Chapter 160

Rather than listening to his absurd excuses and stubborn rambling, it seemed better to search for physical evidence.

“Do you think I’d just… tell you, calmly and coolly…?”

[Hannibel Pacour]
Thought: Evidence… I wonder if they’re safe in the secret passage I prepared in case my subordinates betrayed me.

“There must be a reason why the underground passage forks. What’s on the other side?”

“Just kill me.”

[Hannibel Pacour]
Thought: They can’t pass through there unless they use Pacour’s blood. I may have poor mana affinity, but not even the emperor, let alone Damian, can go there.

Hannibel’s status window began to flicker slightly, as if his vitality was draining.

Siervian stared at it, but didn’t move rashly.

To be exact, she didn’t need to move. She had already obtained all the necessary information.

“Your Highness. His Majesty is on his way.”

Sir Roid had been silently watching Siervian engage in a long, silent conversation and interrupted to announce.

She reflexively looked back and saw her father urgently approaching her.

And in that instant.

“Huff!”

“…!”

Suddenly, she felt a surge of mana from Hannibel’s direction. Siervian reflexively poured her strength into her protective barrier.

However, the surge harmlessly dissipated somewhere without causing her any trouble.

“Oh my, it’s poison!”

“Chomp!”

With that last word, Hannibel swallowed the poison he had hidden in his teeth. It wasn’t just any poison, but a magical poison that would kill him instantly without giving him time to receive healing magic.

In an instant, Hannibel’s pale face turned a sickly gray. The green eyes that were exactly like the empress’ lost their vitality.

‘Was that communication magic just now? Are there more soldiers left?’

“Siervian!”

Her father urgently approached and checked Siervian’s condition. He was covered in dirt, as if he had hastily cleared a blocked path.

“Your Majesty. He’s already dead.”

“Get rid of it.”

The emperor didn’t even glance at Hannibel’s corpse and continued to anxiously check his daughter. Her complexion was pale, as if something had happened.

“Wait a moment.”

“Why?”

However, Siervian, who had been wearing a hardened expression, spoke unexpectedly. Her gaze was fixed on Hannibel’s corpse, which the knights were hastily clearing.

“I need some of the duke’s blood.”

Her father’s face hardened instantly at her sudden claim.

However, the knights moved on their own, having understood that it was the key to where he had hidden the evidence.

“Come here, Siervy. Are you really okay?”

“I’m fine.”

However, her gaze lingered on Hannibel for a long time.

It was ironic that the last magical tool used by Hannibel, who couldn’t become a mage and had resorted to such underhanded actions, was for his own death.

* * *

Even after resuming their search of the secret passage, no more intruders appeared.

‘Wasn’t the communication magic Hannibel used at the end an attempt to call for more soldiers?’

He had clearly sent something, but nothing had happened, which left her with an uneasy feeling.

On the left fork of the secret passage, a metal door that had been blocking the way had been shattered and fallen to the floor.

“Is it possible that the information he gave us isn’t true?”

“…I can tell. There may be traps, but the evidence is definitely here.”

Her father simply nodded at Siervian’s explanation.

She regretted that she couldn’t properly explain how she knew. So, she was about to suggest that they talk later.

[Alderuan Erveldotte]
Emotions: I trust my ☆Pretty Fairy☆ ♥Daughter♥
Thoughts: It seems she figured it out with that ability of hers to hide things.

‘Hmm? Didn’t something get added to the status window?’

The status window seemed somehow more dazzling, but she didn’t say anything.

“It’s a dead end, Your Majesty.”

The knight who had gone ahead to check for traps reported. Unlike the iron door that had suddenly appeared earlier, there seemed no further danger here.

The problem was that there didn’t seem to be a way to go any further.

“It’s not showing up with mana detection, either.”

“I stabbed it all with my sword, but there’s no reaction. What should we do, Your Majesty?”

It was truly a dead end. Naturally, all eyes turned to Siervian, who had casually said that the secrets of Duke Pacour were hidden here.

[Pacour Family Note]

And Siervian’s gaze was fixed on one of the walls.

“Here… I think.”

She pointed to one of the walls, pretending to have known about it since she had entered with the duke, lest she arouse suspicion if she sounded too confident.

When the emperor gestured to the knight behind him, the knight quickly approached the wall that Siervian had pointed to.

As he carefully applied Hannibel’s blood, the sound of something moving could be heard from far away.

“Step back.”

It was an even heavier sound than the iron door that had appeared earlier, as if the ground itself was moving.

Soon, one of the walls slid open like a vortex, revealing a passageway.

“Even though it’s a structure combining such diverse mana, it even repels mana detection…! It could be a subject of study.”

One of the mages dispatched from the Magic Tower muttered, marveling at the structure that had been organically combined with magic.

