“…”
Acknowledging that their words were similar, I bit my lower lip hard. It dawned on me that I was the only one unaware of this fact. Realizing it belatedly pained me, and my head instinctively dropped, my shoulders feeling heavy. As I clutched my dress without finding my words, Ruth broke the silence.
“Miss.”
“…Yes.”
I barely managed to move my stiff lips.
Then he continued firmly, as if he had been waiting to say this.
“You have rights that you should naturally enjoy too. Moving together to fulfill our contract successfully is just one of those small rights you should naturally enjoy.”
“…”
“You have the right to ask for help from others, to be petulant, and to enjoy your life. Don’t belittle those rights or undervalue yourself, Miss.”
“What are you…”
“Of course, it’s not your fault that you’re acting this way. It’s the fault of the environment that made you act like this. So, there’s no need for you to hang your head as if you’re a sinner. Do you understand?”
“…”
Before I knew it, I had clenched my fists in the dress with force.
Though Ruth said there was no need to hang my head, I couldn’t dare to lift it. I was sure that if I saw his violet-colored eyes right then, I wouldn’t be able to hold back my tears.
I swear, I wasn’t sad until just a moment ago.
But Ruth’s indifferent comfort became the catalyst, ushering in the sorrow. Sorrows I didn’t even realize had accumulated burst forth, revealing their presence one by one.
For some reason, I felt as though I understood why Lady Winter had snapped at me earlier, saying she didn’t need my help.
Kindness from others can be cruel. No matter how kind they are, they’re still others. People you want to rely on but can’t.
And so, from that day, Ruth and I settled into a relationship named “strangers.” Perfect strangers who couldn’t even take a single step towards each other.
So, during the time I live as ‘Serbia’, don’t make me expect more from you, Ruth. Don’t make me naturally demand the rights of ‘Selena’.
I swallowed a plea that I couldn’t bring myself to voice and naturally composed my expression. I didn’t want him to notice my momentary disturbance.
Ruth, who had been silently watching my face gradually get better, asked in a cautious tone, “Are you still not feeling well?”
“Ah… No, I’m not.”
Only then did I snap back to reality and lifted my head, heavy as a rock. Then, I cracked an awkward smile towards him, who was looking at me with strange eyes.
Even though the whirling emotions haven’t completely settled, it was okay. It had to be okay. I wanted to appear okay.
‘I am okay now.’
Really, I am okay.
As I repeated my answer as if emphasizing it, Ruth gave me a skeptical look. Then he sighed deeply.
‘Ha, if you say so, then it must be so. Then I’ll understand that both of us are going to the casino.’
I was about to immediately agree with his straightforward conclusion when I hesitated.
In talking with Ruth, I had inadvertently missed a point. It was uncertain how many people could use the casino entry privilege Ian had.
It seemed like something Ruth could have anticipated, but I wondered if I should still mention it.
I hesitated for a moment before bringing it up.
‘But what if only one person can enter…’
‘Then I will go alone.’
Ruth answered decisively without even needing to think, cutting off my question.
I accepted his answer without any objections. I had known that if it was Ruth, he would say he’d go alone.
Moreover, as Ruth said, I wasn’t the only one capable of taking risks, and I didn’t really want to make any moves anyway.
I want to let go of some of the burdens in my heart now.
As I was vaguely thinking this, Ruth suddenly let out a sigh, as if he remembered something he had forgotten, feeling emptiness.
“But even if we get evidence, there’s a problem.”
“What is it?”
There’s a problem that won’t be solved even if we have evidence to support our suspicions?
Doubts started rising from the bottom of my heart.
At the same time, my mind was racing, trying to find out what I had missed.
While I was retracing the conversation I had slowly with Ruth, he said in a very subdued voice,
“Running a casino in secret and forging documents is a problem… but probably, in court, it will only result in a fine for fraud.”
The nonsensical words from his mouth brought me out of my thoughts, and I couldn’t stop my nose from wrinkling.
If the Viscount of Dright was secretly operating a casino as Ian’s information indicated, it amounted to a crime nearly equivalent to lèse-majesté. Because he blinded the Emperor’s eyes with the name of charity work and forged documents presented to the imperial family.
Therefore, Viscount Dright should at least be demoted or imprisoned, not just fined.
I compressed the continuously arising queries into one.
“But isn’t this tantamount to lèse-majesté?”
(TL/N: Lèse-majesté mean insulting of a monarch or other ruler)
“Of course, it may appear so, but it ambiguously does not comply with the criteria for the crime of royal insult as specified by national law. Unless what he did threatened the dignity of the royal family, it’s impossible to demote him. And unless it threatened my honor, imprisoning him is impossible as well.”
“……”
Upon hearing this, it really was the case. The crime of royal insult was precisely a crime established when one insulted the royal family.
More precisely, it was a crime established only when someone committed an act that tarnished the name of the royal family.
