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“Did you make an accident?”
“No, just if-”
“What kind of accident are you going to make?”
“Mmm, an accident that I, who’s a minor, can’t handle alone?”
“…”
“It’s funny that I shouted I was going to live my life on my own and ask this question,” I said in a small voice as I held the doorknob and looked into my father’s eyes.
He stared at me with an expression I couldn’t read, then quickly closed the book that had been laid out on his lap. Then he asked, “Theft? Arson? Or murder?”
“… What?”
“I’m asking what level of accident you will have.”
“Mmm…” I was a little bewildered and scratched my cheek before answering. “For example, a bit of a violation of the imperial law? Can I be sentenced to death for threatening the life of an imperial family…”
“Hmm.” With his legs crossed, Dad slowly closed his eyes and tilted his head. “You wouldn’t have an accident like that without reason.”
“Of course. I have no intention of becoming a criminal, but if my good deed is punishable, I will definitely get it. The accident I’m talking about, I mean.”
“…”
“When I unintentionally caused trouble, it wasn’t malicious, and it wasn’t planned, but something unexpected happened, and I had to be held accountable half unfairly-”
“Rubette.”
“Yep.”
Dad got up and walked over to me. His eyes were shining like a wild beast when he came closer and looked down. I cringed slightly.
“If I say this, you may be disappointed in me.”
“No, no. Please feel free to speak. Well, I wasn’t expecting much…”
“After giving birth to you, I realized I wasn’t very moral.”
“Yes?”
What are you talking about? I was puzzled, but my dad added right away, “When I was as young as you, I was often around. Many aristocratic young masters made mistakes at the level of crime.”
“…”
“I’ve never seen a parent who rules strictly even though their children cause so much trouble. If it was their real child, they should’ve scolded them.”
“T-That’s right.”
“So I thought. When I have children later, I will never be as weak, swayed, or overlooked as those parents.”
“Yes. I think that’s the right way of teaching…”
“But when I actually had children, it didn’t work out.”
“…”
Dad smiled and pinched my cheek slightly.
“When Viego was seven years old- It was when your mother was still alive.”
“…”
“One day, he came in with a black bruise on his eye. He said he fought with a brother who was five years older than him. I was furious and personally rushed into that boy’s house. But he was already blood-stained and half dead.”
“… Brother Viego must’ve hit him more.”
“He did. But I couldn’t see him getting hit. There must’ve been a reason for the fight, and Viego might have done something wrong, but the context didn’t matter to me.”
“…”
“If your mom hadn’t stopped me, I might have shattered the house.” My father smiled and added as if he had noticed my uncomfortable expression. “Of course, I found out that, luckily, he got hit because he did the right thing.”
“Brother Viego couldn’t have hit a guy who didn’t deserve to be beaten like that.”
“That’s right. But even if he hadn’t done the right thing, I would have been furious all the same. And after that, I realized a bit.”
“…”
“A parent’s heart can’t help but weaken no matter what their children do,” Father added indifferently.
“I’m even the most extreme of all those parents.”
“I can see that.”
“Even if one of my children becomes a criminal overnight and goes to prison, I can never turn a blind eye to it. All I have is the power of this family to campaign in front of the law.”
“You know that’s not something to brag about, right?”
“I know. That’s why I told you. I’m not a very moral person.”
“I see. So we should grow up without trouble so you will never have to abuse your power.”
“Well, that’s the best. But you asked what I’d do if you made a mistake.”
“Yes. If later…”
Dad bent his knee to meet my eye level.
“There is no level in this empire that I cannot handle right now. Even if you committed a real crime, I would use my hands somehow, especially if it was an accident you didn’t intend to.”
“…”
“It is natural that you are still young and lacking. And because I am your father, I have a duty to take care of you and take responsibility for that.”
“…”
“So you don’t have to worry that I’ll pretend I don’t know even if you make an accident.” Dad finished talking by messing up my hair. “I don’t want to be harsh on your little mistakes, and I don’t want you to be perfect.”
He was, obviously, responding to the whining I once had.
“Didn’t you think of me as a shame for your family?”
“It’s true that I’m not good enough to be a daughter of a great father.”
How far did we misunderstand each other?
“Okay.”
“…”
“Thank you, Dad.”
My chest tightened a little.
***
The imperial family was turned upside down.
This was because the 1st Princess, Bella van Rashmach Descarde, fell asleep, unable to wake up.
What made Bella, who was still weak in her body, unable to get up at all, turned out to be a tea gifted by her sister, the 5th Princess Lisbeth.
