The emperor’s bedroom was as silent as a tomb.

The doctors who had filled the spacious room until just yesterday, and the nurses who tended to him, were nowhere to be seen.

Like a lonely island in the vast ocean, only the emperor sitting on the bed in the middle of the room and……

Sinclair, standing before him, were the only ones present in the bedroom.

“You’re being quite unreasonable, Your Majesty, more than I expected.”

At Sinclair’s words, filled with clear ridicule, the emperor looked at his son with a pale face.

“I thought you would at least come up with a plausible excuse, but a plot by an enemy nation? It was deflating, to say the least.”

The emperor gave no answer. He merely swallowed his dry saliva and bit his lips tightly.

“Your tearful fatherly love, I witnessed it very well.”

Sinclair said with a snicker.

“I clearly told you.”

“……”

“If you point to Hister as the mastermind behind this incident, I will personally cover up Your Majesty’s faults.”

Over Sinclair’s mockingly resounding voice……

[Shall we make a deal, Your Majesty?]

Sinclair’s voice, full of derision, overlapped.

The emperor, clenching his trembling hands into fists, quietly recalled what had happened just the day before yesterday.

……The news that the emperor remained unconscious was half true and half false.

To be precise, he regained consciousness on the very day Sinclair walked to the place where the portrait was hidden.

He had no idea how Sinclair found out that he had woken up, but anyway, the first face he saw was not Hister’s, but Sinclair’s.

[How… How dare you come here……] [Why am I so unlucky with my family?]

Those were the first words Sinclair had spoken, meeting the emperor’s eyes as he lay in the sickbed.

[Your Majesty and the crown prince refuse to acknowledge my abilities, so it’s no wonder I get annoyed every time.] [What……?] [I hope this incident has made it clear to you. Contrary to Your Majesty’s expectations, your eldest son has surprisingly many capabilities. For example, secretly placing people here and there in the palace.] [……] [So, I can easily instigate anything without dirtying my hands. Things like that.] [It was your doing after all.]

The emperor quickly realized. That ridiculous attack was none other than Sinclair’s work.

[So what?]

And Sinclair did not particularly deny it.

[Didn’t I just say? I can instigate anything without dirtying my hands.] [What are you……!] [I did it on purpose. To make it look like an inside job within the imperial family to anyone’s eyes. Of course, I was aware that the suspicion would first fall on me.]

The emperor could still vividly remember how evil Sinclair’s face had seemed as he said those words.

[……Only then can I draw attention to my dear brother while taking all the suspicion upon myself at a glance.] [Hister…… Where is Hister? Did you…… perhaps……] [I didn’t kill him.]

Now that I’m an adult, I no longer engage in emotionally killing someone like I used to. Sinclair laughed.

[But at this rate, Hister will be made the mastermind.]

The emperor quickly understood what kind of scheme Sinclair had devised to corner his beloved son. He, too, was aware of it. Sinclair’s steadily rising reputation.

Also, although not very wise, the emperor was someone who had held the imperial power for a long time. So he was no stranger to the process of such political strife.

[Shall we make a deal, Your Majesty?] [Do you think…… I would bet the life and future of my beloved Hister to engage in a petty gamble with you?] [……] [Get out. Return to the prince’s palace and prepare yourself. As soon as dawn breaks, you will be executed.] [No, I have a different idea.]

And Sinclair, smiling like a devil, continued.

[Do you remember this?]

What he then took out from his bosom was a few sheets of documents.

[13 years ago, I nearly died. Because of Yuria’s scheme.]

……Which the emperor knew all too well.

[That was the first time I killed someone. They were sent by Yuria. And I told Schuler, who barely found me, to bring all their corpses. But what do they have with them?]

In a very gentle voice, Sinclair began to read the document on top, as if reading a fairy tale to a child. So grotesquely.

[After killing the child, disguise it as an accident and deliver the body. Make sure there are no mistakes like last time. Completely.]

