CH 134

I closed the lid of the teapot and rubbed my flushed face. No matter how much I had to prove it, it was embarrassing to be disgusting in front of others.

“…Did you just vomit out the poison?”

Pedro, who was yelling at the servants to call the doctor right away, looked at the ribbon lying on the round table and me.

Garou gently picked up the ribbon that was used to tie the poisonous herbs, and answered on my behalf.

“As you can see, it’s not poisonous to Lillieta. That’s why I added poison to her drink. Because my purpose was to create a situation where it seems like the Imperial House tried to poison the Princess.”

I just ate the poisonous herbs in the awakening medicine on my own.

Ironically, it was to side with Garou.

“I didn’t mean to kill her, that’s what I’m trying to say.”

“How can we believe that you knew Lily’s race?”

Hugo wiped his cold sweat and stared at the crown prince like he had yet to lose his vigilance.

Garou smiled cheerfully and removed the white wooden ring from the middle finger of his right hand.

“It’s simple.”

His right hand gradually turned black. The sound of Pedro and Hugo swallowing was vividly heard.

“…Hmm.”

With a light groan, Garou’s hand transformed.

An elongated, black claw-shaped hand appeared.

The material, which looked like it was made of rough sand with water, was a little different from mine, but the shape was definitely that of an evil spirit’s.

“Ta-da!”

Garou twirled the body part that became an evil spirit’s to display it, then quickly returned to his human form.

The greenhouse in the Great Temple became silent. Surprisingly, it was Alan who broke the silence.

“…That’s why you wore a ring made of World Tree.”

Garou nodded his head lightly as if to say Alan was sharp.

“Yes. Thanks to having Her Majesty the Emperor as my mother, I’m able to live in hiding.”

“…It’s true that you put poison in it anyway.”

Hugo crossed his arms. Whatever the truth was, he just didn’t seem to like Garou.

Pedro intervened in the building tension between the two.

“I understand that you and Lily are of the same race, Crown Prince. But you’re going to be the new emperor? Even assassinating the current Emperor?”

Pedro burst out laughing and got up.

“Let’s go, Father.”

I knew it would be like this.

It was the expected reaction. I was like that when I first heard about the rebellion.

“Brother, wait a minute.”

“Lily, are you on the side of the Crown Prince?”

Hugo glared at Garou. Strong resentment stung through my skin.

“I don’t know how you coaxed Lily, but it won’t work out the way you want it to.”

“What do you mean coax her… You are overprotective. Lilietta has long been old enough to be engaged to a man.”

There was an electric current between the crown prince and my second brother.

I almost sighed openly. Anyway, Garou, that guy’s mouth was a problem.

‘If you act quietly, you’ll get halfway through, but why are you picking a fight with everything?’

Although he messed up the mood, he was laughing softly as if he was just playing a cute prank.

That was the most ridiculous thing.

It was when I raised my hand to stop the two of them.

“…Would you mind giving us your opinion?”

Alan spoke first.

His eyes were on me and no one else.

“You want to join hands with the Crown Prince.”

Bewildered, I was speechless for a moment, but I quickly took a calm breath and agreed.

“…Yes.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to me.

I picked my words as I stroked the handle of the teacup I hadn’t taken a sip from.

“Um, so… I want to form an alliance.”

“…With the Imperial House?”

“No.”

I cleared my throat and blinked at the person sitting opposite me.

“With the Crown Prince.”

The two brothers looked puzzled at my firm position.

That was understandable. Because forming an alliance with the crown prince meant one thing.

The act that the Bauners used to brainwash people like a habit, but did not put into practice.

(P/N: as in, the Bauners always say they’re on the Imperial House’s side, but they’ve actually never done anything for the Imperial House.)

“…Together with the Crown Prince, I’ll bring down Her Majesty the Emperor.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Pedro laughed in vain.

I shook my head slightly.

Of course, forming an alliance with the crown prince did not mean to give up entirely.

“Definitely… I can’t trust the Crown Prince. Especially when I hear that laughter that doesn’t give the slightest bit of trust…”

I criticized him openly in front of him, but Garou laughed even more as if he was happy.

‘What are you laughing at, you bastard? I am suffering because you are not interested in helping to persuade.’

I cursed inwardly and smiled forcefully.

“If the Bauner family cooperates with the rebellion and it succeeds, I have one thing to ask for along with personal security.”

“What is it?”

“Divide the empire into two and let the ducal family rule half.”

“Hmm.”

It was a ridiculous proposal even to me who said it, but negotiations always put big demands first.

‘Even if the rebellion succeeds, it’s all over if the Crown Prince takes all the land.’

Giving half might be absurd, but if it was slightly larger than the current territory, it might be tempting for Alan. Thinking so, Garou raised an eyebrow hesitantly.

