Chapter 15
Brian stood before Edwin with every muscle in his body stiffened in tension, his head bowed low.
Edwin slowly examined him before his expression hardened.
“You found nothing?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“Not even a single rat.”
Heinz had vanished without a trace.
Edwin had intended to have Brian quietly dispose of him, but it was obvious that the slippery boy had sensed the danger and escaped before they could reach him.
“And that old man?”
Edwin rested his chin on one hand and lazily tapped his cheek with his index finger.
“He insists he’s never taken such a person into his home.”
Witnesses claimed they had seen the old man taking Heinz away into the mountains late at night.
If they investigated him more thoroughly, they would surely uncover something.
But Edwin merely waved his hand dismissively.
Instead…
A snake-like smile spread across his face.
“If that tongue isn’t going to be used properly…”
“Then he has no need for it.”
“…Pardon?”
Brian questioned his own ears.
“Cut it off.”
“…Y-Your Majesty…”
If Heinz lost the ability to speak, Edwin intended to force him to reveal Heinz’s whereabouts in writing.
If he refused even then…
Edwin planned to cripple his hands and feet as well.
He possessed no patience to wait and see how long someone could endure.
Brian remained silent.
He had lived a rough life…
But even he couldn’t bring himself to obey an order like this.
His elderly mother was still waiting for him at home.
And his older sister, Bella, had already gone to prison in his place.
Brian clenched his teeth.
“What are you waiting for?”
“Go.”
“…Forgive my boldness, Your Majesty.”
“If you grant me just one more day…”
“I will find him.”
Edwin looked down at Brian, who had thrown himself flat on the floor.
Tap.
Tap.
He rhythmically tapped the armrest of his chair with one finger before finally speaking.
“Half a day.”
Brian immediately lifted his head.
“That should be more than enough.”
“Th-Thank you, Your Majesty.”
For Edwin…
Granting even half a day was an act of extraordinary generosity.
Brian dared ask for nothing more.
He hurriedly gestured to the soldier standing behind him.
“Summon the cavalry immediately.”
Edwin checked the time.
Exactly half a day later…
Brian presented a corpse before the Emperor.
“After deploying the cavalry to search for him, we found the man Your Majesty was looking for.”
“But his resistance was so fierce that capturing him alive proved impossible.”
“So…”
The corpse thrown before Edwin had suffered such severe damage to the face that it was almost impossible to identify.
According to Brian’s report…
Heinz had desperately tried to escape.
During the violent struggle with the cavalry, he had been struck in the head several times.
His skull had caved in…
And he died from the injuries.
“Hmm…”
Edwin nudged the body with the tip of his boot as though it disgusted him.
The uncommon silver hair…
The small, slender frame…
Everything matched Heinz.
A faint smile curled across Edwin’s lips.
“What a pitiful young life.”
“What an unfortunate fate.”
Brian quietly bit his lower lip.
Edwin’s hypocrisy made his stomach churn with disgust.
…That damned bastard.
In truth…
The corpse wasn’t Heinz.
A few days earlier…
Brian had retrieved a body from a storage building where the soldiers who had died from poison were being kept before burial.
He had brought only a handful of his most trusted cavalrymen.
Together…
They deliberately disfigured the corpse until it was almost impossible to identify.
By sheer luck…
One of the dead soldiers had silver hair.
Edwin couldn’t even remember the faces of those he himself had killed.
Had he cared enough to remember such details…
He would never have treated human lives so carelessly in the first place.
Brian was relieved that Edwin had been deceived.
But now…
He had no idea how he was supposed to deal with everything that came afterwards.
An involuntary sigh escaped his lips.
“You truly are beautiful, Lady Elthia.”
Beth praised Elthia until her mouth went dry.
Calling her by her name felt far more natural between the two of them than addressing her as “Your Majesty.”
Truthfully…
Her hairstyle and makeup were exactly the same as always.
But Beth knew that if she didn’t encourage her like this…
Elthia would almost certainly refuse to attend today’s banquet as well.
Elthia gently gathered the folds of the dress that felt unusually heavy today.
