The audience door was wide open.

Garnet was the first to come in and knelt down on her knees. The nobles who followed her knelt down and filled half of the wide audience room.

The Emperor couldn’t help but be amazed.

Garnet was not crushed by those standing behind her.

That doesn’t mean it looked like she’s having their strength as a backing.

Garnet said in a slightly shaky voice,

“Garnet greets His Majesty the Emperor.”

The greeting was brief. The fact that she did not announce her title meant that she had come to this place as an individual.

“I have come to plead guilty.”

Then, after a while, there was a commotion. Garnet continued talking, not paying any attention.

“I am the one who assumed to be the Empress. I was greedy for a precious jewelry box, and even though I knew it was treason, I received it without any hesitation. It has nothing to do with my husband.”

“Your Grace?”

One of the nobility called her in a trembling voice. This was not what they thought.

“Please punish me. Punish me, and only hold my husband and others responsible for not properly disciplining me.”

Garnet lay down with her forehead touching the floor.

The Emperor laughed.

* * *

Grand Duke Roygar nervously circled his room. The nobles in the garden followed Garnet and did not return.

“Hey. Ask His Majesty that I would like to attend an audience.”

The guards didn’t even budge when they heard that. They seemed to be given a separate order.

Grand Duke Roygar, not knowing what to do, circled his room again.

He couldn’t even guess what Garnet had come to do. If she’s simply asking for life, she’d be better off not doing it.

Was she motivated by others to claim that this was a conspiracy of Grand Duchy Evron?

That’s something Garnet shouldn’t have done.

‘Jewelry box, jewelry box…….’

Grand Duke Roygar knew that Garnet had come herself. She would have had a different attitude if she had been forced.

His head felt like it was going to explode.

Garnet should not have been in the Capital.

It was then.

An attendant came to change the jug in the room. There was also a basket of fresh fruit instead of a usual flower vase.

Grand Duke Roygar glanced at him and sat down on a nearby sofa.

The attendant put the fruit basket on the table and said in a low voice to Grand Duke Roygar,

“Her Grace the Grand Duchess has come to plead guilty.”

“What?”

Grand Duke Roygar rose to his feet.

“I don’t know anymore than that.”

The attendant took the old water bottle and spoke calmly and went outside.

Grand Duke Roygar tried to follow him. The guards crossed their spears and stopped him.

Grand Duke Roygar was frozen in place.

If he had screamed and forced himself to run, it might have helped.

He was still royalty. The blood flowing through his body was something others would not shed without an imperial order.

So, he was not afraid to face the spear, and he could lean forward.

He could have said he was going to see the Emperor.

The Emperor said he would wait for his decision. He could have told the attendant that now he would make the decision.

If he is to go to the audience with surveillance, it is probably possible.

However, Grand Duke Roygar did not step his feet forward.

Garnet pleads guilty. She may be sacrificing herself for him.

The Emperor’s proposal was fulfilled even if he did not accept it.

Grand Duke Roygar returned to the couch and sat down. His limbs were as heavy as lead.

No more news was delivered.

Even the servant who brought dinner did not open his mouth.

The conclusion was made long after the sun had set.

Grand Duke Roygar was released.

＊＊＊

Count Brennan prostrated before the Emperor. The Emperor slowly opened his mouth.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

“How could I? I have nothing to say.”

Garnet’s coming to confess was something that Count Brennan had never imagined.

She didn’t even report to the Emperor about the possibility.

“They say that nurturing children is the most difficult thing in the world, but Marquis Luden also failed.”

The Emperor clicked his tongue.

He had previously thought that Marchioness Camellia looked a lot more like Marquis Luden than Marquis Luden Heir Apparent.

“Well, if Marquis Luden were still alive, the Grand Duchess wouldn’t have been able to do this.”

“…….”

“Isn’t it interesting? Marquis Luden had more than ten children, and among them all, the children with clever and judicious judgment were illegitimate. The legitimate ones were incompetent and did not know how to think with their own head.”

The Emperor crossed his arms and leaned back, resting his stiff neck briefly against the back.

“Among these, the daughter, whom the father thought the least thoughtful and foolish, possessed the most important qualities.”

Count Brennan only bowed her head. It was because the Emperor was not speaking specifically towards her.

The Emperor twisted his lips.

In the end, it was bittersweet to think about whether Marquis Luden himself had twisted the innate qualities of his children so that they could not be displayed.

It was because they kept thinking of the saying that they ruined the child by teaching them the wrong way.

The Emperor shook his head to clear his thoughts.

And he looked down at Count Brennan and said,

“However, in the end, Count failed to cause division, failed to raise an army, and even after looking for more than ten years, you could not get any correct information from the Grand Duchess’ aide.”

