Chapter 43
“Princess!”
The royal palace interrogation chamber.
The maid, bound to a chair, began gasping for breath the moment she saw me.
“Please spare me, Princess…! Please!”
She looked utterly exhausted. Bastian, who stood beside me, tried to turn me back. Since I had begged him to bring me here, he clearly thought that now that I’d seen enough, it was time to leave.
To think I’d have to see something like this right after recovering… This feels awful.
Even as I watched her quietly, the maid kept pleading.
“Please, please show mercy, Princess!”
“Your Highness. Just a moment.”
I spoke to Bastian. He narrowed his eyes.
“You’re not thinking of letting her off, are you? We even got a full confession.”
Apparently, the interrogation hadn’t even lasted a minute before she spilled everything—said the one who bribed her was from the Empire, and that it wasn’t Daniel.
“I just want to talk to her. To find out what circumstances led to this.”
When I asked carefully, Bastian gave his consent, though clearly unwilling.
“Who gave you the order?”
At my question, the maid answered as if she’d been waiting for it. She said the person who instructed her didn’t seem to be a noble.
The crown prince or nobles on his side wouldn’t move directly… so maybe a servant?
I asked the next thing that bothered me.
“Why did you get involved in this?”
“Ah…!”
The maid flinched. I wanted to know why she—a woman from Verona—had tried to harm me. She glanced nervously between me and Bastian, hesitating.
But it didn’t seem easy for her to answer.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.
With each passing moment, Bastian’s patience visibly drained.
“I told you earlier. I don’t have much patience.”
In the end, Bastian threatened her. The maid’s face went pale, and the answer burst out.
“I didn’t have any grudge against the Princess, but… they said they’d give me enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life…!”
Ah. I see.
Money to live off forever.
The interrogation chamber grew even colder.
After asking everything I wanted to know, I left the chamber.
Bastian decided the maid’s punishment himself.
She probably wouldn’t survive unscathed…
But she had tried to frame Daniel and kill me. This wasn’t something that could be overlooked.
She even created a lifelong cringe-worthy memory for me!
I returned to Canario Palace and spoke with Daniel.
“I asked who she’d been in contact with…”
Since the maid confessed immediately once the interrogation began, Daniel was completely cleared of all charges.
“How often do you think I get to experience prison?”
He’d said that jokingly, accepting my apology without any resentment.
“Oh—what did His Highness say?”
Daniel asked, as if it just occurred to him. Now that it was clear the Empire was behind it, he was worried Bastian might go berserk. I answered with a grave expression.
“He didn’t say anything.”
Bastian wasn’t the type to let things go quietly.
Honestly, given his personality, it wouldn’t have been strange if he’d kept Daniel imprisoned anyway. But he was unexpectedly calm—so calm it was unsettling.
Was this the calm before the storm?
I’d braced myself to stop him from raging, but he didn’t explode at all.
“W-We’re not going to war, are we?”
I asked anxiously, when suddenly hurried knocking came from outside.
“Princess! It’s Mia!”
Mia? At Daniel’s room?
I told her to come in, and she appeared with a tense expression. My own nerves tightened as well.
What now?
The news she brought was enormous.
“The Emperor of the Empire has awakened.”
“My goodness!”
Daniel’s father—the Emperor of the Nerha Empire—had finally awakened.
“How is Daniel still alive?”
Matthias crumpled the newspaper he’d been reading. Marquis Garcia replied with a grim expression.
“It seems the Princess didn’t ingest the poison properly. She woke up the next day with no serious damage.”
“And that saved Daniel? That tyrant? Shouldn’t she have said it was the crown prince’s doing?”
Matthias couldn’t understand it. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Count Casas quickly interjected.
“Why not try another method? This time, I’ll come up with—”
“No. Enough.”
Matthias cut him off.
“There’s no need to start an unnecessary war just to eliminate Daniel. We’ll stop provoking Verona for now.”
The Kingdom of Verona wasn’t a pushover. With two incidents already, they’d be on high alert.
Besides, His Majesty is still bedridden. There’s no rush.
With the Emperor unable to conduct state affairs, Matthias was effectively the ruler.
Though the news was unpleasant, he decided to leave things alone for now. If Verona lodged a formal protest, he planned to abandon Daniel then.
And so Matthias went to pay his respects to the Emperor.
“I greet Your Majesty.”
Naturally, there was no reply from the Emperor lying in bed. Still, Matthias was the crown prince. Among the nobles who entered with him were Daniel’s supporters and those remaining neutral.
Appearances had to be maintained.
Just as Matthias bowed with the others—
“No…!”
A noble beside him suddenly cried out. His eyes looked ready to pop out of his head as he stared at the Emperor.
