~Chapter 61~
On the day of the meeting, Camilla asked Romulus,
“Drake told me you once raised a wild beast yourself?”
At Camilla’s words, Romulus made an annoyed expression.
“How long does it take to tame one?”
“Hey, young lady. Do you think that’s something you can do in just one or two months?”
“I’ll let you meet the beast in advance. Even after you are falsely captured, I’ll arrange it so you can continue training.”
At Camilla’s look asking if that would make it possible, Romulus avoided her eyes.
“…I can’t guarantee it.”
Even though he said that, once he met the lion that would be used for the event, Romulus skillfully grew close to the beast in no time.
After they captured him by agreement and put him in prison, they continued to let him meet the beast so he could tame it.
Romulus trained the lion to like the taste of deer meat and taught it not to harm people.
And then, on the day of the event.
Romulus signaling the lion and leading it to the second floor where the Empress Dowager was was not to harm her.
‘Because the emergency exit that leads directly outside is here.’
Painting deer blood on the red door made of cherry wood, which was that emergency exit, was also one of Camilla’s preparations.
As expected, when the beast reached the second floor, it did not even look at the Empress Dowager and instead charged straight at the emergency exit.
Crack!
The beast bit and tore at the door handle.
Through the gap broken by its teeth, the lights of the outdoor festival shone inside.
“Kyyaaaaaah!”
Amelia screamed in shock at the savage teeth right in front of her, and the Empress Dowager, feeling threatened, widened her eyes.
Camilla hurriedly blocked the space between the Empress Dowager and the beast and shouted,
“Your Majesty, I will escort you to safety!”
“Kyaaah! Kyaaaah!”
But Amelia’s screaming did not stop, and the beast, which had been focused only on the door, turned its huge pupils toward her.
The knights on the second floor ran in with swords, but they were far too far away.
The Empress Dowager roughly shoved Camilla toward the lion.
“You are the manager, so act like one and protect me!”
Thud!
Camilla rolled across the stone floor.
When she opened her eyes, the hot breath of the lion reached her skin.
Grrr!
In the meantime, the Empress Dowager pulled Amelia in front of her.
“Stand in front! You are my shield. Knights, escort me!”
Using Camilla as bait for the beast, the Empress Dowager shouted at the masked knights and began to retreat.
The lion roared as if it would pounce on Camilla.
At that moment, something black suddenly jumped in front of her.
Clang!!!
A man stood with his back to Camilla.
It was Romulus, now free of his chains, holding a dagger.
“Honestly… I’ve been given a terribly unprofitable role.”
At the same time, screams began to rise from the first floor.
“F-fire!!!!”
Romulus, who had been on the first floor, threw a torch that had been stuck in the wall and then headed to the second floor, following Camilla’s plan.
The moment the torch touched the oil-soaked curtain, flames shot up with smoke, and the first floor became complete chaos.
“Hey, young lady. Aren’t people going to burn to death?”
“It’s fine. I didn’t neglect fire evacuation training for the agents. And besides…”
Camilla answered calmly, unlike someone who had almost just been bitten to death.
“The sprinklers I installed will activate after a short delay.”
Remembering the five years of hardship it took to create a device that did not exist in this world, Camilla nodded.
After almost being burned to death once after being kidnapped, Camilla had taken fire safety very seriously.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but it activates after people gather and escape, right?”
“Well, something like that.”
As she replied, Camilla handed a syringe to Romulus.
“You really owe me for this later.”
“Yes, yes. Please go, hero.”
Romulus injected the syringe into the lion, which had already become as gentle as a lamb in front of him, and nodded.
The lion roared again, smashed through the completely broken door, and ran outside.
People enjoying the night festival screamed in disbelief and scattered as the lion appeared with a fierce roar.
“Kyaaaah!!!”
The passage was very close to the stage where a theater troupe was performing an outdoor play.
Seeing a lion appear from a building instead of the stage, the audience watching the play were also shocked.
“What-what is that?!”
Among them was the Grand Duke, satisfied with his son’s upcoming wedding.
“It’s a beast! Kill the beast!”
The knights hesitated for a moment, then charged with their weapons.
Romulus jumped into the chaos and climbed onto the lion.
People around screamed.
He mounted the lion’s back and, like a hero from an old myth, wrapped both arms around its neck.
The lion roared in pain.
Then, with a heavy thud, it collapsed.
The sleeping drug injected with the syringe had finally taken effect, but everyone outdoors stared at him in awe.
Standing at the center, Romulus shouted loudly,
“I am Romulus Everett! I was falsely accused as the murderer of Marquis Churello, chased, kidnapped by a black group, and forced into a secret arena run by nobles!”
The Grand Duke’s eyes widened at the unexpected declaration.
At the same time, masked nobles from the secret arena were escaping the fire through another passage and coming outside.
“Those nobles are them!”
As Romulus pointed at them and the nobles continuing to surface, the Grand Duke’s gaze changed.
Under imperial law, illegal arenas created through kidnapping and human trafficking were forbidden.
Moreover, even if falsely accused, Romulus was still a noble.
Catching the Grand Duke’s reaction, Romulus opened his eyes sharply and drove the final nail in.
“Before I was kidnapped, the last person I saw was Baron Mowin, the owner of the arena! I condemn him and demand the truth behind the death of Marquis Churello!”
From the beginning, the flow Camilla wanted followed a single path.
The secret arena becoming exposed, and through Romulus’s declaration, the true culprit behind Marquis Churello’s death being revealed as the baron.
At the same time, she had to anger the Empress Dowager so that Glamis would lose its backing and collapse.
‘So, while Romulus appeals to the Grand Duke…’
Camilla ran toward the northern passage where the Empress Dowager’s group had exited.
She needed to see the Empress Dowager’s reaction.
‘The path connected to the north passage should lead to the hillside.’
Camilla guessed the Empress Dowager would not go through the mountain but would be resting in the grassy area.
As expected, when she exited, a forested scene appeared.
Beyond it, the Empress Dowager sat on a rock, venting her anger at the knights.
“Those fools… Glamis… I showed them mercy, and they dared put me in danger!”
Camilla hid behind a tree so the Empress Dowager would not notice her.
Still fuming, the Empress Dowager brushed away Amelia’s hand as she tried to escort her back to the estate.
“Enough! I ran for the first time in a long while, and my stomach hurts. I want to rest for a bit.”
Camilla smiled faintly.
‘The wine had a stomach-pain drug mixed in.’
It was the final blow, enough to completely destroy the Empress Dowager’s trust in Glamis after such a terrifying experience.
The Empress Dowager frowned as the stomach pain did not subside.
“There wasn’t something mixed into that wine earlier, was there?!”
At that moment, an unexpected voice was heard.
“There should have been nothing mixed into the wine… but I worry what my foolish uncle, who mismanaged the arena, might have done, Your Majesty.”
‘That voice…’
Camilla turned her gaze and saw Ares, speaking unusually politely, kneeling on one knee before the Empress Dowager.
‘Ares?!’
Was Ares among the knights guarding the Empress Dowager earlier?
Ares was not someone who would normally work as a guard in the arena.
Yet, mixed among the helmeted knights, he now offered a potion to the Empress Dowager like a dog wagging its tail.
“As the strike leader, I apologize. This medicine is good for stomach pain. Would you like to try it?”
“Ha! How can I trust the likes of you—!”
At that, Ares poured half the potion into his own hand and drank it down in one gulp.
The Empress Dowager looked at him with a strange gaze.
After wiping his mouth, Ares continued,
“Please trust me, Your Majesty. I am someone who wishes to serve you, not Baron Mowin.”