“Is just half of it really enough?”

“Pardon?”

“I’ll give you everything.”

It was ridiculous. Silence flowed again.

“Take it all, Lilietta.”

Garou kept wandering like a person who had been hit by an arrow in the head.

Bang!

Pedro hit the table with his fist. Unexpectedly, he looked quite angry.

“Let’s talk within the family for a moment.”

***

“How can you trust a guy who wants to kill his mother?”

The Bauners, Benny, and I moved to another greenhouse and had a brief operational meeting.

Pedro laughed jokingly, but his tone of voice showed a stronger will of rejection than anyone else.

I also agreed that Garou was an unbelievable person.

That greedy bastard couldn’t have given up power so meekly.

“But, Brother, that doesn’t mean we can trust Her Majesty the Emperor. She is the one who hid secrets about the demons for thousands of years…”

“Come to think of it, Lily has a point.”

The quiet Hugo suddenly intervened. Pedro scratched his hair.

“Hey, why are you like this too?”

“Even if the Crown Prince tries to betray us, it’s unexpectedly not easy, Brother. Since the war to retake the Western Continent, the military power of the duchy is no less than the best in the empire.”

Hugo’s sapphire eyes glowed with murderous aura.

“Of course, there is a bit of uneasiness in that he is a demon. But we also have that.”

Hugo pointed to Benny, who was standing and leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. He glanced at Benny as if evaluating an object, then asked directly.

“Mons… No, you. If the Crown Prince does stupid things, can you overpower him?”

Benny made eye contact with me as if asking to be allowed to answer, then nodded.

“If the Princess just says a word, I will kill him immediately.”

It was such an easy answer that I lost my words.

“Oh, damn it. It’s not that simple.”

Pedro scratched his hair, still feeling frustrated.

His position was understandable. It was easy to say that we were joining a rebellion or war, but in the end, it was Pedro, the commander of the knights, who would directly lead the army and fight.

“Yes, just like you said, we, the House Bauner, recaptured the Western Continent that even the emperor could not touch. There are soldiers from all over the empire who said they would come under us.”

Pedro’s pupils widened.

“But the Imperial Army is pure-blooded spirits. There is no way the rebellion will succeed. It’s a race issue, not numbers.”

Under the shade of the fragmented trees, a dazzling blue light shone brightly.

“Even if the duchy’s army is dead and awakened, it cannot defeat the spirit wizards. The reason beasts take the lead in subjugating evil spirits is because white magic doesn’t work against evil spirits. Then, the only ones we can trust are the Crown Prince and this brat, Benibeni, but to think that we are waging war and relying on others’ power while I’m not even capable of controlling my own body… Does it make sense?”

My heart shattered at the sight that was so different from usual.

I looked at the two opposing brothers in turn and spoke up.

“Ehmm…”

“Then what are you going to do? Are you going to be the emperor’s chess horse?”

Hugo raised his voice violently.

Pedro raised his eyebrows and responded firmly.

“That’s better. Her Majesty the Emperor is the World Tree that supported this empire no matter what. To get rid of such an existence means that we’ll destroy the ground we are stepping on.”

“Didn’t the Crown Prince say there was a way to keep the empire going?”

“It’s easy to say. Do you know how to do it?”

“Brothers, calm down. What are you going to do if the people outside hear us?”

“Then you want me to continue pretending to be close to the emperor? Marry Lily into the imperial family?”

“Have you been bothered by that?”

“Yes!”

Hugo banged the table, making loud noises.

Pedro sighed.

“Why don’t you tell Her Majesty the Emperor what you just heard? That her son is aiming for the throne. Then they can handle it internally without war.”

“Then the war will happen now, not four years from now.”

Alan, who was watching the two sons fight, spoke softly.

When even Alan didn’t take his side, Pedro collapsed into the chair.

“Father, even the rebellion four years ago failed!”

“Brother, that’s because they don’t have the same power as us…!”

“I told you guys to lower your voices!”

At the sound of my shout, the birds sitting on the trees in the greenhouse flew away.

The two brothers seemed to be quite stunned, so they shut their mouths and turned to look at me.

“Lily. Your… eyes.”

Staring at me, Pedro carefully pointed to one of my eyes.

I later realized that my left eye’s field of vision was reversed.

The silhouettes of people looked like graffiti drawn in half.

‘It has become the eyes of the demons.’

But now that wasn’t the problem. I closed my eyes tightly and spoke again.

“There is one more card the Bauner family can use. Not Benny.”

I couldn’t rely solely on Benny to defeat the emperor.

In order to prepare for the battle in the future, another person of the ‘Demon race’ was needed.

“Duke.”

I took a tense breath and looked straight at Alan.

“Use me.”