“Y-Your Majesty just… moved his hand.”
The Emperor, who’d been bedridden for nearly a year, moved his hand?
From Matthias’s perspective, there was no movement at all.
“You must be mistaken. There’s no way His Majesty could move.”
But the expressions on the other nobles’ faces were also strange.
Were they all lying together?
As Matthias narrowed his eyes, a shocked voice reached his ears.
“Crown Prince…”
Matthias hurriedly turned. The Emperor had opened his eyes with great effort and moved his lips.
“Is only the Crown Prince here? Where is Daniel…? Where is Daniel?”
It was truly fortunate news.
So this day finally came!
The moment Daniel would escape Verona had arrived. Bastian survived, and they endured until the Emperor awakened. Clara felt like she might float away with joy.
“Congratulations, Your Highness!”
She beamed and clapped her hands with Daniel. Caught off guard, Daniel followed along absentmindedly.
“His Majesty has awakened…”
He murmured with a smile. Seeing him like that made Clara feel oddly proud.
Daniel’s life was about to become incomparably busier than the past six months—he had to find the First Emperor’s Holy Sword.
Clara smiled brightly at him.
“Prince, you must’ve had a hard time in Verona, right?”
“As expected of the Princess. How did you know I was struggling?”
He didn’t deny it. Clara clenched her fist encouragingly.
“Even if it’s hard, you can do it!”
“So you’re not saying it won’t be hard anymore.”
He complained pitifully about still getting glares from Bastian.
That’s not what I meant…
She smiled and encouraged him anyway.
“When you go back to Nerha, you won’t have to see His Highness’s face anymore. That’s a relief, right?”
“Ah…”
Daniel’s smile stiffened. He nodded awkwardly.
“I-I suppose so.”
“Hey, you just admitted it was a relief!”
“When did I say that? Just thinking about parting from His Highness brings tears to my eyes.”
He was back to his usual self. If Bastian heard that, he’d be disgusted.
Emily would love that comment. Thinking of the devoted Erby reader, Clara laughed innocently.
“I hope the Empire contacts us soon.”
Daniel, however, felt conflicted. After Clara left, he fell into deep thought.
His father waking up should’ve made him purely happy—but he couldn’t be.
He’d only just realized his feelings. And now separation?
If I return to the Empire, I’ll be separated from the Princess!
That was the problem. Clara already seemed certain they’d part.
He didn’t want to leave yet.
If he returned now, his connection with her would end.
Being a hostage in Verona—being with her—this was his only excuse.
“What am I supposed to do in times like this?”
Daniel clutched his aching head.
Bastian summoned Daniel and me to Aguila Palace.
“It does seem the Emperor has truly awakened.”
Speaking lightly, Bastian fixed his gaze on Daniel.
“They’re demanding the Prince be returned.”
After acting like Daniel didn’t exist, now they wanted him back. Bastian scoffed, then looked at me with an amused glint.
Just like I said, right?
I smiled back at him. He’d already spoken with his officials—he intended to negotiate. In exchange for sending Daniel back, Verona would gain something.
“Are you sending me back?”
Daniel asked seriously. He glanced at me briefly, then said to Bastian,
“I’m not sure I should leave yet. I still owe the Princess a debt of gratitude.”
“What are you talking about? Leaving is helping.”
Said the man who had abducted Daniel in the first place. After two threats to me, Bastian clearly wanted Daniel gone as soon as possible.
“Why don’t you go pack? You need to see your beloved father, don’t you?”
That was definitely not said out of concern. His spiteful expression gave him away.
After telling him negotiations with the Empire would begin, Bastian dismissed Daniel. Only the two of us remained. Bastian stared irritably at the door Daniel had exited through.
“What’s wrong, Brother?”
The moment I asked, Bastian snapped his head toward me and lowered his voice as if sharing a top secret.
It was a completely pointless question.
“Has the Prince been acting suspicious?”
“What?”
“Since that day… hasn’t he done anything strange?”
That day.
Obviously, the day I drank the poison.
Why bring that up again…
My lips jutted out in embarrassment. I was already trying not to think about it. Bastian insisted on digging up my sealed dark history.
I shot him a look and replied gloomily.
“There’s no way the Prince would do something like that. That suspicion makes no sense.”
“Really?”
Bastian stared sharply. There was no way Daniel would do anything suspicious to me. Even for an overprotective brother, this was excessive.
“Well, if not, that’s good.”
Only after I reassured him several times did Bastian finally nod. Truly, a suspicious tyrant.
But he still didn’t fully let his guard down.
“If he does anything suspicious, bite him clean through.”
Late-blooming overprotection was terrifying.
As I left the reception room, I shook my head helplessly.
