Chapter 6
Dusk fell, and all the lights in the imperial palace were abruptly extinguished. As soon as curfew began, the servants each returned to their own quarters.
At the same time, a large tree standing before one of the palaces suddenly shook violently. Several leaves fluttered down—and then a black silhouette dropped heavily after them.
Just then, a sharp gust of wind blew past, flipping back the hood the figure was wearing.
“……”
Bright silver hair—the unmistakable symbol of the imperial family—briefly fluttered in the air. Perhaps because it reflected the moonlight, the color looked even deeper. The man roughly brushed his disheveled bangs aside and pulled his hood back up.
He was already under house arrest. And at this late hour, he needed to return quickly.
“Cedric.”
“!”
An unwelcome voice caught Cedric by the ankle.
Any other time might’ve been fine—but right now, this was the one voice he absolutely didn’t want to hear.
Biting his lip in irritation, the man hurriedly turned around. If he got caught, he’d be chewed out to death again. At the very least, he needed to avoid that.
But the moment he moved, a sword shot out of the darkness. Startled, Cedric quickly leapt back.
“You’re practically a thief.”
In an instant, the First Prince, Arthur, had drawn his sword and pointed the blade at Cedric’s throat. Looking at the leaves clinging to his hood, Arthur clicked his tongue in disdain. He’d come out just in case—and, as expected.
“Your house arrest hasn’t even been lifted yet, and you’re already sneaking around?”
“……So you did know I was grounded?”
I thought you didn’t care.
The Second Prince, Cedric, glanced at the sword pointed at his neck and ruffled his hair irritably.
Of all people to run into, it had to be this guy. If he’d known, he would’ve come back even later. His luck was worse than expected.
“Behave yourself. The atmosphere’s bad enough as it is.”
“The atmosphere’s always bad.”
So what?
The palace atmosphere had been rotten for ages. As if it were anything new, Cedric curled one corner of his mouth upward.
“A body was carried out earlier.”
“…….”
“So who is it this time?”
“……The chief attendant of the Fourth Prince’s palace.”
“The Fourth Prince’s palace?”
That was a name he hadn’t heard in a very long time. Had he ever even really heard it before? Cedric’s eyes widened. He’d been planning to escape as soon as possible, but an odd sense of curiosity tugged at him.
The Fourth Prince was their youngest brother.
But though he was a brother, Cedric only knew of his existence—he’d never actually seen him.
Only that he was barely alive. Not that Cedric had particularly wanted to see him.
“They said he’s practically dead already.”
“The attendant assaulted the Fourth Prince. Well—call it karma. He was beaten just as badly before he died.”
“Assaulted?”
Cedric, who had been listening quietly, suddenly latched onto that point.
‘What did I just hear?’
He understood the execution—assaulting a member of the imperial family was undeniably a capital crime, even if the victim was a dying prince. No sane person would dare strike royalty directly.
What puzzled him was the part about the attendant being beaten.
The Fourth Prince was ill. It was hard to imagine him putting up such violent resistance. Then who could have beaten the chief attendant of the entire palace?
“The Fourth Prince’s consort.”
“What?”
At Arthur’s casual reply, Cedric’s brows snapped together.
He’d just heard the Fourth Prince’s name for the first time in ages—and now an even more unexpected figure appeared.
Of course, she was technically part of the imperial family too, so Cedric knew of her existence.
The girl sold off by Revillia.
He vaguely remembered hearing that she would be married into the palace. Revillia was a complete enemy state, after all. Back then, it had stirred up quite a lot of talk.
But that girl—
“She beat the chief attendant?”
“Yes. They say she shattered his legs with a whip. That’s why they didn’t bother cutting them off.”
“……Hah.”
What on earth had happened?
Bloodshed in the imperial palace was nothing new, but this was beyond imagination. Having missed such an unexpected spectacle, Cedric found himself slightly regretting not being in the palace that day.
“A whip, huh. Must be pretty skilled with it?”
“No idea. I’ve never met her. More importantly, go back to your room. If you get caught again, it won’t end with house arrest.”
“Yes, yes.”
As the familiar lecture continued, Cedric nodded halfheartedly. Odd—Arthur had been strangely quiet tonight. Before his brother could continue, Cedric stepped back first.
If he stayed any longer, he’d only hear more nagging.
Once Cedric left as if he’d been waiting for the chance, Arthur finally sheathed his sword.
Meanwhile, on his way back to his quarters, Cedric’s gaze landed on a certain place.
A palace far smaller than his own.
