Chapter 111
The day of the showdown.
“Are you ready?”
Seian had a smile on his face, as usual.
“Don’t worry. We’ll do our best.”
Just then, as I could hear a voice telling me to come inside the meeting room, I cleared the way for him to go in first before I slowly followed him in.
The first thing I saw was Duke Otien, who was taken aback when he saw Seian.
“I greet the Sun of Burgundy, the Emperor.”
Seian greeted Declan with a bow.
As he appeared out of nowhere, the conference room was stirred.
“Erica, come here and sit down.”
As soon as Declan was greeted by Seian, he called me.
It was only then did the eyes that had been focused on Seian turned to me, and I quietly walked over and sat down in the chair next to Declan.
“Did you wait long?”
Seeing the worried face made me smile.
“No. I didn’t wait that long.”
“I should have told you to come in from the start.”
“It’s fun to make a surprise appearance like this.”
Declan smiled and took my hand.
“We are almost there.”
He whispered softly to me and patted my hand. From now on, it was time for the highlight of the hunt that had been prepared so far.
“Didn’t you tell me, Crown Prince, that you had something urgent to tell me? Feel free to tell me.”
“I want to confess to His Majesty.”
While the people gathered in the conference room were bewildered at the word ‘confession,’ only Duke Otien had a hard face.
‘He must be nervous.’
He would never know what would come out of Seian’s mouth.
“A confession… what do you mean?”
Seian straightened his posture and gazed straight at Duke Otien.
“I want to confess about Duke Otien.”
Even though Duke Otien showed no outward agitation, I could tell that when Seian said his name, his eyes fluttered slightly. I even felt thrilled seeing the agitation for the first time while maintaining an arrogant expression.
“Amusing. Dke Otien is a loyal subject, but to accuse him of treason.”
Declan’s sarcasm was met with resistance from those belonging to the noble faction.
“To say that His Excellency is involved in treason. It’s ridiculous.”
“Hasn’t Salihan just confessed to treason?”
“You’re right. Is he misunderstanding something?”
“It’s an illusion. The Duke himself offered me treason.”
With Seian’s words, silence fell in the conference room for a moment.
“It’s a trap. What do you mean by His Excellency doing treason? It’s ridiculous!”
Salihan, who was on his knees, raised his upper body and shouted loudly.
“Your Highness, who are you instructing you to do this?”
Asking that, he glared at Seian sharply.
“Crown Prince, that person is a sinner, so don’t worry. Continue what you’re about to say.”
Although Seian smiled broadly at Salihan, his eyes were very cold as he continued his words, “A few days ago, the Duke came to me asking for help in bringing down His Majesty.”
People gasped.
“Your Highness, don’t frame me. I never did.”
Duke Otien denied it with a straight face.
“Telling me to let the Geminas start a riot, you said you would use it to depose His Majesty.”
“Don’t you know how great the crime of slandering the great nobility of the Empire is?”
“What do you mean by slander? I’m making an accusation with solid evidence.”
Duke Otien’s eyes trembled at the word ‘evidence.’
“This is the promise the Duke gave me.”
At his words, Seian took out a document from his chest and handed it to Declan the next moment as he went on.
“In the promise, there is a promise of independence for my country in return for inciting a riot.”
“Hmm, as you say.”
The nobles, who had been dubious about Declan’s confirmation until then, couldn’t help but panic.
“I never made such a promise to you. It must be a forged document.”
“If you look under the letter of assurance, the Duke’s seal is clearly stamped on it.”
Seian refuted Duke Otien’s denial.
“The seal was stolen yesterday, but I didn’t know that the Crown Prince was the culprit.”
Seian laughed at Duke Otien, who accused him of being a thief.
‘He’s struggling to get out somehow.’
I smiled at the Duke’s behavior.
“The seal was stolen?”
“Yes, it is.”
Declan also raised his lips crookedly as if he had the same thought.
“It is possible to copy the handwriting as much as you like. It seems that it will not be enough, so he even stole the seal.”
Duke Otien continued to keep his eyes on him as if Seian was behind all of this.
The eyes of the two met tightly in the air.
Seian’s eyes, which were always smiling, froze coldly. He must have realized that, too, if things had gone wrong after joining hands with the duke, even then, this promise would have been dismissed as a forgery so that he would take all the blame on himself.
“First, I will appraise the handwriting and seal. Whether it’s a copy or not, we’ll examine it later.”
It was Declan who mediated between them.
