CH 60

The next day, I went to the Imperial Palace with Dwayne.

Behind me, the guards were standing as if escorting us, and when I rolled up the magnificent corridor and went into the hall, I saw the Emperor sitting on the throne.

And next to the Emperor was the Empress with a haughty face, holding her slightly swollen belly.

The area around the throne was adorned with jewels and peonies, and hundreds of golden candlesticks were burning on the walls.

As much as it was the Imperial Palace of the Empire, it was majestic and splendid.

‘How much is all this?’

I clicked my tongue and moved on.

Originally, there would’ve been high-ranking nobles and officials, but they weren’t invited as the reason for requesting the blessing was a ‘doubt’ that would be triggered by Kronia.

There are only the Guard Knights who can take the Empress with them at any time.

The Guard Knights stood still without a single move.

“Blessings from the Nine Gods to His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and Her Imperial Majesty the Empress.”

I bowed my head and greeted them as usual. Then I lifted my head and looked into the eyes of the Emperor.

Those dark brown eyes looked a bit hazy these days.

“Thank yew for coming.”

A slightly hoarse voice came out of the Emperor’s mouth.

‘Hmm? He feels a little different than usual.’

I felt a strange sense of discomfort.

“Today the Saintess was called…”

The Emperor coughed once and continued.

“To ask for the Gods’ blessing for the baby in the Empress’ womb.”

The Empress’ cold gaze was directed at me.

The atmosphere in the hall was strangely chaotic.

“May the glory of the Gods be with you. To celebrate the meeting, the temple also prepared a small gift. It was made using Kroadium, the Prince-to-be’s birthstone.”

I bowed my head once and saluted the Empress.

Then I lifted the small, equal-sized sphere that had been given to him by Dwayne.

“Thank you.”

The servant took it and placed it at the Empress’ feet.

“But the Crown Prince is nowhere to be seen.”

I turned my head and looked at the Emperor.

Then he gave a worried expression and furrowed his eyebrows.

“Kyle, that guy… Where is he, I wonder.”

Around the time I frowned and thought that the Emperor was somehow different from usual.

The Empress intercepted the Emperor’s words.

“The Crown Prince was busy and couldn’t attend.”

“Ah, right.”

The Emperor nodded his head blankly.

I lifted my head and met the Empress’ eyes.

Her lips were smiling, yet her eyes were as cold as ice.

From the first moment I met the Empress’ eyes, I could confirm that what I expected was right.

“Last time, there were many rude things about the fake saintess from Thiago. Saintess.”

I replied with a light smile to the Empress’ words.

“Don’t say things like that. Today is the day I came to bless Your Imperial Majesty the Empress.”

We were both smiling, but the mood felt as if we were walking on the edge of a knife.

Rosé raised the corners of her lips at my words, which seemed to gesture to her to get to the point, and continued.

“I was told that the Saintess had proved your divine power in the temple. Then…”

The candle, which had flickered in the slight breeze, no longer flickered.

At that moment, the sound of Dwayne staggering was heard.

I narrowed my eyes and looked at her.

Rosé’s eyebrows were raised.

“Could you possibly heal dozens of people who are addicted to unscented and odorless poison at once?”

I heard Dwayne collapsed with a thud. I looked behind me to see he was banging his head.

“T-This!”

“It’s poison!”

“Come to your senses!”

I heard the guards screaming in surprise.

But that’s only for a while. Everyone started swaying one by one. The sound of the pulled swords falling to the floor one by one was heard.

“You…”

I glared at Rosé, trying to keep my mind straight.

The Emperor, whose eyes gradually became cloudy, finally closed his eyelids. His head fell to the side.

“Did you end up doing something like this?”

A cornered rat has few options.

Whether to undo the mistakes of the past, or to just go out until the end.

And she was definitely the latter.

“You don’t answer my question.”

The Empress’ venomous voice was heard.

A person who will somehow trample on others and climb up, rather than fall down because of a false affair full of Kronia.

“Gasp… Ga-asp…”

A few of the Guard Knights drew their swords, yet they fell to the floor before they could even approach. The incense had probably spread before I came in.

But certain types of scent poison require a trigger to work, and she probably used it to trap me.

The Empress slowly rose from her seat. Then, a small empty bottle with a magic circle on it fell as it brushed against the hem of her dress.

The bottle is probably designed to react quickly to the scent of poison that fills the air when it’s opened

She bent her back, picked it up, and began to descend the stairs.

I sat on my knees, knelt down.

“The Saintess, who had a persistent love for the Crown Prince, was ordered by him and tried to kill the Emperor and Empress with poisonous incense.”

The Empress’ lips moved softly.

“In the process, His Imperial Majesty unfortunately passed away, and the Empress… The Prince protected her.”

She smiled as she touched her tummy with tenderness.

“Our poor prince who protected his mother and became a star.”

A ship that had nothing in it, it almost gave me goosebumps.

Soon she put the bottle in front of me.

“Even if you’re the Saintess, you’re only human, and you can’t stand poison.”

Her complexion looked fine alone because she had already drunk the neutralizer.

I lifted my head and opened my dry lips as I stared at her.

“Where is the Crown Prince?”

Then she smiled as if it were a pity.

“You worry about Kyle until the very end. But don’t worry too much, I’m not going to kill him.”

The Empress’ eyes widened deeply.

“I’ll just… blind his eyes by drugging him and seal his aura”

Is it a just-developed hatred in those eyes?

No, maybe it seemed like a deeper and more desperate feeling.

“Did you give the Crown Prince any medicine? Just like His Imperial Majesty?”

“It isn’t difficult to add medicine to the food of the Imperial Palace. Maybe Kyle is with Alberto right now. Ah, ah, Alberto suffered a lot too… But this time, I’m going to ask you to take all the blame, overturn the temple, and restore that child’s honor. I’m sure your maid, who’s lucky enough to survive, will be killed.”

After chatting for a while, the Empress turned her back on me.

“It wouldn’t be a bad thing to live as the Empress at this time.”

And when she took a few steps, I said.

“She’s not a maid, she’s an apprentice priestess, our Daisy.”

The Empress turned around at the sound of a voice different from before.

“I’m saying that if you know it, you should tell me.”

After I finished acting, I got up from my seat, wiping my hands.

“Scenario One is amazing.”

“…What?”

At the first hearing of her term and my normal appearance, the empress made her face hard and her lips trembled.

“You, how?!”

I shrugged my shoulders and told her.

“Except that this is also a scenario I wrote.”

“What the hell is…?”

“Wake up. Dwayne, nap time is over.”

Dwayne, who was pretending to collapse, got up at my words.

He looked at me with a fed-up look and said.

“As expected, the Saintess is a very scary person.”

[The God of Knowledge, Hessed, agrees with Dwayne.]