Chapter 123

A Mess (9)

The official, who made up his mind, sent his subordinates for them to sign a document saying they would give up the child. When they said they didn’t have to take responsibility for the child, they quickly accepted it.

“…And what happened to him?”

When asked by Rowena, the official gently stroked his beard.

“At that time, I understand that one of the imperial knights who participated in saving the child took him, saying he would use him as a messenger. At least he got paid, and got a place to sleep and food.”

“I see.”

There were orphanages in the Empire, but the boy was too old to enter the orphanage. However, it was a difficult situation because he was too young to live alone.

The official smiled at Rowena’s worried face.

“It will take some time, but we will soon take the boy to visit the temple and regenerate the cut.”

That’s what the official said, but Rowena thought it was not enough. Having gone through such a terrible thing, she thought he needed more compensation than being treated for his wounds.

Injuries between nobles and commoners were also to be compensated for due to mental damage, and the boy was also considered to receive compensation related to it.

When Rowena told Cecil this, Cecil gladly allowed it.

If there was a sudden large amount of money given to a boy, there could be someone who wanted to take it away.

So Cecil kept it a secret that the money was given to the child, and took measures to ensure that the child could receive and use the money as soon as he came of age.

All that was left was about Matthias and Paul.

* * *

It was Kernan’s house, Kernan’s men. Matthias only used the name of Kernan, but he had no real power. While the others were busy running away, Matthias was found drunk from somewhere.

Still, since he was the blood of the future crown princess, the imperial court knights took him away relatively carefully.

They weren’t the palace knights who would deal with him. They had just heard from the crown prince that he didn’t need to be treated as a noble. They put Mathias in a concentration camp for political aristocratic prisoners as if shaking off dirt.

In a place full of straws on the dry floor, Matias fell asleep.

It was midnight when he came to his senses.

Where am I?

It was a room full of straws, not mattresses, on the cold floor. On top of that, rats roamed around and bugs crept up.

He was often mobilized and commanded for subjugation of monsters so this was nothing. When he set up a tent and slept, he often faced worse situations than this.

However, living in a tent for a few days in a month and being imprisoned were different.

Why am I here? I-is there something wrong?

When everything was done with Rowena, Rowena was about to be treated and sent back to the palace as if nothing had happened. She was a girl, so he thought she would keep her mouth shut until the end.

“Could this crazy bitch report to the guards?!”

She acted as if she would die happily because of the prince’s love, so he thought that she might have decided that she wouldn’t be able to live a married life after experiencing that terrible thing.

If so, he and his family were completely over.

“No…”

Mathias was taken aback as he tore at the straw-streaked hair on his head. He hadn’t even thought that Rowena might have avoided the situation.

The plan of poisoning and luring the men into a soundproof room was perfect for Matthias. He even threatened her with the life of the already dead Louis, so he dismissed it as accepting her fate.

Either way, Matthias was lying on the floor thinking that his life was ruined. A hard dirt floor, not a soft mattress, was waiting for him, but he couldn’t think of anything.

* * *

“Your Highness is commanded to bring the count.”

What came to Marquis Rasmine’s house was not a carriage escorting sinners. The imperial carriage, the imperial attendant, and the imperial knights came to pick up Paul.

However, rumors were rampant that Matthias was also imprisoned with a group, including Viscount Lambert, was already taken.

Are you saying that Matthias finally carried out the task?

The success of the work was only possible if the plan succeeded and if Rowena accepted the threat. Paul was belatedly thinking that after Rowena went through something like that, she might gnash her teeth at the blackmailer and accuse everyone.

It was the point that Theo pointed out.

“I know Father thinks Rowena is a foolish girl, but… Rowena, she will never forgive the Adelia family, and she will definitely seek revenge.”

Rowena…

It was Paul who was shaken by Mathias’s plan. Because of that, he was even more afraid of meeting the crown prince.

“Let’s go.”

Paul looked back at the people around him with a stiff face at the words of the royal attendant. Still beholden to the Marquis of Rasmine, the Marquis looked anxiously at him.

It was clear that the crown prince was going to call Paul because of the problem of his eldest son, a rascal.