Siervian could also see those groundbreaking mana formulas. She could feel the obsession in the meticulous and dense composition.

‘…Perhaps it was an obsession with what he could never have.’

Informed of the situation, Siervian, her expression hardened, took her father’s hand and entered the room.

Unlike Hannibel’s wishes, the truth was not buried. For of course Siervian possessed the eyes to see it.

“Hmm.”

Within the secret chamber, the long history of the Pacour Duchy was etched into the walls.

“Your Majesty. We have discovered a ledger. It is believed to contain a record of payments to assassins.”

“…Not only the recent plot against the princess but also documents detailing the incident targeting the previous chamberlain are present here.”

The documents were no less than a record of Hannibel’s misdeeds. The Captain of the Guards tucked them securely into his uniform.

“Hmm, we must also consider the possibility that Hannibel left them as a decoy.”

The records were excessively detailed, unlike what one would expect from someone intent on concealing their involvement in assassination attempts.

However, the Captain of the Guard, who had dealt with many such matters, replied to the Emperor, “Judging from the format of the records, it seems that he anticipated a possible betrayal by his subordinates. They are damning pieces of evidence that could easily be manipulated to frame others.”

“Considering the Duke’s usual disposition, it is unlikely that anyone would believe them.”

“Indeed.”

“There may be another secret chamber with an entrance similar to this one. Search everywhere.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Siervian looked around diligently, hoping to find another place where a status window might appear. The Emperor led her to the innermost part of the chamber. On an old table lay a small notebook. Unlike the other neatly organized items, it appeared to have been recently used. It was well-thumbed, its pages stained with frequent handling.

[Hannibel’s Memoir]

‘Even this has a status window.’

“It seems to be the Duke’s personal record.”

Upon identifying it, her father swiftly lifted Siervian up and seated her on the table, bringing her eye level with it.

The open memoir contained the story of Hannibel’s life.

[I could never accept what my father called a sacred duty. But he was so stubborn…]

‘My father? Is he referring to the previous duke?’

[…In the end, I had no choice but to seize this position with my own hands. Cybelle mourned for my father’s death, knowing nothing…]

“It seems the previous duke was also murdered. Captain of the Guard, check if there is any information related to this.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Faced with this new revelation, her father spoke with a bitter tone.

“The previous duke?”

“Yes. One day, news of his sudden death reached us. And with that, the current duke succeeded to the dukedom.”

[Alderuan Erveldotte]
Thoughts: It was sudden, as I had thought. And more to it than met the eye.

…Even though I had disliked him since his days as crown prince, I never imagined Hannibal would resort to such heinous acts.

Her father answered Siervian’s question and slowly turned the pages of the memoir.

It contained Hannibel’s resentment, his inferiority complex over his inability to become a wizard, laid bare. Then, near the end, a peculiar passage appeared.

[I may not know the full extent of their plans, but for now, I have decided to support the Mosae’s cause. In truth, it matters little to me what their goals are. When the time is right, I shall eliminate them as well and wield the imperial power I have achieved through Pacour.]

“Imperial power….”

Hannibel’s ultimate goal was thus revealed. He sought to compensate for his resentment over not becoming a mage by wielding the power of Erveldotte.

[Alderuan Erveldotte]
Thoughts: But ‘they’… The Mosae’s cause must refer to the incident where they dared to target my children.

Siervian’s expression hardened as she watched her father quickly scan the memoir’s pages before and after the passage, searching for clues about ‘they.’

A strange chill seemed to emanate from the old table where she sat awkwardly.

‘The Kingdom of Navafal.’

In the end, the memoir contained no further hints.

Siervian watched with a complex gaze as her father carefully packed away Hannibel’s memoir, his expression troubled.

‘How should I tell him about Navafal?’

As she pondered, the Captain of the Guard, who had been thoroughly searching the secret chamber, approached.

“Your Majesty. I believe you should see this.”

“Bring it here.”

The Captain of the Guard presented a heavy-looking tome.

The binding was ancient, but the signs of age were faint.

“…Forgotten magic. It is a book protected by preservation enchantments.”

“Ah.”

And most importantly, it bore the mark of the first emperor.

“This is… a record that is not even in the Imperial Treasury. How did it end up here…?”

Her father’s hands trembled as he opened the book. At the sudden appearance of the first emperor’s record, the guards and mages searching the secret chamber dropped to their knees as one, their heads bowed in awe.

Her father did not read the record aloud but slowly turned the pages for Siervian to see.

It contained shocking information.

[…Thus, I bestow upon each duke a ‘sacred duty.’ …Among them, the Pacour Duchy… …Those who are innately devoid of mana affinity are the most suited to wield this ‘karmin.’ However…]

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