As soon as I finished speaking, the crowd began to buzz.
“Is she serious?”
“But how can we believe her?”
The crowd’s faces showed a mix of skepticism and expectation.
However, I didn’t say this merely to resolve the situation.
“Anyway, the nobles will request a state council meeting with His Majesty the Emperor because I have returned alive.”
I could see Baron Lacne flinch at my words.
I glared at him before turning my gaze back to the crowd.
“At that time, I intend to attend the national conference and challenge the qualifications of the crown prince. I don’t know how His Majesty will respond, but if I fail… I will end up dead at my brother’s hands.”
‘And if I can’t change the crown prince, I will end up dying at your hands.’
I swallowed those words and stared at the crowd.
Then—
“Is she really saying that publicly?”
“If the crown prince hears about this, it’ll be chaos!”
The murmuring grew louder than before.
But unlike earlier, this time the hostility directed at me had diminished.
It made sense, as I had chosen to publicly oppose Fritz, as they had said.
In other words, I had burned my bridges and declared myself their ally.
‘Well, if I can’t change the emperor, a revolution will occur, and I will be in danger as well.’
In any case, if I failed, the outcome would be death.
Given Fritz’s nature, if he learns about this, he’ll surely try to eliminate me.
‘At this point, the only option is to remove Fritz from power and place someone decent as the crown prince.’
So I raised my voice and said,
“So disperse right now. I will risk my life to bring down the current crown prince, Fritz!”
How much time passed?
“Fine! We’ll see how you do it!”
With those words, they began to disperse one by one.
As I watched them gradually scatter, I felt the tension that had built up within me start to ease.
‘I survived.’
I had survived against the many people who were angry with me.
Although it came with the condition that I had to replace the crown prince with someone better than Fritz, that was a matter for later.
For now, I was alive.
‘I really thought I was going to die.’
At that moment of relief, I felt all the strength leave my body, and my legs went weak.
“Are you alright?”
Erich immediately caught me, but I instinctively brushed his hand away.
He looked flustered for a moment before speaking.
“I’m sorry. You were about to fall.”
At his genuine apology, I sighed.
‘Honestly, I still can’t stand the sight of him, but still, it was because of this man that I could succeed.’
In my heart, I thought it would be fine and that I could handle it.
But deep down, I was scared.
I worried that someone among them might try to kill me.
But while I was speaking, Erich stood firmly behind me.
Thanks to him, I was able to successfully finish my speech.
And from his demeanor, I was certain.
‘Just as I thought. I don’t know how Erich was before my regression, but at least this man has no intention of killing me.’
Finally, I opened my mouth.
“Thank you. Because of you, I was able to come out safely.”
At my words, Erich’s eyes widened before he slowly shook his head.
“No. This was entirely your doing.”
The blue of his eyes looked somewhat bittersweet for some reason.
Then he continued,
“Rather, it is thanks to you that I…”
At that moment.
“Your Highness!”
I saw people approaching me. It was Marquis Philippe, the imperial knights, and Reinhardt.
“Your Highness, I’m so glad you are safe.”
“Marquis Philippe, it’s thanks to your timely arrival.”
Then Marquis Philippe spread his palm toward Reinhardt and said, “Yes, just in time, His Grace the Archduke of Tarrant contacted me, allowing me to come quickly.”
“Reinhardt?”
It wasn’t Marquis Philippe who answered my question, but Reinhardt himself.
“Yes, I happened to witness it on my way home after visiting the palace. I saw the scene where the Countess of Herde was being persecuted by the people.”
Reinhardt then looked at me with a somber expression and said, “I only contacted them thinking they needed to save the Countess… If I had known it was Your Highness in the carriage, I would have risked my life. I’m sorry, Your Highness.”
“There’s no need to apologize. You didn’t know. Besides, I’ve been as good as dead for the past five years…”
In that moment, Reinhardt’s face twisted before he gazed at me. Before I knew it, tears had welled up in his golden eyes.
“I have regretted it ever since you left, Your Highness. I wish I had mustered the courage to act.”
“What courage?”
“I should have reached out first. I thought that if I had been able to help you, such a tragedy wouldn’t have occurred.”
Was he always this kindhearted?
Reinhardt spoke as if he genuinely felt sorrow for the days gone by.
“But the moment I saw Your Highness return alive, I thought it was a miracle.”
