Chapter 61
Chapter 61
Translation: godsn
"I never imagined the Minister would still place such unwavering trust in the Duke."
Siseo shrugged his shoulders.
His expression suggested he was doing the Minister a special favor by pointing out what the man had failed to notice.
"How do you think I discovered that the Black Eye Merchant Guild was smuggling palace children to foreign lands?"
"What?"
"At first, I thought it was bait—that Duke Claudio had deliberately let the information slip to lure me in. But imagine my surprise when it turned out to be your own carefully hidden tail."
Siseo let out a sharp laugh.
His eyes, filled with pity, swept over the Minister's disheveled appearance.
"So I thought, 'Ah, so the two of you have completely split now.' But it seems it's just that you've been played for a fool, Minister."
"Lies! Do you take me for an idiot who can't recognize a divide-and-conquer scheme?"
The Minister bared his teeth like a wild beast ready to tear Siseo apart.
"If that's what you believe, then so be it."
"Shut up! Your scheme is transparent! You're trying to drive a wedge between me and the Duke!"
Despite his confident shout, Etienne's eyes were shaking violently.
It was as if he could hear the faint, hairline cracks forming in what had once been an unbreakable bond.
Siseo swallowed his laughter silently. Had he wished, he could have danced right there in front of the Minister.
"My, my. Surely the Minister knows how fragile political alliances can be. Why are you acting so naive?"
"...That's impossible. The Duke and I are in the same boat. If I fall, he falls with me!"
"Is that really true? Or would he absorb your crumbling power and grow even stronger?"
Siseo tilted his head as he posed the question.
Etienne's words caught in his throat.
"Well, you'd know the answer better than I, Minister. In any case, I've done you the courtesy of revealing the truth out of past goodwill. So when the morning dew touches the execution grounds, don't blame me."
With a slight bow, he slid a small liquor bottle through the bars.
"I hear you're fond of vodka. May it bring you some warmth on this night of abandonment."
Having thoroughly unsettled Etienne, Siseo took his leave with light footsteps, as if he had nothing more to say.
"You bastard—! Do you think I'll collapse so easily?! Soon enough, I'll walk out of here and tear you limb from limb!"
The Minister hurled the bottle Siseo had tauntingly left behind straight at the wall.
Crash—!
The bottle shattered against the stone, filling the cell with the pungent scent of strong liquor.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Gasping with rage, Etienne couldn't shake Siseo's words from his mind.
His thoughts raced as he feverishly calculated the possibility of their truth.
'There are only two people who could have moved the Black Eye Merchant Guild after the evidence came out.'
Duke Claudio and Etienne himself.
There was no way Etienne would gamble with his own life on the line...
Which left only one culprit.
Duke Claudio.
Doubt began to seep into the Minister's once-unshakable resolve.
Duke Claudio had already tried to poison and overthrow him once before, using his own daughter.
And hadn't they been locked in such a fierce power struggle before Siseo's arrival that they were nearly at each other's throats?
A sudden unease gripped Etienne. Why did I trust the Regent alone so blindly?
If the Duke were to change his mind now, I'm finished.
"Ahem, ahem... Now that your guest has come and gone, my lord... Is there anything you need or any orders you'd like to give?"
A guard walked into the space Siseo had vacated, rubbing his palms together as he eyed Etienne.
The situation was still ambiguous—no official punishment had been handed down to Etienne yet.
The guard, still mindful of the power and influence the Minister had wielded as head of the Imperial Household Department, continued to accommodate him.
It also helped that the bribes the Minister slipped him for errands were quite substantial.
"Medeia..."
Etienne muttered.
"Yes?"
"Bring the Princess. Her Highness the Princess—now!"
Beneath the hand he pressed into the guard's palm, a thin sliver of gold changed hands.
"Of course, my lord. I'll dash straight to the Princess's palace the moment I step out."
The guard grinned and nodded. Between his grimy fingers, the gold piece clinked as it rolled.
