Chapter 98

It was literally an emergency. Kael immediately went to the place where the knight who had done it was located.

“Who did you say attacked?”
“Ramon.”
“Ramon?”

Kael, who was quickly going down the stairs, stopped walking and looked at Vero.
One of Kael’s most trusted knights was Ramon, and he had a strong reputation within the order. His rank and position among the knights were also high.
It was not someone who was in a position to be apprehended because there had been an accident due to a fight between unknown knights.

“What did Ramon say?”
“He says he can’t remember. He said he went to a bar alone yesterday and that he remembers drinking a lot, but everything after that is foggy. When he opened his eyes, the knight of the Imperial Guard was lying bleeding next to him.”

Alcohol was Ramon’s only weakness. He was the perfect man for everything, but things often happened because he couldn’t stop drinking, and this time, it seemed that alcohol had caused something tragic to happen.

Kael started moving again with a serious face.
The fact that a northern knight had killed a knight of the imperial guard was a tremendous incident, but the significance was even greater as it happened in the midst of the conflict between the emperor and the north that had been happening these days. Besides, it happened in the north, not in the capital.
The emperor could attack Kael as much as he wanted.

“Why was the guard knight in the North?”
“He was a knight from the West, but it is said that his younger siblings live here. When I checked his identity, it said he was on vacation.”

The situation could have been solved differently if it had been discovered that he was conducting an operation to spy on Kael or that he was secretly monitoring him, but so far, it had been revealed that the emperor was not responsible.
He didn’t know what was behind it, but the dead knight was definitely on leave, at least on the surface. It was difficult to connect it to an order from the emperor.

“What about the Emperor? Did he get the news?”
“There must have been another Imperial Guard knight on the scene. He immediately sent a message to the Imperial Guard and dispatched some knights. We learned the news from them.”

The more he listened, the worse the situation was. Kael clenched his teeth and moved quickly.

“Your Grace.”

As he went down to the basement, Ramon, who was confined in the cell, jumped up to meet him. Ramon looked at his master with a confused face, handcuffed.

“Ramon. What the hell is going on?”
“I apologize. I have nothing to say. This is my fault. If you ask me to atone for my sins with death, I will slit my throat right away.”

Kael sighed at his sincere decision to die.

“Even if you don’t say that, His Majesty will demand your life. He’ll ask if you shouldn’t pay the same price.”

Ramon trembled and couldn’t lift his head, as if he was disgusted with himself.

“And your memories? Do you remember anything at all?”
“No, Your Grace. I can only remember entering the bar… After that… I don’t remember anything, as much as I didn’t think at all that I had killed him when I saw the body next to me in the morning. I don’t know the reason at all. Even though I was so drunk, my memory has never been erased to this extent…”

Ramon also sighed as if he was frustrated with the situation and couldn’t speak.
Kael slowly chewed on Ramon’s words. If the situation was so strange that even the person concerned could not understand it, there was a high probability that the emperor had done something.

“Your Grace.”

While he was still thinking, Vero, who received the news from a knight who rushed to him, called Kael.

“It seems that His Majesty has sent a message to the castle.”
“What did he say?”

When Kael asked about the details, Vero took a moment to catch his breath and spoke calmly.

“He said to sacrifice Ramon’s life to pay for the price of taking out a guard knight who was like the Emperor’s hands and feet. And…”
“And?”
“That he would give you the end of the week, so please approve the plan to build a wall between the East and the North, and hand over one of the North’s amethyst mines to the Imperial family.”

Kael’s expression hardened rapidly at the ridiculous request.

“If the three things don’t happen within a week, he will regard it as a rebellion against the Emperor and the capital and is willing to start a full-scale war.”

At the mention of a full-scale war, Ramon and the other knights beside him opened their mouths.

“This is an outrage! I just need to pay the price with my own life. How could it be so excessive!”

Ramon shouted. He was right. Since a knight had killed another knight, he could ask for his life as payback, but blocking the passage to the east and giving him one of the mines was an excessive price to pay for the loss of an imperial guard knight.

‘He did this on purpose. He purposely approached Ramon to make this happen.’

The moment he heard the emperor’s insane request, Kael was convinced.
It was clear that the emperor had done something, once again.