A single tear rolled down from his golden eyes.
Then Reinhardt spoke in a passionate voice,
“I’m truly glad you’re alive.”
Honestly, I had never encountered such a reaction before, and I didn’t know how to respond.
It made sense, considering that just moments ago, everyone had been calling me a wicked woman, hadn’t they?
Yet here was someone crying and saying how relieved he was that I had returned safely.
‘I don’t understand. Why on earth…?’
At that moment, Reinhardt spoke.
“I just heard what you said a moment ago, Your Highness. You said you would attend the state council meeting.”
“Yes, I am qualified to do so.”
Members of the imperial family within the top ten in the line of succession were eligible to attend the state council meeting.
And my official rank was fourth.
Above me were first-ranked Fritz, my aunt, the second-ranked, and my uncle, Duke Hauzen, the third-ranked.
And right below me…
“I will attend and lend my voice in support. I want to be Your Highness’s strength.”
Reinhardt, the son of Archduke Tarrant, who was currently bedridden, ranked fifth.
‘Reinhardt’s influence within the empire is immense. If he supports me…’
It was something anyone would find enticing.
The Emperor favored Reinhardt, and his reputation was excellent among both the nobility and the common people.
With his support, replacing the crown prince would be much easier.
‘Yes, I should…’
Just as I was about to speak, Marquis Philippe raised his voice.
“What, what is the meaning of this!”
I gasped as I saw Erich suddenly grab Reinhardt by the collar.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Watching the dispersing crowd, Erich thought to himself.
‘How fascinating.’
Just moments ago, everyone here harbored hostility toward Cornelia. And Erich had been prepared to confront and kill all of them.
But…
“So disperse immediately. I will risk my life to bring down the current Crown Prince, Fritz!”
Upon hearing Cornelia’s speech, the large crowd dispersed. It was as if by magic.
‘No, it’s slightly different from that.’
<Dad, don’t worry about me. I’ll hide well using magic, just as you said.>
For a moment, he thought of the little one he had left behind at the lodging. Erich found himself staring at his own hands without realizing it.
Raised as an assassin, he had learned to solve all problems through killing. And, as if it were the only solution, even his kind older brother had only given him orders to kill, along with the warning that if he didn’t, he would die.
But this was the first time.
He had solved a problem without shedding a drop of blood.
People were not looking at him with fear, as if he were a monster.
Feeling a strange sense of elation, Erich clenched his fists tightly.
The feeling of being saved by someone. And that was also the feeling he had felt toward her when he was young.
‘I want to be honest with you. Thanks to you, I was able to be safe too.’
But at that moment, a hindrance appeared.
Perhaps it was this shameless person who had orchestrated the situation.
“If I had known that the person in the carriage was Your Highness the Princess, I would have risked my life.”
Erich wanted to tear Reinhardt apart on the spot but barely held himself back.
‘There’s still no concrete evidence against him.’
Although he interrogated Xenon to uncover the mastermind behind everything, there was no direct evidence that Reinhardt was in collusion with him.
Moreover, if he spoke too hastily
<You don’t need to worry about me. Especially if it’s about my relationships.>
Given Cornelia’s personality, she would undoubtedly get angry. Thus, Erich needed solid proof that Reinhardt was the true mastermind. Despite his efforts to calm himself, Reinhardt relentlessly continued his manipulative talk toward Cornelia.
“I have regretted it ever since you left, Your Highness. I wish I had mustered the courage to act.”
And each time he spoke, Erich had to clench his fists and suppress his anger.
‘If only I could catch him in the act…’
Then, Reinhardt said,
“I will attend and lend my voice in support. I want to be Your Highness’s strength.”
Erich grew anxious at the thought that Cornelia might be swayed by such words. He clenched his fists even tighter. At that moment, Reinhardt looked at Erich and silently mouthed the words,
‘This is mine.’
It was clearly a mocking statement directed at him. But what he could not tolerate was that he dared to insult her.
‘How dare you insult Cornelia…!’
In that instant, Erich lost control of himself.
“What… what are you doing!”
Erich roughly grabbed Reinhardt by the collar, and the knights, including Marquis Philippe, tried to intervene. But Erich did not budge. Reinhardt continued to babble nonsense, even while being held.
“Duke Blant, I will take good care of Cornelia from now on.”
Erich finally raised his fist.
