What on earth is he trying to say? Elaina looked at Sinclair with a slightly tense expression, and……

“First, let’s take this opportunity to clearly organize the rumors circulating in Edenbell.”

Sinclair slowly began to speak.

“As I mentioned earlier, a few days before the Founding Festival began. His Majesty arranged a meeting with the Crown Prince, myself, and the Crown Princess. To put it simply, it was to convey what you already know.”

“……Then are you saying the rumors were true? That Your Highness has reconciled with the Imperial family……”

People’s faces subtly paled.

Of course, the rumors had already spread widely, but the royals and nobles didn’t fully believe them. They knew the Emperor’s feelings towards Sinclair all too well.

“No one is unaware of what it means to personally perform the Founding Festival ceremony. So I no longer have any reason to harbor ill will towards His Majesty. As you said, it might have been different if the situation was like before.”

“What are you saying now……!”

“And next!”

Hister muttered loudly with an expression of utter disbelief, but Sinclair firmly cut off his words.

“As the Crown Prince said, I left the Imperial Palace the day before the incident occurred. But this alone cannot be definitive proof that I am not the culprit.”

“……”

“However, unless your brain is made of muscle, shouldn’t you form a hypothesis that someone other than me could have committed the crime?”

Sinclair continued, speaking sarcastically.

“In other words, think about who would have the most reason to harbor ill will towards His Majesty the Emperor in the current Imperial family……”

As you know, the situation has changed a lot. Sinclair smiled.

“……Then who does Your Highness think is the culprit behind this incident?”

Heswin asked, and Sinclair slowly turned his head.

“Someone who can use power to suppress and exploit the sacred temple and the esteemed High Priest.”

Then he glared fiercely at Hister and moved his lips.

“Someone who used the same method as before to frame me for all these incidents. Probably the person most likely to have spread rumors that the accident at the Founding Festival was a self-staged act by me.”

At that moment, the room froze.

“And someone who would feel threatened by the fact that my relationship with His Majesty the Emperor has been restored. Also, someone who would benefit the most if something were to happen to His Majesty right now. For example, someone who could ascend to the throne as Emperor.”

“……”

“Thus, someone who completely blocked my access to the Emperor’s Palace so that I could no longer ensure His Majesty’s safety, and someone who has enough power to orchestrate this entire situation.”

Hister’s face had turned extremely pale as he realized he was cornered, but it was already too late.

“Crown Prince.”

Sinclair didn’t stop there, but nailed it down by mentioning Hister’s name.

“Hister Butler.”

“……”

“My dear younger brother.”

It was unfortunate for Hister, but Sinclair’s words had no logical flaws.

Compared to Hister’s weak argument that ‘Since Sinclair has been resenting the Emperor all this time, of course he must be the culprit’, it was even more so.

……Moreover, the only person who could prove Sinclair’s words false right now was the Emperor himself, but he was lying unconscious in his sickbed.

“It’s a lie!”

Hister, cornered, jumped up from his seat and shouted loudly, but the royals and nobles were already staring at him with hardened faces.

But among them, there was someone who tried to block Sinclair to the end.

“……Then how do you explain the High Priest’s involvement?”

It was Yuria’s elder sister, who was also Hister’s aunt.

“Your Highness’s words don’t make sense. The High Priest and the temple have always been loyal to the Imperial family. Since the founding of Edenbell, the Imperial family and the temple have never been at odds!”

She continued, panting.

“Then why! Why would the High Priest participate in an act that puts His Majesty the Emperor in danger! Wasn’t it in the temple’s sacred hall that His Majesty was attacked by a lion!”

In the end, it was an obvious argument. If Hister really wanted to kill the Emperor, why would the High Priest allow it and even summon him to the sacred hall where there was a mad lion?

“Even the highly respected and renowned High Priest had one weakness.”

Sinclair answered with an indifferent expression.

“Family. To be precise, his grown nephews.”

“What are you saying now……!”

“What if Crown Prince Hister Butler was blackmailing the High Priest using his family members as leverage, laundering funds under the pretext of temple donations?”

“That…… That never happened! Please stop making such absurd statements!”

From Hister’s perspective, it was an extremely unfair accusation.

To be precise, the statement about laundering funds wasn’t entirely false, but the High Priest was taking a certain percentage of that amount. So there was no need to go out of his way to blackmail the High Priest’s family.

“Don’t insult me without any evidence, elder brother! How could I, a member of the Imperial family, do such a thing!”

“Oh really?”

Sinclair smirked.

“Then what if there is evidence?”

Evidence? Hister visibly flinched.

“Since you seem unwilling to admit it to the end, it would be best to check directly.”

