Marina was faced with a critical opportunity to elevate Franz to the throne, but she couldn’t figure out how to remove the obstacle named Karl.
Now, it seemed so close at hand – with Maximilian gone and the throne seemingly empty for her son to ascend. Yet, obstacles continued to block her path at every turn.
To make matters worse, the current obstacle was particularly formidable. Karl possessed an undeniable legitimacy that made defeating him head-on nearly impossible.
The prince born from the emperor’s consort, and that prince’s son versus her own son born of a lowly commoner in the emperor’s court. It was evident that there was little hope for her son to succeed on equal footing.
Removing the crown prince was a struggle, and each time he was eliminated, another prince emerged to obstruct her son’s path.
Amidst her deteriorating situation, news of Karl’s ‘child’ appearing felt like a heaven-sent gift – a powerful obstacle to be removed for Marina through the child.
To eliminate Karl through the child? It was a crucial opportunity to achieve two goals at once.
Marina immediately instructed Isaac to abduct Karl’s child. She even authorized the use of lethal force if necessary.
She needed the child, specifically a noble one. If only that child could be in her hands… Marina began to chuckle to herself.
Surely, the heavens are on my side! Soon, that child will be mine, and then my son will ascend to the throne.
Oh God! You are answering my prayers, making my son an emperor. Marina’s ecstatic cries echoed emptily in the air.
***
In an unexpected place, the feeling of encountering an unexpected person. Karl scratched his chin.
“Name. Speak properly. No beating around the bush or trying to deceive here won’t work.”
It had only been about ten days since he came down to the interrogation room. Criminals needing investigation after being apprehended poured in daily, but Karl was not involved in that.
It was the duty of the royal detectives to handle them, and he had plenty of other tasks to deal with.
Yet he was here in person because the criminals in front of him were likely the ones they had been waiting for all this time.
“Oh, how many times have I told you? Name, age, place of origin.”
“These things again. Who’s going to know if I make up fake names and stories? Speak properly!”
“No, who’s fake here? You’re questioning someone else’s identity with valid credentials. It’s real, who lies?”
“If a drop of blood is shed, everything will come out. Whether what you say is true or not.”
“No, then shouldn’t you draw blood from the start and test it right away? Why keep asking?”
“Aren’t you going to shut your mouth? Do you even know where you are?”
A meaningless squabble erupted between the detectives and the suspects. Such unproductive conversations were commonplace.
Karl let out a frustrated sigh. They were indeed prime suspects believed to have sold Celeste a dessert cursed with dark magic at the central-south train station.
Initially apprehended for crimes unrelated to witchcraft or sorcery, they were swiftly transferred to this royal detective interrogation room upon discovering other suspicions during the investigation.
“If you keep obstructing the investigation like this, remember that you’ll only be facing more charges.”
Someone keeps interfering as if they have the right to do so. Please realize your mistakes quickly and wrap it up. I’m a busy person too.
Despite being dragged here for making a mistake, there is not a hint of remorse. Sitting around as if other people’s identities belong to them and shamelessly responding. Clovis chuckled.
“Why do these people all say the same thing? I have never seen them admit their mistakes willingly.”
Even when the facts are right in front of them, they shut their eyes and ears and stick to their ignorance.
The reason these guys were initially caught by the LaHart Capital security guards was for smuggling and trafficking prohibited items for sale. Not new to breaking the law and getting caught, they skillfully used someone else’s name to receive temporary amnesty and quickly escape.
However, Karl had already left investigators at the central train station and instructed thorough investigations on Celeste’s case. He put those who provided food for her on the suspect list and obtained their mugshots.
Thanks to this formal procedure, they were comparing the faces of all criminals caught wandering around the capital with the mugshots, which led to the capture of these guys.
“This will take a while. Should I go break their legs at least once?”
Clovis seemed frustrated as well. Unable to interfere with the investigation, he seemed ready to take matters into his own hands to get proper answers.
“Look at this. You guys, this is you.”
An investigator held a paper with the mugshots in front of them. Despite seeing their faces on paper, they shamelessly denied it.
“Oh, that’s me? That’s impossible. It doesn’t look like me at all.”
“Yes, it doesn’t resemble you at all. We didn’t know these items shouldn’t be sold. If we knew, we wouldn’t have brought them. Is it a crime to be ignorant?”
The duo skillfully lied in tandem. By this point, one might want to hand over the key to truth to Clovis and let him handle it all.
“Even ignorance can be a sin.”
It was becoming increasingly difficult to stand by and watch. Whether Karl was conscious of the fact that emotions seemed to guide his actions particularly in matters concerning Celeste, he did not hesitate to step forward towards the investigators, breaking his usual calm demeanor.
“You can’t hide whether you really didn’t know, pretended not to know, or anything else.”
“Who are you?”
One of the men brought in by Karl’s calm explanation, who seemed like a leader among them, snapped back.
“Where did this… show some respect to His Excellency.”
“His Excellency? Who are you?”
Oh dear. It seemed the man didn’t realize he was dealing with a noble, as he quickly rose from his seat only to topple over on the floor. Well, he tried to topple over. With his hands tied, instead of bowing down, he awkwardly fell to the ground with a thud, headfirst.
“I, I apologize for the earlier disrespect, Your Excellency. I truly did not know it was Your Excellency, please forgive me.”
“I just said it earlier. Whether you knew or not, a crime is still a crime.”
“I, I was wrong!”
Again, the man banged his head on the floor. Quite a different sight from his previous arrogant behavior in front of the investigators.
Perhaps Karl was the highest-ranking person this man had ever encountered in his life. No wonder he was astonished.
“If you answer honestly, I might consider forgiving your earlier rudeness.”
“I-I am answering honestly.”
“It seemed I clearly stated that if you answer honestly, I might forgive you. Do you not understand the meaning of honesty? Without a shred of falsehood, speak the truth. That is honesty.”
“I truly…”
“Deceiving a noble is a very serious offense. Your reasons for being detained here are incomparable to smuggling or trafficking.”
Those repeated words of ‘honesty’ from the man’s mouth ceased.
He tried to maneuver around with a suitable lie, but lying before a noble could lead to a more severe punishment under the imperial law of deceiving the royal family.
While smuggling or trafficking could result in a minimum fine or a maximum of three years imprisonment depending on the item and quantity, adding the deception of the royal family could exponentially increase the penalty.
What was peculiar and terrifying about the crime of deceiving the royal family was that the punishment could be reduced or increased depending on the deceived noble’s opinion.
Moreover, the noble before him was none other than the Grand Duke, the second highest ranking after the Emperor. The thought of how severe the punishment would be if caught lying before the Grand Duke was unimaginable.
“I have made a mistake. I did not intend to deceive from the beginning.”
“Now you seem to have the intention to answer honestly.”
As Karl cleared his throat, the investigator nodded. Finally, they could begin a thorough investigation into the true identities of these men and who had bribed them.
“The only chance for leniency for you is voluntary cooperation in the investigation. Understand?”
“Yes, yes. I understand.”
“If you lie again this time… there will be no more chances. If your statements do not align with our investigation, we will bring down the full force of the law. Be prepared.”
“I apologize. I was wrong. I will answer honestly this time.”