The ingredient in the tea was a drug called Palegro.
It was a poison that caused fatal brain damage and left the user unconscious.
“Until Parliament decides on a proper punishment, temporarily imprison the 5th Princess in the Tower of Silence.”
The emperor himself declared.
The emperor had many children. As a result, in the Descarde Empire, where the struggle for succession was serious, the act of threatening a sibling’s life was strictly governed.
When one murdered their sibling, and there was clear evidence of that, even the imperial family had to pay for the crime with their lives.
The fact that the 5th Princess Lisbeth was born by his legal wife, the empress, and that she was still young was not an indulgence.
The imperial family was agitated daily with curiosity about what kind of punishment Lisbeth would be sentenced with.
“Is she going to be sentenced to death?”
“Because the 1st Princess is not dead…”
The fortunate thing was that the 1st Princess Bella did not die.
So there was no way that young Lisbeth would pay the price with her life.
But.
“Then the 5th Princess will be deposed.”
“Perhaps the abdication is a matter of course. She claims to be innocent, but…”
“There is no evidence to consider so that the sentence can be reduced.”
Lisbeth claimed innocence, but there was no evidence to support her claim.
“There is a shaman’s shop on the island. I’ll tell you where it is. I got it from her. I really, really didn’t think that- I thought it was a medicine that would heal Bella.”
The Shaman.
The Shaman’s shop.
Nothing in Lisbeth’s claim was real.
What if someone could convince everyone that the shaman exists?
Then the imperial family might be able to investigate the truth more actively…
Unfortunately, all of Lisbeth’s words were like a mirage.
“It’s fortunate that it ends with just being deposed. At the very least, she should hope you do not receive a sentence of imprisonment for the rest of her life on Vaden Island.”
Parliamentary nobles met at the imperial court every day to discuss what kind of punishment Lisbeth should be sentenced to.
But no matter how long their discussion might be unless there was any small piece of evidence to support Lisbeth’s innocence…
She might, at least, be deposed, and the maximum sentence given only to the imperial family might be reduced.
***
Scratch. Scratch.
The feeble sound of the pen filled the blank paper.
The crown prince, Lark van Rashmach Descarde, put the pen down from his moving hand and slowly tilted his head.
He had already stayed up for several days and nights, and his face was emaciated.
“Damn it…” A tired voice escaped his lips.
Lark served as the head of the investigation in this case by the emperor’s order.
“If you can’t prove Lisbeth’s innocence, you should clean up the doubts you will receive. Investigate this case with your own hands, and execute the sentence you have decided on Lisbeth yourself.”
Coincidentally, the suspect, Lisbeth, was Lark’s sibling from the same mother, and the victim, Bella, was a member of the imperial family with the right to succession after Lark.
It was a situation that could raise suspicions that it might have been the fortune of Crown Prince Lark, and the emperor gave Lark a hilt to block it.
Decide and execute the sentence that would be handed down to his sister.
“I’m going crazy.”
Lark, who recited as if chewing the words, raised his neck again and scanned the tightly scheduled calendar.
Soon he paused.
10:00 AM, Rubetria Diollus.
Maybe it was because it was difficult to meet Lark, who was busy.
Yesterday, there was a schedule for a private session that Rubette had officially requested through the imperial family.
‘At ten o’clock…’
It was five minutes ago.
“Your Highness, Princess Rubetria Diollus has visited today for a private schedule.”
“Oh, let her in.”
The visit was announced at just the right time, and soon after, Rubette showed her face.
Rubette, who entered the office with a leather bag on her side that did not match the pretty dress, greeted him.
“Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Mm, it’s been a long time.”
Rubette, who sighed while looking at Lark, who was full of laughter even though he might not be in the mood to laugh, slowly approached him.
“What brought you here?”
“Well, it’s nothing more.”
Rubette glanced at one side of Lark’s desk. There was a projector stone that was recording all the time.
After sitting face to face with the projector stone so that her face could be seen well, Rubette opened the bag and took out something.
“…?”
It was a small vial. Recognizing that, Lark’s eyes widened.
It was the same kind that Lisbeth had obtained from the shaman and submitted as evidence to the investigation team.
Looking straight at the startled Lark, Rubette said, “I’m here to make a report.”
T/N: I personally thought Lisbeth deserves it. I never liked her, and the whole thing about wanting to drug Lark was just annoying. And Rubette (or Juliet) is starting to act like the silly goody two shoes that I hate under the pretext that she’s doing it because Rubette would’ve done that. Although in this case, I could excuse her because it concerns Lark and the story must go on, I guess sighs