The Final Judgment
At this point, it seemed Sophia had decided she might as well speak her mind. In that case, I would have to deliver a tearful performance. Unlike the bitch being treated as a cross-dressing man, my body was genuinely female, so my tears would serve as irrefutable evidence.
“I haven’t been able to sleep properly since that day.”
“But the newspapers said you subdued them.”
“Newspapers always embellish the truth, don’t they? Truly, ever since that day, the nightmare returns every time I close my eyes to dream… sob… sob…”
I didn’t stop the tears. Ah, I really pinched my thigh until it hurt. Who would have thought the day would come when I’d be crying like a little girl? It felt absolutely awful. This was all that Sophia bitch’s fault.
“Hmm. That makes sense. After all, you endured such an ordeal despite having committed no crime whatsoever.”
“I wasn’t trying to kill her! This is unfair! I only meant to teach her a lesson!”
“If those assassins hadn’t failed, I would have met a mysterious death somewhere by now, wouldn’t I? Hehe… sob.”
This alone was more than enough. Not only was her appearance plain, but Sophia was a villainess in every possible way, so there wasn’t a single soul willing to defend her. Besides, I was a bestselling author. Fans had gathered here as well, and they were clearly worried that the previous incident might have left me too mentally and physically frail to continue writing.
In truth, I had prepared the manuscript in advance, but I had also contacted the publishing house.
— Even though you acted completely fine that day, perhaps we should amplify the situation a little?
— Hmm, do you have a good idea in mind?
— Although you said you were all right, let’s delay the next volume’s publication date. We’ll announce it in the newspapers.
— So the plan is to plant the impression among readers that while you claimed to be fine on the surface, you’re still mentally tormented.
— No, it’s actually a bit true. After all, I was suddenly attacked in the middle of a fan signing event. Even someone like me feels… a bit shaken. I’d also like to refine a few episodes while I have the chance.
— I see. Since publishing issues in the empire give us some breathing room right now, let’s proceed that way.
Asking Yugo for that favor was essentially requesting help with my personal affairs beyond mere book publishing, but I genuinely wanted a break. Moreover, if the news spread widely and stirred up sympathy for author K, uniting the readers in the process, it wouldn’t be a bad outcome for the publishing house either.
“At this level, even Holpert won’t be able to do anything.”
“Then, Your Highness…”
“Dragging this to court in the current situation would only embarrass the nation, and the Holpert bastards would pull strings behind the scenes somehow. It’s better if we handle it ourselves.”
As expected of Heintz. His calculations were swift.
“If my father hears about this, you’re all finished! Do you think being the Second Prince makes you any different?”
“His Majesty the King, the sun of this nation, holds greater authority than your father. Therefore, he shall deliver the judgment personally.”
Heintz shook his head. Even he probably hadn’t expected Sophia to be this much of a lunatic. Honestly, neither had I. In the original story, Sophia had everyone wrapped around her finger with her fox-like cunning—who could have predicted she would foam at the mouth and throw a tantrum like this? It was better that her true nature had been revealed.
Having extracted a confession, Heintz immediately reported the matter to the King. Since the royal family had taken charge of this incident, the final decision rested with His Majesty.
Sophia not only framed her own elder sister and drove her from the family, but also spread rumors throughout the capital branding her sister a villainess. Furthermore, displeased with the novels of a bestselling author officially recognized by the royal family, she attempted to assassinate said author. Her crimes are grave.
However, taking into consideration that she is a daughter of House Holpert, Duke Holpert shall personally escort her to a monastery. Should this royal command be defied, it will be regarded as an act of contempt toward the royal family.
The conclusion had finally arrived. Sophia was to be dealt with directly by Duke Holpert. She was to be sent to a monastery. Looking only at the content, I had gained everything I wanted. The board had been laid out grandly until now, but to summarize, it encompassed everything Milene and K had suffered. Moreover, given that execution was impossible, sending her to a monastery was an enormous blow in itself.
First, her comfortable life as a noble young lady—her pampered existence—was essentially over. On top of that, because she herself had spread and amplified all those rumors, the scale had grown so large that by now there was probably no one in Glacia who didn’t know Sophia. Marriage would be difficult. Sending her to a monastery on top of all that meant she had fallen to rock bottom as a noble daughter and would live a life of reflection.
For Duke Holpert, who cherished his daughter so terribly, having to be the one to do it must have been the absolute worst. There was no torture or beheading like in the Joseon era, of course. This was purely social burial. From now on, she would carry the label of a villainess who framed her own sister, with an additional tag for trying to murder an unrelated novelist.
“This can’t be! A monastery? It’s unfair! Unfair, I tell you! Hmph! Father would never send me there! You’re all finished!”
In the end, Sophia was treated as a criminal by the capital’s royal guards and was to be escorted under guard back to the Holpert lands. As expected of this world, I suppose. Seeing something like this in person felt strange. It was a world where culture and daily life were reasonably advanced, yet it could still show this thoroughly monarchical side. Should I call it refreshing?
To be honest, if the current king had been a tyrant, or if Holpert had gone completely berserk, a civil war might have broken out and I could have been dragged into it. That was an enormous relief. Author Parkuri had at least set up the characters properly. Besides, the next heir would be either Heintz or Leon, both of which were acceptable. The worst option—Schwald becoming king—had been eliminated.
There was also something unpleasant from my perspective. The young masters from House Holpert had come to visit my residence in person.
“What an honor to have such esteemed guests visit this humble place.”
Jeo, who had taken my autograph not long ago, and Sein, who had been so firmly on Sophia’s side in the original story. For now, I treated them coldly, like a betrayed noble daughter. My voice was flat, devoid of any emotion, completely monotone.
“Milene. We didn’t know about any of this either.”
“Yes, Milene. From your position, that reaction is understandable. We’re sorry.”
