“Argh!”
Chase let out a pain-filled groan. It felt like his wrist would break.
“You barbarian bastard!”
“You call others bastards, but you think you’re so noble?”
Karan released Chase’s wrist as if flicking off an insect, causing him to stagger.
“Seems you’ve been spouting nonsense to my fiancée.”
Karan’s eyes flashed fiercely. Chase’s lower eyelids twitched at the icy voice.
Karan’s aura was ominous. He looked ready to snap Chase’s neck at any moment.
“We’ll see if it’s nonsense or not.”
Chase stumbled backward.
“This bastard’s mouth is still running.”
As Karan moved to pursue, Elise held him back.
Karan stopped for now but didn’t turn to look at Elise immediately.
His face was surely a mess with boiling anger.
“Thank you for coming.”
“Of course I came when you called. It would have been better if you’d told me before you left though.”
As Karan said, the moment Elise entered the maze garden, she had called out to him with all her heart.
And as always, he appeared.
“I didn’t know Chase would follow. I never dreamed he’d spout such nonsense.”
Though Elise knew it wasn’t her fault, Karan couldn’t bring himself to tell her it was okay.
“Elise, how much longer do we have to put up with that guy?”
Karan gritted his teeth to suppress his murderous intent, but he grew angrier as time passed.
He should have pretended not to notice and stabbed Chase when he lunged at Elise.
“Just until tomorrow. Please endure just until tomorrow.”
Elise didn’t want Karan’s hands to be sullied because of Chase. He wasn’t even worth killing.
A selfish person to the very end.
“I really hate that man.”
Karan glared at where Chase had been standing. Elise interlaced her fingers with his.
“I hate him more.”
At those words, Karan’s anger subsided a bit, and he gripped Elise’s hand tightly.
****
The second official meeting of the Allied Forces began.
The members were different from the first official meeting. Chase replaced David, and Parrish, known as the Reclusive Sage, replaced Ember.
“The Ivory Tower will fully comply with the decisions of the delegation from now on.”
After Iris and then Ember caused trouble, voices of self-reflection emerged within the Ivory Tower. Public opinion outside was not good either.
The Ivory Tower immediately put forward Parrish, who was respected both internally and externally. He had been in seclusion as the Ivory Tower became more political and had declined the representative position several times.
But the Ivory Tower magicians were persistent, and he came here with full decision-making authority delegated to him.
And he laid down that decision-making authority before the delegation.
‘Thanks to Iris, things have become easier.’
Elise thought to herself. Looking at the results, Iris had actually done something significant. She had broken the Ivory Tower’s stubbornness.
“Thank you, Sage Parrish. Then we can proceed according to the plan from the first meeting. Has anything changed in the meantime?”
Elise asked.
“There have been reports of sightings of Ragnaros’s thought-forms. No one has been particularly harmed, but everyone is in fear.”
Karan shared the information he obtained from Pawnshop K.
“People are trembling in fear. If this continues, chaos will ensue.”
Already, people had started evacuating.
Fear breeds fear, and people in panic lose their reason. This leads to accidents.
Inevitably, the country would have to deploy manpower to prevent chaos.
“Their intention is to disperse our forces.”
Ilaria muttered.
“What do you think we should do, Elise?”
Ilaria looked at Elise.
“Ignore it. And proceed with the subjugation as quickly as possible. Would it be possible in a week?”
“No problem for Magnus.”
“The Ivory Tower can do it.”
“You know about Tetris, Elise?”
The only one left was Bedrokka.
“Bedrokka is…”
“Wait a moment. I forgot that this isn’t for Prince Chase to decide. Prince Chase is only acting as a proxy, right?”
“Elise, being a proxy means having the authority to make decisions…”
“No.”
Elise interrupted Chase for the second time.
Chase adjusted his posture. He even dropped the smile he had been barely maintaining.
Elise spoke while looking directly at Chase.
“I met with His Majesty Lange before the meeting. He said that the issue of the expedition would be decided by the Bedrokka Noble Council.”
“It’s just a formality.”
Chase said through gritted teeth, but no one responded.
It was blatant disregard. From the moment he stepped into the meeting room until now, Chase had been alienated in every aspect.
“I’m merely relaying what I was told by His Majesty, Your Highness.”
Chase’s insides turned at Elise’s businesslike attitude.
I even confessed to her yesterday! How can she be so nonchalant? Isn’t this discourteous to someone who confessed?
Above all, Chase couldn’t believe that Elise had rejected him.
“Let’s end the meeting here. I’ll see you later, Your Highness Chase.”
Elise bowed her head.
Chase thought that “later” referred to the next Allied Forces representative meeting.
But that wasn’t the case.
