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Chapter : 22
“Father, that’s not it…! You mustn’t trust Diel!”
“Silence. Step aside.”
Alester’s attempt at an explanation only seemed to further irritate the emperor.
“Alester, what exactly have you done for the Crown Prince? And I say this to all of you here.”
The emperor’s red eyes swept across the frozen chamber.
“Y-Your Majesty! Alester’s words do have some merit. From what I’ve heard, Diel behaved however she pleased the entire time she stayed in the imperial palace.”
At that, Empress Consort Mary abruptly rose from her seat.
“I heard it myself from the servants of the Princess’s Palace.”
She was trying to shield her son, but this was not a situation where Mary should have intervened.
“Isn’t it obvious just from the fact that she never once came to greet me, the empress consort? Locking herself away in her study every day, doing such bizarre—”
“Your Majesty, that couldn’t be helped!”
Marchioness Karl, speaking in my defense, turned to look at the empress consort.
“She was harassed the moment she entered the imperial palace. How could we possibly escort her to the Empress Consort’s Palace when she was terrified?”
“Harassed? Th-that’s—”
Mary faltered for a moment.
“Empress consort. Do not interfere.”
“Y-Your Majesty…!”
“You coddle him every time, so is it any wonder that the so-called prince is no better than a street thug?”
“……!”
Mary tried desperately to shift the blame onto me.
But all it did was fuel the emperor’s anger. It helped her not at all.
“Are you all right, Diel?”
At that moment, the emperor stepped closer and extended his hand to me.
“You must have been frightened.”
Of course, it wasn’t that he truly felt pity for me.
It was a warning to the recklessly acting Alester and the empress consort, and a lesson for the other princes and consorts.
Let’s both win.
So there was no reason for me to refuse the emperor’s hand.
“Th-thank you. But truly, truly, this wasn’t the Crown Prince’s fault.”
As I reached for his hand, my sleeve slipped up slightly.
When I hurriedly pulled it back down, the emperor’s gaze naturally followed.
“And how did you get that bruise?”
“It’s nothing, Your Majesty. Something you needn’t concern yourself with.”
I deliberately tried harder to hide my wrist.
“Diel.”
“…….”
“Answer me.”
The emperor was firm.
No one dared to interrupt that sharp authority.
“I apologize, Your Majesty. The reason I couldn’t immediately tell you about the Aliyan fruit was because…”
With a resigned expression, I knelt on the floor.
“I had to leave the Princess’s Palace to find it.”
As I gathered my sleeves over my skirt, they slipped up again.
“I was discovered and beaten, but it was my own fault.”
Because of that, the wounds on my arms were laid bare once more.
“I know that alone doesn’t make it forgivable, but—”
“Beaten?”
One of the emperor’s eyebrows shot up.
“So you’re saying these bruises are from being beaten.”
“…….”
“To beat a princess. And one who stepped forward to treat the Crown Prince, no less.”
The emperor spun around sharply. The air froze in an instant.
“Who did this?”
“Th-that is…”
“Even I have never laid hands on you like this.”
His voice sank low.
But it felt as though he might explode at any moment.
“Tell me who it was, Diel.”
Slowly, I lifted my head.
“It was…”
And I looked toward someone.
The emperor’s gaze followed mine and stopped at the same place.
“Your Majesty…! N-no, it isn’t!”
Right in front of Emma, the lady-in-waiting of Empress Consort Mary.
“Your Majesty, this is slander! It’s not true!”
Both Mary and Emma turned pale.
When you had me dragged away by those potato-dough-looking brutes, where was this outrage?
The one who left direct wounds on this body was Lucia. But the first to harass me were Emma and Empress Consort Mary.
The emperor looked down at my bruise-covered arm and asked again.
“Are you saying all of these injuries are from being beaten by Emma?”
“No, Your Majesty. Emma alone didn’t do all of it. Some of the injuries were from when I was seized by the knights…”
“Seized by knights? What do you mean by that?”
At that moment, Marchioness Karl interjected.
“Your Majesty, on the day you summoned Her Highness, Emma and the knights of the Empress Consort’s Palace impersonated imperial knights! And that wasn’t all—they covered the princess’s mouth and dragged her into the garden!”
Marchioness Karl recounted everything that had happened that day.
“What is the meaning of this, Mary?”
