How Can You Pay Back The Kindness I Raised With Obsession?

“Your Majesty, the Grand Duke and his entourage have arrived in front of the imperial palace.”

 

When the guard captain rushed in and announced, the red-blooded eyes of the emperor trembled.

 

“The size of the troops.”

 

“It’s at the usual level.”

 

It was said that the number of soldiers brought by the Grand Duke was no different from the size of the security personnel normally used to enter and exit the imperial palace. The emperor was finally relieved and stood up. However, before he could take a few steps, he turned his narrow eyes back to the guard captain and asked.

 

“What about the hidden troops?”

 

“Not found.”

 

“The fact that it hasn’t been discovered doesn’t mean it hasn’t been discovered!”

 

The emperor suddenly shouted and raised something in his hand high to throw it, but then stopped. It was strange to see him slowly lowering his hand and holding it with both hands as if it were a precious treasure.

 

‘The emperor is out of his mind.’

 

The guard commander anxiously monitored the emperor’s mood. The emperor’s appearance these days was beyond words. His bloodshot eyes were glassy and his brittle hair was sticking out in all directions. In just a few weeks, the emperor lost all his firearms and became a haunted old man. Fearing that he might lose his head by going against the wishes of the mad emperor, the guard commander came up with an answer to appease his anger.

 

“Well, then, we will strengthen our vigilance throughout the trial to check and prevent any suspicious movements.”

 

“Yes, that’s right. I only trust you.”

 

When the emperor suddenly changed again and showed his benevolent side, the guard captain did not miss the opportunity and quickly ran away. The emperor headed to the window after the guard captain left. As he was trying to look out the window, he suddenly saw his reflection in the glass and clicked his tongue. The emperor’s crown was crooked.

 

“How did you protect it…?”

 

As he straightened his coffin, he looked back on the past years. How much money and blood was poured into this coffin and to prevent it from being taken away?

 

“I can’t have the throne that I gave my whole life and everything to be taken away by that brat.”

 

Outside the window, the procession of the Grand Duke’s family began to be seen entering the entrance of the Emperor’s Palace. The emperor looked at the young man riding a white horse in the vanguard with cold eyes, then smiled with deeply wrinkled lips. As of today, no ghost named Blaine would ever haunt him again.

 

“If it’s the power of this…”

 

He opened his trembling hand and looked at what it held inside. The blue potion in the small glass bottle was shaking.

 

“You will have no choice but to confess your sins.”

 

What he held in his hand was a potion of truth.

 

“You must cut off your head before mine is cut off.”

 

Madness flashed in the emperor’s eyes as he glared at the archduke who was walking toward the final judgment seat on his own feet.

 

* * *

 

The throne room of the imperial palace was crowded with people who had been summoned according to the emperor’s order. In the seats closest to the throne, the lords of each region sat in a semicircle. And behind it, commoners who had been invited as observers were surrounded by guards and making noise.

 

“Do you know what’s going on?”

 

“How could you possibly know? I just came here because I wanted to see the imperial palace sometime, if not on this day.”

 

Everyone looked around the throne room with puzzled faces. There was an empty chair facing the throne. The common people, who had not received any information about what this seat was for today, did not know who would sit on the chair.

 

“Your Majesty the Emperor.”

 

The moment a loud voice rang through the throne room, the grand door opened wide. When the emperor, holding a long golden scepter in his hand and dragging his sable fur cloak across the carpet, entered, everyone knelt down in unison to show respect. The emperor’s face was solemn. He sat on the throne, slowly looked around his audience, and gave an order to the chamberlain standing next to him.

 

“Let the sinners in.”

 

Only then did the commoners, who learned the purpose of this place, murmur. The nobles who already knew were unperturbed. At the expression ‘sinner,’ the imperialists raised their eyebrows, while the opposing faction furrowed their brows. Not long after, the door burst open again and the commoners’ eyes widened as the ‘criminal’ appeared.

 

“Well, that person…”

 

“Your Majesty the Grand Duke committed a sin?”

 

The Grand Duke walked in. Members of the Grand Duke’s family, guards, and for some reason even dogs and cats were following behind him.

 

“Be quiet!”

 

As the voices of the observers grew louder in astonishment that the criminal who would be judged today was the Grand Duke, the chamberlain sternly scolded them. While the room became extremely quiet, the Archduke approached the Emperor and stopped in front of an empty chair.

