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Chapter 12
Until now, I had been so focused only on the crises that kept happening to me that I was only now able to look at Devin’s situation objectively.
In a situation where assassins were infiltrating the mansion at any hour, day or night, could Devin really have been resting properly?
The mansion hadn’t been fully prepared with traps and mechanisms from the start, and there were days when assassins even broke in in the middle of the night.
On those nights, Devin would evacuate me and then go out alone to hold them off before returning. So it was clear that he had been guarding the mansion without rest, day and night, all this time.
I knew Devin was exceptionally strong, but nearly twenty days had already passed. No matter how strong someone was, could a human really endure more than half a month without proper sleep?
I was horrified.
Come to think of it, a 24-hour guard should obviously be done in shifts—how had I not thought of that at all?
‘I’ve been overworking Devin!’
I looked at Devin in shock.
I checked him anxiously—wondering if his complexion had turned pale from exhaustion, if his eyes were bloodshot, if he was actually on the verge of collapsing but forcing himself to endure.
As I observed him worriedly, my expression gradually turned strange.
His amethyst-colored eyes shone beautifully, and his sclera were perfectly clear without a single visible blood vessel. His complexion was also too healthy to belong to someone deprived of sleep. Looking at his clean, radiant face, I frowned slightly.
‘…He really hasn’t been sleeping?’
With how perfectly fine he looked, had I simply failed to notice that he was overexerting himself? How could he look this normal?
Still, I felt a bit guilty for not realizing he had been pushing himself until now.
The Emperor, however, reacted indifferently. In a displeased voice, he muttered:
“So, from August 2nd until now, you’ve been guarding the countess alone, day and night?”
From his tone, it was clear he didn’t fully believe Devin’s words. Devin seemed to notice this and briefly frowned, but soon returned to his calm expression.
“Assassins who infiltrated the mansion were handed over to the police, but the police have not been responding actively since then.”
“I’ve already received a report from Officer Thomas yesterday and ordered a detailed investigation into that matter.”
After saying that, the Emperor looked at both Devin and me with dissatisfaction.
“…So, is there any evidence left behind by those who attempted to assassinate the countess?”
“There was poison detected in a cup in the kitchen earlier. Would you like to see it directly?”
“Wasn’t it already cleaned up?”
“I instructed the maids not to touch it.”
“Then I shall see it myself.”
The Emperor uncrossed his legs and stood up.
Imperial knights moved in perfect coordination. As they escorted the Emperor, the usually quiet mansion echoed with the sound of boots. The knights seemed to already understand the layout of the Millere Count’s mansion, guiding him smoothly toward the kitchen.
As I followed behind the Emperor in silence, I heard the sound of clattering dishes and running water as we approached the kitchen. My eyes widened at the sound.
There shouldn’t be anyone doing dishes right now.
‘Don’t tell me…’
Had someone come to erase the evidence?
Joshua Knight, hearing the same sound I did, quickly opened the kitchen door without even knocking. My breath caught when I saw who was inside.
“Ah…”
As the door burst open, Lana—who had been bent over the sink—lifted her head and looked toward us. Startled by the sudden appearance of the Emperor and imperial knights, she froze. Behind her, washed dishes were neatly stacked after being rinsed.
Seeing this, the Emperor sneered at Devin.
“It seems the maid washed away all the evidence you mentioned.”
Devin remained silent, his face stiff.
“Didn’t you say you ordered the maid not to touch anything?”
“…I’m sorry.”
Devin apologized without making excuses. Sensing the situation from their exchange, Lana panicked.
She seemed to realize that Devin had ordered her not to touch anything in the kitchen and that the Emperor had come to inspect a poisoned cup, and she turned pale.
“Ah, I—I was told not to touch anything by the knight, but I needed to wash the dishes so the young lady could have her meal later…”
“It’s okay, Lana. It’s because of my meal preparations, right?”
I smiled at her and answered. But seeing the cups that once contained orange juice now washed and drying upside down made my heart feel heavy. Everyone else in the kitchen looked at Lana with displeasure.
The Emperor turned to me and Devin and asked:
“Then there’s no more evidence? You claim there have been multiple incidents—don’t tell me you only have this much.”
At that question, a chilling feeling swept over me.
‘…Why is he asking that?’
I blinked at the Emperor’s cold gaze.
There was indeed more evidence besides the washed cup Lana had cleaned. We had carefully stored dishes and food that had been discolored by poison, as well as ingredients like flour that had contained poison.
But even though the assassins had been arrested yesterday, I couldn’t understand why he was pressuring us to produce more evidence.
I had planned to use the collected evidence to bring down the Lafthan Ducal House, since I did not want the Lafthan noblewoman to become Empress as in the original story after my engagement to the Emperor was broken off.
Moreover, the Emperor himself had been the one who destroyed evidence brought by Devin in the original story. Since I still suspected whether he was allied with the enemies or not, I didn’t want to hand over what I had gathered so far.
‘Come to think of it, what happened to Officer Thomas who was sent yesterday?’
As I remained silent and looked at him suspiciously, the Emperor said bluntly:
“In my opinion, all of this seems like a staged act by the countess.”
What?
At the unexpected words, I felt my breath catch.
“…A staged act? You know the people who were arrested yesterday, don’t you?”
“The ones who were arrested here claim they were simply passing by and were beaten and tied up by your knight. There isn’t sufficient evidence supporting your claim that there are assassination threats.”
I was so stunned that I asked sharply:
“Did you see what they were wearing? They were assassins who broke into this mansion to kill me!”
“The knight reportedly stripped them of their clothes and dressed them in those instead.”
I was speechless.
“Does that even make sense to you?”
The Emperor looked at me as if I were pathetic.
“How many absurd things has the countess done so far?”
At that, I found myself gaping in disbelief.
‘What is he even saying right now?’
Had Anise done something strange in the past to attract the Emperor’s attention?
Or was he trying to provoke me to see if I had more hidden evidence?
Meeting his cold gaze, I felt my mind go ice-cold.
‘Close? Me? With this man? Really?’
He trusted the testimony of arrested assassins more than mine?
“….”
Come to think of it, the Emperor had not been friendly toward Anise since the beginning. Normally, when meeting someone familiar after a long time, one would ask how they had been or whether they were well. Not immediately interrogate them like this.
‘The Emperor never cared about Anise.’
I had once wondered if his letters might not have arrived due to enemies blocking the route to the palace, but when General Jeno visited recently, he carried an artifact that could block any attack. So the Emperor’s letters had not been intercepted.
In fact, he had never intended to send them in the first place.
Friendly? What a joke.
Perhaps the Emperor had simply been turning a blind eye to the Lafthan Ducal House’s attempt to kill Anise. That would explain why, in the original story, he had buried the evidence Devin brought regarding Anise’s murder.
Maybe the Emperor’s tears when mourning his deceased fiancée were just an act for others to see, and later he used her death as an excuse to dismantle the Lafthan Ducal House simply to remove an unwanted future empress.
‘In any case, I can’t trust this Emperor.’
And with that, I reached my conclusion.
