It was from that moment that the plan to drive Lloyd out and set everything back in its place began to take more concrete shape.

From then on, Leoprick spent nights in the secret-filled bookshelf, figuring out how to lure him in and how Lloyd, with his thin Reinhart blood, could operate the magic circle.

During the day, he devoted himself to state affairs, and at night, he rummaged through old records to complete the plan.

That’s how the plan was completed.

Leoprick smirked at his cousin, who frowned at his words to prove himself.

“No matter how much praise you receive from many people now, it doesn’t become power.”

People will eventually seek what they are familiar with.

At his words, Lloyd was seen gritting his teeth.

It would be because he also knew how much the Reinhart imperial family had accumulated.

The people praised Lloyd, but they did not say they wanted him to become emperor.

They just said that they wanted him to join forces with the crown prince to create a good country.

Lloyd knew that too, so he must have come to Leoprick like this whenever he had a chance, urging him without urging.

To step down from the position of crown prince quickly.

“So if you really want this position, prove it. Prove that you have the rightful blood of the imperial family flowing in you.”

“Ha. Everything I’m doing right now is proving myself, so why do I have to do as you say?”

“You say that, but you can’t stand it without constantly doing something, Lloyd. Showing your image of continuously doing good to the people. Wasn’t that all for your own way of proving yourself?”

The people do not easily turn their backs on the imperial family.

Lloyd knew that too, so he kept pressing Amelia to create something.

He knew.

He himself, Lloyd himself, and Amelia herself.

They just rationalized to themselves that it was better than at first, that it had developed a lot.

Leoprick pointed that out and stimulated Lloyd.

“If you drive me and Father out and ascend to the throne in this state, there will probably be strong opposition from everywhere. You’re proving that you’re a good person, not proving that you’re the legitimate heir to the imperial family.”

“When I ascend to the throne, the Reinhart imperial family will disappear anyway. But do I really need to prove that I am the legitimate heir to the imperial family?”

“You know better than anyone else that you lack both time and achievements to completely erase Reinhart.”

No matter how much you use Amelia, in the eyes of the people, you are nothing more than a traitor.

As Leoprick continued to speak, Lloyd’s expression became more and more distorted.

The truth is usually more vividly felt when directly confronted than when one simply thinks about it.

Leoprick slowly rose from his seat, looking at such Lloyd.

“I can’t stand the thought of you, but unfortunately, it’s because the person next to you is Amelia. It’s hard for me to watch her suffer every day, so I’ll tell you one surefire way.”

“Ha. In the end, it was because of that woman, Leoprick?”

You acted like it wasn’t, but in the end, you’re the same.

Lloyd provocatively stimulated Leoprick in a sarcastic tone, but he just walked out of the room with his mouth shut.

“Follow me. I’ll show you the most surefire way.”

There was no need to respond to correct words.

And if the other person used it for the purpose of provoking, all the more so.

Ignoring Lloyd, who kept sarcastically talking about his feelings for Amelia behind him, Leoprick moved his steps.

Above all else, he couldn’t stand Lloyd constantly disparaging Amelia like that and treating her as nothing.

He had thought about talking to her directly and persuading her about this, but Amelia was not someone who easily reversed what she once believed to be right.

Moreover, to someone who was trembling in fear of being abandoned by Lloyd, no matter how much he told her to come to her senses.

It was already too late, and it would have been even later then.

And that could unintentionally hurt Amelia more.

Since it started with Lloyd’s ambition, the destruction at its end should also be due to Lloyd’s ambition, so that Amelia would be less hurt.

So Leoprick began the plan he had planned for a very long time to destroy Lloyd.

“This way.”

The very first thing was to show Lloyd the innermost hidden space of the imperial palace’s secret archives.

To show Lloyd everything he had already created and lead him.

Leoprick guided him through the familiar door at the far end of the archives.

“What is this place?”

“What else. It’s where all the secrets of the imperial family that can only be disclosed to the emperor and his successor are kept.”

And while Lloyd was looking around, he inserted the crown prince’s seal he had brought into the designated place and turned it.

Without any sound, the door quietly opened and the hidden space appeared.

Lloyd seemed surprised by the suddenly appearing space, but Leoprick casually moved inside.

“You’d better come in quickly. The door will close soon.”

And when he lightly gestured to Lloyd, he also hurriedly entered.

