I'll Use That Woman
There had been three missing Emergency Imperial Decrees.
The first had come into our hands.
The order restoring those who had interfered with the Emperor's treatment to their posts, and commanding the arrest of Edrick Senel.
Two remained.
One of them was almost certainly the decree that, in the original story, had sent Adelia to the gallows.
Then where had the last one been used?
"Detain Serena Eberhardt."
Adelia's command snapped my thoughts short.
Serena's face went rigid, but Leonel stepped forward first.
"Your Highness."
"What?"
"She is not the one who forged the decree."
"Are you certain?"
"It was Lady Serena who uncovered the decree's true nature."
Adelia flicked the Emergency Imperial Decree between her fingertips.
"It is hardly strange that a thief recognizes stolen goods the fastest."
"Someone left the document on her desk."
"Simply because she claims so?"
Leonel's jaw locked.
"If we examine the Archives' entry records—"
"We will."
Adelia looked at Serena.
"After we put her in a cell."
If things continued like this, it would be the same path as the original.
Serena would be seized by Adelia while trying to clear her father's name.
Leonel would defy orders to protect her.
The two of them would secretly dig through the palace records.
In the process they would uncover the corruption committed by Adelia and Cassian.
After that came the gallows.
A thoroughly familiar ending.
"Do not imprison her."
At my words, every gaze turned to me.
Adelia raised an eyebrow.
"Reason?"
"I'll use that woman."
The room went still.
Serena's expression curdled.
Leonel's hand drifted a fraction toward his sword hilt.
Adelia glanced between me and Serena, then smiled strangely.
"How?"
"Document investigation."
I added quickly,
"I mean to put her to work examining the imperial records."
"You need not explain."
"Your Highness appears to have taken it in the most peculiar way."
Serena said coldly,
"I have no intention of becoming the Count's person."
"I never asked you to become mine."
"You just said you would use me."
"People survive by being useful. That is simply how it is."
Serena's eyes grew colder still.
The woman who was going to kill me already hated me.
Events seemed to be moving faster than in the original.
"I would rather go to prison."
"There is no Imperial Archives in a prison."
"At least I would not have to work under the Count."
"And you would also be unable to examine the records that could clear your father's name."
Serena's mouth closed.
It had worked.
Leonel took a step forward as if to place himself between us.
"Her custody will be handled by the Imperial Guard."
"No."
"What is the reason?"
His tone had changed.
Until a moment ago he had called me Count; now he was one breath short of issuing a challenge.
"Because the Captain of the Guard is already shielding that woman."
"Is that a fault?"
"It means you are confusing a watcher with a protector."
Leonel's eyes settled into cold stillness.
"I am Captain of His Majesty the Emperor's Guard."
"Which is precisely why it is more problematic."
"What?"
"A forged decree written in the Emperor's name was delivered to the Imperial Guard."
Leonel's brow stilled.
"And the Captain was the one positioned to carry out that order."
"I have not yet carried it out."
"But neither are you positioned to investigate the decree's authenticity. Moreover, at present you appear to be protecting the suspect rather than watching her."
Just as Leonel was about to speak, Adelia raised a hand.
"Enough."
Both of them looked at her.
"Place Serena under Cassian's supervision for the document investigation."
Leonel asked,
"Who will guarantee her safety?"
"You."
Adelia answered.
"The Guard will investigate the Archives entry logs and the decree's delivery route. If Cassian does anything improper to Serena, you will report that as well."
Leonel regarded Cassian for a moment, then bowed his head.
"I shall obey."
Adelia looked at Serena.
"The suspicion has not been lifted, so do not leave the palace. And do not examine any documents unrelated to the investigation."
Serena asked,
"And if I refuse?"
"Prison."
Short and absolute.
Serena clenched her teeth.
"I accept."
"Excellent."
When I spoke, Serena glared at me.
"It is not for the Count's sake."
"The reason is irrelevant. As long as the work is done well."
Leonel's gaze turned even fiercer.
I pretended not to notice.
Being hated by the original male lead was far less dangerous than letting the original female lead slip out of my sight.
Adelia said to Leonel,
"If you are that worried, keep a close watch."
"On what, Your Highness?"
"On whether Cassian devours Serena."
"Your Highness."
"Or whether Serena tries to kill Cassian."
That last one I was a little worried about myself.
The first Emergency Imperial Decree had come from the Imperial Archives.
The remaining two had most likely been used inside the palace as well.
We ordered every important decree issued from the day the Emperor collapsed brought in.
The central reading room of the Imperial Archives.
Thick document cases stood in a row along the long table.
Replacement of the Emperor's attending physician.
Dismissal of Edrick Senel.
Postponement of the Crown Prince's investiture ceremony.
Investigation order against suspected traitors.
Appointment of Adelia as Regent.
Documents that had, every one of them, shaped the present crisis.
"Checking them all will take considerable time."
When I spoke, Serena opened one of the cases.
"If we select only the important decrees, there are not many."
"How do you distinguish them?"
"Emergency Imperial Decrees use different paper from ordinary ones."
