Why Do Only the Parties Involved Not Know? (2)
“Duke! Are you going to keep denying it like that?!”
“…Neither Alex nor I colluded in Lenion Hersha's embezzlement and breach of trust.”
“How can you so shamelessly deny it! We have solid evidence that former Vice Duke Ashton Armitas siphoned off this kingdom's taxes alongside Lenion Hersha! And look here—the list of accomplices doesn't just have the former Vice Duke's name; the current Vice Duke and the Duke himself are right there in bold letters!”
“That evidence is fake. Fabricated.”
“Still denying it!”
“How can you…!”
The court assembly doubling as an inquiry had dragged on for five straight days.
Under the supervision of Queen Regent Dianne, seated in the highest position, Abros and Alex—who had been falsely branded as key ringleaders in the embezzlement scheme alongside Lenion Hersha—had endured five relentless days of interrogation by the Cracir Royal Guard Knights without breaking, standing firm.
Throughout the grueling questioning, Abros and Alex had answered truthfully and without evasion about everything they knew, but they steadfastly denied the fabricated charge of collusion.
“Your Majesty! This inquiry is pointless now! I propose we immediately punish Abros the Duke and all the nobles implicated in the embezzlement and handle this incident with the utmost severity!”
A faint smile played on the lips of the noble who bellowed his proposal to Queen Regent Dianne.
This would effectively dismantle the faction of nobles led by Abros, and in turn, shatter the support base for Consort Helena and Prince Evan, whom Abros had backed.
If Dianne's son were named crown prince, it would mean victory for her and the royalist faction that supported her and her son. How could she not be thrilled?
Every noble present at the court assembly belonged to the royalist faction, and they were all brimming with ambition to manipulate the kingdom at will, riding on the rising power of Prince Damian—the future crown prince—and Queen Regent Dianne.
And finally, Dianne herself spoke.
“Then, the nobles on the list of accomplices, including the ducal house…”
BAM!
“Pardon the interruption!”
“What the hell?! Who is that?!”
“What kind of commotion is this in the sacred court assembly…!”
“Th-that man is…!”
The nobles' faces hardened as a man with silver-white hair kicked open the doors and stormed into the court assembly hall.
“The Silver Serpent…”
“It's him again!”
“Hmph.”
At the center of the inquiry, seated alone at a desk and chair like he was on an execution platform, Abros let out a faint smirk at Eunhyeon's arrival.
“Haha!”
Alex and Riod, who were equally pleased by his entrance, exchanged wordless smirks.
“Whew~ Good thing I wasn't late, right?”
“What business do you have here?!”
“Who let that bastard into the royal palace?!”
“Royal Guard Knights! Seize him at once…”
The hall erupted into chaos at Eunhyeon's boisterous entrance.
“Hah, hah… You! Couldn't you have gone a bit slower?!”
“If we'd been any later, 'Elenoa's' precious father and brother were about to lose their heads.”
“Th-that's true, but… hah, hah.”
It probably wasn't quite a heads-rolling situation, but Elenoa scowled, catching her ragged breath at the appallingly lowbrow joke.
Having rushed after Eunhyeon, Elenoa still hadn't caught her breath, with no time to rest.
“Lia, set them down on the floor.”
“Command accepted!”
Emilia roughly hurled Ashton and Bark—one over each shoulder—onto the ground.
The two bound men hit the floor with a loud splat.
“…You could put them down gently.”
“I did not receive such an order.”
Emilia brushed off her shoulder—the one that had carried Bark—as if she'd just transported something filthy.
When ordered to carry him, she'd requested a command revision because she didn't want to touch the toad, but since Eunhyeon hadn't accommodated her, this was her petty act of defiance.
Eunhyeon chuckled softly, then addressed Queen Regent Dianne, who sat scowling at him from the high seat at the far end of the center aisle.
“Your Majesty, it seems we're meeting quite often. This is already the second time?”
“…This is a restricted area—no outsiders allowed. Even with Lady Elenoa's endorsement of your status, you can't attend a court assembly without permission. That's the law of this kingdom. Leave at once…”
“I've brought the ringleader who colluded with Lenion Hersha in the embezzlement.”
