The shocking remark from my uncle should have caused a commotion, but unexpectedly, the conference room remained quiet.
It was only natural.
If anyone spoke up now, it was clear that Reinhardt, with his intimidating demeanor, would not let them be.
Was that the reason?
He solely directed his anger at my uncle.
“Marquis, on what grounds… do you dare to slander me?”
“I still have the letter that the Archduke sent me. The very letter that states Countess Herde is the princess.”
“Ha? Do you have any proof that I sent that?”
At his words, I frowned.
‘His saying that means there’s no evidence of my uncle colluding with him.’
As expected, my uncle bit his lip in frustration.
‘Well, I knew it would come to this.’
After the hotel arson, he attacked the alchemy workshop.
And he tried to pin that act on Fritz.
Moreover, the assassination attempt on the emperor was the same.
It was clear he intended to bury this as a solo crime by the attendant.
‘He must think there’s no evidence.’
There were candles in the mansion, but even those were likely to be destroyed by now.
As expected, he soon spoke to me, looking aggrieved.
“Your Highness, I don’t understand why you are slandering me like this. There’s no evidence that I plotted to assassinate his majesty or that I was in league with the Marquis to reveal your true identity.”
But he couldn’t finish his sentence.
“I found it in your house.”
It was only natural, as I had shown him something I found at his place.
I raised the corners of my mouth while glaring at his stern face.
‘Yeah, he can’t claim he doesn’t know about this, can he?’
The document bearing the seal of the rebel leader—when I first obtained this, I thought it was useless.
That was understandable, considering he hadn’t yet started the rebellion.
‘But I can prove this right now.’
The candle I found in his house had this very seal on it.
It was a situation he couldn’t easily deny.
“Can you explain why the document on your desk matches the seal on the candle?”
Normally, a person would feel flustered upon seeing traces of their crime.
However, he remained brazen.
“Your Highness, I was merely investigating that seal as well. Besides, isn’t there no evidence that I am the owner of that seal?”
‘So, this is how he’s going to play it?’
He was trying to wriggle out of it, but since the seal was found at his house, he couldn’t escape punishment.
Just as I was about to refute him, someone else answered first.
“Your Majesty the Emperor, I have that evidence.”
It was Erich.
However, Reinhardt showed no sign of disturbance.
He spoke calmly, with a hint of sarcasm.
“Evidence? What do you mean by that?”
And I shared his thoughts.
‘Evidence? Could it be that he found it too?’
However, the evidence that Erich presented was something entirely unexpected.
“This is the contract between the Marquis and the Blue Wolf Mercenary Corps. The Marquis used them to carry out various dirty deeds. Among them was the kidnapping of the Royal grandson, who was then the young master of Count of Herde.”
Hearing his words, I wore a puzzled expression.
‘Why is he suddenly mentioning the mercenaries and my uncle’s actions?’
Reinhardt also seemed to find his words absurd, wearing a sneer.
However, Erich continued undeterred.
“Additionally, the recent arson was also a contract between Prince Fritz and the Blue Wolf Mercenary Corps.”
The emperor, perhaps confused by what he was hearing, asked straightforwardly.
“Duke Blant, what you’re saying has nothing to do with the Archduke, does it?”
Erich shook his head.
“Your Majesty, it is clear that Archduke Tarrant is involved in these matters.”
His confident tone left both the emperor and me looking puzzled.
‘What on earth is his basis for saying that?’
At that moment, Erich spoke up again.
“I would like to show the evidence I submitted earlier.”
The Emperor nodded readily and called over one of his aides.
“Marquis Philippe, bring it out.”
Soon, an object was lifted in the center of the stage for everyone to see.
‘That’s… a rifle?’
A rifle, which has greater accuracy and range than a pistol but with a significant recoil that makes aiming difficult. Moreover, it takes time to reload, making it impractical for real combat unless used from hiding.
And on it was engraved the seal of the rebels.
“This rifle belonged to the person who attempted to assassinate the royal grandson. It was held by my aide, Xenon, or rather, Evan, a member of the Blue Wolf Mercenary Corps who was disguised. His goal was to spy on the Duke’s family and steal the family seal.”