Then why had they come here? Honestly, there shouldn’t be anything left for them to ask of me at this stage.
“So what brings you here? As I have said repeatedly, I have no intention of returning to Holpert. Furthermore, since the royal family is handling Sophia’s matter directly, it is no longer in my hands.”
Everything was already over, so it was rather late for these two to come begging me to show mercy to Sophia. It didn’t seem like that was why they had come anyway.
“Milene. We’re sorry.”
“It’s fine. Thanks to all this, I’ve come to understand exactly what I was to House Holpert.”
The young masters who had come from Holpert couldn’t dare argue with me. If they had any conscience, they shouldn’t, and even if they lacked one and tried, I had neither punished anyone nor shown resentment—instead I had expressed gratitude. They couldn’t very well accuse me of having no loyalty to my younger sister. So the real question now was how these two would react.
“Don’t hate Holpert too much.”
“Hate it? On the contrary, I’m grateful. My goodness, if I hadn’t been expelled, I never would have realized my own family considered me less than a dog. And now that they see some use in me again, they’re trying to drag me back into the family register. All while continuing to favor Sophia. I suppose the bond with that whore who gave birth to her must have been quite deep?”
“Watch your language…”
“Too harsh? Isn’t Sophia the one who inherited that whore’s nature—the one who could only seduce men with her body because she was ignorant and uneducated—and goes around wagging her tail at everyone? Didn’t the two young masters here also fall for Sophia’s smooth tongue?”
Hmm. It felt like the words were flowing out on their own. That Milene girl. Was she watching everything from inside me? No, I was the one speaking with my own mouth, yet it somehow didn’t feel like something I would say. It was a strange, disjointed feeling.
“We have nothing to say.”
“I no longer wish to have any connection with Holpert. Whether the family prospers or falls means less than a fingernail’s worth to me. The reason you’ve come to see me now is to ask me to consider the family’s circumstances as much as possible, isn’t it?”
“W-well, yes. It wouldn’t be bad for you to receive Holpert’s backing, right?”
Bullshit. Holpert’s backing was laughable. From what I’d seen before, Holpert was being cursed left and right. What did that mean? In short, people had only kept their heads down because the family’s power had been great. Now that they were being politically beaten, everyone was spitting out their grievances. In other words, Holpert had become a pariah.
“In the capital these days, everyone is badmouthing Holpert at every opportunity. Why would I want to enter a family that’s being cursed? I am now a Loen. So, young masters, please leave.”
Yet these two still didn’t leave. They weren’t causing any dog-like scenes in the capital, but I wondered what they were thinking. In the end, they fell silent. The first to speak was Jeo, the heir of Holpert.
“What must we do to survive?”
“As members of Holpert? Or as individuals—Jeo and Sein?”
“The latter.”
What, these idiots were even cutting ties with their own family now?
“Don’t look at us like that. It may sound like an excuse to you, but Father loves Sophia far too much. He can’t see anything around him anymore.”
“It’s true. No matter how we look at it, there’s no solution. And since my brother isn’t the head of the family yet, we can’t correct anything.”
“Hmm, is that so.”
But what the hell did they expect me to do about it? They should figure it out themselves. Why come to an exiled younger sister? I was about to say as much when Jeo struck first.
“You’re the Hero, aren’t you? A Hero should help resolve difficulties of this level.”
“Exactly. At this rate, we won’t even be able to send Sophia to the monastery. For the sake of maintaining our family, we must send her there somehow.”
These damn bastards were pulling out the Hero card here? Well, technically they weren’t wrong. A Hero is supposed to help those in need, after all. Though the “provisional” part made it a stretch. But how was I supposed to solve something like this? Wouldn’t it be better to go to Heintz?
Oh, I see. They still had some last shred of pride, so they didn’t want to approach the prince who had caused the chaos in House Holpert, regardless of cause and effect. But did I have any particular solution? I barely knew anything about Holpert in the first place.
“Can’t Sir Jeo just overthrow everything here?”
“Overthrow it?”
Well, what other choice was there? The easiest way to deal with incompetent people had always been to replace them.
“Yes. Just say the head of Holpert has fallen ill and can no longer recognize anyone except his daughter, then confine him or something.”
“Still… how could a child do that to their parent…”
“Is this really the time to worry about that? The entire household is on the verge of collapse because of one whore’s daughter.”
Upon hearing my words, Jeo and Sein exchanged glances, bowed to me, and left. Wait, those bastards had a dangerous look in their eyes. They weren’t seriously planning to do it, were they? I thought they would probably just grab Heintz’s feet later. That was my initial assumption.
Next came the disposition of the princes. Schwald hadn’t escaped a harsh fate either.
“Wow. That’s really something.”
Like reading a new book release, I received a secret letter from Heintz about Schwald’s punishment before it was officially announced. Having been manipulated by such a villainess, he had been completely removed from the line of succession. On top of the circulating rumors that he was the gay prince, his accumulated incompetence had disgraced the royal family, so they would strike him from the family register. Out of lingering parental affection, they would at least grant him a noble title so he wouldn’t die.
“That’s surprisingly moderate.”
It was quite moderate, all things considered. It would have been awkward to push Schwald out any further than this. Since he had already self-destructed with his own stupidity, people had long been treating him with a simple “Sigh, that idiot.” If they had kicked him out without even a noble title, completely penniless, people might have pitied him instead.
Above all—
“I’m not gay! I’m not homosexual!”
“Now, time is of the essence. Please proceed to your territory, gay— I mean, Count Ron.”
Having received a small rural estate, Schwald—now opening the House of Ron, apparently named after the region—would be forcibly dragged there by the knights.
Schwald still hadn’t managed to shake off the gay label. Having been completely driven out while it clung to him… well, he had brought it upon himself.