CHAPTER 62……………………………………..
“Poison?”
Bertolt immediately frowned.
“Poison, all of a sudden? Ever since that incident, we’ve made sure to test every bit of food for toxins before it’s even brought in.”
“Yes, Your Highness. None of the maids showed any signs of poisoning today.”
“Then it wasn’t the food… Don’t tell me—”
Bertolt trailed off for a moment, then seemed to recall something.
“The medicine, perhaps.”
“……”
“Did Her Majesty take any medicine separately today?”
After a brief silence, the head maid carefully opened her mouth again.
“In truth… a handmaiden brought some medicine this afternoon. She said that—”
Her expression twisted slightly, as if the words pained her.
“She said Lady Miller specifically asked for the medicine to be delivered to Her Majesty.”
“Lady Miller?”
The moment the head maid finished speaking, every gaze in the room turned toward Yuria.
At the same time, the royal physician interjected, his voice trembling.
“C–come to think of it… Lady Miller did stop by the storage room earlier to pick up some medicinal herbs. But that medicine…”
“Speak.”
“I–it’s normally a simple cough remedy… but for Her Majesty, it could act as a poison.”
Every piece of evidence now pointed directly at Yuria.
Yuria, however, raised her chin calmly, her composure unshaken under the weight of the stares.
“I have no knowledge of this.”
“Lady Miller.”
“But since all circumstances point toward me, I will gladly submit to an investigation.”
“……”
“The truth will always come to light eventually.”
The Emperor looked once at Yuria, then at Bertolt, and let out a deep sigh.
“…Take Lady Miller and confine her. From this moment, she is a suspect in the attempted assassination of a royal.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Before his words had even faded, the guards stepped forward and seized Yuria, dragging her out of the chamber.
The Emperor pressed his palm against his forehead, as if in great anguish.
“Why did it have to come to this…”
He closed his eyes for a long moment, then spoke weakly.
“I will… step outside for a while. If I stay here, I may not be able to control my emotions.”
In an instant, the room emptied.
Bertolt glanced around at those who remained and tilted his head slightly.
Come to think of it—why was the most important person missing?
“Where’s Harzen?”
“His Grace went to the laboratory with Sir Kyle Blake. He said so himself before leaving the Empress’s quarters.”
“The laboratory…”
That place was known to be strictly restricted—no one could enter unless personally summoned.
‘Then he must not have heard the news yet.’
After a brief thought, Bertolt spoke again.
“If he learns that Lady Miller is the culprit, he’ll be devastated. Let’s keep this quiet until everything is confirmed.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“And…”
His ice-blue eyes turned toward the Empress.
Fixing his gaze on her still form, Bertolt spoke softly.
“…May I be alone with my mother for a moment?”
“Pardon?”
“Just for a little while. I’d like to speak to her… one last time, as a son.”
His words were so sorrowful that no one dared object. They quietly stepped out of the room.
Once he confirmed that they had all left, Bertolt sat down beside the bed.
“Seeing you lying here like this… I can hardly remember the way you used to smile at me.”
“……”
“Ordinarily, I wouldn’t even make time for something like this. Strange, isn’t it?”
He gently took the Empress’s frail hand in his own.
“Perhaps… I just wanted to be honest with you, for once.”
“……”
“Maybe it’s my way of showing respect to the woman who gave birth to and raised me.”
Although, truthfully, she hadn’t been the one to raise him.
Bertolt gazed at the hand he held—thin, pale, and wrinkled.
The same hand that once reached out to him, that used to hand sweets to Harzen.
“You always worried about me, didn’t you, Mother?”
He brushed his thumb lightly over the back of her hand.
“You said I should have someone to lean on… that I couldn’t go through life giving no meaning to relationships.”
“……”
“I never understood why people were so obsessed with blood ties and family.”
Even within kinship, there are hierarchies.
This world demands selfishness—only the strong survive.
Why would I ever let someone into my walls?
Ever since I yielded everything to my elder brother, the First Prince—
Ever since I realized that even our lives were not valued equally—
I’ve lived by that truth.
“But…”
Until my one and only younger brother began looking up to me alone.
“Now… I think I understand.”
Bertolt closed his eyes briefly before continuing.
“As you already know, Mother, I wasn’t the one who first poisoned you.”
“……”
“But if you wake… Harzen will leave this place again.”
“……”
“I can’t bear to see his world grow any larger, his life happier than mine. So I had no choice.”
After all, without Yuria Miller, her life would not have been saved.
Perhaps the attempt to revive her was already against fate.
So then—
“If you are destined to fade away anyway, offering your son a final gift isn’t such a cruel thing.”
Bertolt’s lips curved into a soft smile.
“I’m sorry, Mother.”
And at that very moment—
“…Truly.”
The Empress’s long-shut eyes fluttered open.
Then, with a shimmer of light like dissipating smoke—her figure vanished.
In her place stood Harzen.
“Was it truly you, Brother?”
“H–Harzen?”
Bertolt stared, stunned into silence.
“Why are you here…? Why are you disguised as Mother?”
He released the hand he’d been holding, his words stumbling over themselves.
Harzen seized his wrist in turn, his grip iron-tight.
“Harzen, wait—calm down—”
But before Bertolt could free himself, a voice came from behind him, low and cold.
“Did you truly think we would be fooled by you?”
Bertolt turned, wide-eyed, to see the Emperor, Cecilia—and even Yuria Miller, who had supposedly been dragged out—all standing there.
“Perhaps you could deceive us before,” said the Emperor, slowly opening his eyes, his voice heavy with regret. “But not anymore.”
Bertolt let out a short, mirthless laugh.
“I don’t know what you mean. I only—”
“No.”
For the first time, Yuria spoke firmly, her voice cutting through his words.
“Deny it all you like—it won’t matter.”
Her violet eyes, once always gentle, now glimmered with cold resolve.
“Because we already know everything.”
