Chapter 109
“Last night, Salihan tried to break out of prison. He was eventually recaptured.”
Surprised at the word jailbreak, everyone whispered quietly to themselves.
“There are several people involved in this incident.”
People’s eyes naturally turned to Duke Otien at the following words, but he sat calmly.
“Your Majesty, have you arrested everyone involved?”
Duke Buccleuch asked calmly.
“First of all, we captured Salihan’s father, Count Noike.”
In an instant, Duke Otien’s jaw tightened.
“Your Majesty, has there been any evidence that Count Noike was involved?”
Soon, Duke Otien quickly put his emotions on hold and asked casually.
“The guys caught last night confessed. It turns out that it was Count Noik who procured the body to replace Salihan.”
It was a lie that the criminals confessed. Even though they were still being interrogated, nobody opened their mouths until the end.
“Can we take a look at your confession?”
At Duke Otien’s request, he summoned Mason, who handed the confession that Declan had prepared, even though it was not elaborate in detail. Declan soon laughed as the Duke’s brow furrowed slightly as he read the confession.
‘I’m sure he would have thought that the confession was fabricated and tried to refute it.’
The masked people who came with Han were all subordinates of Duke Otien. Following Han’s instructions, they obtained a corpse and poisoned it to replace Salihan.
‘The problem is that the Shadows who were watching Han witnessed all of that.’
Therefore, there could be no errors or loopholes in the contents of the confession. If there was a lie, it was only that the one who had given the order was Count Noike.
“I’ve already checked with the poison dealer.”
He smiled at Duke Otien.
‘Try to refute it.’
If he covered up for the Count here, he would be deemed the main culprit.
“This is really unfortunate.”
Duke Otien sighed with a sad expression as if he had made up his mind in the meantime. At the same time, the nobles who were trying to refute the confession were silenced as well when he said that.
“It must have been heartbreaking for the Count who cares for his son. But even so…”
The noble faction became nervous as they saw Duke Otien, who was about to abandon Count Noike.
“Your Majesty, a father who loves his son has committed a foolish decision, so please have mercy on them.”
“Your Majesty, I beg you. The Count’s sins are great, but isn’t it because he failed to forsake his family relationship?”
“This count has always been loyal to His Majesty. Please be merciful.”
When Duke Otien appealed for leniency, the nobles hurriedly came forward as well.
“Even though it was done out of infidelity, helping to escape from prison is a felony.”
“The monarch must be strict in enforcing the law. Don’t be swayed by personal feelings.”
Duke Otien’s face slightly frowned when Duke Castor followed up with Duke Buccleuch.
“In order to establish the discipline of the Empire, I intend to punish the Count thoroughly according to the law.”
Everyone except the noble faction was pleased with Declan’s decision.
“Your Majesty clearly said a while ago that there were several people involved. Who are the rest?”
Duke Buccleuch asked cautiously.
“That’s it. This is very difficult.”
As Declan hesitated, something that was unlike him, the crowd focused.
“Among the criminals caught yesterday, there is one of Duke Otien’s subordinates.”
Then, as he secretly pretended to look at Duke Otien, others also glanced at him.
“Who exactly are you talking about?”
Duke Otien expressed his displeasure.
“They said it was Han.”
“He is a subordinate selected and raised by Salihan himself.”
“Oh. Is that so, Duke Otien?”
“He regarded Salihan as his master, so it must have been done out of loyalty.”
With those words, the suspicious eyes toward Duke Otien faded.
“There are a few talents that Salihan has nurtured, such as Han. I will have them investigated if Your Majesty wishes.”
Listening to his words, Declan leaned his chin amusedly as Duke Otien put off everything to Salihan and tried to pull his foot away.
“There is no need for that. I have already done my investigation.”
Duke Otien glanced at him suspiciously.
“Because he’s been involved in more than one or two things.”
“Your Majesty, is there another incident besides this?”
Declan smiled meaningfully when Duke Buccleuch asked with a concerned expression.
“Let them in.”
With his order, the knights brought in two men. One was frightened and anxiously rolling his eyes, and the other looked down with a resigned face.
“Who are they?”
It was not just Duke Buccleuch who was curious, but everyone gathered in the conference room was watching the men.
“They are the sinners who tried to poison me.”
With poisoning mentioned, silence fell in the conference room.
“Your Majesty, are you alright?”
The first person to break the silence was Duke Castor. At the same time, his normally expressionless face was frighteningly stiff.
“Fortunately, I was not poisoned though it was dangerous.”
Saying so, Declan stared directly at Duke Otien, not Duke Castor. In the meanwhile, Duke Otien frowned slightly and cast his golden gaze back at the kneeling men.
“They tried to kill me twice.”
The gaze toward the men became fierce when they heard twice.
“These people must be sentenced to death immediately!”