Finally, what Sinclair slowly pulled out from his breast pocket was a thick paper document bound with a brown leather strap.

Sinclair handed it over to Duke Heswin, who began to read it slowly.

“……It’s a ledger for three years.”

Then, hardening his expression very stiffly, he spoke as if spitting out the words.

“With the High Priest’s seal stamped on it.”

“Isn’t that seal sealed with holy power, making it impossible to forge?”

The nobles began to whisper.

“Then…… Lord Sinclair’s words truly……”

“The content! Please tell us what the content is, Duke Heswin!”

“Yes. We need to know the exact content.”

“……Imperial Year 419, Spring. Approved the donation of 800 million gold out of Crown Prince Hister Butler’s donation of 1.5 billion gold to the Winhem Orphanage in the capital.”

Duke Heswin let out a heavy sigh and slowly began to move his lips.

“Imperial Year 419, Winter, approved the donation of 700 million gold out of Crown Prince Hister Butler’s donation of 1.5 billion gold to the Cahel Orphanage in the Ern region.”

At the voice that was quietly uttered, Hister’s fingertips began to tremble slightly.

“Imperial Year 420, Summer, approved the donation of 2 billion gold out of His Majesty the Emperor’s special donation of 3 billion gold, divided equally between Winhem and Cahel Orphanages, 1 billion each.”

“You’re missing the most interesting part, Duke.”

Sinclair, who had risen from his seat by now, snatched the document from his hand and read the last part written.

“Imperial Year 422, Spring, approved the donation of all remaining donations from His Majesty the Emperor and Crown Prince Hister Butler, totaling 3.5 billion gold, to the Rainhel Mercenary Group in the Casta region.”

“……Rainhel Mercenary Group? Isn’t that the group that raises private soldiers and sells them to the Empire?”

“That’s right. And the Winhem and Cahel Orphanages are also…… all of the Crown Prince’s……”

“To be precise, they were established by the Crown Prince’s birth mother, Concubine Yuria, under the pretext of wanting to help the Empire’s people. After Yuria’s death, the Crown Prince inherited them.”

Sinclair answered personally.

“Moreover, making a donation to a purely private organization like a mercenary group? And right before the temple’s ceremony was to be held.”

“My goodness……”

“Isn’t this clear evidence of what he’s planning?”

‘It’s a split.’

Although Elaina had no experience in Imperial politics, even at a glance, the current situation was a split in itself.

‘Especially those five families representing Edenbell…… rather than being loyal to Hister, they were keeping their mouths shut to use the current Emperor as they pleased. But if something like this spreads outside……’

Then it would be no different from throwing the thousand-year-old name of ‘The Five Honorable Families’ into the mud, beyond simply using the Emperor or not.

Perhaps because of this, they were swaying even more than before, exchanging glances and whispering among themselves.

And, in the midst of it all………

“……”

Anelli, who had been sitting upright without mingling with anyone, was looking at Sinclair with a very faint smile.

“Excuse me. I am Joshua, the priest who assisted the High Priest.”

Suddenly, with a polite knock, the one who appeared in the grand conference hall was Joshua, the mid-level priest who always followed the High Priest like a tail.

“……While organizing the High Priest’s belongings, I found this. I thought it appropriate to present it in front of everyone, so I dared to come here.”

“Why don’t you read it yourself?”

Sinclair looked at Joshua with a smirk, and Joshua hesitated briefly before clearing his throat.

“……I swear before God that all the contents written in this document were written down by my own will, not because of anyone’s oppression, by me, High Priest Croeta.”

Then he began to read the High Priest’s will.

“I reveal the fact that over the past several years, our temple has had donation funds embezzled by Crown Prince Hister Butler under various pretexts. Some were laundered to make donations to desired places, but some were forcibly taken from the donation funds that His Majesty the Emperor of Edenbell had dedicated to God……”

“This is slander! Shut that mouth! How dare you, to me!”

“……Therefore, I, High Priest Croeta, can no longer commit such sins and intend to confess all the facts to His Majesty the Emperor in front of the sacred temple, in front of the sacred God. If Hister Butler, upon learning of my plan, uses tricks to bury this matter, I hope that based on this will, all his sins will be revealed in front of everyone.”

Hister’s struggle was of no use.

Joshua read the entire will left by the High Priest without a moment’s hesitation, and………

The grand conference hall became so quiet that not even breathing could be heard, as if struck by lightning.

“Now, it’s my turn to ask.”

And………

“How could such a thing happen in the Imperial Palace of all places? Hister Butler.”

Sinclair, who had magically erased the mockery evident on his face, glared at Hister with golden eyes burning like fire and asked.