novelnext Chapter 196 : The Emperor's Slayer (3)
Chapter 196 : The Emperor's Slayer (3)
“Y-You are...”“Silence, Oberun.”
Commander of the Imperial Guard Rougier shoved Oberun into the narrow gap behind a decorative structure before heading inside.
“......”
Queen Diane had already taken her own life.
“I'll take care of the aftermath, Rougier.”
“...Yes.”
Abel casually wiped the blood from his hands before striding out of the bedchamber.
After roughly tidying up the room, Rougier brought Oberun inside.
“Confirm it.”
“...Yes.”
Without fully understanding what was happening, Oberun obediently followed the order.
“...She has passed away.”
“I see.”
As Rougier laid out the items needed to prepare the body, he spoke.
“I'll handle everything from here. You may leave.”
Only then did Oberun finally raise his voice in protest.
“But, Commander!”
“This matter must never be disclosed to anyone. I trust you understand what I mean.”
“But even so, this is...!”
“I'm saying this for your own sake.”
Rougier slowly closed and reopened his eyes before speaking firmly.
“In the first place, we were never given the right to question anything. Our duty is to trust and serve the Imperial Family.”
“......”
“The moment someone in the Imperial Palace begins questioning the Imperial Family, or starts objecting because they believe something is unjust, they don't last long. They'll either die or be expelled. Those are the only two outcomes.”
“I'd rather not see a capable physician like you meet such an end.”
Oberun understood exactly what he meant.
Even so, this matter was far too serious to simply pretend he hadn't seen it.
So he decided to honestly voice his thoughts.
“...Commander, do you truly believe this situation is normal?”
He knew nothing would change.
Even so, he had to say it.
“Everyone knows the Imperial Family is sick.”
“If we fail to change ourselves, then eventually outsiders will forcibly replace us.”
“We have to prevent that.”
“This is a time when we need sincere counsel, not empty flattery.”
“Even if that's true, it's the Imperial Guard's responsibility—not yours.”
Despite Oberun's heartfelt plea, Rougier didn't waver in the slightest.
“You need only continue doing what you've always done.”
“Protect the health of the Imperial Family.”
“Commander...”
“Please... don't forget your own role, Oberun.”
.
.
.
That was the whole story.
“If Princess Edel hadn't come here today... I would've kept silent until the very end.”
“But Your Highness had no intention of ignoring this.”
“That's why you came here, isn't it?”
“......”
After quietly staring into Oberun's resolute eyes, Edel turned away.
“Call the Head Maid, Oberun.”
“I'll be waiting outside.”
Edel gave instructions to both the royal physician and the Head Maid.
“The moment Alix wakes up, take her and leave the Imperial Palace.”
“Stay somewhere around Centre until things settle down.”
“When the situation improves, then you can return.”
“Understood.”
“...What are you planning to do, Princess?”
“What else?”
“I'm going to overturn everything.”
With those words, Edel left Diane's residence and headed toward her own.
There was no longer any time to waste verifying facts.
She didn't know why Abel had made such an extreme decision.
Whether someone had threatened him...
Persuaded him...
Or manipulated him...
None of that mattered anymore.
His choice might have given the enemy wings.
Whether intentionally or not.
In any case, the only thing that mattered now...
Was that he intended to proclaim himself Emperor.
Since things had reached this point...
Only one path remained.
Kill Abel Ribenia.
Subjugate Rachel Ribenia.
And ascend the throne herself.
There was no other option.
She knew it was an incredibly risky decision.
Even so...
She had no choice.
If even a little more time passed, the Platinum Dawn Society's chances of victory would increase exponentially.
“Two days... that's the time limit.”
This afternoon, Abel would first notify every noble house head in the Empire of the Emperor's death.
At the latest, the news would spread by tomorrow morning.
By tomorrow evening, the entire Empire would know.
And by Friday afternoon, countless nobles would begin gathering at the Imperial Palace.
According to Imperial tradition...
The coronation ceremony could only be held on a Saturday.
Excluding today...
That left only Thursday and Friday.
Within those two days...
She had to remove Abel, erase this entire incident, and proclaim a new Empire.
“Master! Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I'm going out.”
“Prepare everything.”
“And bring me the Tebrel Orb.”
The moment she arrived at her residence, Lea handed her the Tebrel Orb.
Edel immediately sent a message.
“This is Edel Ribenia.”
“The following information is classified at the highest level.”
“Instructor Eugene Carter and Director Michelle Bernhardt are to begin moving immediately upon hearing this message.”
Wednesday, April 20.
2:00 PM.
After finishing lunch and returning to my room...
I found a lengthy voice message waiting for me.
“......”
Everything Edel reported was shocking beyond belief.
From Crown Prince Abel Ribenia murdering the Emperor...
To Queen Diane being driven to suicide.
—Based on the above circumstances, pursuant to Article 6, Clause 2 of the Act Governing the Operation of Imperial Direct Organizations, I hereby request the temporary suspension of operations at the Imperial Academy Carvena.
—Furthermore, as this matter requires discussion, Instructor Eugene Carter is requested to report immediately to the Imperial Special Operations Force.
That was the end of the message.
I gathered my Orb and the necessary Artifacts before leaving my room.
