“I saw you stab him with a sword! I saw the blood spurt like a fountain, staining your body!”
Lady Angriber’s voice was filled with conviction, sensing the tide turning against me. Her triumphant face fixed on me.
I shifted my gaze from her to the emperor’s right, where the Marchioness of Engrail sat, her face etched with worry. Our eyes met, and I gave her a slight nod.
“Your Majesty, may I speak?” the Marchioness asked suddenly.
The First Consort’s brow furrowed. The Marchioness’s intervention wasn’t part of her plan. The emperor, equally puzzled, concealed his emotions better.
“Speak.”
“That day, I too saw Lady Eliant covered in something red,” the Marchioness said.
The room stirred again. Some hot-tempered nobles stood, pointing at me.
“Your Majesty, there’s no need to hear more!”
“How can such a wicked woman be considered for crown princess? It’s unthinkable!”
“A disgrace to the empire!”
“Your Majesty, please make a wise judgment!”
“Your Majesty!”
“Silence, all of you!” the emperor roared, glaring at the clamoring nobles. “If anyone speaks without my command again, they’ll be charged with disobedience.”
As he spoke, the imperial guards, the only ones permitted to carry swords, touched their scabbards—a clear sign of the emperor’s readiness to enforce swift punishment.
“Continue,” he said to the Marchioness.
She swallowed hard, glancing at me.
Though married to the Marquis of Engrail and the emperor’s daughter, she was an ordinary woman far removed from politics.
Without my request, she’d never have appeared here.
I smiled reassuringly. Emboldened, she spoke slowly. “What covered Lady Eliant wasn’t blood.”
“Not blood?” the emperor echoed.
She swallowed again, steadying herself with a deep breath.
“Yes, it looked like blood from a distance, but it was red dye. The scent was unmistakable—Madame Miela, the Pison Guild’s chief designer, confirmed it, as did Lady Vizdel. Summon them, and they’ll verify my words.”
As she finished, the First Prince’s faction scowled, while the darkened faces of the crown prince’s faction brightened.
“The witnesses’ testimonies conflict. Who is lying?” the emperor asked.
The merchant and maid, still prostrate, trembled like aspen leaves. They hadn’t lied, but a noblewoman’s word carried more weight than a commoner’s.
Despite the emperor’s warning, no one spoke, but the nobles exchanged glances, assessing the shifted situation.
“I have evidence, Your Majesty,” I said, drawing all eyes to me.
“What evidence?”
“Blood, unlike dye, discolors over time. I’ll submit the clothing I wore that day as proof.”
“The dress was burned—!” The maid, blurting out the words, clapped her hands over her mouth in horror, her face paling as she looked at me.
She was one of the spies in my household. I’d instructed the head maid to burn a cloak resembling the one I wore, ensuring onlookers believed both dress and cloak were destroyed.
“The ruined dress had to be burned, but the cloak remains,” I said, nodding to an attendant behind Father. The prepared attendant handed the cloak to the emperor.
“That’s the cloak I wore that day, Your Majesty. Look inside.”
The emperor unfurled it, revealing vivid red stains on the inner lining.
“If it was blood, it wouldn’t remain so bright after this time.”
“It’s a lie!” Lady Angriber shrieked. “She fabricated it!”
“Your Majesty, Lady Angriber’s claim has merit,” a noble from the First Prince’s faction chimed in.
“It’s just a cloak—easily faked.”
I scoffed. “A common cloak? Look closely—it’s a hooded cloak, a prototype made by Madame Miela. It’s one-of-a-kind.”
“Liar! I saw you kill him with my own eyes! That’s the truth!” Angriber screamed, her hate-filled, bloodshot eyes devoid of reason.
“You vile woman! Tell the truth!” she lunged at me.
The guards swiftly intervened, seizing her arms as she thrashed and cursed.
The emperor frowned, gesturing to the guards. Panicked, Angriber turned to him.
“Your Majesty, it’s a lie! She’s deceiving you! I saw her kill him!”
When the emperor showed no reaction, she desperately reached toward the First Consort.
“Your Highness! You know the truth! I spoke only the truth!”
She pleaded, but the First Consort remained impassive, watching her being dragged away as if discarding a used card. Her calm demeanor suggested Angriber’s usefulness had ended.
“Save me, Your Highness!” Angriber’s anguished cries echoed, but no one intervened.
As she was removed, silence blanketed the room. The nobles, so vocal moments ago, held their tongues.
“Your Majesty, is there a point to continuing this meeting?” I asked.
“Of course,” the First Consort replied with a smile.
The emperor, arms crossed, leaned back, inviting her to continue.
“You’ve only proven the stain wasn’t blood. Whether Lady Eliant killed that man remains unanswered,” she said, smiling meaningfully at me.
The real game hadn’t even started, and I was already tired. Whatever her scheme, I despised dragging things out.
It didn’t suit my nature, and thinking of Rant waiting anxiously, skipping meals, made me loath to waste more time.
If she wasn’t ready to start the real game, I’d begin it myself.
“Your Majesty, may I share my thoughts?”
“Speak, Lady Eliant.”
“I believe this meeting itself is meaningless.”
“What do you—” A noble started but stopped under the emperor’s icy glare, shrinking back with a cough. The emperor turned to me without further pursuit.
The noble, narrowly escaping a charge of disobedience, sighed in relief.
“As you may know, the Pison Guild’s master is a commoner. I see no reason to be questioned for harming a commoner.”
Murmurs rippled through the nobles, restrained by the emperor’s earlier threat.
Some looked confused, others disappointed—those who’d hoped to ensnare me despite knowing Evan’s status,
and those puzzled that the meticulous First Consort would use a mere commoner against me.
Amid the confusion, the First Consort maintained her subtle smile. She likely never expected Evan’s case to topple me.
Neither did I believe she’d hinge her strategy on such a flimsy pretext. Evan was merely a catalyst.
“Indeed, as a noble, killing a commoner is no issue, despite the scandalous rumors,” she said, her smile deepening.
“The issue isn’t whether you killed him, but why you had to.”
“You seem certain I killed him, Your Highness.”
“As you said, what does a commoner’s life matter?”
“Then, by your logic, this meeting has no purpose, does it?”
She snorted derisively. “You misunderstand. This meeting isn’t about a murder. It’s about your suitability as the crown prince’s fiancée.”
“I’m well aware. But your insistence on painting me as a murderer made me wonder if you’ve lost your senses.”
For the first time, her face hardened. “Still insolent, Lady Eliant. I hope that arrogance holds until this meeting ends.”
With no interest in further banter, she turned from me, gesturing to an attendant by the door. “Bring her in.”
The doors opened, and a woman entered under escort. Middle-aged, robustly built, she wore a dress too fine for most commoners, her hair styled like a noblewoman’s.
Her eyes met mine, her lips moving silently: “I told you you’d regret it.”
Five years older, her wrinkled face smiled.
“Who is she?” the emperor asked.
The woman prostrated herself. “This commoner greets the Sun of the Empire, His Majesty.”
The emperor looked at the First Consort, who commanded, “State your identity to His Majesty.”
“I am the nursemaid of… Bionne—pardon, Lady Eliant,” she said.