However, the existence of the casino merely deceived the royal family and did not commit acts that diminished the royal family’s dignity.
Therefore, it likely did not threaten the honor of Emperor Ruth either.
Still, what remained incomprehensible was the same. Deceiving the royal family meant, in essence, considering the royal family’s dignity as worthless.
“This is a matter of deceiving the royal family, Your Majesty. Still, it can’t be done?”
“……Yes. Merely deceiving does not establish a crime of royal insult.”
“My goodness.”
“Isn’t it ironic? The very law created to maintain the order of the empire is, in fact, contributing to disrupting the order of the empire.”
As Ruth saw my confusion, he added softly, wearing a self-mocking laugh. It was quite possibly the rawest expression I had seen on him in a long while.
I stared at him with a resigned expression and pondered deeply.
If we let the Dright Syndicate operate unchecked, such incidents would surely continue.
With the blurry boundaries of the law being exploited, the empire’s order would undoubtedly become increasingly distorted.
What could be done?
Even if it’s not a crime of treason against the imperial family, there must be a way to strongly punish the Dright Syndicate…
As I pondered desperately, another piece of information Ian had provided came to mind suddenly: “Exactly one week after Harvest’s disappearance from the registry, a body was found near the reservoir.”
Before I could hear the rest due to a miraculous coincidence, I had a strong hunch about its contents.
A severely mutilated body found near the reservoir.
The meaning was clear. Harvest’s eldest son was murdered.
But by whom? After careful consideration, I arrived at a hypothesis.
If there is any connection between Harvest’s son’s murder and the casino operated by the Dright Syndicate…
I uttered a sigh, filled with both shock and realization.
“What about the charge of murder?”
“Murder? If it includes murder, it could even lead to the death penalty…”
Suddenly, there was a questioning look as to why murder was mentioned.
At that suspicious glance, I slightly raised the corners of my lips, and Ruth’s pupils shook greatly.
“Surely you don’t mean to make Viscount Dright commit murder.”
“…Of course not.”
As I sternly dismissed the absurd suspicion, he let out a relieved breath and asked.
“Then why suddenly mention murder?”
“It seems that person might have committed murder.”
“What?”
Ruth, finally realizing why murder was mentioned, furrowed his brows deeply and muttered in a fierce tone.
“It’s getting worse.”
A chill voice filled with an indescribable sense of intimidation.
Since it was the first time I received such a menacing intimidation from Ruth, it felt strange.
The atmosphere became so heavy that I found myself holding my breath without realizing it. The thought that I should breathe was suppressed by the stiff atmosphere.
Seeing my reaction, Ruth hurriedly relaxed his expression and withdrew his hostility.
“So, who is it?”
“Pardon?”
“The person you mentioned who might have been killed by the Viscount Dright. Who are they?”
“Ah.”
Baffled by the question lacking a subject for a moment, I easily understood and responded thanks to Ruth clarifying the meaning of his question.
“It’s the eldest son of the Harvest family.”
“…You mean Lilia’s kin is the victim?”
My answer seemed beyond his expectation, his focus momentarily becoming blurry. As if overwhelmed by rushing thoughts.
Eventually, Ruth’s gaze cleared up into calmness again.
“Thinking back, it wasn’t long after my ascension that I signed a document concerning the removal of the Harvest family’s eldest son from the family register. About a month later, I heard he was found dead, and I believed it was all my fault.”
A faint sense of guilt was evident in his tone, which pained my heart, understanding how hard it must have been for him at the time.
Ruth had always been a person with a soft heart, and it seems he still is… Hm?
The thought didn’t reach a conclusion.
I belatedly realized something was odd about his story and furrowed my brows.
Almost no one feels guilty about the death of someone who was murdered. But listening to Ruth, it seemed like he felt guilty. A considerable amount of guilt, at that.
I mulled over the absurd situation, swallowed my surmise, and questioned it.
“Wait a moment, Your Majesty. Does this mean that when you thought this way, it appeared as if the death of the eldest son of Harvest was not a murder but looked like a suicide?”
“Exactly, it was an accident. Moreover, it was due to a fall from a horse. However, the eldest son of Harvest was renowned for his equestrian skills. Therefore, it could only be concluded that he took his own life.”
Listening to Ruth’s explanation, I tapped my chin with my forefinger, organizing the sequence of events in my head.
The eldest son of Harvest, known to have been murdered but whose death was announced as suicide. And Viscount Dright, secretly running a casino yet known to others as the epitome of integrity.
If my hypothesis was correct, there must be a connection between the two. A connection that would serve as evidence that Viscount Dright murdered the eldest son of Harvest.
And there was one premise that made the existence of this connection possible.
“If that’s the case, it seems like Viscount Dright took action to cover up the fact that he murdered the eldest son of Harvest.”
The forging of the event.
The event, too, being forged.
