Chapter 433
(Kyle Calendar Year
515: Age 22)
Two Incidents
On
the night after the Empress, who was granted leave by the Emperor, departed the
Inner Palace, an incident occurred in the Inner Palace. The Emperor, who had
already lost his ego and become the Empress's puppet, lost himself due to the
absence of the puppeteer and the medication running out, and went into a frenzy
and rampaged wildly in the middle of the night. Falling into a state of
derangement, the Emperor slashed at several maids, rampaged wildly, then
fainted and fell straight into a coma. Due to this, the Inner Palace fell into
great confusion, but the officials stationed there had no means to treat the
Emperor, could not announce the disgraceful situation, and merely ran around in
confusion. Only the next morning after a night had passed, a report informing
him of the disturbance in the Inner Palace reached the Third Prince Grat
through his birth mother, who was a concubine. And then... When Grat,
having heard the report, hurriedly rushed to the Inner Palace, the Emperor had
already breathed his last.
「What is the meaning of this! Why did
the Inner Palace hide such a situation!」
His
close aides unanimously pressed the officials managing the Inner Palace, but
only Grat was calm. Because within him, 『what
must be dealt with from here on』 was already more important than 『what had already happened』.
If he made a blunder and failed to control the situation, he too could end up
holding power for merely three days.
「Do not waver! Immediately seal off
the Inner Palace and forbid entry and exit! Both people and things, do not move
anything!」
After
saying so, Grat turned back to Count Astray.
「They've done it! Those bastards...
to think they would go as far as harming the Emperor-heika to drag me down with them. Immediately move to control the
situation; if we mishandle the response, we will fall into the hole they dug to
ruin us!」
At
this time, Grat believed that individuals from the First Prince's
faction were involved behind this incident. Thinking simply, the one who
benefits most from the Emperor's death is none other than Grat. Provided
his support base is solid... as a premise, though. However, objectively looking
at it, the one holding real power in the Imperial Capital at this point was Grat,
and there was a sufficient possibility that he would be seen as having
assassinated the current Emperor, who was an obstacle to his accession. No,
many would judge it so. Because the hostile First Prince himself and his
pro-faction were imprisoned, and had no leeway to dabble in conspiracies.
「Since we're at it, it cannot be
helped. We have no choice but to urgently overlook the individuals scheduled to
be held accountable for crimes related to the rebellion, and those scheduled to
be banished. Because rather than sitting and waiting for ruin, they will likely
move to uniformly condemn me.」
「Ha, even so, for this to happen
now... it is regrettable.」
「It cannot be helped. At the current
point in time, the responsibility to protect the public order of the Imperial
Capital lies with me. Even if I suppress the suspicion of assassinating the Emperor-heika, if they point out deficiencies
in maintaining public order, I too will have to bear responsibility.」
To
the Third Prince who said so with an expression of anguish, his
subordinates merely hung their heads. From this day forward, the situation
surrounding the Imperial Capital completely changed. The Third Prince, Grat,
changed his plans up to now and began to move hurriedly. Not only to pull
together the neutral faction within the Empire, but to win over the
nobles who leaned toward the First Prince, Count Astray prepared
indulgences and began running around for court maneuvers. Objectively looking
at it, the Emperor dying suddenly after derangement could not be considered a
natural death. If so, it wouldn't be an unreasonable story for Grat to
be considered the principal offender in the Emperor's assassination. If that
happened, the Empire would split again, and it was obvious that
individuals would emerge openly voicing objections even to the execution of the
captured First Prince. In addition, it could even become a situation
where the nobles whose punishments were finalized regain momentum all at once.
To prevent that, Grat and the others were desperately and carefully
proceeding with countermeasures, but an opening was created during that time.
There... the second move launched by the Clan
of Darkness was activated.
