The castle was in an uproar. The emperor’s wife fell off a horse. Thankfully, she didn’t die, but she lost consciousness for a full day.
This was an unacceptable incident. Even if it was a pure accident, the people responsible for it would pay dearly.
Soon, it was revealed it wasn’t an accident. The emperor’s investigators examined the horse and the gears, and it was clear that someone tampered with them.
Lucretius was in my bedroom as he looked at the investigator.
He asked, “Someone tampered with this?”
The investigator nodded and lifted the saddle to show the insides of it.
He then pushed from the outer surface, which caused a tiny needle to appear from inside. It was a clever device. This meant when I sat down, the pressure caused the needle to appear and prick the horse’s back.
Lucretius asked quietly, “And what was on the needle?”
“A stimulant. This was why the horse went crazy after her highness sat on it.”
Lucretius touched the needle with his fingertip. It was so small he could barely feel it.
There was only one possible suspect for this.
Dowager empress Katleyanira.
She was such a persistent and evil enemy.
She took so much away from him, and now she was trying to take everything from him. She almost succeeded. She almost took away the woman he loved the most.
According to Lowson, Bina could have died. She hit her head when she fell, and this meant she may have never woken up.
Thankfully, she gained consciousness in a day, but the source of the threat still remained. Lucretius still felt fearful.
He ordered, “Search the dowager empress’s quarters. I don’t want to have anything of hers left in this castle!”
***
An inquisition started. Every relevant person was brought in for questioning.
The emperor sat on his throne as the head judge.
On both sides of him were royal guards. Lucretius was wearing a black robe like the god of death. People bowed to him deeply in fear. Lucretius looked murderous.
He ordered, “Let’s skip the unnecessary formalities and get to the business at hand.”
The principal investigator announced, “As your highness ordered, we have investigated her highness’ accident and found a few suspicious points.”
As he continued, people tensed.
“Her highness’s saddle had this device hidden in it.”
He brought out the saddle as a piece of evidence. When he demonstrated how it worked, people gasped.
“The only conclusion we can draw is that someone planted this to harm her highness.”
“I agree.” At the emperor replied, the room tensed.
The principal investigator continued quickly, “We have a witness who needs to testify.”
When he raised his hand, a guard brought in a man whose hands were tied behind his back.
“This is the servant who took care of her highness’ horse.”
The servant shouted with a pale face.
“I, I did not harm her highness! I swear!”
The principal investigator frowned.
“You are standing in front of the emperor! How dare you speak without permission!”
“…”
The servant realized his mistake and kneeled for forgiveness. He was shaking with fear. Lucretius didn’t care about the formalities.
He ordered the investigator, “It’s fine. Just get to the point.”
“I apologize, your highness. There was something odd about this man’s witness statement. Tell him.”
The servant glanced at the emperor and the investigator before he opened his mouth.
“One of her highness’ maids came to check on the saddle three times. The maid said she was ordered to check it. It was the same maid who came when her highness first came to ride with his highness.”
Samantha was present in the hall.
She volunteered to speak, “That is not correct. Never did your highness nor her highness ever ordered any of the maids to check the horses.”
Everyone turned to the servant who became even paler.
He shook his head and exclaimed, “I’m not lying! It was… It was a beautiful blond maid! She said her highness personally ordered her…!”
When he said this, everyone turned to one person. Only one of her highness’ maids were blond.
She paled and shook her head.
“I, it wasn’t me!”
The witness turned towards the blond maid. As soon as he saw her, he nodded emphatically as he recognized her.
“It was that lady! That lady came three times a few days ago to check the horse! She said her highness ordered her to do it in secret!”
Agnes’s eyes fumed in anger.
She shouted, “What have you done this time, Lady Lisbeth!”
The emperor frowned harshly.
He asked in a disturbingly quiet voice, “This time?”
“Yes, your highness.”
Lucretius ordered, “Tell me.”
Agnes walked to the center and kneeled.
“Your highness! Lady Lisbeth of Aeal needs to be punished!”
“A, are you trying to frame me again?!”
Lisbeth screamed but no one paid attention to her.
Lucretius ordered, “Continue, Agnes.”
However, at that point, Lisbeth ran to kneel in front of the emperor.
She cried as she shouted, “They are all lying, your highness!”
His face was cold.
“I never gave you permission to speak.”
“But…!”
Lisbeth tried to argue, but when she saw Lucretius’s livid face, she became speechless.
Agnes continued calmly, “Yes, your highness. I will tell you everything.”
Agnes continued smoothly without hesitation. It was clear she came here well prepared.
“You may think it’s not relevant, but please hear me out. For a little while now, there has been a disgusting rumor about her highness. It was… a rumor that falsely accused her highness of assassinating the former emperor.”
People gasped in shock. Lucretius smiled bitterly.
“How amusing. Continue.”
“Her highness didn’t want innocent people to get hurt, so she asked me not to investigate this rumor. She was innocent, so she said nothing else mattered, but… I couldn’t let this continue, so I did my own investigation.”
Agnes decided that Bina needed to appear like a victim. She made it sound like Bina was trying to be kind and ended up being wronged.
Lucretius asked, “Are you saying that rumor was created by that maid?”
Agnes and Lisbeth answered at the same time.
“Yes.”
“No! It’s a lie!”
The emperor frowned again.
“I never gave you permission to speak, Lady Aeal. Dame Dotrya, you may continue.”
Lisbeth looked frightened. She looked around for help, but no one looked at her kindly.
Agnes continued, “I looked into this and found that it originated from Lady Lisbeth’s servant Orlean.”
“No!”
“That’s not true!”
This time, it wasn’t Lisbeth who denied it. It was Orlean and Duchess Aeal. In the room were Duke and Duchess Aeal.
The Duchess walked towards her daughter and hugged her as if to protect her. The Duke followed as well.
“Your highness! Someone is trying to frame my daughter!”
The emperor announced angrily, “Did I give you permission to speak?”
The room became silent.
Lucretius continued to glare at the Bonafit family and Orlean as he ordered, “Continue, Dame Dotrya.”
Agnes bowed. “Your highness, I have servants Lolya and Doroles who will testify to my account.”
Lucretius nodded. “I will allow it.”
The two servants were brought forward. They trembled in fear and bowed deeply.
They stated, “Dame Dotrya is correct. Orlean told everyone that Lady Lisbeth personally heard her highness confessing her crime.”
“We didn’t believe her, of course! We all knew her highness would never do something like that!”
Agnes added, “They have proofs as well. Show them to his highness.”
The servants took out several pieces of jewelry.
Lolya, who was the older of the two servants, explained, “Orlean gave these to us and asked us to spread the rumor.”
The jewelries were obviously of high quality. One of them shined especially brightly, catching Lucretius’s eyes.
“That… Isn’t that her highness’s?”
Among the items were broken pieces of blue stone. Lucretius picked the pieces out and a silver hairpin. When he put the pieces together like a puzzle, it made a silver hairpin with a sapphire.
Lucretius announced.
“I have definitely seen this piece on her highness’ hair before.”
Samantha became pale as she said to him, “Yes, your highness. This is her highness’ and it was given as a gift to Lady Lisbeth recently.”
