When soldiers invaded his bedroom and seized his most sensitive possession right before his eyes, it’s said that Count Lowell collapsed on the spot, clutching the back of his neck.
Imagining the scene, I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
Though it might be considered treasonous to my godfather, it was rather fortunate for me. Thanks to this, I now had evidence to prove my loyalty to the Empress.
In reality, this situation wasn’t particularly new to Declan. It was merely that the person holding his leash had changed.
As Declan looked up again, he stopped in his tracks when he saw the faces of those approaching from the opposite direction. They did the same.
He could feel their disapproving gazes prickling his skin. After pausing briefly and murmuring among themselves, Marquis Howard, who stood at the front of the group of nobles, slowly approached him.
“Should I call you Lord Regent now, Your Grace?”
The Marquis’s face was filled with hostility after his unexpected defeat by the Empress. Declan smiled slightly at the blatantly malicious sarcasm.
“That would indeed be correct.”
Everything had changed dramatically since the hunting festival.
Those who had previously shown him favor by putting forward their daughters now completely turned their backs on him, as if they had never done such a thing.
The main reason the nobles had viewed him favorably until now was that Declan had never shown excessive ambition.
When he achieved great honors on the battlefield, they had secretly worried that he might return to the capital and threaten their positions. But they had finally relaxed when Declan remained in the military despite reaching the pinnacle of honor and power available to a soldier.
So now, from the nobles’ perspective, Declan was merely a criminal who had committed an atrocious act and blocked their path forward. There was no way they would look upon him favorably.
Perhaps it would have been better if he had shown his ambition from the beginning. The nobles seemed particularly resentful that Declan, who had been quietly minding his own business until now, was suddenly being mentioned as a potential regent.
“Even if you’ve been cleared of the charge of regicide, that doesn’t justify your actions.”
“Won’t you take responsibility for how things have turned out? How will you explain the Ricata situation to the outside world? Even if you and the Empress act unilaterally, the imperial citizens won’t accept this situation.”
“People beyond the walls don’t think as deeply about the internal affairs of the palace as you might imagine.”
His tone was almost indifferent. But truly, hadn’t the walls of the Imperial Palace always been high and solid?
Just as the former Emperor’s obsessive madness never breached those walls. Just as the image of an Emperor covered in burns and in poor condition had never crossed the threshold of the palace.
The Maloney Imperial Family, who valued honor above life itself, was extremely wary of any scandalous matters within the royal family spreading beyond the palace walls.
If rumors seemed likely to spread through the commoners’ houses, it was their long-standing habit to ruthlessly seek out the source and deal with it severely.
It was for the same reason that when Sienna lived as a princess, only malicious rumors about her spread throughout the continent without any basis.
After her birth mother was executed in the middle of the square, and after deciding to make Joseph his successor, the former Emperor didn’t actively protect Sienna’s reputation.
As his legitimate daughter, her being at a disadvantage only served to strengthen the authority of Joseph, his illegitimate son. Though as a monarch, it was a reasonable course of action.
While Declan was lost in thought, another thunderous voice was directed at him.
“This is not a matter to be taken so lightly! We’re talking about the largest territory in the eastern region!”
“The empire closed off that territory for decades.”
Though he had merely stated a fact, the nobles’ aggressive stance faltered. In the meantime, Declan calmly continued.
“Ricata has already become an ill-fated land over the years. And if a princess with an equally unfavorable reputation gives up her imperial citizenship for that land… I wonder if it’s really worth such outrage.”
“It doesn’t matter if you try to defend her like that. Is there anyone here who doesn’t know about your intimate relationship with the princess?”
While everyone failed to give a proper answer, Count Smith snorted roughly and mocked.
The intention to humiliate him was clear, but the person directly concerned showed no reaction.
Of course, this was the first time he had experienced such language from those who had always revered him.
However, while such words might sound humiliating to nobles who sat elegantly engaging in verbal sparring at the palace, for Declan, who had spent most of his life in the mud of battlefields, his threshold was considerably lower than theirs.
“Defend her? That’s unlikely, Count Smith.”
Thus, his response was delivered in an insensitive voice.
“No matter how much I might defend her, the exile order against her won’t be withdrawn, so why would I do something so useless?”
