Chapter 219

Chapter 219 – Scapegoat (4)

Translator: Atlas / Editor: Regan

“You say you have captured three of my employees,” Annette began. “But an explosion that big would have required an enormous amount of black powder, wouldn’t it? At the very least, enough to fill an entire carriage.”

King Selgratis’s eyes wavered at the logical response. Annette was confident, as if she had already anticipated this, and was not at all intimidated by the King’s accusations.

“It would be impossible to enter the banquet hall with that much powder, wouldn’t it?” Annette went on calmly. “Anyone would have been stopped at the checkpoints if they tried to sneak into the palace. Even if they passed the checkpoint, three people could not carry that much black powder into the banquet hall. The guards were keeping a strict watch.”

It was fortunate that Ludwig had warned her the King was investigating Raphael’s servants. She might not have been able to answer with such poise if the King had caught her unprepared.

“Marquis Carnesis is right…”

“There was certainly tight security around the banquet hall, wasn’t there? And the palace is always heavily guarded. It’s where the Sun of Deltium resides.”

“Doesn’t it seem like someone was trying to discredit the Marquise? Who is real culprit?”

The nobles whispered among themselves as she spoke, because her objections were completely reasonable. And it was obvious that despite her own desperate condition, she had defended Celestine from attackers in the middle of a fire.

Having made an admirable defense for herself, Annette stood up straight, and the suspicious eyes of the nobles turned to the King. Selgratis had not expected so strong a rebuttal.

“If you are innocent, why did you kill my men?” He retorted. “They were ordered to investigate the explosion. Why would you attack them and kill them if you were innocent? You could only have wanted to kill the witnesses to your crime!”

He was deliberately ignoring Annette’s accusations that Celestine had been attacked by them, and throwing the blame for the guards’ deaths on Annette.

“We didn’t kill them all,” Annette said, pointing to several on the ground. “Those two were only knocked unconscious.”

“We didn’t kill them all. Two are simply unconscious.”

“…What?”

“They were trying to kill Lady Keers,” she said. “We were injured when we tried to stop them. Perhaps they were not following Your Majesty’s commands. We kept them alive so we could discover the truth.”

The King said nothing. He couldn’t believe Raphael had left survivors. Before Annette, he would have killed them all. Raphael had always had a terrible temper, and was known to be merciless in battle. The loss of his friends in the war had given him an anger that could never be assuaged.

But he had changed, after he met Annette. They were too different for him to ever be like her, but now he had begun to think before he swung his sword.

That was one reason he had become Master of Swords.

“I would ask the Sun of Deltium to allow me to question these men before these witnesses. I will prove my innocence.”

Annette bowed to the King, already planning to ask Railin to do the interrogation. For all his handsome face, his hands were ruthless, and he had a sharp intuition. He was also perceptive enough to notice when his target was lying. He was the perfect interrogator.

But the King was not about to allow it under such disadvantageous circumstances. His guards were well-trained, but they were also human beings. They would not resist torture.

Cornered, Selgratis only had one option.