'Why didn't she summon Michelle, Rubia, or Fransia separately?'
Considering the scale of this incident...
There was no reason not to mobilize powerhouses like them.
'Maybe she's trying to be considerate...'
'...No. That's unlikely.'
What Abel Ribenia had done was the worst possible outcome for both Edel and me.
I never imagined he'd murder his own father with his own hands.
The Imperial Family and the nobility looked down on the people as fools...
But the citizens of the Holy Ribenia Empire were anything but stupid.
They might not have been ahead of their era...
But they possessed the judgment and values appropriate to it.
Anyone could tell that just by looking at their cold reaction to the downfall of the Ribenia Orthodoxy and House Bernhardt.
'Reform was absolutely necessary...'
'But forcing it this early will provoke enormous backlash.'
To the people of the Empire...
Emperor Ludwig was their final pillar of support.
The prosperity that began under the Seventeenth Emperor, Luprecht...
Had continued, one way or another, into the reign of the Nineteenth Emperor, Ludwig.
Over nearly seventy years of peace...
The Holy Ribenia Empire had achieved more than twice its previous economic growth.
Even when some nobles continued exploiting the people...
Even when some members of the Imperial Family displayed utter incompetence...
The citizens rarely complained because prosperity continued.
That prosperity first began to crack eleven years ago.
And the decisive blow came during the Great War seven years ago.
The people still hadn't fully recovered from its devastation.
Meanwhile, Beast Monsters continued expanding their territory.
The refugee crisis only continued growing.
Then both the Ribenia Orthodoxy—the symbol of the old order—and House Bernhardt collapsed.
External turmoil had already reached its peak.
To people already living through all of that...
The Emperor's death would be enough to extinguish the last hope they still possessed.
Abel Ribenia's tyranny was already familiar news.
Beatings.
Sexual misconduct.
No one even reacted to stories like that anymore.
But...
No one had expected even a piece of trash like him...
To commit the ultimate crime of murdering his own father.
Since no one had tried reporting him to Parliament or exposing him through the press...
They had probably failed to secure definitive evidence.
Still...
Once he formally ascended the throne through the coronation ceremony...
The Imperial Family and the nobility would have no choice but to acknowledge him as Emperor.
Abel himself had probably chosen this extreme course with exactly that in mind...
'Even so...'
'It's far too reckless.'
Even if Edel herself personally tried persuading the people...
Success would have been uncertain.
If he became Emperor like this...
He'd lose his head within a year.
In fact...
Among all the bad endings in Apocalypse Mode...
The second most common was the Empire collapsing through a popular revolution.
Even if the civilian army was merely a disorganized mob...
Suppressing hundreds of thousands of citizens would inevitably require mobilizing the regular army.
And the moment that happened...
Stopping the Beast Monsters would become impossible.
Memories flooded back of countless moments when I had been forced to choose between two paths...
Both leading to destruction.
My head began spinning.
Letting out one sigh after another...
I quickened my pace.
“In the end... the only ones who benefit from this are the Beast Monsters...”
Just as I was about to reach the main building...
A conversation I had recently shared with Luke Honorlight suddenly resurfaced.
“...Crown Prince Abel Ribenia.”
“A being that came into contact with powerful demonic energy.”
Judging by the circumstances...
That "powerful demonic energy" was either Charlotte Platina herself...
Or the Beast Monster that had consumed her body.
If this was one of the cards she had prepared...
“You really picked the perfect target, didn't you, Chairwoman?”
.
.
.
As usual, I expected to find Michelle in the Director's office.
Instead, she was speaking with Frederick in the Academic Affairs Office.
“Hmm? Carter?”
“What happened this time, Instructor Eugene?”
Perfect timing.
I brought both of them into the department head's office.
After thoroughly casting a Silencing Barrier to ensure nobody could overhear us...
I relayed Edel's message.
“T-That can't be...”
“......”
Frederick let out a sigh while rubbing his forehead.
Meanwhile, Michelle silently considered Edel's intentions.
I looked at the two of them and asked,
“If the Academy suspends operations because of this...”
“What happens to everyone inside?”
“The faculty?”
“Or the cadets?”
“Both.”
“Hmm...”
It was something I more or less knew already.
I just wanted confirmation.
“Well...”
“We can't keep everyone on campus forever.”
“So ordinarily we'd send them home.”
“That's usually what happens if the suspension lasts more than two weeks.”
“Is that officially regulated?”
“No.”
“There's no such rule.”
“It's simply what happened in previous cases.”
After hearing Frederick's answer, I asked again.
“What if the suspension is due to wartime conditions?”
“...Hmm?”
This time, Michelle seemed to realize what I was getting at and spoke first.
“Carvena isn't just the Imperial Academy.”
“It's also a military academy.”
“In emergencies such as wartime, everyone within the Academy can be treated as available military personnel.”
“That nearly happened during the last war as well.”
“We never submitted the request because an invasion of the Academy was considered unlikely.”
“...I see.”
“But why are you asking this, Carter?”
“Because I think it's finally time to prepare for war.”
Instead of elaborating further...
I looked at both of them with a grim expression.
“A war that will decide the fate of the Empire...”
“Will begin before long.”