At these words, which might further provoke the nobles, Marquis Hoffman urgently signaled to Declan with his eyes. It was obvious that such an unrestrained attitude would only create more backlash from those who already viewed him unfavorably.
“The princess is undoubtedly a traitor. What if you pass on confidential information to her?”
Affirmative responses came from here and there. Since this was an expected reaction, Declan wasn’t particularly surprised. Nevertheless, he dropped his gaze sideways, as if finding himself in a rather difficult position.
“I swear that won’t happen, but I suppose even this oath doesn’t give you much confidence.”
“Of course not.”
Someone snorted and replied.
“Your appointment as regent was clearly the Empress’s unilateral decision. If we take a little more time to find a suitable candidate…”
“A unilateral decision, you say.”
Declan murmured softly. His downcast eyes shifted askew toward the noble in front of him.
“Perhaps the suitable candidate you gentlemen speak of is Count Lowell?”
The question was tinged with obvious mockery.
If one were to compare the severity of the charges, the allegations against Declan were heavier, but unlike him, where the true culprit was switched without a single witness or piece of evidence, the Count’s circumstances were all too clear.
No matter how favorably one tried to present it, one couldn’t argue that the Count was better than the Grand Duke. Declan knew this fact, and others couldn’t deny it either.
Sure enough, as soon as Declan directly mentioned Count Lowell, the room instantly fell silent.
“As it happens, I have something to show you gentlemen. I found something interesting.”
With a signal, the attendant approached discreetly and handed the ledger he received from Declan to Marquis Howard.
The faces of the nobles, who had been glancing warily at the ledger being opened by Marquis Howard, began to turn pale one by one.
“You lords probably know better than I what this is.”
Though he hadn’t gained much from the study as Dahlia had told him, where evidence had already been destroyed due to the confinement order, he hadn’t come away empty-handed.
Count Lowell had kept a separate record book of those who would be most beneficial to him, or in other words, those with whom he had exchanged significantly larger sums of money compared to others.
The reason he couldn’t bring himself to dispose of this, even while burning all other ledgers to hide his dirty dealings, was also obvious.
Unable to give up hope of making a comeback, he must have thought this ledger would be his lifeline, not realizing it was already rotten beyond repair.
Thus, the ledger the nobles were examining contained Count Lowell’s most fatal flaws in their entirety.
“If that’s not the case, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to examine it together here with everyone present.”
“Are you threatening us now? There should be limits to such ugly behavior!”
“It’s problematic if you take this as a threat. I’m merely presenting areas where we can turn a blind eye to each other.”
Declan released the tension from the corners of his mouth, which he had been forcibly lifting.
“Count Lowell has already reached the point of no return.”
The nobles seemed to think that the Empress wouldn’t dare do what even the Emperor couldn’t do, but unfortunately, their prediction had already been proven wrong long ago.
In some ways, the Empress had already surpassed her husband.
“You might have been lucky so far, but who knows what will happen in the future.”
Regardless of acknowledging his own wrongdoing, there was clearly room for him to counterattack. Though he shamelessly denied it, it was evident that this was nothing short of indirect blackmail.
Marquis Howard nervously threw the ledger to the floor. The sound of the heavy stack of paper crashing down echoed quite dully through the corridor.
“What exactly are you trying to do!”
“Well, I wonder what we should do.”
Slowly bending his waist and extending his hand, he picked it up. Despite it being an action that might compromise his dignity, he managed to look quite elegant even then.
“I stand here by the will of Her Majesty the Empress, but even as regent, it would be meaningless without your trust.”
Still keeping his gaze on the ledger, he brushed off the dust on its cover with the back of his hand.
“I think your suspicions toward me are justified.”
And what followed was a calm acknowledgment.
“I’ve already betrayed the country once. The fact that I joined the princess with impure intentions is also an undeniable reality.”
His voice continued in a single tone. As Declan came forward with an unpredictable attitude, there was no response from the nobles.
They couldn’t even properly grasp how the situation was developing. Each of them was busy silently glancing at each other while keeping their mouths firmly shut.
Amid the silence, Declan smiled faintly.
“I’ll remove myself from any discussions regarding Ricata.”
