Joseph suddenly stood up from his seat. The nobles sitting around flinched at the sound as he slammed the table with a bang.
“Why didn’t you inform me earlier when you discovered this?”
“I was merely waiting for the appropriate opportunity, knowing that causing a premature commotion would do no good, Your Majesty.”
Sienna shot back with a response that bordered on sarcasm.
“I tried to find a discreet solution, but things have ended up this way.”
Despite her words, she showed little sign of regret.
“It’s doubtful whether that’s even authentic, and where’s the evidence it was found in my mansion? Or perhaps Your Highness fabricated this yourself, doubting what was officially revealed at the late emperor’s funeral?”
Unlike Joseph, whose thought process seemed to have frozen, the Duke became more brazen after the will was revealed. His bloodshot eyes clearly showed his displeasure toward Sienna.
“The princess already has a criminal record. Please limit your paranoid delusions and stop falsely accusing innocent people.”
“If the evidence is sufficient, will you confess to your crime?”
When Declan asked this question, the Duke snorted derisively. Just as he was about to speak, Dahlia stepped forward.
“There is definitive proof.”
Dahlia rose from her seat and without hesitation pulled out a chain from her neck, clutching a ring. As she held it out, the Emperor’s brow furrowed slightly.
“How is that conclusive evidence?”
“Duke Lowell, you came back to the imperial palace looking for something, didn’t you?”
Dahlia asked expressionlessly. Though she tried to appear calm, her fingertips were trembling uncontrollably.
“This is that item, Your Majesty.”
The Duke’s face hardened as he recognized the object in Dahlia’s hand.
“That damned woman…”
“Bring it here.”
When Joseph commanded a nearby attendant, the Duke’s complexion changed instantly. As the situation began to unfold differently than he had anticipated, anxiety gradually crept across his face.
The attendant took the round object from Dahlia and placed it on the table before the Emperor. Some of those standing nearby recognized the item and began to stir.
Joseph also stared at it blankly.
“Isn’t this the late Empress’s?”
At a voice that emerged from somewhere, Joseph’s eyes finally wavered. The nobles had already identified the object and could not hide their shock.
Even amid the commotion, Dahlia continued to speak deliberately.
“Until now, Duke Lowell has been pretending to be a loyal servant of the imperial family while essentially mocking both Emperor Majesties. Perhaps he hid this will just as he concealed the late Empress’s keepsake for decades, fearing the consequences might affect him…”
“Shut your mouth!”
The Duke shouted irritably. The nobles sitting nearby were startled by his thunderous voice, but Joseph hardly noticed their reactions.
Joseph’s facial muscles twitched slightly.
He couldn’t simply deny everything and back out. After all, there were several people in the room who remembered the previous Emperor and Melophe.
“But this cannot be evidence of treason.”
The Emperor tried to maintain his composure. However, his gesture of snatching the will from the Baron’s hand betrayed his lack of composure.
He seized the paper and hurriedly read through it.
Upon confirming that the text matched exactly what remained in his memory, without a single error, uncontrollable anger rose within him. His raw emotion was directed straight at the Duke.
Duke Lowell quickly averted his gaze when he met the Emperor’s piercing eyes. Joseph barely managed to collect his expression as he put down the will, almost crumpling it.
“This is ridiculous. It’s common knowledge that you, Sienna, were abandoned by the late Emperor.”
Joseph cleverly denied the authenticity of the will. His intention was to remind the nobles of Sienna’s past position, which was essentially that of an “abandoned princess,” in order to escape the situation.
It wasn’t that he wanted to protect the Duke. Rather, if the Duke’s shame was exposed and credibility was given to Dahlia’s words, the Emperor himself would have the most to lose, leaving him with no other choice.
But everyone gathered there knew his words were unreasonable. The situation was essentially over the moment Baron Vermont, who had been in charge of executing the late Emperor’s will, determined that the will was authentic.
Nevertheless, among the many nobles present, not one properly stepped forward.
Of all people, it was the Emperor’s most despised half-sister who had blatantly exposed his shame. Knowing that adding their voices would bring them no benefit, the nobles merely wiped their cold sweat and busied themselves with reading the situation.