***

“Kael? How did it go?”

Adeline stayed in his office until Kael came. She couldn’t get her hands on anything else because she was thinking about what happened, and as soon as Kael came back, she wanted to find out everything as quickly as possible.

“The situation isn’t good.”
“Did the knight really kill the Imperial Guard knight?”
“He was indeed killed. It’s the sword of my knights. That part is strictly true.”

Kael was drawing the line at her words. Feeling this, Adeline asked why.

“Are you saying that only the part about him being killed is true and that there is more beyond that?”
“It seems His Majesty has done something again. I was expecting him to do something since I showed a collusion with the East, but I didn’t expect it to be this messy.”

He had assumed that the emperor would not stand still from the moment he headed east while garnering the attention of the people. However, his reaction was much messier and of lower integrity than expected.
Kael was a knight before he was a grand duke, and he wanted to be a knight commander before he inherited the title. Seeing someone regard the life of a knight in such a light manner made him even more angry.

“He said to give him the life of the northern knight who killed the Imperial Guard knight and to give him one of the amethyst mines by the end of the week. And to build a wall between the North and the East.”
“A wall between the North and the East? What nonsense is that… What if you don’t accept it?”
“He said he would start a full-scale war.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Adeline looked at Kael with an alarmed expression. It was such a ridiculous demand that no one couldn’t help but be surprised to hear it.

“How can he so easily say that he will start a full-scale war with the North… Of course, it’s not a light matter since an Imperial Guard knight lost his life, but it’s not something that calls for this.”
“That’s why I can see his intentions more clearly.”

He had known for a long time that the emperor was a miserable human being, but he had no idea that he was this insignificant, ugly man. Kael’s laughter leaked out without him even realizing it.

“It looks like he approached Ramon on purpose and did something. Seeing that the news of a knight that was on vacation reached him so quickly, and that a message came from the Imperial Palace as if they had been waiting.”

It was too fast. It couldn’t be explained, unless he was waiting for something like this to happen.

“I don’t intend on accepting the three requests as he wants. I have no intention of giving him the life of my knight, who seems to have been falsely accused, and I will never give him a mine or build a wall with the East.”

Kael said more firmly than ever.

“So I intend to find out within a week. What kind of insolent things His Majesty did.”

He spoke calmly, but she could feel his teeth gnashing. Adeline looked at Kael and thought for a moment.

It was strange. Even when Adeline was falsely accused, strangely enough, the emperor was also deeply involved.
Leo’s matter was explained to some extent because the emperor was trying to intimidate Adeline so that he could have her, but when Adeline was framed, and even now when he used a knight, the flow was rather awkward.
There was no need for the emperor to come to her when she was falsely accused, and no matter what had happened now, the emperor’s demands were obviously excessive. He kept doing things that wouldn’t make the public opinion lean to his side.

‘Why in the world? It’s not something that could be simply explained by the fact that he is stupid. Unless someone whispered that he had to trample on Kael, there is no reason to show such hostility…’

The moment she thought about it, a glow flashed across Adeline’s eyes.

“Adeline?”

Kael called out to her, feeling the change.

“I couldn’t understand it at all before. His Majesty’s actions. He didn’t seem to be the culprit who kept attacking us, who framed and brainwashed me. There was no need for him to have this many measures, after all. It would be enough if he used his power to do it, so His Majesty isn’t the culprit.”
“…”
“But strangely enough, he’s obsessed with you and me. What happened last time, what happened this time… It’s too hostile. The way he’s acting, it seems like he’s harming himself.”

Adeline calmly continued her explanation.

“So… What’s going on right now, I’m sure…”
“You’re sure?”
“I think someone wants you and His Majesty to continue to confront each other. Like they really want a war to break out.”

Kael looked at Adeline a little surprised.

“I think whoever it is, it might be the person we’re looking for. At first, I just thought that they had a grudge against the Tien family, so they killed my parents and attacked me, but I think there is more and more beyond that.”
“…”
“The person we don’t know hopes for a confrontation between you and His Majesty, hopes for a war between the Imperial family and the North, and in the end…”

Adeline lowered her gaze for a moment and took a deep breath, then looked at Kael and continued,

“I think they want you and me to be completely destroyed.”

–