“……”
Eunhyeon nudged the unconscious Ashton at his feet with his toe, twisting Dianne's expression even further.
“Even so, you're neither a noble nor a citizen of this kingdom. An unrelated outsider like you should leave immediately! Walter!”
“Yes! Your Majesty!”
It was the expected reaction, of course.
Wiping the smile from his face, Eunhyeon opened his mouth to play his next card—one Dianne couldn't refuse.
“You'll regret that decisio— ”
“He's not unrelated, Your Majesty. Far from an outsider in this incident, in fact.”
“Huh?”
Abros suddenly cut into the exchange between Eunhyeon and Dianne.
“What did you say, Duke? That man's no outsider?”
“Correct. That man, Eunhyeon… is to be my son-in-law.”
“…What?”
Eunhyeon let out a dumbfounded sound, equally blindsided by Abros's words.
His face screamed, 'What the hell is this old man babbling about?'
“……?”
Dianne, momentarily baffled and lost for words, plunged the entire court assembly into stunned silence.
That silence soon shattered into a deafening uproar.
“What?!”
“Lady Elenoa is getting married?!”
“What in the world…!”
“'Fernin's Flower' has a fiancé?!”
“That man rescued my kidnapped daughter—his fiancée—and he's a key figure in this incident, a principal party. He has every right to attend this inquiry.”
Abros dropped the bombshell with a perfectly calm expression, sending the hall into pandemonium.
In the midst of the chaos, two figures—a man and a woman—stood quietly, uncharacteristically speechless, gazing at Abros and Alex.
Alex showed no reaction, as if he'd known all along, just like his father—leaving her utterly bewildered.
“F-Father…!?”
Elenoa's resolve to persuade her father crumbled into sheer bewilderment.
Riod, silently watching Eunhyeon, wore the same knowing look.
Eunhyeon stared hard at Abros's face.
His body blurred into an afterimage and vanished with a whoosh, reappearing right in front of Abros via his phantom shift ability.
“What?!”
“What kind of movement was that…!”
The sheer speed left afterimages, shocking Walter and the Royal Guard Knights into frozen awe—no one could react in time to stop him.
Eunhyeon leaned in close to Abros's chair and whispered.
“What the hell do you think you're doing?”
“What do you mean?”
“You spread lies about my relationship with the 'Lady.' Even if it was just to get me into this meeting, it's not a good move. A bad play, wouldn't you say?”
Their engagement would cause massive waves.
Marrying off a duke's daughter to a commoner—who wasn't even a citizen of Pernias Kingdom—wasn't a decision the Armitas ducal house could make alone.
Numerous nobles had their eyes on her beauty, her family's prestige, and her exceptional priestess abilities.
And their marriage wouldn't even serve the kingdom's interests.
The royal family and many nobles wouldn't take kindly to it—proven by the current chaos and confusion.
They'd fight tooth and nail to break it off.
And there was another problem.
“If Illyana finds out, I'm actually dead. You know that, right, Duke?”
“No need to worry about that.”
“…What?”
“I've already gotten permission from the witch.”
“You what…? Oh.”
—Just come back alive. No injuries. Then I'll forgive you even if you bring back another woman.
“No way…”
Eunhyeon recalled Illyana's words.
How, when, where had this engagement—unknown even to the parties involved—come about? The absurdity left him speechless.
[Hehe!]
Verdandi smiled as if finding the situation hilarious, gently stroking her apostle's silver-white hair.
“Wasn't this your plan?”
“…What do you mean?”
“You changed how you address my daughter, so I assumed your relationship had progressed…”
Abros trailed off, eyes narrowing as he glared at Eunhyeon amid the chaotic hall, piecing it together.
Eunhyeon had always called Elenoa “Lady” in formal address—familiar yet professional.
Abros had noticed the shift when he'd started using her name “Elenoa” instead, sensing their changed dynamic and seizing the moment.
But now, he'd reverted to “Lady.”
What did that mean? Abros pondered briefly.
“Did I misread it? Or… has the relationship advanced, but you have no intention of taking responsibility?”
“No, you know that's not it. I just can't fathom what you're thinking, Duke.”
“…One question. Have you touched Elenoa?”
“……!”
Eunhyeon flinched instinctively, scanning the reactions around him.