She rarely appeared at banquets attended by the Empire’s highest-ranking nobles.
However…
A letter she had received from Petra the previous night had left her with no choice.
Petra already knew how Edwin treated Elthia.
But he refused to tolerate her repeated absences from important banquets.
His letter filled several pages explaining that she had to make her presence known among the nobility.
Only then could their family continue to stand strong even without Edwin’s support.
At the very end…
He threatened to sever all ties with House Grunui if she failed to attend this banquet as well.
Fear seized Elthia.
She couldn’t bear to lose the only blood relative she had left…
Especially because of herself.
It’s fine.
If I think positively…
It’s nothing difficult.
I’ll just show my face and leave.
She gave Beth a faint smile.
Then took a long, deep breath…
And opened the door.
The moment Elthia stepped into the banquet hall…
Silence fell over the room.
Every noble present stared at her in stunned disbelief.
“Y-Your Majesty the Empress…”
One man approached and respectfully bowed.
It was Duke Edward…
The brilliant strategist of House Vesatia.
“…It’s been a long time, Duke Edward.”
Perhaps because she hadn’t appeared at an official gathering in so long…
Her voice barely came out.
Thousands of eyes fixed upon her.
Their gazes crushed her.
Her body became as rigid as stone.
Her legs refused to move.
The thought that she herself was the subject of everyone’s whispered gossip…
Made nausea rise into her throat.
She struggled to breathe.
All she could do was repeatedly clench and unclench her fists.
Then…
Someone brushed against her shoulder as they passed.
“Oh my…”
“I never expected Your Majesty the Empress to attend.”
That bright, ringing voice…
It belonged to someone she had grown sick of hearing.
Today…
Erika appeared even more dazzling than usual.
Her rich makeup…
Her extravagant jewellery…
The contrast between them couldn’t have been greater.
But what made Elthia feel even smaller…
Was the man standing confidently beside Erika.
“Empress.”
“So you came.”
Edwin rested one hand upon Erika’s bare shoulder.
A mocking smile lingered on his lips as he looked at Elthia.
She quickly turned away to avoid his gaze.
But her body betrayed her.
Her heart pounded violently.
Her legs trembled.
Realising she couldn’t remain here any longer…
She turned to leave.
“Wait.”
Edwin stepped away from Erika.
Then walked straight towards Elthia.
“You’ve come all this way.”
“Wouldn’t it be a shame to leave already?”
His languid whisper beside her ear filled her with unease.
“I prepared a gift for you.”
At Edwin’s signal…
A large sack was dropped before her.
“…A truly unfortunate piece of news, my wife.”
He wondered what expression Elthia would make upon learning that someone she treasured had died.
Though…
He wasn’t especially interested in watching it.
Elthia had no desire to discover what lay inside the sack.
Edwin’s cruel smile alone was enough.
Her ominous premonitions had never once been wrong.
As she instinctively stepped backwards…
Edwin picked up the sack himself and dragged it directly in front of her.
“Open it.”
At his commanding voice…
Elthia’s trembling hand slowly reached towards the tied end of the sack.
But…
She couldn’t bring herself to touch it.
Seeing this…
Edwin motioned with his chin.
Brian, standing behind him, stepped forward and untied the sack.
Wrapped inside shredded, blood-soaked cloth…
A corpse was revealed.
Its body was so mangled…
Covered in mud and tangled reeds…
That its original appearance was almost impossible to recognise.
Those who witnessed it screamed.
Some covered their eyes.
Others pinched their noses against the overwhelming stench.
Even Edwin frowned at the foul smell.
“I heard…”
“A silver-haired young man was murdered in a nearby village.”
Elthia’s heart dropped.
“Doesn’t he look… familiar to you?”
She desperately tried to avert her eyes.
Edwin seized her chin…
Forcing her to look directly at the corpse.
“Who does he remind you of?”
Elthia never answered.
Instead…
Her legs gave way beneath her.
She collapsed onto the floor.
There was no strength left in them.
There was only one silver-haired boy she knew.
Only one.