Now fully aware of the situation, the emperor’s face twisted openly.
“If all of this was done by your people, then you must explain yourself.”
Faced with the sharp question, Mary could only stand there, flustered.
She looked utterly frozen, to the point of stupidity.
“Y-Your Majesty! That isn’t—”
She must never have imagined she’d be put in this position.
“Father! It was all Emma acting alone! Mother knew nothing about it!”
Princess Lucia, Mary’s daughter, rushed forward in panic.
“From the moment we heard Princess Diel was returning to the imperial family, Emma kept insulting Mother! Saying it was obvious she was pretending to be a princess after being cast out!”
“That’s not true, Your Majesty! I only followed orders! Everything was done at the empress consort’s command!”
A pale-faced Emma shook her head wildly.
“Every time princes or princesses who had left the palace returned, she told me to make sure they couldn’t meet His Majesty!”
Pointing at Mary, Emma cried out in indignation.
“Especially this time—she said that since it involved treating the Crown Prince, we absolutely couldn’t let Her Highness meet you!”
“How dare you!”
Emma couldn’t finish her sentence.
“Your Highness!”
“Will you not shut up?”
Smack! Princess Lucia struck Emma hard across the cheek.
“What are you idiots standing around for? How dare this wretch slander my mother and disturb Father’s ears! Take her away at once!”
“Y-Your Majesty! It’s not true! I’m being framed!”
Emma pleaded with a dazed expression, but it was useless.
The knights and maids who rushed in dragged her out.
“How utterly vile. Vile indeed.”
When the commotion finally settled, the emperor muttered.
“Your Majesty, to think Emma could be so malicious. I was only worried that Diel, having been away from the palace so long, wouldn’t know her way around.”
Mary collapsed weakly to the floor.
“I merely entrusted my palace’s knights to Emma to help Diel…”
And then she began to sob.
Emma had been her loyal right hand.
Yet even after dumping all the blame on her, Mary showed not the slightest trace of guilt.
“Father, please forgive us. Mother only provided the knights inside the palace—everything else was done by Emma.”
Lucia hurried to cling to my feet.
“Sister, please clear up this misunderstanding about our mother.”
I quietly looked down at Lucia.
Just moments ago, she’d been giggling together with Emma.
“Expel all the maids and knights of Empress Consort Mary’s Palace from the palace grounds.”
“Your Majesty!”
“Father!”
Mother and daughter wept and begged, but the emperor paid them no heed.
“Especially confine Emma and the other responsible parties separately in the underground prison. Once the Crown Prince awakens, I will personally judge their crimes.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Those who had witnessed the entire uproar looked stunned.
No one will want to follow Empress Consort Mary anymore.
Anyone who saw this with their own eyes could never trust her again.
After all, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t be the next Emma, betrayed and dragged away.
“Mary, you should be thanking Count Rok.”
The emperor spoke pointedly toward the collapsed empress consort.
“For the sake of your family, I’m letting this pass as though I knew nothing—just this once.”
“……Your Majesty.”
Those who had been laughing earlier now carefully watched my reaction.
“…….”
Among them all, only Alester continued to glare at me.
I only lit the spark. He’s the one who fanned the flames.
In truth, there was another reason I set this in motion.
It wasn’t just because Emma and Mary’s actions were infuriating.
It didn’t end with the Crown Prince eating the Aliyan fruit.
It would still take time for him to awaken.
If I hadn’t done this, what followed was obvious.
Mary—or someone else—would have interfered and ruined everything.
“Diel, you’ve worked hard. Your devotion to the Crown Prince is admirable.”
“It was nothing, Your Majesty.”
“I won’t forget the thoughtfulness you showed toward this father.”
The emperor stepped closer, as if to pat my shoulder.
“The Crown Prince hasn’t fully awakened yet. I’ll wait here until good news arrives.”
But I bowed politely and took a step back.
“…….”
The emperor’s hand stopped in midair.
He must have felt I avoided him. Which I did.
As if you’re my father.
Without realizing it, I felt uncomfortable with the emperor’s attitude.
“Come to think of it, Diel.”
“Yes?”
I had just begun to rise, looking for a chance to leave.
“All your brothers and sisters here call me ‘Father’…”
The emperor suddenly smiled at me with an unreadable expression.
“Yet you alone call me ‘Your Majesty.’”
