CHAPTER 102………………………………………………….
“Archibald Bright. You poisoned His Highness the Prince and framed Her Highness the Princess for it. Is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Though it was called an interrogation, Theodora only asked Archibald the bare minimum of formal questions before ending it.
With all the evidence destroyed and Archibald insisting he was the true culprit, there wasn’t much more to ask anyway.
Theodora stepped out of the interrogation room and called for me.
“Your Highness, you may approach now.”
“Alright.”
Theodora pulled out a chair for me, and I sat down across from Archibald.
Even when I saw him in the underground prison, he looked like a man who’d given up on life — but under the candlelight now, that impression was even stronger.
At least, a few days ago, he hadn’t shown a hint of remorse.
But ever since the trial began, he looked completely hollow — drained of any will to live.
I couldn’t understand the sudden change in him.
“Archibald. Why did you make a false confession?”
Even as I questioned him, Archibald wouldn’t lift his eyes from the shackles around his wrists. His answer was indifferent, uncooperative.
“It’s not really false. I did prepare the poison.”
“I’m not here to play word games. Speak properly.”
“……”
Archibald’s sunken eyes slowly met mine.
In just a few days, his cheeks had hollowed out, and the dullness in his gaze made him look like a walking corpse.
Maybe the glare I gave him worked — his cracked lips finally moved.
“Gabriel… told me to.”
“…Gabriel?”
I hadn’t expected repentance, but hearing that Gabriel ordered it was even more surprising.
“Gabriel’s goal was to take the ring and prevent me from being reinstated, wasn’t it? You’re saying she ordered you to confess, even knowing that would bring me back?”
“I don’t know. She just… told me to.”
“Just like that?”
His attitude had changed overnight.
Archibald hadn’t met anyone since I last saw him, all the way up until right before the trial.
So when had Gabriel given him such an order?
“Tell me more—”
Just as I tried to dig deeper—
“Cough! Cough!”
He suddenly started vomiting blood.
Each time he coughed, thick black blood poured out.
“A–Archibald!”
“Your Highness, step back!”
Fearing it might be some kind of plague, Theodora quickly pulled me back and pressed a handkerchief over my nose and mouth.
Clatter!
Archibald collapsed to the side, thrashing in agony.
“Gah—! Cough, hack!”
He was coughing up so much blood.
At this rate, he’d die before facing any proper punishment.
“Guards! Fetch a physician, now! The prisoner’s condition is abnormal!”
“Y–Yes, ma’am!”
I didn’t particularly care if he was dying — in fact, I’d rather he suffer — but to die like this, so meaninglessly, was unacceptable.
Dying of poison wasn’t paying for his crimes.
He kept clutching his throat as if it were burning. That’s when I noticed something new — something I hadn’t seen before.
“Gghh… kehh…”
But it was already too late. With one last painful groan, Archibald went still.
He hadn’t even managed to close his eyes.
Theodora approached, checked his breath and pulse, and then turned to me with a shocked expression.
“…He’s dead.”
Without a word, I stepped closer to the corpse.
His throat was bruised dark red from his own grip, and his limp fingers had turned bluish.
Black blood, blue fingertips, and sudden death — the signs were clear.
“…Sir Theodora. He was poisoned.”
“I’ll find out what kind.”
Theodora immediately left to investigate.
The culprit was obvious.
He wasn’t poisoned when I last saw him — this was acute poisoning.
He must have taken the poison sometime between my visit and the trial.
A fitting death for a man who dealt in poison — but that Gabriel would kill him herself…
I’d expected her to abandon him, but not to eliminate him outright.
Annoying as he was, Archibald was still a useful pawn.
“…Disgusting.”
It was starting to feel like she’d been maneuvering me back into the imperial palace all along.
Even though she was the one who conspired with Mars to drive me out.
Even sent assassins after me not long ago.
The feeling that I was being moved around like a puppet — without even realizing it — made my skin crawl.
Worse yet, it felt eerily familiar.
When I return, Gabriel will be the first I visit.
And she’ll no doubt greet me with that bright, welcoming smile — as if she’d been waiting for me all along.
The image of the black cat Gabriel used to torment came to mind.
Only now, the new toy she was playing with… was me.
Meanwhile, at the Crown Prince’s palace…
Gabriel was leisurely strolling through the gardens, Cassius nestled comfortably in her arms.
“Cassius, isn’t it nice to go for a walk with Mother again?”
Under the shade of her parasol, Cassius was too busy dozing happily to answer.
Gabriel continued walking through a garden filled with blooming red roses.
Who knows how long they’d wandered before Cassius’s eyelids fluttered open. He lifted a finger and pointed somewhere ahead.
“…Father.”
Where he pointed stood Mars — looking like a common drunkard.
Even at the sight, Gabriel didn’t frown. She simply set Cassius down gently.
“Cassius, go sit over there for a bit.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Cassius obediently took a servant’s hand and went to sit on a nearby bench.
Meanwhile, Mars strode up to Gabriel, his teeth clenched so tightly that his rage was almost palpable.
Gabriel, feigning ignorance, greeted him with a gentle smile.
“What is it, Mars?”
“Minerva’s returning. That bastard Archibald confessed that I tried to kill him.”
“Yes.”
Her simple, calm reply — as if she saw nothing wrong — only fueled Mars’s anger. He grabbed her by the collar and finally exploded.
“You said everything was going according to plan!”
“It is.”
Gabriel’s voice was so composed that it threw him off.
“What?”
Was he still drunk? No — the sharpness of her words had sobered him long ago.
So he hadn’t misheard her.
With a soft smile, Gabriel pried his trembling hands off her collar and explained kindly:
“If we can’t take the ring from her, we just have to make sure she never gets to use it. They say to keep your enemies close, don’t they?”
“But we banished her! If she returns to the palace because of that damned ring, it’ll all be for nothing—!”
Mars ranted, spitting as he spoke, but then stopped abruptly.
Gabriel was still smiling — but now there was a weight behind it that warned him not to talk back.
She reached up and patted his head, as though soothing an obedient dog.
“Mars, leave it to me. Go drink your favorite wine and stay out of my way.”
As if under a spell, Mars turned and walked away without another word.
So naturally, it was hard to believe he’d been raging moments before.
Gabriel paid him no mind and headed back toward the bench where Cassius waited.
Seeing her face up close, Cassius brightened.
“You look happy, Mother.”
“Yes. Remember the friend I always told you about? She’s coming back soon. She’ll be your aunt.”
“She’s family?”
“Yes — family. We’ll be a big family.”
The word family filled Cassius’s face with excitement.
Mother and son smiled — identical smiles on identical faces.
Gabriel looked up at the blue sky and let out an exhilarated sigh.
“At last.”
She would see Minerva again.
Her — and that child.
A rosy flush spread across Gabriel’s cheeks.
“Minerva… come home soon.”
