Chapter . 123
“…Royal Mother has lost her nephew. She cannot make such an oath right now!”
‘Mother and Uncle are both out of their minds, so what do you expect me to do!’
Desmond wanted to be out of his mind too.
“If you truly believe that Her Majesty the Empress did not do such a thing, then why can you not swear in her stead?”
Desmond seemed to have nothing to say and closed his mouth. Then he suddenly screamed as if mad.
“I… I… I will not do it! Do not force me!”
Desmond would not take on the crimes of his mother and uncle, who had acted without even telling him. And he could never submit to Leontes.
His mother’s downfall was already a foregone conclusion. The only difference was whether she would officially step down from the position of Empress or not.
So he had to survive. So that one day he could even take revenge.
“Then make your mother swear.”
Maximilian barked. Rhiannon shrieked.
“I will not swear. Who dares force an oath upon me! I am the Empress!”
Desmond turned his eyes away from his mother’s obstinacy and the people’s glares. Now was the time to focus.
Arthur, at his side, also nodded silently. With Mother and Uncle like this, the Empress’s faction had only him to lean on. They could not all fall together here.
Then Leontes spoke again.
“Empress Rhiannon and Prince Desmond both refuse to swear. Even so, we cannot simply let an attempt to assassinate a prince of Armatia pass.”
“Then what in the world do you intend to do, Leontes?”
His royal father, who found it interesting no matter what plight his wife and son were in, asked Leontes. He did not seem to think he himself should step in to decide this matter.
Yet people could not help noticing that as much as the Emperor showed interest in the prince’s thoughts, the prince’s will was being carried through.
“Out of pity for my half-brother, I will show mercy and yield. Desmond only needs to obey my command once. I promise that command will be unrelated to his life or Her Majesty the Empress’s life.”
Desmond’s gaze shook violently.
He could guess Leontes’s intent. Even if Leontes knew where the dragon egg was, Desmond might seize it first. This was clearly preparation for that moment.
A command to hand over the dragon egg made his teeth grind even to imagine, but even if he handed it over, there was no guarantee Leontes would certainly contract with the dragon.
Even if it was a thread-thin possibility, it was a time he could not afford to abandon it.
“Then what do you want from the Empress?”
“I will give Her Majesty the opportunity, at any time, to speak the truth before the Crystal of Truth and say that she tried to kill me. Until then, everything she says is a lie.”
Rhiannon laughed and shouted.
“I am the Empress of Armatia. Are you saying even that is a lie? Hahahaha!”
Now Rhiannon’s madness and fury could not be separated. It was to the point that it seemed she might have always been that kind of person.
So consumed by conspiracy that conspiracy and the person had become one.
“The Empress of Armatia does not lie to the Emperor of Armatia, to the prince, and further, to the people.”
Leontes said it. Silence fell everywhere. It felt as if they understood his intent.
“Am I correct, Your Majesty the Emperor?”
“That is correct.”
The Emperor acknowledged it.
“Am I correct, people of Armatia?”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
People shouted in unison. This was why they liked Prince Leontes. The prince always gave them spectacles, and he also let them participate in those spectacles.
He gave them the chance to formally express their thoughts or opinions even on problems he could have solved with his own power alone. Even on the Empress’s fate, someone they usually trembled before.
“Therefore, from this moment until Her Majesty the Empress swears before the Crystal of Truth about the attempt on my life, every word Her Majesty speaks is a lie. Even if her commands are lies, if you follow those lies, what will become of you?”
People drew in breath. It almost sounded like he was calling them liars too. But the one who had followed the Empress’s command—
“Sir Edward……”
When someone spoke that name aloud, someone else also spoke Duke Lauderdale’s name.
Those who committed treason at the Empress’s behest and were ruined.
That brutal knight had died while following the Empress’s command. Even the Empress, once so mighty in court, and Lauderdale, her father, could not protect him from the ruin the prince’s accusation brought.
In the first place, it was the Empress who had made the father and son into traitors. And she had made even more into traitors.
“I will not spare those who defy me!”
Rhiannon shrieked venomously. Leontes spoke calmly.
“Look. Is even what Her Majesty just said not a lie? If Your Majesty will not spare me, then it means you intend to kill me in the end.”
“Ahahahaha!”
“Hahaha!”
When Maximilian burst into laughter, those who had been forcing themselves to hold it in relaxed and laughed as well.
No matter how Rhiannon glared, Prince Leontes continued.
“Also, even if they are nobles rather than princes, one cannot kill them simply because they did not follow Your Majesty’s will. Even if they wish to follow Your Majesty’s will, they must know whether what Your Majesty says is a lie or the truth in order to follow it.”
“Yes!”
“Most righteous words!”
People cried. Even those of the Empress’s faction who had not received Rhiannon’s favor and had been pushed out of the center of power began to join in.
“However, it will be difficult for you to defy Her Majesty the Empress’s commands. In that case, you too swear before this Crystal of Truth that you will follow Her Majesty’s commands only after Her Majesty reveals the truth about the attempt on my life. I will become the guardian of this crystal and protect those who swear, so that they may keep their oaths.”
