Chapter – 31
A Lie for Me
“What?”
At Siegfried’s completely unexpected words, Josephine froze on the spot.
That she had once saved him before? It was an absurd lie.
“When did I ever—”
She tried to protest, but Siegfried answered faster.
“It is true.”
His vivid red eyes, as he spoke, were filled with sincerity and conviction she had never seen before.
“Are you saying you have met Her Majesty the Empress before?”
Georg was the first to break the silence. Siegfried replied with a slight nod.
“Yes. Even back then, Her Majesty showed kindness without hesitation to a foreign stranger like me. She was a compassionate and gentle person.”
There was no exaggeration or flattery in his words. Perhaps because of that, his voice carried undeniable weight.
“So at the very least, please withdraw any groundless suspicions toward Her Majesty, sir. Otherwise, I would feel far too shameless.”
“If Your Highness the First Prince says so, then I have nothing further to add.”
Georg accepted it cleanly. With the supposed victim appearing healthy and personally defending the other party, there was little room to argue.
“However, the contents of this medical opinion and prescription are a separate matter.”
“Ah, those documents.”
“If what is written here is true, then His Majesty the King of Rigg must be heartbroken indeed.”
Siegfried curled the corner of his lips as he looked at Georg, who clearly had no intention of backing down.
He must be trying, by any means necessary, to create a pretext for war over the mining region of the Balter Peninsula before the summit. And now that he had a convenient excuse, he seemed determined not to let it slip.
“It is true that I was injured as stated in the medical opinion and incident records. However, as Her Majesty surmised, the injuries were not as serious as they appear.”
Josephine felt as if her head had been struck by a hammer once again. What kind of lie was this now?
According to the records, Leonild and Delorence frequently tormented Siegfried.
As a child, Leonild would deliberately provoke his horse, making Siegfried fall off so often it became routine.
That wasn’t all. Delorence once lured him into an empty warehouse, locked him inside, and didn’t let him out for days.
The two brothers intentionally injured Siegfried like this, yet every time dismissed it as “play” or “an accident.”
And now the very victim himself was claiming it had all been harmless childhood pranks.
“They were accidents that happened while we were playing together. Leonild liked taking me to the riding grounds, and Delorence enjoyed teasing me whenever he had the chance. That’s all it was.”
Josephine could no longer stand by.
“That can’t be true. Your Highness, please think again. According to the reports, you were seriously injured every time. How could that possibly be a prank—”
“I appreciate Your Majesty’s concern for me, but I truly got along very well with both princes. There’s no need to worry.”
Siegfried was firm. In the end, she was left speechless.
Why?
Josephine kept turning the same question over in her mind, yet she couldn’t bring herself to ask him directly.
Aren’t you angry?
It may not have been his intention at first, but given how things had turned out, he could have easily exposed the abuse he had suffered in the past.
But Siegfried didn’t do that.
She still vividly remembered the way he had said he hated Henrirus.
If he hated him that much, why was he choosing to endure it all in silence?
She couldn’t understand him at all.
“So are you saying that all these records are untrue?”
“Official documents tend to record only formal details concisely. Outsiders wouldn’t know the full circumstances.”
Siegfried’s attitude as he said this was almost shameless.
“Hm, in that case, this matter…”
“One thing is certain. The rumor that I was abused, especially one implicating Her Majesty, must be a scheme devised by someone who wanted it to turn out that way.”
“What exactly are you trying to say? Are you suggesting someone deliberately spread this rumor?”
Henrirus, who had been forced to watch silently, finally snapped and demanded an answer. Siegfried placed a hand over his chest and replied with proper decorum.
“Your Majesty the Emperor. In order to prevent any unfortunate conflict between our two nations, I believe it is essential to thoroughly investigate the origin of this rumor.”
“I was planning to do so regardless of whether you said it.”
“Then would you grant me full authority over that investigation?”
At those words, everyone from both nations stared at him in shock.
Siegfried was formally requesting to be appointed as an imperial investigator.
“And why should I do that?”
Naturally, Henrirus looked displeased. He had already been humiliated enough—now he was expected to personally hand power to Siegfried. He had no desire to do so.
“As the greatest victim of this rumor, I wish to personally capture the culprit—for the sake of harmony between our nations.”
The sharpness in Siegfried’s retort was so intense that even Henrirus flinched for a moment.
“Please grant my request, Your Majesty. Only then can this rumor truly be put to rest.”
In the silence where no one dared to speak, Josephine stepped forward and urged Henrirus on.
If nothing else, she wanted to compensate Siegfried, even a little, for the wounds he had suffered.
Henrirus remained silent for a long time.
Josephine, Siegfried, and the entire delegation waited for the answer that would soon fall.
“…If that is the will of you all, then so be it.”
Henrirus realized he could no longer act recklessly.
The suspicions of abuse by the imperial family toward Siegfried—and his own sins buried within them. To cover it all up, accepting Siegfried’s proposal was the cleanest solution.
None of this would have happened if Josephine hadn’t stepped forward in the first place.
Henrirus’s hand tightened once more on the armrest of the throne, but no one noticed.
“Thank you for granting your permission, Your Majesty. I will surely capture the true culprit and resolve the misunderstandings piled between our two nations.”
And with that, Siegfried gained wings in this empire for the very first time—wings personally given to him by Henrirus himself.
Drunk on that sense of victory, Siegfried’s sharp smile shone more brightly than ever.
That night.
Josephine wandered alone through the palace gardens, without even a maid by her side.
Someday, using today’s events as an excuse, Henrirus might strip her of the Empress’s seal.
But she wasn’t particularly worried about that. The one who had completely unsettled her thoughts was not Henrirus, but Siegfried.
Just then, she sensed someone approaching.
She immediately knew who it was.
“So you were here.”
Siegfried spoke as though he had been searching for her.
Seeing him at night, rather than during the day, gave off a very different impression.
No—perhaps it would be more accurate to say that even beneath the darkness of night, his radiant presence couldn’t be fully concealed.
“Why did you do that?”
Josephine finally voiced the question she had been holding in all day.
Why did you do it? She felt like she asked him the same question every time. But this time, she couldn’t endure it without hearing an answer.
“Why would you tell such a lie just to protect me from Henrirus?”
Why would you choose that path, turning away from your own wounds and pain? Josephine truly wanted to hear his honest feelings now.
“It wasn’t a lie.”
Siegfried remained as calm as he had been in the audience chamber.
“That can’t be true. You and I clearly met for the first time at that banquet.”
The stiff, heavy atmosphere of that night a week ago still seemed to linger against her skin.
After such an intense first meeting, to claim there had been another first meeting before—it was impossible for her to believe.
“Not for me.”
Siegfried replied quietly, his voice tinged with faint sorrow.
“I’ve been watching you all along, Empress. In my previous life. And in the life before that as well.”
