The next morning, Jerald attended a scheduled meeting.
“I have something to say to everyone.”
He started the meeting with the most important words.
“I’m having a baby.”
Jerald’s words quickly drew a collective gasp.
“A child, Your Majesty?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Countess Rosewell is pregnant.”
“Is that true, Your Majesty?”
“Yeah. So I want the wedding date to be as early as possible.”
“Of course, Your Majesty, with a variable like that, of course you do.”
“Congratulations, Your Majesty.”
“Congratulations.”
From the news of the wedding to the news of the pregnancy. Most aristocrats celebrated the double celebration.
Jerald celebrated with a ceremonial smile.
“Thank you all. You must have been surprised by the unexpected news.”
“The important thing is that we now have a full-blooded imperial child to succeed His Majesty.”
“It’s not a common occurrence, but the sooner the better with good news.”
“Congratulations once again.”
“Actually, we were supposed to find out later.”
Everyone looked at Jerald in surprise at this unexpected comment.
“What do you mean by that, Your Majesty?”
“I suppose you’ve all heard that the Countess Rosewell rolled down the stairs at Lady Jenkins’ bazaar the other day?”
“…Ah, yes. I have heard.”
“I nearly lost the woman who was to be my wife, as well as my child, in that accident.”
With that, Jerald turned his gaze toward Duke Gennant.
“What do you think of this, Duke Gennant?”
Jerald’s eyes, as well as those of all the nobles, turned to Duke Gennant.
Duke Gennant remained silent for the moment, trying to keep his expression as controlled as possible.
“Your only daughter pushed the countess down the stairs, didn’t she?”
“…”
“Perhaps we should have a meeting about this today.”
“Your Majesty.”
The Duke of Gennant opened his mouth, his voice trembling slightly.
“As you said, the only witness is the countess herself.”
“Of course not. Her sister was there, too.”
“They’re family, and it’s entirely possible they could have given false testimony.”
“So you’re saying that Countess Rosewell lied?”
Jerald asked, frowning openly.
“Duke, say something that makes sense. What is the benefit of her doing so?”
“I don’t know that, either. But I also heard that the two of them don’t get along well…”
“Duke.”
Jerald cut off the Duke of Gennant in a low voice.
“The duke says that Countess Rosewell is trying to frame Princess Gennant.”
After saying this, Jerald let out a short gasp as if his next words were too much to bear.
“Are you suggesting that she deliberately set herself up?”
“…I suppose we can’t rule out that possibility.”
“Ha, okay. Is there anyone who can prove the princess’s innocence?”
Jerald narrowed his eyes and stared at Duke Gennant.
“Is there anyone who was with her at the time of the countess’s accident?”
“That is…”
“As I understand it, the duke did not attend Lady Jenkins’ bazaar.”
Jerald’s eyes turned sharp.
“I suppose there’s some merit to that claim, if you can find someone who can provide an alibi.”
“…I’ll have to check that out myself.”
“What if there’s no one to give the princess an alibi?”
Jerald asked as if he was genuinely curious.
“How are you going to respond then?”
“Even so,”
Duke Gennant replied calmly,
“You can’t punish a man on the basis of his mind when there is no physical evidence, Your Majesty.”
“…Is that so?”
Hearing Duke Gennant’s assertion, Jerald thought for a moment before asking again,
“What if, then, there is evidence that Princess Gennant pushed Countess Rosewell down the stairs?”
“…”
“Do you agree to punishment then, Duke Gennant?”
“Of course, Your Majesty. Even if she is my daughter,”
Replied the Duke of Gennant confidently,
“You cannot escape the severity of the law.”
He was certain that Jerald would never find any physical evidence. His daughter said she pushed Pristin and ran away immediately.
The only witnesses in the process were Pristin and Christine. Christine couldn’t be a witness because she wasn’t an unbiased third party.
“So if you have any physical evidence, let’s discuss it again then.”
“…Just so we’re clear.”
Jerald spoke up, his voice low.
“Countess Rosewell did not roll down the stairs alone. In short, it was not a mistake.”
Jerald’s gaze once again turned to the Duke of Gennant. The duke felt a chill run down his spine, but he met Jerald’s gaze as unflinchingly as he could.
“It doesn’t matter if it was Princess Gennant or someone else I never thought of. If the culprit is found, I intend to bring him or her to justice for attempting to harm the soon-to-be empress and my child in her womb.”
“…”
“So if you happen to know the culprit.”
Jerald’s gaze was still on Duke Gennant.
“Tell him they’d better come clean and confess. If you’re hoping to get even the slightest reduction in sentence.”
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
After the meeting, it was Camer Palace that Jerald went straight to.
“Your Majesty.”
Pristin appeared quite surprised by his unexpected visit.
“What brings you so early…”
“Because it’s lunchtime soon,”
Jerald said, habitually kissing Pristin on the lips.