Courtiers seasoned in palace intrigue recognized the prince’s intent instantly. Recruiting his own faction openly right under the Emperor’s nose! It was true that until now, no matter what the prince did, the Emperor only watched with interest.
And the justification was far too plausible. Right now they spoke as if they could defy the Empress while in high spirits, but after today, if the Empress summoned them privately and issued an order, how could they defy her? Unless they were Grimiati, even great nobles found it unsettling to make an enemy of the Empress.
Now the prince was offering a path to break free without being shackled by the fallen Empress, and he was offering his protection.
“…Your Highness the prince, I am Baron Stenay. May I swear?”
Then a man at the back cautiously opened his mouth. He was one of the many nobles who, trying to reclaim land unjustly taken in a lawsuit, sought an introduction through the Empress’s faction, only to waste time and money in court.
Yet the culture of introductions was such a deeply rooted tradition that without it, even commoners struggled to find work.
Even the academy cared more about whether your parents graduated than your grades, so without connections you could do nothing.
“Of course. Come forth and swear.”
Prince Leontes said with a gentle smile.
Of course, if many gained his protection at once, competition to catch his eye within that group would grow fiercer, but even so, was it not something that he had opened the door at all?
Even the illegitimate faction, which valued ability more than lineage, was such that you had to win a jousting tournament before you could even speak to a friend of a friend of a friend of Marquis Steiner.
“I… I want to as well.”
“I will do it too.”
Soon, people lined up before the Crystal of Truth. When they swore, the prince’s mage stepped forward and wrote their names in golden letters in the air.
It even felt as if they had formed a contract through the prince and the crystal. Even the fact that the Empress’s command authority had effectively become void felt less important.
That was something so obvious it did not even need to be said. What mattered most now was seizing the chance to catch Leontes’s eye.
“Your Majesty, may I be entrusted with this crystal for a while, so that those who are not present here can also swear upon this crystal? As a gesture of welcoming my return.”
At the prince’s request, the Emperor nodded and granted permission. Then he added,
“Even if you had not returned, with only what happened today, you are already fully qualified to be the guardian of that crystal.”
The Emperor spoke as if the prince had performed some marvelous trick merely to amuse him. Even the fate of the Empress, her family, and his youngest son were no more than entertainment to him.
Leontes offered thanks to such an Emperor, then spoke to Desmond.
“Now what will you do, Desmond? Will you swear one act of obedience to me, or must I treat your truthfulness the same way I treat Her Majesty the Empress’s?”
It was a threat that he would render Desmond’s command authority void, just as he had done to Rhiannon.
Desmond thought he might endure that humiliation and leave the audience hall with his mother. If he put his head together with hers and take revenge for what happened now……
But even if Mother was someone he could let go because she had already finished her revenge, he felt that if he did such a thing, Leontes would stop him. In a situation already overflowing with humiliation, he could not endure that disgrace as well.
“Tell me what the command is in advance.”
It would probably be an order of obedience to hand over the dragon egg. Even if Leontes knew where the egg was, Desmond might still find it first.
Even then, if he found the egg and contracted with the dragon before Leontes discovered it, then once a contract with a dragon was made, even an imperial command could not break it. It would be difficult, but it was not impossible.
Of course, if Leontes became careless in his intoxication with victory and ended up under Desmond’s blade, then Desmond would, of course, listen to any command or plea to spare him. This humiliation could never be settled by a painless death.
“I heard you have some skill in healing. Then someday you might be useful to me.”
Healing? That had only been the false healing he had done for his mage, Vincent. It had been the result of an intermediate-stage experiment in magic that applied a dragon’s brand to a human as well.
What he had personally severed for Vincent had been nothing. If that magic succeeded, the target to brand would, of course, include Leontes, but the true ultimate goal was—
‘It is a trap.’
He realized it. In the first place, he would never waste a prince’s obedience for the sake of a mere mage, but above all, Vincent had recovered perfectly well and had not even lost his magic.
Leontes was lying in order to hide the true command, something like the dragon egg. Steeling himself not to be deceived, Desmond asked,
“Is it truly only one act of obedience?”
“It is. Swear upon the Crystal of Truth.”
People who had expected Leontes to demand a complex contract through magic found it fascinating.
Until now, the Crystal of Truth had been used only to judge truth and falsehood. The prince’s blood was merely the most infamous story, and there were countless other blood-soaked tales surrounding the crystal.
Yet Prince Leontes was using that crystal in such varied ways without hesitation, and so people’s admiration and trust toward the prince only rose higher.
“Then if someone does not keep an oath made upon the Crystal of Truth, what happens?”
Then Maximilian asked, voicing what everyone had been wondering. Desmond most of all.
“I do not know either.”
Leontes’s answer was so honest it was almost bewildering.
“We can learn from now on. From now on, how about having them swear upon the Crystal of Truth at every coronation that they will become the true Emperor of Armatia. If we test the truthfulness of the heirs to the throne before everyone’s eyes, and everyone witnesses the result, would it not be transparently beautiful?”
It could not possibly happen.
And yet those words, that it would be transparently beautiful, moved the hearts of those who heard them deeply.
Everyone except Desmond, who froze alone.