 

“Elliot, Lord of the Grand Duchy of Blaine, greets your Majesty the Emperor.”

 

“Sinners be seated.”

 

The Chamberlain ordered as he bowed his knees and stood up respectfully. The people of the Grand Duke’s family who followed him sat in their assigned seats, but the Archduke stood there and did not obey orders.

 

“Sinners are told to sit down!”

 

“I cannot sit down because I am not a sinner.”

 

One of the emperor nobles, who saw the emperor’s fist trembling on the armrest of the throne, shouted in a scolding tone.

 

“How shameless you are to say that you are not a criminal when you are a felon who committed a heinous crime!”

 

“What crime has the Grand Duke committed?”

 

When a nobleman who was not an imperialist asked a question, Elliot continued the question as if he had been waiting.

 

“I came here as a loyal subject because Your Majesty called me, and I don’t even know the charges.”

 

He said that he did not even know the charges, looking at the observers rather than the emperor. Likewise, the commoners who had been summoned without knowing why began to sympathize with the Grand Duke and have doubts about the emperor.

 

“Hmm…”

 

The Chamberlain cleared his throat, unfolded a long scroll of parchment, and began to read at the top of his voice.

 

“Crime No. 1, the crime of neglecting the safety of the royal family staying within the territory. Crime No. 2: Failure to immediately notify the emperor of the disappearance of a member of the royal family within the territory. Crime No. 3: Neglecting to search for missing members of the royal family within the territory. Crime No. 4…”

 

The ridiculously long list of crimes all implied one thing. The Grand Duke murdered the Empress and the Crown Prince. The commoners, who had not known that the empress and crown prince had disappeared, began to murmur in panic. As soon as the Chamberlain once again asked the audience for silence, an older nobleman asked:

 

“Why did the Grand Duke do such a thing, and that in my territory?”

 

Elliot’s tone of voice was laced with sarcasm, as expected from his mother’s family.

 

“Can’t you see? “You didn’t assassinate the crown prince to usurp the throne.”

 

When the emperor’s nobleman responded, the man snorted as if he could hear him.

 

“So, in your own territory.”

 

Some nobles and commoners nodded as if they agreed with his words.

 

“Does it mean that there is evidence to say that a person is guilty even before the judgment is made?”

 

Duke Monette, who was quietly observing the situation, asked. When asked to show evidence, what the Chamberlain provided was extremely poor. The horse that the empress and the crown prince rode was found where the archduke’s lover lived, and the last sighting was also obtained there. They say that a scared dog barks the loudest. The imperial nobles, well aware that evidence alone was unfavorable, raised their voices. Of course, the opposing nobles did not lose either.

 

“Grand Duke! Why did you do such a terrible thing!”

 

“You would think there was at least a dead body in front of you.”

 

“All these circumstances point to the Grand Duke!”

 

“The delusions in your head probably point to the Grand Duke.”

 

“I think you know that if you insist, it will become the truth.”

 

“No, the truth will come from the Grand Duke’s mouth.”

 

The moment the emperor, who had been silent until now, opened his mouth for the first time, everyone fell silent in shock. While a cool silence fell in the hall, the emperor presented something to the chamberlain. In front of many eyes focused on her, she held up what the chamberlain had handed her. It was a vial containing a blue potion.

 

“Your Majesty ordered you to use the truth potion.”

 

At that moment, the hall became noisy again.

 

“A potion of truth…”

 

“The trial has only just begun, hasn’t it? It’s still too early to use potions for felons who won’t open their mouths, Your Majesty.”

 

The Duke of Monette politely but firmly objected to the Emperor. But the emperor was more resolute than the duke. Those in favor of the emperor and those opposed began to bicker. Elliot, standing in the middle of the mess, stared at the emperor with her puzzled eyes.

 

‘I thought they were trying to frame me, but this was unexpected.’

 

When the truth potion is used and the words that he did not kill come out of his mouth, Elliot was immediately acquitted. However, asking to use it first meant that the emperor truly believed that he had killed the empress and the crown prince.

 

‘Is he not of sound mind that much?’

 

While Elliot was assessing the emperor’s condition, a noble on his side shouted.

 

“I absolutely cannot allow this.”

 

Private use of the truth potion was an individual’s responsibility, but to use it in a public trial, a majority of those with the power to judge had to agree. But there was one more way to use the truth potion on the accused.

 

“I will follow Your Majesty’s orders.”

 

The defendant himself agreed.

 

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