“I have nothing to say…….”

“Did you want an audience to give an excuse?”

said the Emperor coldly.

“Why? Now, even if Grand Duchess Evron herself claims the work, it seems that the situation cannot be overturned, so don’t you feel motivated?”

“How is that possible? His Majesty, I am certain that Grand Duchess Evron was involved in this.”

Count Brennan insisted firmly even as she lay down.

“It was Grand Duchess Evron’s lady-in-waiting who got Ian Camellia an invitation to the banquet. Where he was staying is also the annex of Grand Duke Evron’s residence. In all probability, it was Grand Duchess Evron who brought him to the Capital.”

“Do you think I didn’t investigate?”

“I heard that Grand Duke Evron dared to not let Your Majesty’s investigators into the mansion.”

“The official investigators and the guards have searched the annex.”

In short, they will only accept investigations that have undergone public procedures. It was something Cedric could do.

“Actually, there was nothing to do. Because Grand Duchess Evron is not poor enough to leave evidence of such an event.”

“I…… .”

“Don’t play shallow tricks on me, Count Brennan.”

Count Brennan gave strength to her stomach and tried not to disturb her breathing.

“I don’t think so…….”

“Now, even trying to bring in Grand Duchy Evron, it is over. Grand Duchess Roygar has confessed.”

“I…….”

“It doesn’t really matter now whether Grand Duchess Evron was involved or not.”

said the Emperor.

“Grand Duchess Evron called in Ian Camellia. She could have him file an inheritance lawsuit, or she could have financed Ian Camellia.”

“Yes.”

“The only result is that the original conflict between Marquisate Luden and Marquisate Camellia has become visible. And in the end, it was Skyla Camellia who caused the current situation. ”

The rest were all derivative results.

“The Dame who assassinated Marquis Luden without missing the opportunity would know best.”

The Emperor leaned his body at an angle and rested his chin, looking down at Count Brennan.

“Then, does that mean that Dame was also deceived by Grand Duchess Evron?”

Count Brennan was speechless at those words.

She was originally trying to state the fact that Marquis Luden was digging for the weakness of Grand Duchy Evron. There was a good chance that Grand Duke Evron would take the throne and attack Grand Duke Roygar.

But the assassination of Marquis Luden was entirely her own decision.

“The opportunity arose to bring in Marchioness Camellia, and just in time, Roygar vacated the Capital. Count is nothing more than an opportunist. It must have been just an attempt to reorganize the Eastern faction into something else.”

“Your Majesty, I have never forgotten your secret order.”

“Then, it is your incompetence. You mean that the rift that Grand Duchess Evron had created by summoning a man could not be created by you even after being an insider for ten years?”

Count Brennan felt humiliated.

She didn’t think she couldn’t make a crack. Within the faction of the Grand Duke of Roygar, she faced Marquis Luden and made a number of comrades.

But she was incompetent. She meant something different from what the Emperor meant, but it must have been so, she thought to herself.

She killed Marquis Luden and tried to get into place. She tried to secure her influence over Grand Duke Roygar, and claim her achievements to the Emperor.

As a result, none of them succeeded.

Grand Duke Roygar entrusted his memorial service to Marchioness Camellia.

By confessing to the Emperor, the Grand Duchess made even the plan to bring Grand Duchy Evron into a muddy fight useless.

She failed, so she had to give in. Count Brennan asked meekly,

“What should I do next?”

The Emperor narrowed his eyes.

He planted her in Grand Duke Roygar’s faction to cause division, but he was rather offended by Count Brennan’s actions, who tried to wield and seize power.

However, the results of this work were quite satisfactory.

Grand Duke Roygar himself did not abandon Garnet. However, in the end, Garnet took all the responsibility, and Grand Duke Roygar was able to survive.

Count Brennan was a good fit for the necessary follow-up.

Now that things have come to this point, there is no need to worry about betrayal.

“Dame, run away to the East. There’s nothing to do here.”

“Yes.”

“Let the rumors spread that Grand Duke Roygar did not protect the Grand Duchess, but instead offered her as a scapegoat.”

Besides that, the Emperor gave Count Brennan a few minor orders.

Garnet’s resolute attitude and the actions of the old nobles who decided to follow her docilely, despite her unexpected confession, will certainly be problematic in the future.

After Count Brennan left Ferguson entered the study.

“Grand Duchess Roygar was imprisoned in the dungeon. She has been treated with courtesy.”

“Yes.”

The Emperor also ordered Ferguson to spread false rumors about Garnet through a secret organization.

He could not leave pride in the East.