PLTSVA 47

Chapter 47

Marquis Gassen could not even think about hiding his trembling hands.

Did he ever imagine that what he had done would come back to him in this way?

These were witnesses painstakingly found by the empire’s top intelligence guild.

At first, these people who hardly seemed willing to speak had been coaxed and persuaded to give testimony.

Now, all that remained was for those same mouths, which had whispered nervously for a few gold coins, to open properly right before him!

“Th-That… Her Majesty the Empress and Duke Gruben are… having an affair?!”

They themselves were more shocked than anyone.

“I’ll ask once again! You told me yourselves! That you’ve seen them meeting dozens of times while attending them! That the Empress and the Duke are in an illicit relationship!”

At Marquis Gassen’s roar, these mere commoners trembled all over like leaves in the wind.

“Why are you doing this to us…? I don’t remember any of that.”

“We don’t even know why we’re standing here… Your Grace.”

The Marquis suddenly stood up and shouted with bloodshot eyes.

“You scoundrels! How dare you insult a noble!”

His throat felt clogged, and his heart, which had been racing wildly since earlier, was about to give out.

Because the young Crown Prince, with a fierce expression like a demon, was watching him intently while resting his chin on his hand.

He said they must risk their lives.

No one thought it was just bluster or an empty threat.

Including Marquis Gassen himself.

Only now did he recall how the Crown Prince, who drew a long sword that gave off an eerie blue light from its sheath, dealt with the servant who tried to assassinate the princess.

Everyone was talking.

Saying that letting him off with a single stroke was an extraordinary act of mercy.

Looking around again, Lady Jeria appeared very angry.

They had tried to depose the Crown Prince at the Great Nobles’ Council, but the direction of the meeting had completely shifted away from that goal.

The witnesses begged the executioner to send them home as soon as possible.

Only then did Marquis Gassen realize the reality and, trembling, walked over to Luca and plopped down into his seat.

“Forgiveness… I have nothing but guilt for having been fooled by these commoners’ lies!”

“Forgiveness?”

Luca asked as if hearing something strange.

“You insulted me and my mother, the solemn Empress. You dared to fabricate scandalous rumors that should not even be spoken aloud. Surely, you will be punished.”

The Marquis was startled and now pounded his forehead on the floor, begging for mercy.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness! It’s all my fault! Please show me mercy…”

“Why should I?”

Luca spoke coldly.

“The gamble with your life was amusing, Marquis.”

Duke Rayes stood from his seat and asked Luca,

“How shall we proceed, Your Highness?”

“Charge him with insulting the royal family. He slandered me and Her Majesty the Empress with baseless accusations.”

At those words, the hall began to stir. Insulting the royal family was punishable by death.

Regardless of Marquis Gassen’s noble rank, the sentence would be carried out, and his family would fall.

Marquis Gassen was dragged out of the meeting room, his arms bound, screaming.

The nobles in the aristocratic faction remembered the ambitious plans Marquis Gassen had been boasting about for days and deeply regretted their position.

Thanks to Marquis Gassen, the meeting ended inconclusively.

The original purpose—to depose the Crown Prince—was not even seriously discussed.

The nobles attending were too busy protecting themselves to make any strong statements.

Luca only relaxed his tension when the bell announcing the end of the meeting rang.

“……”

Earlier, right after hearing Marquis Gassen’s claims, Luca had ordered his subordinates to kill all the witnesses summoned.

Originally, he intended to eliminate them before they left the council chamber.

When he was told during the meeting that Lia had apparently erased the witnesses’ memories with magic, he couldn’t believe his ears.

“So that’s why I didn’t kill them immediately, to verify…”

Luca’s lips uttered a precious name.

“Lia…”

And after witnessing the truth with his own eyes, he could think of nothing but finding Lia.

“Let’s go, Oppa!”

I hurriedly got into the carriage and left the royal castle.

As soon as the meeting’s bell rang, we escaped.

Father and Drehan would soon return to the mansion, so we had to arrive first no matter what.

In the original story, this meeting greatly tarnished Luca’s honor.

Whether the Empress and Duke Gruben were truly involved could not be proven by testimony alone.

However, conversely, it also could not be disproved.

At that time, both Duke Gruben and the Empress were deceased.

That was precisely what Marquis Gassen aimed for.

In the end, the threat to depose the Crown Prince was stopped just before the majority vote.