“We need to set an example so that this never happens again by carrying out public executions.”
“What the hell were the guards doing? They can’t stop these people twice.”
Hearing the imperial guards mentioned, Duke Caster threw a reprimanding glance at his son, Liam, who bowed his head.
“Don’t blame the imperial guard. How could they have known the food has poison?”
Declan stepped out to defend the imperial guard.
“Then, what was the chief attendant doing? Isn’t His Majesty’s meal his part?”
“He just couldn’t find it because it’s a poison that can’t be detected even in silver.”
Everyone’s expression hardened at that fact.
“…I’ve never heard of such a poison.”
“I guess so. They say it’s a new poison developed for me.”
“Well then, how did His Majesty know that it was poison?”
Perhaps he had been waiting for that question, Duke Otien’s eyes grew dim.
‘Yes, you guys are most curious about that.’
Declan smiled.
“I can’t tell you that. Don’t you think there should be a law that prevents this from happening again? There should be some means to protect me.”
With those words, doubt, annoyance and anger appeared in Duke Otien’s eyes one after another.
“Your Majesty, they have targeted you twice. This needs to be investigated thoroughly.”
“That’s right. It’s clear that there is someone behind them that they even developed poison.”
“There was someone behind it. They’ve already confessed.”
Declan said coldly as if he had been waiting for those words to come out.
“Is that true? Who the hell has gone this far?”
When the nobles lit the torch to have the fact informed quickly, Declan raised his hand to silence him.
“I’ll hear it directly from these sinners.”
He gestured to the sinner, and he opened his mouth slowly.
“I-I am a sorcerer. At first, they just said they would give me a lot of money, so I made poison as the client requested…”
As he added that he had no idea it would be used to assassinate the Emperor, he then confessed to using Chloe’s visions to manipulate Declan and to get him to drink poisoned tea.
“The person who ordered all of that… is His Excellency, Duke Otien.”
Gerald uttered, looking directly at Duke Otien. Even though his eyes were trembling with fear, he didn’t look away.
Those gathered gasped, and the air in the meeting room instantly stiffened.
“Ah, you too, say who ordered it.”
In the meantime, only Declan leisurely crossed his legs and ordered. Aman trembled and barely opened his mouth.
“…I also poisoned the soup and tea that His Majesty is eating at Duke Otien’s instructions.”
When Duke Otien was mentioned in Aman’s mouth, people couldn’t help but panic.
“If you guys are telling lies, even your family won’t be able to survive.”
When Declan sternly spoke, both Gerald and Aman fell on their knees and shuddered.
“We-we were only telling the truth. Please believe us…!”
“Your Majesty, I have never seen or met them so how could I get it to work?”
Returning with a calm face, Duke Otien refuted. It seemed that he was not lying when he said that he had never seen them before as he didn’t even recognize who they were when they entered the conference room.
‘Even Gerald said he had never met the Duke.’
He didn’t even know that Salihan was the Duke’s aide. Even so, Declan had no intention of letting Duke Otien escape.
“The Duke said he had never seen you before. What do you think of this?”
“We have never met His Excellency in person.”
With Gerald’s answer, Duke Otien sneered.
“Are you deceiving me now?”
As Declan asked coldly, everyone in the crowd got nervous.
“N, no. Obviously, the people who entrusted us with the work said that His Excellency ordered it.”
Gerald protested desperately.
“I have never sent any men to them.”
Duke Otien flatly denied it.
“It can’t be! I’m, I’m sure the man named Salihan said that he was His Excellency’s aide.”
“I received the goods from a person named Han.”
Following Gerald, Aman also expressed that what they had said was true. When they mentioned Salihan and Han, everyone glanced at Duke Otien. The Duke’s expression hardened for a moment as if he hadn’t expected Salihan and Han’s names to be mentioned.
‘Actually, there’s no way Gerald and Aman know their names.’
Because it was them who gave that name.
Just for this day
“Duke Otien, Salihan and Han are definitely your subordinates. What do you think?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they’re mistaken, or someone pretended to be them.”
Normally, the nobles would have protected him. However, as it was connected with an attempt of murder on the Emperor, they were unable to step forward recklessly. It was quite humorous how they just pursed their lips and didn’t know what to do.
“Then, we can do a cross-examination. Bring Salihan and Han.”
After a while, two more people were brought into the meeting room.
They looked quite haggard, perhaps because they were confined to solitary confinement. Nevertheless, like a dog welcoming its master when seeing the Duke, Salihan’s face turned bright.
“Are these the ones who instigated you to kill me?”
Laughing at Salihan, Declan asked Gerald and Aman.
“That’s right. They made me work.”
“He, he gave me the poison.”
As the two glanced at the two newcomers who had just entered the room and nodded fervently, Salihan and Han looked at the two and hardened their faces as if they immediately understood what was going on.
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