Three days later.
At some point, a clean, refreshing fragrance began cutting through the prison's putrid stench that had been thick with the sour smell of decay.
Half out of his mind, Minister Etienne lifted his head.
Gradually, a cascade of silver hair entered his vision—so radiant it seemed to illuminate even the gloom of the dungeon.
Overcome with joy, he forgot all decorum and sprang to his feet, nearly shouting.
"Ah, Your Highness the Princess!"
Here! I'm here! He clung to the bars, calling out fervently.
"My, my, Minister."
Medeia approached with slow, measured steps. Her calm green eyes swept over the minister from head to toe.
"What in the world has happened? Where has that dignified, imposing figure gone?"
Medeia clicked her tongue in apparent pity.
This wasn't said to deliberately wound.
Minister Etienne truly resembled a lump of dough—crushed from a fall off a tower's peak, now rotting away in filth within his cell.
All while nurturing growing suspicions and unease about Duke Claudio, who hadn't responded to his desperate messages.
"Wasn't it you who said one must prepare for the worst? How ironic that your own advice has come back to haunt you."
"Your Highness, this is slander! I've never violated military law, nor even entertained the thought. How could I, a loyal minister responsible for Valdina's governance? That despicable Black Eye Merchant Guild targeted me with their schemes!"
Despite the princess's veiled mockery, Etienne simply prostrated himself. His ability to shift tactics was truly remarkable.
"Hmm. Naturally, I'd like to believe your earnest defense, but matters have escalated too far."
Medeia shook her head with a tsk-tsk.
"Somehow, your story has spread beyond the palace walls throughout the entire Royal Castle. Now even commoners are clamoring for your execution, demanding vengeance for the children."
Imprisoned as he was, Etienne had no knowledge of outside events.
His subordinates and the Duke were too busy filling chests with gold coins to spare any time relaying current affairs to the minister.
"So whether they'll believe your excuses is doubtful. Quite the predicament."
Etienne's face drained of color.
The commoners already despised and loathed him. As a supposed pillar of authority who indiscriminately abducted commoners, his infamy ran deep.
'Those wretches will tear my corpse apart with their teeth.'
Slumping to his knees, Etienne thrust both hands through the bars toward Medeia.
"Your Highness, please help me. You won't regret rescuing me from this place."
Under normal circumstances, he would have contacted Duke Claudio by any means.
But something felt off.
The seeds of doubt Siseo had sown had taken root and flourished wildly in his heart over just three days.
The minister would rather endure the Duke's reproach for ruining future plans than risk a betrayal from behind.
Chancellor Siseo was determined to punish him, and Duke Claudio could no longer be trusted.
Thus, the princess remained his only lifeline.
Medeia scoffed.
"Empty-handed? Don't play naive, Minister."
Etienne hesitated momentarily, then shook his head as if brushing off his momentary fluster.
"Of course not. Your Highness, I have... a slush fund. My entire fortune, really—an astronomical sum. I'll give it all to you."
"Hmm, a slush fund."
The princess showed interest. Etienne inwardly cheered. Who could possibly dislike money?
The minister's weasel-like eyes gleamed.
He shuffled forward on his knees to the bars. Straining against his shackles, he barely managed enough movement to wiggle his fingers.
From his robes, Etienne produced a crumpled slip of paper.
'This princess has lived her whole life confined to the palace.'
Fooling an inexperienced, naive girl would be child's play.
Contrary to his thoughts, he adopted a remarkably earnest expression as he extended the paper—a guild-recognized checkbook.
"The voucher for my secret vault. My slush fund. Since childhood, I've scrimped and saved every penny through countless hardships. It's all yours, Your Highness. If only you'd extract me from this hellhole."
The Imperial Household Minister's secret vault.
A slush fund substantial enough to instantly rank him among the capital's wealthiest—the kind that would make anyone's eyes bulge with greed.
Even Neril, listening nearby, gaped in astonishment, her gaze darting between him and Medeia.