CH 136

“Your Majesty, the Empress.”

“Empress, it’s been a long time since I’ve last seen you.”

Medea’s face brightened at the sight of the two coming in side by side. Luke saw the expression on her face and was glad he had chosen to comfort Medea instead of attending the trial in the courtroom.

His father, the Duke of Card, looked displeased, but the investigation into the Duke of Lance was already coming to an end. There wasn’t any reason he had to attend.

Instead, Luke was surprised that Medea had called attention to his treachery and even found the magic tool in question.

“Welcome, you two.”

The Empress welcomed them, looking more innocent and beautiful than ever. Luke was conscious that Seira was next to him, trying to contain the palpitations. When he glanced at Seira, her cheeks were already stained red.

‘Why?’

He knew that Seira was very fond of and had a crush on Medea. The Empress had certainly done a lot for her so it was natural that good feelings were fostered between them. But no matter how you looked at those eyes, it seemed more than a crush.

‘Ah, longing… … It’s a longing, isn’t it?’

Medea looked at them with joy while Luke, who felt a sense of crisis, looked at Seira.

Although for Medea it was different from the original story, it was like watching a side story, so it was fun to watch this couple.

‘I hope the two of you can remain happy like this.’

Seeing that the refreshments had arrived, Medea sent her maids and attendants out of her room. Now, she could comfortably ask about the progress of the two.

“… … I heard that the Empress had summoned a man to retrieve the magic tools. Were you not surprised?”

Luke first looked carefully at Medea’s countenance.

“It was surprising that she found it before it happened… … .”

Oddly enough, Lyle had seemed more surprised. He had noticed that someone was trying to harm Medea, but he hadn’t seemed to know that the power had already reached inside the empress’s palace.

Lyle was so furious that he even gave orders to renew his personal investigation of the courtiers belonging to the Empress’s Palace.

“Duke Lance may have been captured, but your Majesty seems to be looking for the person behind them. … … Do you happen to have the Archduke Rowendal in mind?”

“I don’t know that far. His Majesty doesn’t even tell me that. But I think there’s someone behind Duke Lance. He doesn’t have the guts to do this on his own.”

If someone had not given instructions from behind in the first place, he would not have been able to plan the dreadful assassination of the Empress. Even if he had aimed to do so, poisoning was more suitable for him than an assassination by attracting monsters.

“Our father also suspected Archduke Rowendal… … .”

The Duke of Card had kept the Archduke Rowendal as a hand to check Lyle’s power, but was now regretting that he had lightened his punishment at exile. Had he known that Lyle would be so fond of Medea, he would have dealt with the Archduke earlier on.

If things had turned for the worse and Medea had died the Duke’s influence would have reduced to less than half.

“The treason has already been revealed, so everyone has already stepped back or condemned the Duke… … . I don’t think this will disclose who was behind Duke Lance. Considering the character of Duke Lance, he must have been a throw-away hand.”

In the original story, Medea was already dead. There is no mention of whether her death was due to suicide, and it very well might have not been. She had no idea whether the author had set it up and left it out, or if she didn’t pay Medea’s death any mind and was more focused on Seira’s romance… … Regardless, in the novel, they succeeded.

Afterwards, Archduke Rowendal returned to the capital when it was discovered that the case that sent him into exile was a trap, and he faced off with Seira and Lyle, who were already on one side. In the end, it all failed, and he planned a rebellion and ended up dying, but she had to be prepared because the story had changed a great deal.

“It wasn’t a coincidence that they were targeting me… … In the future, I will be targeted again. Since the direct method has failed they will try an indirect strategy instead. Lady Hestia.”

“Yes?”

Seira, who had been listening intently to Medea’s words, flinched and looked at Medea.

“The person who stands out the most by my side is you, Dame Hestia, so they will try and entangle the two of us. The most likely scenario is to tie the lady and I together and manipulate us into an affair.”

“Then… … .”

Luke immediately looked at Seira with a puzzled face. He was  furious that his beloved sister was in danger, but felt his stomach twist when he heard that a sinister hand would reach out to Seira as well.

“I’m saying that they might want to grab onto Lady Hestia’s weakness and blackmail you so they can use you. So be extra careful with everything. It’s even better if you don’t trust anyone but Luke.”

“I’ll keep that in mind… … .”

What?

She didn’t mean to, but the story seems to have progressed in the direction of helping Luke unintentionally.

Seira is a sincere personality, so she would take Medea’s words to heart. Even if Sub Male Protagonist 2 and Sub Male Protagonist 3 appear later, she would be wary of them.

‘The person I’m worried about is the sub male lead 2… … . According to the setting, he will only come out next year.’

Before that, Luke had to win Seira’s heart for sure! He’s strong! It’s different from the easy-going sub male protagonist #3!