After a while, a handwriting appraiser came in and checked the handwriting and seal on the letter of assurance.
“The handwriting and seal are the same.”
People whispered about the final conclusion of the appraiser. They didn’t seem to be able to easily decide who was telling the truth, Duke Otien or Seian.
“Your Majesty, I have never met the Crown Prince separately. Please understand my injustice.”
Duke Otien appealed to Declan with a calm face.
“This is surprising. There is no way to verify whether the seal was really stolen or not.”
Declan frowned in trouble. Meanwhile, when I gave Seian a small glance, as if realizing my meaning, he nodded slightly.
“I couldn’t believe it, but it turns out the Duke’s word of faith would only be this much.”
Seian shook his head in sorry and stared coldly at Duke Otien.
“How fortunate I am that I did not join hands with you. I admire my foresight.”
As he approached him, Seian frowned as he persisted.
“Do you think I would have trusted you?”
Leaning over to the Duke, he lowered his voice.
“If you want to survive as a hostage, you always have to prepare several escape routes.”
With those words, the Duke’s eyes widened slightly as Seian turned around and smiled brightly like flowers blooming.
“Your Majesty, there is a video recording of the conversation with the Duke. Could you please allow me to show it to you here?”
With the video mentioned, I could see the Duke’s eyes quivering enough to be seen from a distance. It was I who gave him the idea to use Jennifer’s matter as an excuse to meet with the Duke in person and tape the conversation. After all, documentary evidence would leave no room to escape.
‘If I hadn’t danced with the doll, I wouldn’t have thought of a video stone.’
Thinking back then, I smiled a little.
“I’ll allow it. Let’s all watch it together.”
With Declan’s permission, Seian took out a hemispherical black stone from his chest.
As he put it in a place where everyone could see it and tapped it, the video started playing. The image of Duke Otien appearing with Han wearing a robe and conversing with Seian came out intact. The matter about Jennifer was mentioned, as well as the proposal to bring down the Emperor and the letter of assurance.
Duke Otien’s face turned pale as he watched the video play clearly. His trembling eyes clearly showed his agitation.
It was the first time since I possessed this world that he had shown so much emotion.
When the video ended, there was heavy silence in the conference room. Even Salihan, Duke Otien’s faithful dog, was unable to come forward recklessly.
“Interesting.”
The air that had been frozen by Declan’s short comment was finally released.
“With this, it has been revealed that the Crown Prince’s words are true. Can anyone dispute this?”
The Duke’s guilt was so clear that even the nobles didn’t come forward as well. Seeing them like that, Declan smirked.
“If there is no one, does that mean everyone admits Duke Otien’s crimes?”
“Since the evidence that Duke Otien attempted treason is clear, it is right to punish the Duke by demanding him for his crime.”
As Duke Buccleuch stepped forward, Duke Castor also insisted on Duke Otien’s punishment. When two of the three Dukes took the lead, the Emperor faction and the neutral faction agreed to the punishment, and eventually, the noble faction also reluctantly followed.
A majority vote in favor with clear evidence.
All the conditions were met.
‘Finally, the shackles of the disgusting Manat law will be released.’
I felt so relieved, like a ten-year-old congestion was all going away. Looking at Declan, emotions crossed his face.
‘He had lost his mother and younger sister and lived with his life threatened.’
The thought that he could finally be at ease flooded me with joy and relief. Even though I wanted to come over and hug him right away, I held back, remembering that the meeting was not over yet. Even so, I couldn’t hide my ardent heart, and he smiled at me.
“At your request, I will punish Duke Otien for treason.”
It was the moment he wanted so much that he seemed unable to speak easily.
“The Duke shall be beheaded, his title and property confiscated, and the Duchy shall perish.”
No one disputed his punishment.
As Duke Otien trembled with a bloodless face, Salihan collapsed as if he couldn’t believe the downfall of his master, whom he had risked his life and honor to protect.
“Put all the criminals here, including Duke Otien, into prison.”
The knights took Gerald and Aman out first before leading Han and Salihan as well. Han quietly complied with the knights, but Salihan, who had been idly following, suddenly stopped.
“I can’t do this. This makes no sense. Why did His Excellency…”
As he muttered, he turned around and glared at Declan.
“This isn’t it. There’s no way His Excellency would be defeated by a kid like you. This is a setup. It’s wrong…”
Declan sarcastically crossed his legs leisurely.
“Didn’t I tell you? It’s going to be you guys who will lose everything this time.”
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