Chapter 27
However, even after hearing the recorded evidence, Luigi remained unconvinced.
For a brief moment, her throat tightened — the hoarse, strained tone in her voice carried an unsettling chill.
“Come out.”
Luigi gestured behind her.
“Before Her Highness the Princess of the Empire, I pay my respects. I am Loren, a knight serving Lady Marceline.”
With the sound of crushed grass underfoot, the knight who had been accused of having an illicit relationship with Laura stepped forward.
“You’ve heard what Malken had to say, so it’s only right you’re given a chance as well. Explain yourself.”
Loren knelt on one knee and bowed his head.
“It is true that I made contact with Lady Rueize. But I did so under her orders, only to investigate the Empire’s smuggling trade.”
“Smuggling trade?”
Luigi’s brow furrowed deeply.
“Yes. The lady received intelligence that a ship had docked at the harbor without filing an entry report. She suspected an illicit cargo operation. Yet since such crimes often vanish once discovered, she commanded me — not an imperial knight — to investigate quietly and confirm the situation.”
Loren’s explanation was far more coherent than Malken’s.
“The ship’s owner claimed it was a mistake in reporting the date of arrival. But upon inspection of the cargo documents, I found no cargo list, even though the draft line had clearly lowered. That was suspicious enough for me to search the ship, and I discovered a substantial load of weapons. Furthermore, I obtained proof that the order had been placed by His Highness, the Second Prince.”
He even submitted the investigation report — his every step prepared with precision.
“……”
The silence that followed pressed down like a weight.
Malken, retreating in panic, jabbed a trembling finger at Loren.
“T-That’s a lie! He’s only saying that to—”
“Enough of your pitiful squirming,” Loren cut him off coldly. “I’ve uncovered yet another truth His Highness sought to hide.”
At that moment, another voice emerged — Esha, stepping out from behind a tree.
The hem of her gown bore small wrinkles, made from clenching it too tightly in worry as she’d watched her knight’s fate unfold.
“I beg Your Highness’ forgiveness for my rudeness in appearing unbidden, but there is one more matter that must be revealed.”
“What is it?” Luigi asked sharply.
“To speak plainly — there is evidence that His Highness, the Second Prince, attempted to poison Your Highness during the banquet.”
The ingredients prepared for that banquet had not all been used.
Even those deemed spoiled were kept, since they were considered imperial property.
From that leftover stock, traces of poison had been detected.
“The poison was of a very specific type — tracing its source and identifying the culprit was not difficult,” Esha said, placing a stack of documents atop Luigi’s report.
“This too was uncovered thanks to Lady Rueize’s warning.”
Her tone made clear who deserved the credit.
“Y-you… I… I…”
Malken had nothing left to say.
He had planned to exploit Luigi’s death the moment it happened, never bothering to conceal the origins of the poison thoroughly.
“I still cherished you as my nephew…”
Luigi’s voice cracked with anger and betrayal.
“No, Aunt! I’m innocent! Why would I— This is a setup! A—”
“I will not let this go unpunished.”
The Second Prince screamed as the knights seized him by both arms and dragged him away — but no one looked back.
There had been a lingering question since the banquet.
‘Why had the curse only lifted by 2%?’
Then I realized:
‘The message about preventing the civil war never appeared.’
Only the message saying I’d prevented Princess Luigi’s poisoning had shown up.
All the usual chain messages that popped up after solving an event hadn’t appeared at all.
‘Meaning… there was still something left unresolved.’
I dug deeper into the case — and found that the true culprit behind the poisoning was the Second Prince himself.
‘No wonder he didn’t touch the main course that night… he already knew it was poisoned.’
Once I identified him, gathering proof was easy.
I simply had Sirin fetch the necessary materials.
After I’d assembled enough evidence, I went to see Princess Luigi.
Arresting the Second Prince would require her cooperation.
[Could there not be some mistake? Malken is not that kind of boy.]
Luigi had immediately denied it.
Though she and her husband had shared affection, she’d never borne children — instead, she’d raised her nephews as if they were her own sons.
And of them all, she had doted most on the Second Prince — gentle, timid, and constantly belittled for his lack of talent.
[I do not know what kind of man His Highness truly is. But I do know this — numbers never lie.]
I placed a bound report on her desk.
Report on the Second Prince’s Possible Involvement in Illegal Financial Transactions and Money Laundering.
Though she wanted not to believe, Luigi flipped through the report again and again.
Each turn of the page made her breath grow shorter; her hands began to tremble.
When she realized I was watching, she dismissed me with a wave.
[Leave me for a while. I wish to be alone.]
She was a proud woman — admitting she’d been hurt would have felt like defeat.
I understood that.
Still, I worried as I stepped out.
‘I thought she might try to cover it up since it was like uncovering her own child’s crime.’
But instead—
“I will reveal every truth of this affair and see that every party involved is punished accordingly.”
Her voice was sharp, her throat trembling with fury.
Her decision was made.
‘Well, she’s always been strict about separating public duty from personal feelings.’
If the incident had gone as the prince planned, Luigi — and countless others — would have died.
Still, she couldn’t bring herself to look at him as he was dragged away.
The shock of betrayal — of having trusted someone for so long — lingered in her eyes.
That pain, though, time would eventually heal.
And it wasn’t something I could interfere with.
‘Anyway, that’s that.’
What mattered most was that the case was resolved.
– You have successfully prevented Princess Luigi’s death and earned her favor.
A cascade of messages appeared, confirming my thoughts.
– You have prevented the civil war in the Kingdom of Mortum.
– The number of deaths from the civil war has been reduced to zero.
– You have prevented diplomatic tensions between Mortum and the Empire.
– You have reduced the number of people who would have taken their own lives due to the stock market crash.
‘Well… I didn’t see that one coming.’
– You have succeeded in creating a historical turning point.
– Calculating curse alleviation rate based on contribution.
– The Curse of Forgetting has been alleviated by 27%.
So the final result was 27% — a 10% jump in one go.
Perhaps because the increase was so large, the rewards came immediately:
– Someone’s memories have been fully restored.
– Someone’s memories have been fully restored.
‘Wait, twice?’
A glitch?
Then, as if correcting me, a message from Goddess Rudina appeared:
– The Goddess Rudina asserts that divine messages cannot contain errors.
‘Got it.’
So — two people had regained their memories.
And as for who one of them was…
“Lo… ra?”
I didn’t even need to check.
Esha’s reddened eyes and trembling nose bridge said it all.