The moment Lloyd set foot inside, the door closed.

“…The door closes on its own even though I didn’t close it?”

“I heard it was a device made by a wizard long ago. I heard that magic is a discipline based on formulas and operations, so it is also skilled at creating such mechanical devices.”

“This is a mechanical device?”

“Then did you think the magic cast long ago would still operate on its own?”

While Lloyd was surprised by what was familiar to him, Leoprick moved to the empty space he had prepared among the densely packed books.

“This is what you have to do.”

And there, there was a magic circle he had drawn in advance.

To cast the magic that turns back time.

“What is this?”

“What else. Among the imperial family’s secrets in this place right now, it’s the magic circle that belongs to the highest level secret of turning back time.”

Lloyd looked even more surprised at his nonchalant answer.

“Then, does that mean magic really existed?”

“Only for those with imperial family bloodline. I heard that the legend that the first emperor was a dragon, which everyone now believes to be a legend, is actually true.”

Leoprick walked around carefully so as not to erase the magic circle.

He was wondering if there were any parts that had been erased or made sloppily, but to Lloyd’s eyes, it seemed to look even more meaningful.

“Wasn’t the legend that the first emperor was a dragon to deify the imperial family? Is that true?”

“If it’s not true, something like this wouldn’t have been left behind. This story wouldn’t have been passed down only to the emperor and crown prince either.”

When Leoprick spoke matter-of-factly, Lloyd couldn’t hide his confused expression.

Even so, magic.

It must be difficult to grasp when what he thought was only an ancient relic actually appeared before his eyes.

But Leoprick had no intention of letting him have any other thoughts.

Lloyd had to be completely persuaded by him right here and now.

“As descendants of the first emperor’s bloodline, all emperors are born with magical power in their blood. That’s why the empress’ symbol, Isolde’s Tears, is revered as a national treasure.”

So Leoprick began to fabricate a more plausible story based on his own research.

No matter how much he babbled, Lloyd would never study and research what’s inside here as much as he did.

He would enter here again only after somehow becoming emperor.

“Unlike the emperor, who is already deified by dragon myths, the empress has no religious foundation. That’s how it appeared when the emperors used magic a few times.”

“Then the stories of Isolde’s Tears working miracles…”

“It was the emperor using magic. If you use this magic circle to turn back time or distort it, you can bring events from the future or the past to the present.”

Knowing Lloyd’s personality.

And knowing what kind of person he was, Leoprick’s words were filled with deep conviction as he opened his mouth.

Because he knew too well how he would use his story.

Blinded by his desire for honor, Lloyd would try to use the magic circle believing only what he told him without properly investigating.

“So if you really want to be recognized as an emperor who has inherited the imperial family’s blood, prove it. If you can work even half the miracles that the emperors and empresses of the past have worked using this magic circle, the nobles and the people will recognize you.”

“…You take me for a fool. How can a miracle performed in such a secret place become a tool for recognizing me?”

Lloyd stared at Leoprick with a sharp gaze.

No matter how much magic he used here for a hundred days, no one would see it, so how could he be recognized, he demanded.

To him who questioned how people would know about it, Leoprick responded with a relaxed expression.

“Then how do you think the people knew what the emperors have done so far?”

You’re good at it, political show.

At his words mixed with a sneer, Lloyd glared at him.

It’s not like he made up a non-existent story, so there’s no need to look at him like that.

Leoprick leaned against the wall with a still relaxed expression.

And he took out a pocket watch he had prepared in advance from his chest and waved it toward Lloyd.

“No need to think too hard. If you want to become emperor and if that makes Amelia happy, I won’t stop you from using this magic circle.”

The method is simple. You just need to use magic through this watch as a medium.

Leoprick opened the watch to show the groove inside that was the same shape as the one at the entrance of this room.

All he had to do was insert the seal into this watch on top of the magic circle.

A very simple and straightforward thing.

But despite Leoprick’s kind explanation, Lloyd only frowned.

“How can I trust that?”

“If you want, I’ll even write a pledge. No one can enter here without the seal of the emperor or crown prince.”

Isn’t that enough?

When Leoprick asked back, Lloyd raised the corner of his mouth and gave a twisted smile.

“Yes. That level of political show, I can do it.”

And a few days later, for the sole progress of that show.

Lloyd had Amelia poison Leoprick to death.

Even the designer of this plan, who had anticipated it to some extent.