Episode 144
Karon, who recognized the man, muttered blankly.
“……The Duke of Monlepe?”
“Hmm.”
Ikart, the Duke of Monlepe, looked around and let out a light hum.
“I thought this was the residence of the High Priest of Monlepe.”
At that moment.
“Yiyahhh!”
Kwang!
Just in time, Asil appeared, vigorously breaking down the door.
She had a long-tailed tit on top of her head and a lizard tucked in her pocket.
Asil was about to charge straight at Karon, but she spotted Ikart standing between Karon and Basian and opened her eyes wide.
“Father?! No, Duke!”
“Duke?”
Ikart’s eyes narrowed as if the title displeased him.
At the word ‘Father,’ the expressions of the long-tailed tit and the lizard likewise turned fierce. Had Asil not been there, they would have pounced, demanding to know what he had taught their daughter.
Right then, Karon, who had been momentarily frozen by the continuous appearance of intruders, moved.
“Everyone die!”
Chang!
However, with a single draw of Ikart’s sword, he helplessly dropped his blade.
After lightly subduing Karon, Ikart spoke toward Asil.
“I shall have to listen carefully to why ‘Father’ changed like that.”
“Chirp…….”
“Guruk…….”
At that, the two animals attached to Asil growled lowly.
It was truly the beginning of the calm before the storm.
Chapter 13.
In the end, Karon’s prison break ended in failure without causing much of a stir.
He was dragged back to prison and, after several divine trials, was sentenced to death.
Since there was the clear crime of ‘mocking the Empire with a fake divine beast’ and it was even malicious in nature, no one raised an objection.
On the day of the final trial, Karon shouted loudly at the Empress, who had come to observe the trial as a formality.
“Your Imperial Majesty! It is I, Karon! I am the nephew, Karon, whom Your Majesty adored so much during my childhood!”
The Empress, of course, did not even pretend to hear.
She frowned as if a filthy insect were present and did not even try to look in that direction.
Then, Karon’s statements grew even more intense.
“The reason I became like this is all the Crown Prince’s fault! Because His Highness the Crown Prince received divine punishment, that punishment spread to me, and that is how this happened!”
“Shut your mouth! How dare you insult His Highness the Crown Prince!”
A maid standing beside the Empress shouted instead at her anger-filled face.
That statement alone was enough to be sentenced to death for the crime of insulting the Imperial Family, but Karon was a person who had nothing left to lose anyway.
Moreover, there was a reason for it.
Seven years ago, if the Crown Prince had not enticed his father by saying he would connect him with Fear, the family would not have been demoted to the rank of Marquis.
So, without stopping, he continued to drag Reinhardt into it.
“If His Highness the Crown Prince had not received divine punishment, I would not have incurred God’s wrath and would have received a divine beast normally! Therefore, all of this is because of the Crown Prince!”
“…….”
“His Highness the Crown Prince also mocked God and received divine punishment, so why am I the only one standing in this spot?!”
“…….”
“All of this happened because the Crown Prince received divine punishment. His Highness the Crown Prince should also rightfully stand in this spot!!”
“Shut up! Drag that shameless thing out at once!”
Finally, only after the Empress, unable to overcome her anger, stood up with veins bulging in her neck was Karon dragged out of the courtroom.
Even as he left the courtroom, he continued to claim that Reinhardt must also be punished.
And that behavior significantly influenced the thoughts of the nobles who attended the trial that day.
‘That’s right……. They both received divine punishment, so why is one punished while the other is swept under the rug?’
‘No matter if he is the Crown Prince, divine punishment is not something to just overlook.’
‘Moreover, he is the person who must lead this Empire in the future.’
In truth, unlike Karon, whom the Black Dragon appeared to and branded with divine punishment, there was no basis to consider it divine punishment for Reinhardt, as he had only coughed up some blood.
That was why they had used the Divine Beast Thanksgiving Festival as a shield and waited for public opinion to quiet down.
However, thanks to Karon doing his best to entwine Reinhardt until right before he vanished like the morning dew on the execution ground, only the fact that Reinhardt also received divine punishment remained in people’s minds.
Eventually, from a certain point, petitions appealing for the deposition of the Crown Prince began to pour in.
“I have strictly requested His Majesty that deposition is absolutely out of the question, so do not worry too much.”
The Crown Prince’s palace, Reinhardt’s quarters.
The Empress, who cherished her son more than anyone else in the world, comforted her son, who had received a house arrest order from the Emperor.
“This too is only temporary. If you just endure and hold on a little, public opinion will surely turn around.”
