“Well, it’s difficult for us to answer that.”

“Why is that? If it’s not Earl Vandermir, isn’t it obvious that the culprit must be someone else?”

“Sigh, we can’t confirm that for certain.”

When Arasila, who was expected to show a firm attitude by mentioning the existence of the real culprit, came out ambiguously, murmurs arose.

Then other instigators she had planted also slowly began their activities.

“Is it possible that the young lord wasn’t actually murdered?”

“Oh my, if he wasn’t murdered, why did he pass away?”

“There are various possibilities. I heard he was drinking alone at the time of the incident, so he could have made a mistake while intoxicated……”

Paula deliberately trailed off, leaving an impression. She too had attended the party at Arasila’s request to play the role of an instigator.

The hall buzzed at the new hypothesis that it might not have been murder. Arasila saw the Duke and Duchess’s faces turning pale in real time.

It was understandable to be flustered as a murder case suddenly changed to suicide. Even though it was something they had done in the past themselves.

“He must have been going through a hard time due to an unsavory scandal back then, so he might have made a bad choice while drunk.”

“But wasn’t a bloody knife found in Earl Vandermir’s room at that time?”

“Oh please, the Earl is a knight. Moreover, he was in charge of external security during the New Year’s festival. It wouldn’t be strange for him to use a sword and see blood anywhere.”

“Maybe he got in trouble for messing with an imperial maid. Didn’t he even have an illegitimate child because he didn’t care about time and place?”

Words uttered by a few immediately swayed the majority. People talked on their own without needing further provocation. Some even crossed the line a bit.

Those near the Duke and Duchess of Vandermir were careful with their words, but there were too many people in the hall at present.

It was difficult to accurately grasp who was where, so more people spoke without concern for the Duke and Duchess.

As the atmosphere heated up, Arasila gave a signal to wrap things up. At this, the noblewomen who had been asked to help moved.

“Anyway, it’s fortunate that an innocent person wasn’t caught. Honestly, the living should live, how long should we be bound by the dead? Especially someone as promising as the Earl.”

Everyone nodded at the words of a middle-aged noblewoman. Next, a young noblewoman stepped forward.

“Your Highness the Prince, may I ask what will happen to the murder case of young lord Vandermir from now on? Will there be a reinvestigation?”

Although it was a question he already knew about, Lucas hesitated and showed a somewhat troubled reaction. After pondering for a while, stroking his chin, he said,

“Hmm, quite some time has passed already, so I’m not sure what will happen. Considering various circumstances… I think it might be best to just treat it as an accidental death.”

Without giving others a chance to respond to his words, Lucas threw out his next statement.

“Frederick, what do you think?”

People’s heads turned towards Frederick, who was suddenly singled out.

Frederick, who was already feeling uneasy about the oddly unfolding situation, struggled to manage his expression.

He carefully opened his mouth to answer.

“It’s difficult to answer right now……”

“Ah, are you on the side that wants a reinvestigation even if it means risking an innocent victim being wrongly accused?”

Lucas cut off Frederick’s words with a sneer. His pronunciation was so clear and his voice so loud that everyone heard. Frederick’s eyes darkened.

The person who used to not dare move in front of him had changed over the past year. It wasn’t the first or second time seeing him in such a haughty state.

Not wanting to lose to Lucas in front of so many eyes, Frederick gritted his teeth and smiled as he retorted.

“How can you say such things, brother? Of course, I don’t want any innocent victims either.”

He was quick-witted and had good judgment. Unlike last year, people were favorable towards Demian now. It was natural, as he himself was a war hero, and his wife had recently expanded her influence in social circles.

There was no benefit in openly opposing the mainstream opinion at a time like this.

Frederick rolled his eyes to look at Arasila, who was sticking close to Demian’s side.

So this is why you suddenly devoted yourself to social activities. To turn public opinion in favor of Demian Vandermir.

‘What’s so great about that bastard.’

A bitter laugh almost escaped as his teeth ground together, but Frederick held it in and continued speaking.