A document held in a blood-veined hand fluttered onto the bed, and Sinclair looked down at the next document.

[Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. If the handling of this matter is so sloppy, could there be any evidence left behind regarding Mother’s death as well?] [……] [So I went through a lot of trouble. I found a knight who had been Yuria’s closest aide, and he had fled to another empire as soon as Mother passed away. But I finally found him and sent Schuler. And do you know what turned up?]

Sinclair personally shoved the old document in the emperor’s face and said.

[Get rid of both the child and the mother. Doesn’t this sound familiar?]

On the short secret letter……

[Isn’t this what Your Majesty personally wrote?]

Instead of Yuria’s, the emperor’s seal was stamped.

[Perhaps thinking that his life might be in danger for the sake of silencing someday, he had fled from Edenbell as if being chased by debt collectors, yet he kept that secret letter. How very interesting.] [Since when…… have you been doing this……?] [And it will be even more interesting when people find out about this. Not only did the emperor orchestrate the empress’s death, but the current crown prince’s mother tried to kill the rightful heir. There is no greater scandal than this.] [……] [Moreover, Your Majesty is also the one responsible for destroying Mother’s homeland, Asteka. If the remaining Astekan forces find out about this, there will be utter chaos.]

Sinclair was right. The moment those secret letters were revealed to the world, it was clear that the emperor and the crown prince would face a very difficult situation.

[Even so, do you really have nothing to bargain with me?] [Si…… Sinclair…… How dare you…… to your father……] [If you make Hister the mastermind behind this incident, these secret letters will be permanently disposed of. I promise. But if the opposite happens…… I don’t need to tell you, you’ll know.]

What should he do? No matter which choice he made, the path ahead for the emperor and Hister was only a thorny one. And not just any thorns, but very thick and sharp ones that would pierce through their entire bodies and still remain.

But as if that wasn’t enough, Sinclair continued.

[And do you really think Hister will help you, Your Majesty?] [What……?] [There is no thought more foolish than that.]

It was a preposterous thing to say.

The emperor had never once doubted Hister.

It was only natural. How much had he done for his son, and how much had he accomplished?

His beloved Hister knew all of that, so he had always lived gratefully to him. Why would such an unwavering father-son relationship crumble at a time like this?

[Don’t you want to test Hister? To see if Hister truly cares for his father with all his heart, as you do.] [Are you saying now…… that Hister will betray me! How can you say such a thing!] [Just half a day.] [……] [Just pretend to remain unconscious for half a day more. You don’t have to worry about the doctors. I’ve already silenced them.]

With that, Sinclair left the emperor’s bedroom.

[3 days. I’ll give you exactly 3 days. Make sure His Majesty regains consciousness somehow within that time. You don’t have to save him!]

And the emperor learned the very next day that Sinclair’s words were not wrong.

[You can use excessive medication. Even if there are side effects, I won’t hold you accountable! Just make him return to his senses for about half a day!]

That voice that had threatened the doctor while shouting.

[Your Majesty, it is not courteous of you to pass away like this, is it? Hurry and wake up. Wake up and testify. The culprit is Sinclair Butler.]

The chilling voice that had descended upon his ears as he pretended to be unconscious.

[So the next throne will undoubtedly be occupied by me, Hister Butler! It was Your Majesty’s lack of virtue that failed to deal with Sinclair in the first place, so if you want to die in peace, make sure to handle the matter properly!]

You incompetent old man……!

The emperor remembered those last words that had pierced his eardrums like a dagger all too well.

And he instinctively realized.

The son who always respected and served him was nothing but an illusion from the beginning. To Hister, he was merely a highly useful means.

And the fact that in this shining Edenbell, there was no one who could protect him……

“Since you changed your words to say it was the doing of an enemy nation, not Hister, what shall I do for you?”

……And Sinclair, smirking, asked the emperor.

“Isn’t this a truly difficult situation? I showed such generosity and mercy to Your Majesty, yet you backstabbed me like this.”