“Prince Karan and his fiancée Elise will also attend the meeting.”
At the Bedrokka Noble Council, Elise appeared holding Karan’s hand.
Chase’s eyes widened. But it was too early to be surprised.
“Your Majesty, given the nature of the agenda, I request that witnesses also be allowed to attend the meeting.”
Lange accepted Elise’s request. Karan, who had been by Elise’s side, nodded and went out to the corridor.
He returned with a woman covered in a veil. She seemed to be wearing shackles, as the sound of metal scraping the floor could be heard with each step she took.
“The smell… hmm… it’s awful.”
“Who could it be? A beggar?”
“Suspicious. Let’s keep an eye on this.”
The nobles filling the council chamber frowned. As the woman appeared, a foul odor assaulted their noses.
“Let’s begin the meeting.”
At Lange’s declaration, Chase raised his hand.
“Your Majesty, the subjugation campaign is imminent. We need to fill the vacant position of Bedrokka’s representative in the Continental Allied Forces.”
“Do you have someone to recommend?”
Chase flinched. He had expected Lange to appoint him as the representative once he brought up the topic. But his expectation was off the mark.
“Your Majesty, it’s a position of symbolic importance. With Crown Prince David absent, it would be proper for Prince Chase to take on this role.”
A noble allied with Chase spoke up. Chase gave a slight nod to that noble. It was a gesture of approval.
“That’s a reasonable point. However, we must still verify.”
“Verify? What do you mean?”
The surprised nobles murmured among themselves.
“Now, now.”
Lange tapped the table with his palm. The council chamber quickly fell silent.
“We can’t seat a criminal as Bedrokka’s representative, can we? As you all said, it’s a position of symbolic importance for Bedrokka. Chase, you understand, right?”
Chase’s lips curved upwards smoothly. But his eyes remained unchanged.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
As Chase answered with his lips tightly curled, Lange’s gaze turned fierce.
“We will now begin the trial to uncover the mastermind behind the assassination attempt on David Royal Bedrokka. The suspect is Chase Royal Bedrokka, and the witness is Iris Worton.”
The foul-smelling woman stepped forward and removed her veil. People recognized her immediately. It was Iris, the Rose of Bedrokka.
“Gasp.”
Intakes of breath could be heard from all around. Chase’s face contorted as he abruptly stood up.
“Your Majesty, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but this is slander.”
Chase knelt at Lange’s feet.
“We’ll know whether it’s slander or not after we listen. Take your seat.”
Chase chewed on his lower lip. He hadn’t even imagined that Iris would appear.
He had assumed that Elise would have surely killed Iris.
Because Elise hated Iris. Because Iris had tried to kill Elise.
“Your Majesty, I have nothing to hide!”
Chase raised his voice. Lange waved his hand.
“You’ll have your chance to speak. This is a trial, isn’t it?”
Chase turned to look at the noble who had supported him earlier. He raised his eyebrows frantically, signaling him to somehow try to stop Lange. However, the noble only looked troubled and avoided eye contact.
All that money he had given was for nothing.
There was a reason why he couldn’t intervene.
Summary judgment was the king’s exclusive right. When an urgent and serious trial was needed, the king could hold a trial anytime, anywhere.
To stop the trial, one would have to point out that the content of the trial was neither urgent nor serious.
Considering various circumstances, the David assassination case did indeed warrant a summary judgment.
“Chase, are you going to keep sitting there like that?”
Chase gulped. He glared at Iris as he took his seat.
“Your Majesty, please remember one thing. Iris is a deserter.”
“Iris’s crimes will be addressed later. For now, we will only deal with David’s assassination attempt. Does anyone object?”
Everyone shook their heads. Chase gritted his teeth.
“Iris, I heard you were there too. Tell us in detail about what happened that day.”
“Your Majesty, I apologize for giving my greetings so belatedly.”
Iris staggered forward.
“Greetings are unnecessary. Just quickly tell us what you saw.”
Lange urged. He appeared calm, but inside he was burning up.
He wanted to quickly deal with the culprit and meet David.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I will tell you in detail what I saw that day. I don’t remember everything, but one thing is certain. His Highness Chase was hiding and then appeared behind Highness David, aiming a bow at him.”
Lange gripped the armrest of his chair tightly.
“That’s not true! Yes, I was hiding, but I didn’t aim the bow at my brother! I aimed it at a magician who was threatening my brother.”
“Your Highness, please speak honestly and ask for forgiveness. You always told me, didn’t you? That if only His Highness David were gone, you would become king. You asked me to…eliminate His Highness David.”
“…!”
People’s mouths fell open. Amidst everyone’s shock, there were two people covering their faces and smiling: Karan and Elise.
Everything was going according to plan.
