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Chapter 8…
Lucrezia felt as if the back of her head was throbbing.
She stared at the count in disbelief, but there was not the slightest trace of guilt on his smooth face. He only looked like a naïve young man flustered by an unexpected situation.
How could he tell such a blatant lie? With so many witnesses here…
But then Lucrezia realized something.
Everyone present belonged to the Imperial Household Department. She could tell just by the wary looks they were giving her.
There was no one on her side.
“Is what the count says true, Empress?”
The Emperor asked, his eyes unreadable.
She had to get out of this humiliating situation somehow. Lucrezia quickly opened her mouth.
“Your Majesty. It is true that I wished to be involved in the hunting festival. However, I never intended to bring in manpower from the marquis’s family. This concerns the Imperial Palace, so how could I—”
She suddenly stopped speaking.
Did she even have the right to say that so boldly?
In the end, she had tried to involve herself in the festival because of Marquis Zepher’s orders.
An order meant to satisfy the marquis’s personal greed.
A helpless feeling wrapped around her. She was used to feeling incompetent, but not to feeling like a liar.
“How could I borrow the private power of my family for such a matter?”
With her eyes lowered, Lucrezia barely finished her sentence.
“I see. Then that means…”
The Emperor, who had been watching her closely, spoke slowly.
“One of you is lying. Either the Empress or the Count.”
Lucrezia bit her lip.
Would the Emperor believe her?
The chances were slim. He already disliked her.
“What do you think, Empress?”
She was slightly surprised that he asked for her opinion first.
…Tell only the truth.
That was her only option. Even if everyone in the Imperial Household united to deny it, she could not stay silent out of fear.
“I was supposed to receive a handover of duties from Count Johannes regarding the Imperial Household. However, what he gave me were only trivial tasks that servants could handle.”
“Trivial tasks? For example?”
“Matters such as the quality of the garden brooms, or issues regarding the servants’ toilets.”
The Emperor raised one eyebrow.
The aides who had followed him also looked shocked.
No matter how you looked at it, those were not matters for an empress to oversee.
Even if her background was questionable, she was still the Empress.
If such tasks had truly been handed to her, it would be an insult to the imperial family.
The Emperor’s red gaze turned toward Count Johannes, silently asking if what he had heard was true.
“Your Majesty the Empress, how could you…?”
Count Johannes looked at Lucrezia with a pale face.
Then he turned back to the Emperor and spoke urgently.
“It is true that I visited Her Majesty to hand over duties. However, when I tried to inform her about the various affairs of the palace, Her Majesty said…”
He bit his lip, looking conflicted.
After a moment, he spoke as if he had made up his mind.
“Her Majesty said, ‘You handle the complicated matters yourselves and pass on only simple tasks that allow me to maintain dignity.’ Such as deciding the wallpaper of the Empress’s palace or the stuffing of the bedding…!”
Lucrezia stared at him blankly.
How could he lie so thoroughly?
It was Count Johannes who had handed her documents listing things like wallpaper and toilets, saying he would transfer those duties to her.
Everyone in the Imperial Household had heard it.
Yet now they only stood behind him with solemn expressions, silently agreeing with his testimony.
“Is this true, Empress?”
The Emperor’s dry voice echoed in her chest.
They say that if three people gather, they can create a tiger out of nothing.
Since the entire Imperial Household had united, she would inevitably become the liar. Without evidence…
She swallowed.
Wait. That document.
She remembered the document in which Count Johannes had written down the tasks.
It had been in the format of a formal report. The absurd tasks listed in such a proper document had felt even more insulting.
Most importantly, the document clearly bore Count Johannes’s signature.
According to his claim, she had first ordered him to pass on only light tasks just moments ago.
If that were true, there would have been no prepared document, and certainly not one already signed by him.
In other words, that document was decisive proof that he was lying.
If I can find that document…!
She looked around, but it had disappeared.
Even if she demanded it from Count Johannes, he would obviously refuse.
He would probably claim such a thing never existed.
After seeing his shameless behavior, she could easily predict that.
And the Imperial Household officials would all say the same.
He couldn’t have hidden it elsewhere.
The document had to still be in this room.
The stiff texture of the paper. The formal report format. Count Johannes’s signature…
As she desperately searched behind him—
Huh?
Something fluttered down from somewhere.
At first, she thought it was a butterfly.
But it soon lost strength and fell to the ground.
Right in front of her feet.
Lucrezia looked down in surprise. It was a neatly folded piece of paper.
Not a butterfly.
Confused, she bent down to pick it up.
“Your Majesty the Empress! It seems my document has blown away. Please return it!”
One of the officials shouted urgently.
But Lucrezia’s fingers had already touched the paper.
Huh?
She froze mid-bend.
The texture felt familiar.
She had touched this stiff paper just moments ago.
No way.
She quickly picked it up.
It was folded tightly like a note, not easy to unfold.
“You must return that!”
“Wait! What are you doing to Her Majesty the Empress?!”
The official who claimed it was his even tried to snatch it from her hands.
But the Emperor’s aide drew his sword and pushed the man back with the sheath.
No matter how little favor she had, she was still the Empress. A mere official—especially a man—could not lay hands on her.
While the aide blocked him, Lucrezia unfolded the paper.
The first word she saw was “toilet.”
Her eyes widened.
Found it.
It was the exact report Count Johannes had written with the trivial tasks.
And at the very bottom was his signature.
“Your Majesty.”
Her heart pounded so hard that her voice trembled.
She steadied herself and looked up at the Emperor.
He did not respond, but his red eyes fixed on her.
“This report supports what I have just said. You will see Count Johannes’s signature at the bottom.”
The Emperor slowly extended his hand toward the document.
As she handed it over, their fingers brushed slightly. Her heart jumped.
His red gaze scanned the report from top to bottom.
It contained exactly what the Empress had described.
Which meant the one telling the truth was not Count Johannes—but the Empress.
A faint sneer appeared on the Emperor’s lips.
Whether the count tried to humiliate the Empress or not was of no interest to him.
But daring to lie to the Emperor was a clear act of treason.
“Jereon Johannes.”
“Y-Your Majesty.”
“You think I am a fool.”
“Your Majesty, that is not—Your Majesty! Please hear me just once!”
The Emperor’s gaze fell upon him.
It was cold and indifferent, like he was looking at an object. Even Lucrezia, who was merely watching, held her breath.
“Take him away.”
“Your Majesty!”
“It seems his tongue has developed a bad habit. Drag him to the underground prison and have it treated.”
“I misspoke! My tongue slipped! I can explain—just give me a chance—”
“Is that so? A tongue that betrays its master is unnecessary.”
“Y-Your Majesty…!”
The Emperor gestured slightly with his chin. The knights immediately bound Johannes.
“Your Majesty!”
As he was dragged away, Johannes glared murderously at one official—the same one who had tried to snatch the paper.
Johannes had not been foolish enough to leave the incriminating report in plain sight.
When the Emperor appeared, he had quickly passed the document to a subordinate behind him.
But the fool had failed to guard it properly and dropped it.
“Ah. Take the silent Imperial Household officials as well.”
At that order, their faces turned pale.
“I—I really did put it in my back pocket…”
The official who had tried to snatch the paper babbled as he was restrained.
Even in the chaos, Lucrezia clearly heard his words.
She suddenly stiffened.
Come to think of it, something had been strange.
There had not been even a hint of wind, yet the paper had fluttered down to her feet.
As if drawn by some invisible force.