Both Duke Rayes and Claire, dukes, voted in favor of the Crown Prince.

Father certainly could not have stood by such an unjust act, and Claire was said to be a close friend of the late Duke Gruben.

She had reportedly shuddered to see nobles throwing the unjustly deceased Duke Gruben under the bus once more.

Though the Crown Prince kept his position, the meeting was a clear victory for the aristocratic faction.

After the meeting, most of the empire’s nobles turned their backs on Luca, and he had to endure insults quietly until he rose as the lord of the battlefield.

Because everyone thought the Crown Prince, born of adultery, would be quickly deposed in a society that prized nobility and honor.

And I couldn’t just watch that narrative unfold for him.

Not doing something when I could was like neglecting a sick child.

Rather, after stirring things up, I felt relieved.

“Wow, Lia, how did you know the witnesses would come? Do you have to be a prophet or something?”

At Miller’s words, I nodded.

“I guess I had to be.”

Maybe the protagonists of possessed novels could live comfortably just by being prophets in their worlds.

[Master, how’s your health?]

Since Miller was in front of me, I just nodded in response.

I was strangely okay, but honestly, a bit uneasy, so I thought I should be more careful from now on.

And when I arrived at the duke’s mansion and headed straight to my room, I was greeted by a familiar silhouette.

“Luca…?!”

No, it wasn’t like he teleported; how had he arrived so early?

Luca turned at my voice.

“You came?”

Reading the surprise on my face, Luca spoke first.

“There’s a teleportation magic circle in the palace.”

Ah, the magic tower must have installed a teleportation circle in the palace too.

That was convenient. I envied the royals.

But why was Luca here?

I took a few steps closer. Having seen him for years, I could tell he was far from okay.

So I placed my hand on his cheek and asked,

“Why do you look like that? Are you okay?”

I swallowed the “about what” part.

He must have been very shocked. In the novel, he was powerless and suffered.

“I…”

Luca held my hand and kissed the sun emblem on it.

Then, with muffled pronunciation, he said,

“I still don’t understand Lia.”

His warm lips made my hand tingle.

Still, I couldn’t pull away.

“W-What don’t you understand…?”

Though I felt stabbed by dozens of things, I asked anyway.

Having just gotten off the carriage and rushing to the room without resting behind relaxed Miller and Taro, I could feel my heartbeat pounding wildly.

“You came to the Great Nobles’ Council too, Lia?”

How did he know…

Luca looked at me with eyes redder than the sunset.

Looking into those clear, transparent eyes felt like I could offer no resistance.

“My subordinate went to deal with the witnesses. When he said he saw Lia there, I couldn’t believe it…”

Luca’s subordinate came? Was that the gaze I had felt earlier?

“Just as quickly, the palace knights came to take the witnesses, so my subordinate couldn’t even lay a hand on them. I can’t even guess how things might have gone if the witnesses had testified.”

He looked down at my hand and then squeezed it tightly.

A slight tremor came from his hand as if imagining the worst-case scenario.

Seeing that, I couldn’t hide it anymore and admitted.

“…That’s right, I was there too.”

“Did you come for me?”

Luca smiled faintly at my answer and asked.

For Luca? Of course. There was no other reason.

“Well, Drehan oppa kept worrying… and I got worried too, so I couldn’t just stay still.”

I see…

“You couldn’t help it because you were worried about me.”

I looked down and honestly mumbled that, and Luca sighed.

Just as I thought he’d scold me for taking such a dangerous risk and I was about to raise my head to offer another excuse, a pleasant fragrance wafted near my nose.

Luca’s broad arms wrapped me in a warm embrace.

“Really, you are…”

His breath brushed against my neck, making it hot.

“Why do you make me feel this way? Why always to someone like me…?”

“W-What do you mean?”

“When you worry about me, I want to push you into more danger. I want you to think only about me.”

“Are you joking…?”

I pushed Luca away as I said this.

But the face he gave me did not look like he was joking at all.

“Thank you for worrying about me. And for coming to find me.”

Seeing his smiling face, the tension I’d felt gradually faded.

“If it were you, you would have helped me as much as you could. We owe each other that much.”

He was also a comrade who escaped the Troy orphanage with me, so of course.

At my words, Luca’s face blossomed like a flower.

Yes, if I could only see him smile like that…

“If you’re grateful, buy me lunch tomorrow!”

I laughed and wrapped my arm around his neck.