"They look identical to me."
"To the Count's eyes, no doubt."
She had a touch of insolence.
Leonel stood at the entrance of the reading room, watching us.
Adelia had told him to keep watch, and he truly never took his eyes off us.
I could see why he had been popular as the loyal knight in the original.
From the receiving end, it was a little exhausting.
Serena held each decree up to the light one by one.
The grain of the paper.
The imperial crest.
The placement of the control number.
Even the shade of the ink.
Beside her, I read the contents.
"Not Edrick's letter of dismissal."
"Yes."
"Not the grant of full treatment authority to the Chief of the Medical Bureau either."
"Ordinary decree."
"Postponement of the Crown Prince's investiture."
"This is not it either."
Serena's hands moved quickly.
For a temporary scribe, her handling of documents was practiced.
"Have you been investigating for a long time?"
I asked.
"Investigating what?"
"Your father's case."
Her hands paused for a moment.
"Three years."
"From before you entered the Archives?"
"From the day my father was executed."
The gaze she turned on me grew cold again.
"From the day the Count stood there smiling."
"You remember that well."
"Is there a reason I should forget?"
There was not.
I would not have been able to forget either.
"I will clear your father's name."
Serena looked at me.
"What is your angle?"
"None."
"You expect me to believe the Count has no ulterior motives?"
"Hearing it put that way is somewhat insulting."
"You put twelve people on the kill list and tried to put twelve more."
"The latter twelve I only pretended to add while I took the merchant guild master."
"And the first twelve?"
"At the time my judgment was short."
Serena looked at me as if she could not believe her ears.
"What is the price?"
"That you do not cut off my head."
"What?"
"I will explain later."
She seemed to take it as a joke.
Even though I was entirely serious.
Serena shook her head and picked up the next document.
Then her hand stopped.
"This is strange."
"What is?"
I looked at the document she held.
Appointing Adelia von Ermain, First Imperial Princess, as Regent.
The decree issued on the day the Emperor collapsed.
Because of this document Adelia had taken charge of the state.
Because of this document I could walk about carrying the Princess's seal.
"The ink of the body and the signature are different."
Serena murmured.
It was a difference I could barely perceive.
Something only she could catch—the heroine's buff.
"Is it the same method as the decree we found earlier?"
"Yes. The body was written recently, but the signature is far older."
"So this is also an Emergency Imperial Decree?"
"I cannot yet be certain. But the paper is thicker than an ordinary decree as well."
She walked to the window.
Held the decree to the light.
A faint imperial crest emerged.
And in the lower corner of the document, a number almost invisible to the naked eye became clear.
Two.
Serena's face hardened.
"It is the second."
"What?"
"The missing Emergency Imperial Decree."
At some point Leonel had drawn a little closer from the doorway.
I asked,
"Are you certain?"
"The control number matches."
Serena spread the document on the table.
"The decree by which His Majesty appointed Her Highness Adelia as Regent was also written on a blank decree."
The reading room fell silent.
I looked down at the document.
The order that had entrusted the government to Adelia when the Emperor lost consciousness.
Everyone had believed it was the Emperor's will.
Adelia.
The ministers.
Even I.
But it had not been.
Someone had written the content onto paper the Emperor had signed in advance.
Someone had seated Adelia in the Regent's chair.
To hand her the Blood Register.
To make her slaughter the Prince's faction.
To plunge the empire into chaos.
And then, with the final remaining decree, to drag her down.
"Who knows this fact?"
I did not know when she had arrived, but Adelia stood in the doorway of the reading room.
She looked at the Regent appointment letter on the table.
"At present, only those in this room."
Leonel answered.
Adelia.
Me.
Serena.
Leonel.
And the inspector and two scribes.
"If this leaks, Your Highness's authority as Regent will be shaken."
At my words Adelia picked up the decree.
"Then do not let it leak."
Serena stared at her in shock.
"Your Highness."
"What?"
"If this decree is forged, then Your Highness's authority as Regent was never directly granted by His Majesty either."
"And?"
"You must reveal the truth."
Adelia looked down at Serena.
"I did not forge it."
"But if you continue to exercise that authority knowing—"
"It is power they manufactured to kill me."
Adelia lightly waved the Regent appointment letter.
"Is there a reason I should not use it?"
Serena lost her words.
As expected, not every victim was virtuous.
The moment this woman realized she had been trapped, she was already trying to reverse the trap and use it herself.
"Does the Count agree as well?"
Serena asked me.
"No."
Her expression eased a fraction.
"That is a relief."
"I am opposed to being discovered."
The eased expression curdled again.
"The two of you truly are alike."
"I will take that as a compliment."
Adelia folded the Regent appointment letter.
A false order bearing the Emperor's signature and seal.
She slipped it into her robes.
Only one missing Emergency Imperial Decree remained.
The one that, in the original story, had deposed Adelia.
Branded her a traitor.
And sent her to the gallows.
Only now did I understand.
Adelia had never seized the Emperor's place.
Someone had seated her there.
So that later they could drop her from the highest height of all.