A palace so shabby it couldn’t even be compared to the main palace. After taking it in, Cedric pulled his hood back over his head.
Hmm.
“Well… I am curious.”
***
The next day.
After breakfast, I returned to my room and immediately took out paper and a pen. Normally, by old habit, I might have gone for a walk—but unfortunately, there was something I had to do first.
‘Proof that the Emperor of Revillia intends to attack the Empire.’
At most, I had one week.
The Emperor hadn’t given me a specific deadline, but considering the Fourth Prince would die in a week, time was tight. If I wanted to find evidence too, I had to move as quickly as possible.
Dipping the pen in ink, I rapidly wrote down what I knew.
1. Sorviche Mountain Range
2. Bridge construction, weapons depot
3. House of Marquis Hendron
These three points were all the evidence I had that Revillia intended to attack Vertiz.
At first glance, they looked unrelated—but dig just a little, and something rotten became obvious.
‘The Sorviche Mountain Range.’
This was the only route connecting Revillia and Vertiz—a kind of middle bridge between the two nations.
However, the terrain was extremely harsh, and the cliffs scattered throughout were infamous for their steepness. Invading the other country through this route was nearly impossible.
But if a bridge were built there, the story would change.
‘And if they stockpile weapons on top of that, that seals it.’
Revillia bordered the sea and was rich in maritime resources, but it couldn’t easily expand onto land.
Because right above it sat its enemy nation—Vertiz.
Which meant the only way for Revillia to move onto land was to cross the Sorviche Mountain Range.
‘That’s why they built the bridge.’
Until now, no one had dared to construct a bridge across such a treacherous range. Even Emperor Lambert had stopped at drafting plans.
But this time, Revillia had actually gone through with the construction.
Still, if I presented flimsy evidence, Revillia could argue it was merely for “exchange purposes.” No one would truly believe them—but technically, it was a plausible excuse.
That’s why the weapons depot was key.
No one stockpiles weapons for the sake of friendly exchange.
The problem was whether I could dig that far.
‘Still, I do have a suspect.’
The family that assisted Revillia in constructing the weapons depot—
The House of Marquis Hendron.
A top-ranking noble family within the Empire itself, famous for producing high-quality steel.
Putting everything together, I could present this to the Emperor as evidence that Revillia intended to attack the Empire.
He could handle the finer details himself. Then, instead of using the Fourth Prince’s death as justification, he could pressure Revillia with this.
‘It lines up perfectly.’
With evidence this blatant—and with the Emperor backing it—even Revillia wouldn’t be able to make excuses.
‘To prove this, I need to go after House Hendron… No—investigate them.’
But there was one obstacle.
House Hendron wasn’t a Revillian noble house—it belonged to the Vertiz Empire.
Looking back, it was strange for an imperial noble to collaborate with a foreign enemy.
‘Should I ask the Emperor to probe them first?’
No.
If there was even a delay before the investigation began, the evidence could be burned to ashes.
If I involved the Emperor too early, everything might end up wasted.
Worse, if I moved carelessly, they could counterattack, accusing us of fabrication.
“I need solid proof.”
Something like documents exchanged between Marquis Hendron and Revillia.
Stamped and sealed, ideally.
But—
“How am I supposed to get that…?”
Spinning the pen between my fingers, I fell into thought.
It wasn’t something that would just turn up if I dug around. It had to be in the marquis’s residence.
‘And it’s not like I can just go there.’
Technically, I could—but the question was why.
Shattrina had never participated in high society. I had no excuse to present myself.
If I went without reason, I’d only draw suspicion.
Just as I was deep in thought, someone knocked on the door.
Assuming it was a maid, I casually told them to come in and set down my pen.
But as I stood and stretched, a long shadow fell before me.
“?”
Were the maids always this tall?
Noticing the distinct difference in footsteps, I lowered my raised arms. At the same time, I sensed someone’s presence.
A bad feeling crept up my spine, and I quickly turned around.
That’s when I saw familiar silver hair.
“Hi?”
But the owner of that silver hair was too young to be the Emperor—
And too youthful to be my husband, the Fourth Prince.
Still, silver hair wasn’t common.
It was the defining trait of the Vertiz imperial family.
I couldn’t just brush it off.
‘……Don’t tell me.’
The Emperor had no relatives other than his children.
On the day of his ascension, he’d slaughtered nearly all his blood relatives, just like his predecessors.
Which meant the only remaining royals were his children.
So the man standing before me was an imperial prince—
“Did you eat breakfast?”
—and my brother-in-law.
