~CHAPTER 25~
There were several strange points about the incident where the Princess and her tutor were attacked in the back garden of Spruce Palace.
First, why choose such an incompetent person?
It was an attempt to target the Princess in the heart of the Imperial Palace.
Anyone with the means and motive to plan something like that should have hired a professional.
But the actual culprit neither lured the Princess successfully nor managed to kill her.
He wasn’t professionally trained, and before the interrogation even began, he confessed that he had been hired.
Such a man wasn’t even fit to kill a maid, let alone the only Princess of Catalos.
Second, why at that time, and in that place?
Spruce Palace, where the Founding Day banquet was held, was not an easy environment to stage such an event.
Even though the attack took place outside the building, a single scream would have brought armed guards and knights within seconds.
In fact, the royal guards had caught the fleeing criminal without much difficulty.
Elpenlira had roamed the palace alone for months.
If someone wanted to lure her out, that would have been the better opportunity.
Yet the letter was delivered in a place watched by the Emperor and the most powerful nobles of the Empire.
Almost as if they wanted to be discovered.
Considering all the circumstances, Rision could draw only one conclusion.
The purpose of the one who orchestrated this was not to assassinate the Princess in Spruce Palace.
And if Rision’s prediction was correct, even if they had succeeded in luring Elpenlira out, their ultimate goal wouldn’t have been her death.
That doesn’t mean it’s forgivable.
Rision clenched his teeth and spurred his horse forward.
It had been a long time since he had felt such anger.
Rision and Sir Marek Loisen stopped a short distance from the entrance to the hunting grounds.
After dismounting, Rision lowered his voice.
“There must be a second assassin. Likely someone more trained than the previous one.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“If my guess is right… he’ll be from Arasas.”
Marek’s eyes widened, but Rision didn’t elaborate.
There was no time for that.
“Make sure to take him down instantly. No noise, no commotion, and no one from the hunting ground should notice.”
“Should I keep him alive?”
The opposite, actually.
Understanding Rision’s silence, Marek nodded gravely and disappeared toward the entrance.
While waiting, Rision had something else to do.
He mounted his horse again and rode along the outer edge of the hunting grounds.
The groundskeeper’s cabin wasn’t far.
There was light inside.
Rision dismounted some distance away and approached silently.
Luckily, the thing he was looking for was leaning carelessly against the outer wall.
It took him less than ten minutes to return.
Marek was already back.
“Where did you go, Your Majesty?”
“To fetch this.”
Rision showed him the shovel.
Without a word, Marek took it and an oil lamp, then guided Rision deeper into the woods.
The man who had been alive ten minutes ago now lay not far from the entrance.
Rision inspected the body with a hardened expression.
The clothes were those of a servant, but his physique revealed clear signs of training.
“He didn’t move like an assassin,” Marek explained.
“He used the standard swordsmanship of the Arasas regular army.”
Rision rolled up the man’s sleeve.
Inside the arm was a tattoo bearing the insignia of the Arasas military.
Every healthy adult male in Arasas served in the army by law.
After basic training, a soldier was branded with a tattoo representing his unit.
When transferred or discharged, the tattoo was added to or modified accordingly.
It was both a mark of service and a symbol of pride.
Catalos had no such custom.
But Rision recognized the design—it was the same one Labelan bore.
“…He’s with the Border Defense Unit. Most likely a deserter.”
Rision let go of the cold arm.
Marek looked puzzled.
“How can you tell?”
“There’s no mark of discharge. If an active Arasas soldier ended up here, he must have deserted.”
It wasn’t uncommon for soldiers unable to endure service—or even professional officers committing crimes—to flee to Catalos to avoid punishment.
This man likely ended up living in hiding for similar reasons.
They still had to find out exactly how he was bribed into this, but one thing was clear: someone had used Arasas intelligence.
“He was probably meant to eliminate the servant who delivered the letter.”
“Pardon?”
“The one behind this plan never intended for him to actually harm Lira.”
The plan was too sloppy for that.
Anyone with the power and information to organize this wouldn’t have made such obvious mistakes.
“If we assume the real goal was to be caught, everything makes sense. Even the fact that the assassin was openly Arasasian.”
Marek’s face hardened as he caught on.
“If we investigate the servant, we’ll probably find a link to Arasas too. Maybe his family is from there.”
That would explain why the man had pleaded so desperately that his family was innocent.
When Rision returned to the palace, he’d have to cut off that connection as well.
Rision looked back at Marek.
“I’m sorry for burdening you with this.”
“Your Majesty owes me no apology.”
“Bury him somewhere he won’t be found for at least ten years. Can you do it before sunrise?”
“Leave it to me.”
It was a small mercy that the summer ground wasn’t frozen.
Rision patted Marek’s shoulder and left the hunting ground alone.
Behind him, he could hear Marek lifting the heavy body.
Rision’s mind cooled.
Someone wanted it to look like an Arasasian tried to assassinate the Princess.
If Dianu hadn’t intercepted the note midway, or if Elpenlira had actually been hurt, things would have gone exactly as planned.
Arasas would never attempt something so crude.
Anyone with sense would know that the Arasas royal family wasn’t behind this.
But in politics, truth didn’t matter—only justification did.
If the plan had succeeded, reconciliation with Arasas during Rision’s reign would have been impossible.
Rision needed to rewrite the event into something other than “the attempted assassination of the Princess by Arasas.”
There was much to do.
* * *
“…That’s how it happened.”
Dianu’s mouth hung open.
Oddly enough, her shocked expression struck Rision as endearing.
“Now do you understand how great an achievement Lady Ortensa accomplished?”
“……”
“If Lira had been hurt, and if the culprit had been caught by anyone other than Loisen or me, reconciliation with Arasas would have been impossible in my lifetime.”
If Rision hadn’t been on the throne, war would have broken out.
“So both I, Lira, and the entire Empire owe Lady Ortensa an unrepayable debt.”
Dianu shot up from her seat, panic flashing in her eyes.
“I—I didn’t mean to!”
“I know. You only acted out of a strong sense of duty. But that was the result.”
“Your Majesty…”
“I wanted you to understand why I can’t publicly praise your service.”
Dianu flinched, waving her hands.
“I wouldn’t dream of asking for that!”
“I know.”
“…You do?”
“Yes. I think I’ve come to understand what kind of person you are.”
Rision smiled faintly.
The color slowly returned to Dianu’s pale cheeks.
“Since I can’t thank you as Emperor, allow me to do so as a man.”
“…But how could someone like me possibly…”
“Loisen told me you tend to underestimate yourself.”
Dianu avoided his gaze, unable to deny it.
Rision reached out his hand, and after a brief hesitation, she placed hers in his.
He gently kissed the back of her ungloved hand.
She flinched slightly at the warmth of his lips, but didn’t pull away.
“Thank you for saving my sister and my country.”
Dianu stiffly nodded.
Rision didn’t let go of her hand as he continued.
“It seems we make a good team, don’t you think?”
“W-What?!”
“When I’m in trouble, you save me. When you’re in trouble, I save you. Don’t you agree?”
“That’s absurd…”
Rision laughed aloud.
Dianu looked at him like he had said something outrageous.
As he released her hand, Rision said,
“Let’s keep it up, all the way until the day Lira stands at the altar.”