“If it’s judged that treating it as an accidental death is right, then that would be better. After all, Earl Vandermir even went on an expedition, so there’s no point in further investigating the incident, is there?”

But he didn’t just answer meekly, and he also countered with a mocking nuance. Suggesting that since Demian had gone to war as a criminal, wasn’t it all over now?

“Now that he has paid for his crimes, I agree with making a choice for everyone’s benefit.”

After finishing his final statement neatly, Frederick looked up at the three people on the platform.

They weren’t interested in Frederick. They seemed to be carefully watching something else, which made Frederick furrow his brow at that moment.

“What nonsense are you talking about!”

A sharp voice that was almost like a scream echoed through the hall.

Turning their heads towards the sound, they saw the Duchess of Vandermir with her face flushed bright red.

Breathing unsteadily, she strode forward, pushing through the crowd. People cleared a path for her, overwhelmed by her terrifying momentum.

“Why should our son’s death be an accident? Our Oscar was murdered! My poor son was unjustly killed—!”

With her eyes half-rolled back in excitement that had crossed a threshold, the Duchess shrieked at the top of her lungs. She raised her hand abruptly to point at someone and shouted.

“And by that man!”

People followed her fingertip with their eyes. There was… Frederick.

Looking extremely flustered, he angrily denied the Duchess’s words.

“Duchess, what an outrage! How dare you make such absurd claims against me…!”

“It’s no use pretending! I know you killed Oscar!”

But the Duchess had already lost her reason. In fact, she felt her mind spinning from the moment she entered the hall.

A person who had been alive and well became a cold corpse buried in the ground overnight, and while some were barely living with the grief of losing a precious son.

Meanwhile, seeing the two people she wished were dead instead throwing lavish parties and smiling brightly made her insides churn.

Amidst all this, when Frederick brazenly tried to bury her son’s death too, all the resentment that had built up inside her exploded at once.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“A guild member you failed to finish off came to us and confessed everything!”

At those words, Frederick flinched for a moment. For a year, he had been frantically trying to catch and kill the last survivor of the guild he had hired. But to think that person had contacted the Vandermir family.

His heart sank and he felt like he might faint, but he desperately clung to consciousness. Even if they had an important witness, he had to deny everything and push through for now.

Frederick turned his head sharply to look at the Duke, who was standing awkwardly among the people. He was at a loss, unable to either stop or help his suddenly rampaging wife.

“Duke Vandermir, do something about your wife! She’s out of her mind! How can you manage your wife like this?”

“Y-Yes? Ah……”

Caught off guard by the Crown Prince’s sudden call, the Duke hesitantly turned towards his wife. Considering the reputation of his family and himself, it seemed better to stop her for now.

As the Duke reached out his hand towards his wife, he heard people whispering in his ear, sensitive to others’ gazes.

“What’s this, is the Duchess going mad and slandering His Highness the Crown Prince?”

“Tsk tsk, it seems the Vandermir family has reached its end. They’ll soon be ruined.”

“I thought things might get better if Earl Vandermir inherited the family. But no matter how much she’s lost a child, she’s insulted His Highness the Crown Prince, so the whole family will be punished.”

Above all, the last remark sharply awakened the Duke’s mind. If he sided with the Crown Prince here and stopped his wife, the Vandermir family would have to bear all the aftermath. Because Frederick would never admit his crime.

Then the Duke’s reputation would fall even lower than now, and the Vandermir family would suffer tremendous losses.

Realizing that he was about to do something that would only benefit Frederick, the Duke stopped in his tracks.

Meanwhile, the Duchess tried to rush at Frederick but was stopped by the guard knights. However, she didn’t give up and continued to riot, roughly pushing the knights away.

“Why did you kill my son? Did you want to sell our family to the Lester duchy? Did you think it would be more helpful for treason? Is that why you killed our innocent Oscar?”

Now even talk of treason had come up. A flustered Frederick urged the Duke while glancing around.