※
While
the Imperial Capital was in confusion over the news that the Emperor had
suddenly passed away, Grat and the others were desperately trying to
control the situation, but the security and attention directed towards the First
Prince held as a captive loosened for just that moment. Striking that
opening, the prison was broken into through someone's guidance, and Glorious,
who was the First Prince, disappeared to who knows where. With this
second act, the Imperial Capital would fall into even further confusion.
「What is the meaning of this! What
were the guards doing!」
「Th... that is, they were told that
the prisoner was to be transferred to a safe location by the order of Grat-denka... and the soldiers, for some
reason, seemed to have completely believed that to be true at that time...」
Grat was enraged and rebuked the
personnel in charge of security at the prison, but their replies were
inevitably off the point. The soldiers who, as a result, ended up guiding the
prison break also uniformly had vague memories, and only dimly remembered the
events of that time. As if they had been brainwashed by something...
「It seems all the individuals
involved were made to believe that 『that was correct』 at that time, even though they can think it is 『strange』 now. Saying they themselves cannot
believe why they opened the prison...」
「What nonsense are you...」
Grat himself choked on his words at this
overly abnormal situation. However, if Takuhir were present in this
place, he might have been able to derive an answer even to a clearly strange
situation. Because he, and some individuals belonging to the Kyle Kingdom,
had experienced similar things in the past.
・
The participants of the First Cadet Knights Division who
went on an unnatural rampage.
・ The civilian militia of Viscount Hiyorimi's
army who attacked the gateway on the Teigoon side (Abyss) with
bizarre hostility.
・
Former Count Goyoku, who harbored ambitions
disproportionate to his stature and was executed, despite originally being
outside the mosquito net.
They
were uniformly 『brainwashed』
by Dark magic, causing situations contrary to their own intentions and
caliber. However, unfortunately, in the Empire, there is no one who
knows about the effects of Dark magic or the incidents caused by it. At
least, in the Imperial Capital Griffin at this point in time...
「It cannot be helped; it will be a
double-edged sword, but announce the situation within the Empire, and
place a bounty on his head!」
What
Grat feared was that the nobles of the First Prince's faction
would learn of the survival of their 『portable shrine』
and regain their breath. If they acquired the just cause of condemning him as
the true culprit of the Emperor's assassination, and the portable shrine... The
Empire would likely plunge into a civil war dividing the country. They,
who had no future as things were, had a sufficient possibility of uniting for a
common purpose harboring a thread of hope.
『The former First Prince Glorious,
who caused a rebellion out of personal greed and self-interest and attempted to
sell out Imperial Territory to other countries, assassinated the Emperor-heika at the point he was captured and
his own destiny had run out, and fled amidst that confusion. Since the life or
death of the serious criminal does not matter, those who succeed in capturing
or striking him down will have their achievements highly evaluated and be given
a reward.』
A
proclamation written in this manner was issued within the Empire.
Furthermore, a single sentence was attached to the proclamation as a
supplement.
『If the individual who cooperates in
the capture or striking down was an individual who sided with the rebellion or
unintentionally participated in the rebellion, they shall not only have their
crimes offset by that achievement, but shall be given a reward as a cooperator
and treated warmly.』
By
this, Grat took consideration to provide them with an escape route. But
simultaneously, completely different rumors began to circulate among the nobles
in parallel.
『The Third Prince Grat
obstructed the Emperor-heika's
intention wishing to spare the life of the First Prince Glorious-denka, and of all things, murdered Heika
who opposed the execution, and began to move to make the imperial throne his
own. Nobles with a heart, obey the will of the late Emperor-heika, make your resolve, and wait for
the time. Until the day Glorious-denka
raises an army to guide the Empire to the correct path...』
It was a complete false accusation and a baseless rumor, but the malicious rumor propagated throughout the Empire. Due to this, the punishments and reforms Grat was trying to carry out resolutely had to become half-baked, and the Empire remained in turmoil, falling into a state where even the accession of the Next Emperor was uncertain. Until the day a certain man is hurriedly summoned from the front lines and begins moving to control the situation...
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