Elenoa's face flushed crimson in shock at Abros's sudden declaration, while the Cracir Royal Guard Knights rushed toward the center to intercept Eunhyeon.
“…Yes.”
The situation had called for it—he couldn't watch her spirit break, so he'd held her to comfort her—but the fact remained unchanged, so Eunhyeon offered no excuses, just affirmation.
“Hoo…”
Abros's eyes twitched at the reluctant confirmation, his fists clenching hard.
He felt no disappointment or rage toward his daughter for failing to preserve her purity before marriage as a noblewoman's daughter, or toward the man who'd touched her.
Yet hearing it still stirred complex emotions, filling his face with worry.
He turned back, glaring fiercely at Eunhyeon, and spoke.
“If you're going to take responsibility, do it properly.”
—Responsibility… quite a heavy word. Can you really bear it?
“…Understood.”
Eunhyeon had resolved to take responsibility for Elenoa going forward, but it gnawed at him that Abros had foreseen his daughter's unspoken feelings long before and orchestrated this with Illyana's involvement.
As if on cue, Riod rose from his seat and bellowed at Dianne.
“He's the one who rescued the kidnapped fiancée! A brave man who even captured the ringleader! I demand Eunhyeon's attendance at this court assembly!”
Riod's booming voice echoed through the hall, silencing the nobles' clamor as every eye turned to Dianne—the decider.
Eunhyeon eyed the approaching Royal Guard Knights and spoke again.
“…I've got a lot to say after this is over.”
[Hehe! Oh, child. You're so adorable when you're embarrassed.]
“Same here.”
Their relationship with the ducal house had started off far from amicable—hardly something one could call 'good'—yet somehow it had reached this point, leaving Eunhyeon sighing inwardly.
Verdandi stroked his hair with amusement, covering her elegant laugh with her other hand.
Eunhyeon turned to face the Royal Guard Knights and Dianne.
“Lia, toss those two over here.”
“…I refuse contact with the toad. Requesting command revision… Command accepted.”
Emilia glanced at Eunhyeon with a resigned look, grabbed Ashton and Bark by their clothes, and hurled them with all her might.
Whoosh!
“……”
Ashton sailed through the air to the center, but Bark's massive bulk tore his clothes, dumping him back to the floor.
Emilia, who'd dreaded direct skin contact, furrowed her brows in contempt.
She lifted him with motions like handling vile waste and flung him toward Ashton in the hall's center.
Thud!
The nobles stared blankly as the tiny girl—looking about thirteen—effortlessly hoisted and tossed the giant like a ball.
“No visible mana-enhanced physical reinforcement…”
To other nobles, the pinnacle of magitech—a doll or golem of intricate thousands of tiny parts—appeared as an ordinary girl.
Seizing the distraction from his entrance and Abros's bombshell, Eunhyeon moved to keep control before the nobles and queen recovered.
Dianne hadn't permitted his intrusion, but with Abros and Riod's backing granting legitimacy, now was the perfect moment.
“Get up.”
Eunhyeon grabbed the collar of Ashton, sprawled from Emilia's toss, and yanked him to his feet, glancing at Abros.
Seeing his son—burning with vengeance not from remorse for his crimes, but betrayal at being abandoned—Abros ground his teeth, his clenched fists trembling.
Yet he didn't stop Eunhyeon from handling his son harshly.
This was the result of his failure to sever ties with his child to the end, unable to punish Ashton severely.
He realized his judgment had nearly ruined his daughter's life and the entire house.
Eunhyeon noted Abros tightly shut his eyes and averted his gaze from him and Ashton, understanding he'd finally abandoned his son.
Averting his eyes meant entrusting Ashton's fate to Eunhyeon.
Eunhyeon shifted his gaze to Dianne, who glared daggers at him.
He shoved Ashton's collar forward; the man stumbled and pathetically toppled ahead.
“Now, testify with your own mouth. All the filthy things you've done.”
“Kgh…!”
Realizing it was directed at him, Ashton glared murderously at Eunhyeon through humiliated eyes, grinding his teeth.
When no answer came, Eunhyeon stomped on the bandaged, basic-healed wound on Ashton's shoulder.
“Arghhh!”