three minutes of leeway before completing all the document preparations and leaving a note with a trustworthy Winter Palace knight.
"Very well, since you mention having solid evidence, it would be negligent of me as an investigator not to attend."
I picked up the neatly organized file folder and smiled at the maidservants as if to say they should lead the way.
"Your reprieve ends now!"
"You should have simply stayed hidden in your corner and lived within your station."
Judging by how their voices grew louder, they seemed quite nervous indeed.
*
The First Empress had gathered everyone in the Sun Palace's Audience Chamber, and today her murderous aura seemed particularly intense.
Since Duke Jamoti had visited the Rose Palace this afternoon, it appeared she had made concessions and agreed to block the reinvestigation of the Third Consort's incident.
'It seems Duke Jamoti has surrendered his diplomatic authority and the matter has been settled with self-restraint on his part.'
No wonder the First Empress was in an even fouler mood, and the Second Empress, who had brought up the Third Consort's fall from her horse, must be absolutely despicable in her eyes.
"—Knight Commander, I never expected someone who claimed such loyalty to the Emperor to conduct himself so narrowly!"
"I'm afraid I don't understand your meaning, First Empress."
"Does your heart stop if you harbor thoughts of betraying His Majesty? Did you really think you could continue deceiving me with such mythical nonsense from centuries past!"
The Empress then issued orders to the Rose Palace attendants.
"Bring Roselita Salice to her knees at once, that savage creature!"
"Your Majesty!"
The Knight Commander cried out in protest at her command, but she opened her eyes wide with dignity.
"I've already heard everything! The medicinal herb in His Majesty's poison is something that grows naturally only in the Northern Snow Kingdom and Clupea Territory—what could this possibly mean!"
Well, what could it mean indeed. That you've tried to frame me.
I shot a resolute glare at the attendants approaching me with such self-satisfaction.
My knees would come at a very high price.
The Countess, who had left in embarrassment days ago, hesitated, but the other attendants forced me to kneel regardless.
"If that is truly the First Empress's wish, I have no choice but to speak while kneeling."
"How dare a criminal attempt to mock this assembly with that clever tongue of yours!"
"No, I merely wish to point out the facts."
Forgive me, but no matter how I think about it, there seems to be one thing you've overlooked.
"As you stated, the medicinal herb in question does grow naturally in the Northern Snow Kingdom and Clupea Territory, and it was indeed used in the poison's composition. However, First Empress,"
I met her gaze very directly.
"Last month, during the trade with the Northern Snow Kingdom that First Prince Charlie personally oversaw, that very herb was included in the first shipment of goods received."
"What?!"
This would have been news to her.
Since First Prince Charlie had personally taken charge of that operation to openly demonstrate his capabilities, the Rose Palace's involvement had been minimal.
Moreover, it was a document led by a new advisor at the Summer Palace Administration, someone least under the First Empress's influence, making it even less likely she would have known.
Of course, it wasn't as though the Empress hadn't reviewed it at all.
"It was an item that kept being delayed and only barely received approval at the last moment—there had been a request from the Imperial Physician. After all, all medicinal herbs can become either poison or medicine depending on their composition."
I regarded her steadily.
"As it happens, the first shipment arrived just two weeks ago. So according to your argument, First Empress, those capable of manufacturing such a poison would include not only myself and the Second Empress, but also First Prince Charlie. And,"
I withdrew a single resume from the file folder I held.
"One of the attendants who worked in the Tea Service Room that day was even employed at the Summer Palace until last year."
In other words, wouldn't First Prince Charlie be the most suspicious one?
I offered the First Empress a most charming smile, laden with that very implication.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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