“Duke, why are you just standing there? Take your wife away at once…!”

“My wife hasn’t said anything wrong, has she?”

“…What?”

But the response that came back was cold.

“I know you killed Oscar and framed Demian for it, so you could swallow up the Vandermir family once there was no heir.”

The Duke’s expression had hardened coldly. As if he no longer intended to move according to Frederick’s wishes.

Feeling choked up as he spoke, he opened his mouth again with a huff.

“But you underestimated me too much, Your Highness. I, Alex Vandermir! I’m not such an easy person!”

“Ha! Duke, have you gone mad too now?”

Frederick laughed in disbelief, shaking his head.

It was amazing how he maintained his mask until the end without breaking. But now that the situation had come this far, the Duke was also desperate. There was no desire or possibility to reconcile with Frederick again, so he had to go all the way.

Choosing the lesser evil between the worst and second worst, the Duke tensed his stomach and shouted.

“Do you think I don’t know that you prepared for treason with Marquis Grant in the past, and are now working with the Lester duchy!”

“Shut up!”

Frederick silenced him with a thunderous roar.

Of course, he knew that even a dog bites its owner when cornered. That’s why he hadn’t completely stripped the Vandermir family bare. He had pretended to treat them well while trying to exploit them as much as possible.

He just didn’t expect that they had already realized the truth and would reveal it here.

“You’re crazy, completely mad! The couple has gone insane from the shock of losing their son…!”

If it was just Oscar’s murder case, he could handle it, but not treason. That word must not be attached to his name.

He hadn’t been able to do anything yet. He couldn’t let the plans he had prepared for so long be ruined so pathetically.

“I can’t stay here any longer.”

In the end, he chose to leave hurriedly. He knew there was nothing to gain by staying and fighting further.

“Where are you going?! You have to tell us why you killed our Oscar!”

The Duchess tried to cling to Frederick one last time, but she fell down after bumping into a guard knight who firmly blocked her way.

The Duchess, sprawled on the floor, began to wail loudly while beating her chest. Arasila, Demian, and Lucas exchanged glances as they looked around the chaotic hall.

A small smile appeared on their lips. It was a perfect achievement of their goal.

The incident at Demian’s welcome party was widely reported in all the newspapers. With so many attendees, reports poured in from all directions.

The newspaper companies were thrilled to interview the participants, vividly transcribing their testimonies into print and spreading them throughout the empire.

Lucas seized this opportunity to propose holding a court meeting to address the allegations of Frederick’s treason.

The Crown Prince faction nobles tried to block it, but now Lucas also had a strong group of Prince faction nobles behind him.

“If His Highness is innocent, he can come to the court meeting and explain in front of everyone, can’t he?”

“No, that itself could damage His Highness the Crown Prince’s honor…!”

“Then what do you suggest? Keep the treason label attached to His Highness? Why don’t you understand that this makes it even more suspicious!”

Eventually, pushed by the strong insistence of the Prince faction nobles, a special court meeting was decided. Even the Emperor, who had been the last hope of the Crown Prince’s side, agreed to this. The Empress went to him and even knelt down, pleading to protect Frederick, but to no avail.

He told Frederick and Lucas to each designate half of the court meeting attendees equally. That was the Emperor’s last act of mercy towards the Crown Prince.

And Lucas added Arasila and Demian to the list of court meeting attendees. The three prepared for the final battle with the evidence they had gathered so far.

When the meeting date was set, Arasila sent a message to Riley to leave the merchant group now. As for Brady, the Vandermir family would bring him, so there was no need to worry.

Finally, the morning of the court meeting dawned amidst the intangible tension that kept rising.

Arasila, neatly dressed in her magic tower uniform, turned to Demian and asked.

“Demian, are you ready?”

“Yes, I am. How about you, my lady?”

“I’m ready too.”

She grinned broadly. Demian stretched his legs to stand beside his wife. Walking side by side with him, Arasila said.

“Let’s go and finish everything today.”

All of it.