Sienna, who had been staring at Joseph expressionlessly, twisted her lips sardonically.
“If you were so above reproach, why did you keep Ricata sealed off?”
“That’s something you should ask your dead mother, not me, Princess.”
The main reasons for sealing Ricata were his desire for the late Empress and her family to remain in dishonor for a long time, as well as his concern about the unsettling curse that lingered.
But whatever the reason, Joseph had no obligation to explain it to Sienna personally.
He spoke in a slow tone, as if explaining to a child, with a sneer on his lips.
“It’s only right that one who dared to attempt to assassinate the Emperor of a nation should suffer the appropriate punishment.”
“…”
“No matter who they are.”
Sienna did not respond to his emphatic statement. Instead of pressing her for an answer, Joseph’s blue eyes slowly turned toward Duke Lowell.
Joseph could barely contain the anger rising to his head. His fury changed direction and focused on the Duke.
Joseph suppressed the urge to immediately overturn the meeting and behead the Duke. The circumstances hardly mattered to him anymore.
He was infuriated that the Duke had brazenly shown his face in the Emperor’s presence despite possessing both Melophe’s keepsake and the authentic will. How dare he deceive and mock him.
But there were many eyes watching now.
Everyone’s attention was focused on how the Emperor would act. Joseph barely suppressed his feelings and opened his mouth.
“Duke, I need to see you for a moment.”
As he began to walk away with a cold expression, his eyes suddenly met Sienna’s. Despite being the origin of the current situation, her face was emotionless, as if everything had nothing to do with her.
Joseph exhaled slowly.
So this is the scheme you’ve been plotting with the Grand Duke all along.
A brief and intense realization flashed through his mind. How dare she…
After gazing at her for a moment, the Emperor signaled to the head chamberlain.
In the current situation, it was dangerous to leave Sienna with the other nobles. Whatever might come from her mouth would certainly not work in Joseph’s favor.
The head chamberlain, who accurately understood the Emperor’s intention, escorted Sienna separately. She followed him without resistance, complying willingly.
After all, the situation was already developing in a direction that wasn’t unfavorable to her, so there was no need to waste energy.
****
“Is it all true?”
Joseph asked as soon as the door to the reception room closed. Even after being left alone with the Duke, his face showed no particular emotion.
However, his blue eyes, which had cooled dramatically, clearly revealed his undisguised anger.
“Your Majesty, I…”
The voice leaking through his trembling teeth quivered like a goat’s. Feeling a deep sense of humiliation at this fact, the Duke proclaimed his innocence.
“I’m wronged. This is nothing but a groundless accusation!”
“Shut your mouth. How dare you raise your voice?”
Joseph gritted his teeth as he rebuked him.
He was already furious to discover that a situation he had believed to be firmly in his control was actually far beyond his grasp, but what was most shameful was how he had been made to look like a fool in front of the nobles.
It felt as if the Duke and Sienna had conspired to make him look like an idiot.
“Your Majesty. This is truly a terrible misunderstanding.”
Joseph laughed at the Duke’s hasty excuse.
“Misunderstanding? It seems quite clear that you’ve deceived me.”
“I did not intend to deceive Your Majesty. I simply couldn’t find the appropriate time.”
The Duke tried to maintain his composure. At this moment, more urgent than dealing with those who had blindsided him was finding a way to safely get through this situation.
But Joseph had no rationality left to listen to his words.
“Did the late Emperor really entrust the will to you?”
“I was careless, Your Majesty. I was too afraid of the consequences the will might bring to step forward rashly.”
“Then what about that ring?”
The Duke’s voice, which had been quite eloquent until just now, suddenly stopped.
“How did that woman’s ring end up in your possession?”
The Emperor pressed on relentlessly. The Duke swallowed hard, faced with the Emperor’s determination not to back down until he received a proper answer.
But his deliberation was brief.
Lying would only provide momentary relief, and would eventually trip him up. It was better to tell the truth.
As long as he didn’t explain the detailed circumstances, the past would not harm the Duke himself. After all, wasn’t it Melophe’s unilateral request that had burdened him with that ring?
Having reached a conclusion that suited him, the Duke struggled to speak.
“…I visited Melophe in prison before she died. She asked me to pass that ring to the princess.”
