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The interrogator, who came here to report about the questioning that had been conducted on the thief, could not hide his bewilderment.
“T-That’s not it, sire. I believe his purpose was the treasure room.”
However, soon after the interrogator said this, Emperor Alderuan’s expression hardened as he stared down at the other man.
The interrogator was already under so much pressure, and now his mouth was dry.
“So, you dare say that my daughter is not a treasure?”
“D-Did I make a slip of the tongue? Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”
At that moment, not only the emperor but also the crown prince, who was standing nearby, widened their eyes fiercely.
Thanks to this, the interrogator trembled even more as he lowered his body to the floor.
“O-Of course, Her Highness the Princess is the greatest treasure of this empire, however, the thief’s objective seems to be the other treasures inside the treasure room.”
“Hm.”
Only then did the emperor draw back the pressure he was exuding. He nodded.
Reading the atmosphere, the interrogator quickly looked back at the attendant who was behind him.
“What is that,” the emperor asked.
“These are the criminal’s possessions, sire. As you can see, he intended to infiltrate a certain place.”
What the interrogator showed was a bead containing the spell to release a magic trap, as well as a variety of tools to force a lock open.
“Father. I don’t think his goal was to take Siervian.”
As Damian was standing next to his father here to solve the case, he spoke up.
“Is that what you think?”
“Yes. First of all, he wouldn’t have been able to know that Siervian would come to that particular place. It’s not easy to expect the birthday party’s main character to go someplace so out of the way.”
Damian had a misunderstanding about Siervian going to that place. He thought that she must have gone so far out to that place because she wanted to avoid the count’s son.
It was an open secret that the emperor, who Damian shared this misunderstanding with, was planning to condemn the count.
“Even when I heard from the ladies-in-waiting, it seemed that it was an unplanned trip for the Princess to go there.”
Hex also added this. He was the one who took the testimonies of the ladies-in-waiting.
“Those words make sense. It’s another one that’s caught.”
According to the escort knight who was assigned to Siervian, she had evidently pointed exactly towards the thief when she said he was ‘weird’.
As if she could clearly see the man’s innermost thoughts.
“What are you talking about?” Damian asked.
“The same happened with the mage scoundrel last time. There are so many ruffians hovering around Siervian.”
“Isn’t it because Siervian has good senses?”
Then, as the father and son duo were about to go into their fervent discussion, Siervian’s escort knight spoke up.
“Your Majesty. There’s one more thing I must report.”
“Speak.”
“This could be something I’m wrong about, however it seems as though Her Highness started warning me about the intruder ‘memorizing’…”
The captain of the imperial guard, who was next to the escort knight, looked towards the younger man with a surprised expression.
This was because it’s unclear how a six-year-old child could possibly read the next move of a thief.
However, escort knight Adante believed in the princess’ instinct.
Obviously, at that time, it looked exactly as though the princess was warning him like she had read the thief’s mind beforehand.
“Y-Your Majesty. Sir Roid’s concern for Her Highness is great because he couldn’t properly protect her, which is why…”
The captain of the imperial guard was worried that an outstanding knight such as Adante would be reprimanded for saying such nonsense.
At that time, Adante certainly did his job right. However, the position of an escort knight was a precarious one no matter what kind of circumstance would pass.
“Please forgive him.”
Without noticing that the knight captain was sweating bullets while making excuses for him, Adante only looked straight into the emperor’s eyes with conviction.
“Mm.”
However, rather than rebuking the knight, the emperor was lost in deep thought.
This was Siervian they were talking about, and she didn’t usually whine all that much.
It was also strange that she asked her lady-in-waiting to carry her to such a distant place at that exact moment. Of course, it’s still possible that the count’s son could be the main cause for this.
“Father, as expected of Siervian…”
Siervian believed that the excuse of a ‘weird face’ was crude, but the emperor had different thoughts.
In the end, a mage was someone who would deal with mana. And mana was a power that was like the law surrounding the world.
“Right. It’s possibly because of her natural abilities.”
Those who were talented enough to be filled with the ‘scent’ of mana could excel in that kind of intuition.
In particular, someone like that would become sensitive to any crisis.
Therefore, it was entirely plausible for Siervian to have pointed out suspicious individuals.
“As expected, my sister is cute and has excellent skills.”
“Mm. It’s because of her overflowing loveliness.”
“……”
Of course, it couldn’t be brushed aside that these might be the words of a father and brother who were fools for Siervian.
* * *
“Y-Your Majesty!”
At that time, a guard rushed from afar.
“I-I express my most humble apologies, however, the prisoner has been found dead.”
“What? How on earth do you manage that prison!”
The interrogator, who had still been lying on his stomach at that point, immediately stood up and ran to the dungeon.
After a while, he found the cause and he had to return to report his findings.
“So it’s poison… Father, it seems to have been a different perpetrator.”
Obviously, the prisoner was trapped and couldn’t move.
But suddenly, his whole body was found twisted as he was dead.