“Let’s have lunch together. Do you have an appointment?”
“No, I don’t. Let’s go to the dining room.”
The two went to the dining room together. Soon the maids brought a variety of dishes and set them on the table. Pristin casually stirred the cream soup with potatoes with a spoon. However, she noticed Jerald’s expression.
Jerald, noticing her, asked with a low laugh.
“Why are you looking at me?”
“What?”
Pristin asked back with a puzzled expression, and then immediately asked back with an embarrassed expression.
“…Can you tell?”
“Yes.”
Jerald’s jaw clenched, and he stared at Pristin for a moment, as if he found the sight endearing.
“You’re being uncharacteristically coy, I can tell.”
“Haha…”
“It’s because of the outcome of the meeting, isn’t it?”
“You know, and you didn’t even bother to tell me.”
Pristin said in a speculative voice,
“I guess it didn’t go so well.”
“Yeah,”
Jerald replied dryly.
“The Duke of Gennant said there was no physical evidence.”
“I knew it, because all I had to prove was my argument.”
As if he’d expected it, Pristin replied calmly.
“Well, if you look at it impartially, he’s kind of right.”
“How?”
“I may be the victim, and I may be the soon-to-be empress, but you can’t punish someone based on my word alone.”
Pristin smiled lightly as she made eye contact with Jerald.
“It’s a dangerous thing. Duke Gennant is right.”
“You’re so wise, sometimes I don’t like it.”
“I didn’t say I was going to let it get covered up like this.”
Jerald asked, blinking his eyes,
“Do you have a plan?”
“…Actually.”
Pristin spoke after a moment of silence.
“I can’t think of anything that would be incriminating in that situation.”
“That’s right. The only witnesses are the parties themselves, and it’s not like we have anything that can be used as evidence.”
Jerald let out a short sigh.
“That’s the problem, it’s not like there’s anything wrong with the way things are.”
“I’m sure the Gennants are looking like that, too, I’m sure they’re relieved.”
“So…?”
“We can go after them, and I have a witness.”
“Do you have any more witnesses?”
“No. There were only four witnesses.”
Pristin shook his head and held up four fingers.
“Me, Christine, Princess Gennant, and the maid.”
“So, there’s no one to witness…”
At that moment, Jerald looked at Pristin as if he had realized.
And he asked in a dazed voice as he looked at a smiling Pristin,
“Is that possible?”
“It must be difficult. So you’ll have to try to trick her.”
Pristin asked, gazing gently at Jerald,
“Can you help me?”
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
At the same time, Duke Gennant’s manor.
“When is my father coming?”
Tanya had been restless and inactive all day that day, locked in her room, thinking that at any moment the soldiers would come for her.
She hoped her father would return as soon as possible to bring her news, but she also dreaded the news Duke Gennant might bring, especially if it was bad news.
“What should I do, Brelin… He won’t sentence me to be beheaded, will he?”
“I don’t think so, my lady. Please calm down.”
Brelin was actually anxious inside herself, but she hid it as much as she could to soothe Tanya.
“There is no evidence, no witness. How can you punish a lady without any evidence?”
“His Majesty is the law, and if he sets his mind to it, punishing me will be no problem.”
“His Majesty would never punish you so arbitrarily, young lady. Please calm down.”
“Lady!”
Then they heard a voice calling for Tanya from outside. Tanya, who only bit her nails on the bed, jumped out of her seat. After a while, the door opened and the maid came in.
“The master is here.”
With that, Tanya slammed the door and ran out. She ran down the stairs so fast she nearly fell, and as soon as she saw Duke Gennant, she let out a new scream.
“Father!”
The Duke of Gennant looked a little surprised when he heard his daughter’s voice. But for a moment, he immediately raised the most reassuring words for Tanya with a triumphant expression.
“There is no need to worry now, Tanya.”
“Did things go well?”
“Yes. What did I say? How can you punish a person recklessly when you don’t have physical evidence in the first place? Now you can sleep with your feet stretched out without any worries.”
“Hah, thank goodness.”
Tanya grumbled with a deep sigh,
“I was so anxious yesterday, when my father told me in a nuanced way not to worry if anything happened.”
“That was literally the worst-case scenario.”
If Jerald were to ignore all procedure and reason and impose his punishment arbitrarily.
But even Duke Gennant didn’t think that would happen.
“Don’t worry. Fortunately, His Majesty is not a man without common sense.”
“That’s good to hear, and I can breathe a little easier now.”
“But don’t be so careless in the future, Tanya. We were lucky this time, but there’s no telling what will happen next time.”
“Yes, Father, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Tanya smiled at Duke Gennant as if to reassure him not to worry.
“That was a very impulsive thing to do. I’m going to live like a rat in the future.”
The day when the imperial authority would change was very, very soon.
