“On the way, I received a letter from the former Grand Duke. You seem to have successfully and safely conquered things here. You can go back now. I will lend you a carriage if you wish.”
As the Crown Prince spoke politely, Noel nodded. There was also a way to return using Irene’s spirit power, but he did not want Irene to exert her power anymore.
“Hahh, we can finally go back.”
“Honestly, I thought I was really going to die this time.”
“Who would have thought that we would face off against the imperial knights?”
“This would be worth years of feasts.”
The members of the Ram mercenaries, relieved of tension at the Crown Prince’s words, began to complain one by one. In the friendly atmosphere, silence fell once again at Irene’s question.
“How are you going to announce the death of His Majesty the Emperor?”
All attention focused on Irene. But Irene looked solely at the prince as if she could not have cared less. After all, depending on how he announced it, it could damage the standing of the Grand Duchy.
The prince answered seriously.
“Suicide.”
“… Would the ministers believe it?”
“They would have no choice but to believe it.”
“How come?”
“… Would the ministers believe it?”
“They would have no choice but to believe it.”
“How come?”
“Recently, the reputation of His Majesty has dropped to a new low. The people even call the Emperor a tyrant or a madman. And since the Emperor was hostile toward the nobles, they only thought of bringing him down. If such a figure disappears right in a situation where no one likes his existence, who can protest?”
“… But the imperial guards have witnessed his death.”
“Do not worry. They also did not follow His Majesty faithfully; they would probably just keep their mouth shut. Please don’t let anyone know about the true nature of this death.”
At the prince’s words, Irene shut her lips. She was not even curious about the method. She knew it would be cruel without hearing about them.
“Tomorrow, at dawn, I will announce that His Majesty has committed suicide. It will be revealed that the attack on the Grand Duke was the work of Count Chase and Count Rixis, who coveted the power of the Grand Duchy. They will be punished accordingly for trying to kill the innocent and daring to strike the Grand Duke. And as promised, we will thoroughly investigate the death of the late Grand Duke.”
As a reminder of the promise, the Crown Prince reassured her. Only then did Irene feel a little relieved. Irene looked up at Noel wordlessly. He felt her gaze and looked down at her too.
“What a relief.”
Noel smiled sweetly at her words and left a light kiss on her forehead.
“You did a great job.”
Irene turned her head. She saw the sun slowly rising from the horizon as she looked out the window.
The long nightmare had finally come to an end.
♔♔♔
When they returned to the Grand Duke’s residence in the carriage provided by the Crown Prince, the Great Kristen, who had been contacted in advance, came out to the front of the mansion.
Irene got off the carriage and slowly looked around the Dukedom. Despite the most decisive battle in monarchical political history, it was unbelievably quiet.
“You must have been through a lot.”
The Great Kristen rushed forward and closely examined Irene for any injuries when they got down. After some time had passed, he looked back at Noel in relief once the Great Kristen had confirmed that Irene was safe and sound. And at that moment, his expression hardened. His gaze fixed on Noel’s shoulder.
“You are seriously injured. Go to the infirmary right now….”
“No need, I will go back to my room with Irene.”
“… All right then, I shall send a doctor. Hurry and go up. You’re good without any help?”
”Yes, I will be fine.”
Noel bowed before entering with Irene and stopped midway. He uttered faintly.
“…Grandfather, you are not hurt anywhere, are you?”
The former Grand Duke did not expect Noel to be concerned about him. He hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“Yes. I’m fine.”
“Then that’s all that matters.”
“After the treatment is over, I will visit your room.”
“Yes.”
After the brief conversation, Noel and Irene went up the stairs.
“You worked hard.”
Noel’s face turned slightly red at her sweet tone as if she was praising a good child.
Shortly after arriving at their room, the doctor rushed in. Breathing heavily, he looked at the wound on Noel’s shoulder and hurriedly pulled out disinfectant, painkiller, thread, needle, and a bandage.
“Fortunately, the wound is not very deep. However, after disinfection, I think I will need to sew a few stitches.”
“All right.”
“Would you mind taking off your top for a second?”
Leave a Reply