Xenon’s identity was something I had already suspected.
However, I never imagined that his goal was the family seal.
‘But what did he intend to do with the seal once he got it… huh?’
Suddenly, a memory flickered through my mind.
<This is my master’s command.>
<Don’t you understand yet? The Duke wishes for marriage with Lady Arzen. So, all you have to do is disappear.>
Erich’s aide, Xenon, who had always treated me rudely.
At that time, Xenon had said that the reason he intended to harm me was due to his “master’s” orders.
And I had firmly believed it was Erich because of the family seal stamped on the letter.
‘But if, as Erich said, his master is not him…’
That would mean someone else wanted to harm me, and thinking back, that order was strange.
‘It didn’t say to kill me. It only said to kill the child.’
At the time, I thought it was just about capturing me to behead me in front of the crowd.
‘But what if it meant that I shouldn’t die? And if the contract he first showed me was meant to make me feel betrayed by Erich…’
At that moment, Erich continued.
“Evan confessed to me that his true master is Archduke Tarrant.”
Then Reinhardt raised his voice again.
“That’s just the claim of Duke Blant! It could be a way to eliminate the assassin and pin the blame on me!”
But Erich laughed at him and said to the emperor.
“Evan revealed the location of the secret armory in the territory of Archduke Tarrant. Upon verification, the weapons in that armory bear the same seal as the rifle.”
Did they plan this with Erich?
The Emperor, showing no sign of surprise, glared at Reinhardt and spoke.
“Now that you’ve come this far, do you really plan to deny it? And I have already checked the armory! Surely you’re not going to say you didn’t know it was in your territory? There are witnesses who have seen you going back and forth there!”
Was it because he felt he could no longer deny it?
As soon as the Emperor finished speaking, Reinhardt began to laugh.
“Hahahahaha! Your Majesty, I thought you were a dying corpse, but it seems you’re still hanging on!”
After a moment, he stopped laughing and glared coldly at Erich.
“You damn fake, you took my woman, and now you’re trying to ruin my plans!”
With that, the true identity of the shadow that had tormented me in my past life became clear.
And it included facts I hadn’t known.
‘Xenon’s arrogance towards me, the way he spoke as if he were acting on Erich’s orders, and how he seemed to abandon me—all of it was to have me for himself? How much I hated Erich because of that!’
I trembled involuntarily.
The betrayal of the person I trusted and loved the most tried to kill me.
Now, while observing what kind of person Erich was, I wanted to believe it was all a misunderstanding, but I still couldn’t fully trust him.
Perhaps what I saw before my regression might actually be true.
But now that I had confirmed the shadow with my own eyes, anger and relief surged within me simultaneously.
‘If Xenon was on Reinhardt’s side, then it makes sense why that contract contained such content.’
My uncle had always coveted the Blant family’s mines.
‘That’s why he must have tried to take the mines through a betrothal with Medelin. Reinhardt likely thought it would be easy to take me, who shared my uncle’s goals, by teaming up with him. With the stolen seal, they created that fake contract…’
Suddenly, Erich’s figure, chasing after me, came to mind.
His fierce face, unusually revealing emotions.
Yet in the hand that reached out to me, there was an inexplicable desperation.
‘That day, Erich chased after me not to harm me, but…’
At that moment, Reinhardt raised his voice.
“But revealing Evan’s identity was a mistake! I have evidence that you’re a fake!”
Then he lifted something up.
‘Is that a necklace?’
In the center of the platinum necklace was a sky-blue gemstone the size of an eye.
The problem was that the necklace looked familiar.
‘I’m sure I’ve seen it somewhere… Wait, that’s the Blant family crest!’
As I rummaged through my memories, feeling like something was about to click, someone screamed.
“You! What have you done to Erich, my son?”
It was the Grand Madam who had remained quiet the whole time.
At that moment, I was able to recall when I had seen that necklace.
It was the necklace that Erich always wore around his neck before going to war.