“…….”
“Since it seems difficult to cover it up with the Divine Beast Thanksgiving Festival for now, how about turning the hearts of the nobles by producing results in another area instead? For instance, trade with other countries or…….”
The Empress carefully observed Reinhardt’s reaction.
However, Reinhardt’s thoughts were elsewhere.
‘That dragon, it seems to be a shifter.’
The Black Dragon that appeared during the Divine Beast Thanksgiving Festival.
Since Reinhardt was a half-blood of a human and a snake shifter, he could tell whether an opponent was a shifter or not just by looking at the animal.
Although he could not see clearly because of the Basilisk, even after dwelling on it several times, that dragon back then was definitely a shifter.
If so, why did a shifter come all the way here and act as an envoy of God?
Moreover, there was something else weighing on his mind.
‘Lady Erzébet.’
On the day he spat blood at the Great Temple, he found out later that Lady Erzébet had come to visit Sol.
It was also said that Lady Erzébet appeared at the dramatic moment and stopped this attempted murder of Basian.
Going back into the past, when Fear tried to attack Duke Starafit, the young lady was also beside him.
According to the young lady, Fear ran wild on its own and then collapsed……
His magic could never have ended like that. Not unless someone provided an external impact.
In any case, the majority of the things he had instigated or was involved in were somehow connected to Lady Erzébet.
Could this really be a coincidence?
“Crown Prince.”
The Empress pulled him out of his deep thoughts.
Her gaze looking at her only son was nothing but warm.
She tightly held Reinhardt’s hand.
“I will support whatever the Crown Prince does. Because the Crown Prince is my precious and proud son.”
Reinhardt suddenly became curious.
She is a woman who regards her son as so precious, so why has she not noticed until now that I am not the real Crown Prince?
‘If she noticed, I was planning to use appropriate means to kill her.’
As expected, humans were an inferior species.
He was lost in thought for a moment before quietly opening his mouth.
“I heard that Mother is acquainted with Lady Erzébet.”
“That is right, I saw her at a tea party before.”
“If it is alright, could you introduce that young lady to me as well?”
It seemed he would have to see Lady Erzébet in person.
As Karon was sentenced to the extreme penalty, the head of the Marquis Skya household also changed.
Since it is the custom for the owner of the divine beast to take over the position of family head, it was decided that Lilibet would inherit the title.
Normally, a grand celebration should have been held, but due to the family’s situation, that was not possible.
Instead, Asil decided to hold a small party to congratulate the two who had reclaimed their family name.
It was a small-scale party attended only by Asil, Edenber, Lilibet, Basian, Snowa, Todori, and Bam-bam.
However, the two siblings were extremely happy.
“I studied in advance for the succession to prepare for this time. Asil, wouldn’t you like to have a pretty Marquis sister as a sister-in-law?”
Inside the pleasant party venue.
Lilibet, who had been waiting for the males who always stick by Asil’s side to fall away, quickly approached and struck up a conversation.
Then Snowa, who had heard everything important even from a distance, came running over and cut in between them.
“I told you, my sister isn’t getting married?”
“No, listen. I guarantee you, it will be much easier on your life to have a Marquis as a sister-in-law rather than a Duchess. Because—”
Lilibet recited ‘100 reasons why Asil should marry Basian instead of Edenber,’ which she had prepared in between her succession studies.
“……Number 89, a Duchess must always be caught up in political battles and live a life like waves, but a Marquis’s sister-in-law can live completely apart from politics if she wishes. Does that mean there is no power? No, although not as much as a Duke, we are also a family that possesses a divine beast, so there is plenty of power. Moreover, there is potential to rise to the rank of Duke. Then you become the sister-in-law of a Duke. That’s number 90, and number 91 is……”
“Wait, what was number 87?”
Snowa, who had been listening with an absurd expression at first, was now listening intently while even taking notes.
This was because Lilibet’s story was more interesting than expected.
Of course, it wasn’t that he intended to marry Asil off to Basian, but simply in terms of the story.
It felt like listening to a fable about the human world that he did not know.
Meanwhile, Asil had already left those two and gone to Edenber.
Since Bam-bam was being looked after by Todori, and Todori by Basian, there was no one to disturb them.
Edenber, having confirmed there were no listening ears around, whispered slightly into Asil’s ear.
“If…… if it’s okay, can you give me a few of your scales?”
At this, Asil’s face turned slightly red.
D-d-asking for dragon scales. My goodness!
Among dragon shifters, that was a statement no different from asking to get married!
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