Through the use of mana, the corpse was examined. And there, poison was detected.
“That’s a high possibility.”
The coroner had diagnosed that when the prisoner had been caught, he already had the poison in his system. He could have taken the antidote, but there was a time limit.
This was a method frequently used by aristocrats when commissioning covert operations in order to prevent information from leaking out.
“There must have been someone who brought him into the palace. Find those traces.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
As he was giving his orders, Alderuan frowned.
It’s known that his purpose was to pilfer the imperial treasure room.
However, it now became impossible to know just what exactly it was that he came here to steal.
* * *
On the last day of the birthday celebration, the number of attendees decreased significantly.
This wasn’t because of yesterday’s incident. The final party was originally planned to be a small gathering where only the imperial family would attend.
The number of people attending was the least over the past few days, but the event itself at this moment was decorated the most splendidly compared to the other days.
“Uwah…”
Arriving at the small party hall, Siervian’s mouth gaped open as she gasped in admiration.
Because, right next to the colorful chocolate fountain, there was a cute house made of macarons.
“Do you like it?”
“Yesh!”
[ Alderuan Erveldote ]
Thoughts: This best gift is my idea.
Thrilled, Siervian ran forward excitedly, forgetting that the empress was in the same room.
[ Damian Erveldote ]
Thoughts: …Father monopolized all the chefs in the palace. I made an oversight. I should’ve recruited them in advance.
Next to the emperor, the crown prince’s disappointed status window popped up, but Siervian was entirely beside herself in excitement that she didn’t notice.
She entered the house, carefully stepping at the parts that were meant to be stepped on.
The doorknob got caught in her hand, so she naturally put it into her mouth.
“Here. A gift.”
Carrying a large box, the crown prince approached her with a determined look. Siervian was happy to receive his gift, but she was feeling a little impatient because the cookie house was right there.
“Big teddy!”
Fortunately, Siervian wasn’t so distracted by the sweets anymore. Her attention quickly shifted to the teddy bear.
The crown prince threw a gloating look towards his father, but he soon turned back to Siervian and explained to her the stuffed toy’s features.
“If you sleep together with this teddy bear, your bed will be warmer.”
“Okay!”
Being the smart older brother that he was, this was a really good gift idea.
All of Siervian’s furniture in her room had been changed to suit her, but the bed still felt so big. It was because Siervian was too small in the first place.
“Sebi likes teddy!”
However, if there was a teddy bear as big as her right next to her in her bed, then she would surely be able to sleep pleasantly.
[ Alderuan Erveldote ]
Thoughts: Gracious. The other presents need to be brought out! It can’t end like this.
The empress also approached and presented a gift to Siervian, but it was a tea set.
Siervian recalled the bitter black tea that the empress made her drink in her previous life, but she managed to thank the empress.
Happily receiving her gifts, the emperor said one more thing to her.
“You also bravely caught the thief yesterday, so I’ll grant you one more wish.”
“Your Majesty…!”
At the sudden remark, the empress’ expression hardened and she began to protest.
“Is there a problem?”
“…I am worried that the Princess will not uphold her duty as a member of the Imperial Family because she is still too young. In addition, I think it would be right to praise the Crown Prince instead because of the active role that he played yesterday.”
The room’s atmosphere suddenly became serious, and Siervian looked around her.
The empress’ status window was filled with all kinds of negative thoughts that Siervian didn’t need to focus on them to know what she’s thinking.
“As you’ve said about the duty of the Imperial Family, Empress, isn’t it only natural for the Crown Prince to protect his sister and the palace?”
“T-That…”
“What I want to praise here is the courage that Siervian has displayed when she hasn’t even learned magic. Isn’t the Crown Prince already capable of handling a situation like this?”
In fact, it was both the escort knight and the crown prince who caught the thief.
That’s why Siervian also thought that this wish as a gift was excessive.
However, at the emperor’s firm words, the empress bowed her head carefully. In the end, he had firmly acknowledged the crown prince’s abilities, so she couldn’t say anything to refute his words.
Feeling how the empress had backed down, the crown prince quickly stepped forward.
“Your Majesty’s words are correct. I did only what needed to be done. Siervian was the one who bravely warned everyone, that’s why it was possible to prevent the incident.”
“Since the Crown Prince has spoken so, I shall follow Your Majesty’s will,” the empress relented.
In a blink of an eye, several political battles had passed.
Siervian didn’t even think of getting a wish like this, and it was so out of the blue. She could only hug the teddy bear and look around.
“Now, the Empress has said so. Tell me your wish, Siervy.”
At this time, the emperor thought that Siervian would wish to have another cake or have a tour around the garden.
However, Siervian thought about it for a long time. And when she answered eventually, it was something that was completely unexpected.
“Sebi wants to see the tweasure room of the pawace.”
As the empress’ eyes grew ferocious once more, Siervian hugged the teddy bear tighter and pretended she didn’t notice.
She didn’t mean for this to happen, but she couldn’t just let go of a good opportunity.