WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 369: Taboo (3)

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5.

Not doing something does not mean being unable to do it.

"Summon the Order of the Blue Lion."

As soon as I emerged from Raviel's bedchamber, I gave the order to the Ivansia ducal household.

The Duchess's vassals were visibly disconcerted. It was understandable; I had never interfered in the affairs of the Ivansia ducal household before.

The servants whose pressure points I had struck, leaving them to kiss the cold corridor floor for half a day, had their faces twisted in outright hostility.

"Wife, with all due respect, even you cannot command the knightly order..."

"You thought I couldn't? Ta-da. It turns out I can."

I drew the family crest from my pocket and showed it to them.

"Raviel has given me full authority. My commands are as good as those coming from the Ivansia name itself. Unless you're considering a career change to rebels, I'd suggest you comply quietly."

"......."

The servants gnashed their teeth and glared at the crest as if staring it down could turn it into a fake.

I smirked.

"What? If you doubt me, run to the Duchess and ask whether I'm lying. Of course, that will only leave one more footprint on your already trampled pride, but every experience is precious. It will nourish your lives."

"......We shall comply with your command... Duke’s Wife."

"Oh, how kind of you."

I pocketed the family crest and waved my hand flamboyantly, imitating Yoo Soo-Ha's infuriating gesture. In some sense, he was the perfect role model.

"What are you waiting for? Get to work! Are you dining on the family's dime for free? I knew Ivansia was charitable to its subjects, but I wasn't aware it extended to free meals for its vassals. What? Have I, the wife of the house, been too neglectful?"

"......Grr!"

"If you have time to growl, accept the orders. Echo after me, summon the knightly order."

"Summon the knightly order!"

The servants dispersed with a look that promised retribution.

Not that I was scared. They had left Raviel exposed to potential poisoning; they were bound to be scorned by me for a long time.

It wouldn't take long for them to realize that it wasn't they who had marked me, but I who had marked them.

"Silvia Evanair."

"Ah, y-yes, m-master..."

After issuing the summon, I called for Silvia.

The household retainers who had followed me had already secured the Ivansia family's annex palace. My close aides waited in the corridor outside the bedchamber, including Silvia, once known as Lady Goldencup.

Silvia approached me tentatively, gauging my mood.

"It seems you're in a better mood than before, thankfully..."

For reference, from Silvia's perspective, I had reemerged from the bedroom just an hour after entering.

In reality, Raviel and I had been playing for a full two weeks, repeating a single day. We perceived time differently.

"What did I look like before?"

"Do you want the honest truth, or something more pleasant to hear?"

"Just be honest."

"It was like a lunatic whose eyes had flipped, smiling with just the tips of his lips twitching. 'Wow, this guy could become even crazier,' I thought. 'He's striving to surpass the very definition of lunacy.'"

I let out a bitter laugh.

The fact that Silvia could speak to me this way meant my mood had significantly improved. She judged that she could joke without repercussions, given my apparent good spirits.

"Silvia, I have something I want to ask you."

"What is it?"

"You were once seriously involved with the Crown Prince, even discussing marriage. So, did the Crown Prince truly love you?"

"......."

Silvia furrowed her brows.

"......Wow. That's an unexpectedly serious question."

Her face barely changed, but an air of aristocratic haughtiness was palpable. Positively regal if spoken kindly, or downright annoying if not.

After all, wasn't she once a lady who, alongside Raviel, dominated the empire's social circles?

"Love? Hmm. If you're asking whether the Crown Prince was smitten with me, I'd say yes since I seduced him. But hmm..."

Silvia tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"......Probably not. No. The kind of love you're asking about wasn't there."

"Why do you think so?"

"For starters, since I've been taken in by you, the Crown Prince hasn't once sought me out."

Silvia flattened me with one simple fact.

"Do you know what we talked about most when the Crown Prince and I were alone?"

"I can't even begin to guess."

"Use your imagination. We bad-mouthed people. Every time we met, we bad-mouthed Lady Silver Lily... Ah, calling her that now would give me the chills. Anyway, we bad-mouthed the Duchess of Ivansia."

Silvia sighed and shrugged.

"We purposefully chose dating spots where students could see us just to ensure someone would witness us cuddling and run straight to the Duchess with the news."

"To make Raviel feel humiliated?"

"Exactly."

"The couple was more pathetic than I thought..."

"What did you expect? You know better than anyone, don't you? The Duchess of Ivansia is someone who doesn't get shaken by anything others do."

Silvia narrowed her eyes.

"Her only weakness was love. Love. The Crown Prince, aside from having an affair with me, had no other way to shake the Duchess. That's all he knew."

"......."

"He fell short in his studies, diplomacy, administration, public support, and scheming. He probably fell short in swordsmanship too. Despite being born into the empire's most exalted imperial house, there was not a single thing he did better than the Duchess of Ivansia."

"So by having a secret affair with you, he wanted to feel that he stood above Raviel?"

"Yes."

"Truly a piece of trash."

"Is this your first time seeing trash?"

Silvia replied nonchalantly.

"There are many like that in the world."

Indeed.

The problem is, even if such people are plentiful, this one happens to be the Crown Prince of the empire.

"......I've been patient, warning him to behave. But it seems that won't do anymore."

Silvia looked up at me, and I returned her gaze.

"I'll bring him down."

Silvia's eyes widened, but that was it. The surprise she showed was just that brief.

In fact, what Silvia said next surprised me more.

"Umm, I'm kind of against that..."

"Because of some loyalty to your old flame?"

"Loyalty? That's the sound of gnawing on a turtle shell. No, it would simply be much easier if the Crown Prince inherited the throne as things stand."

"What do you mean?"

"He won't be able to govern the empire smoothly once he becomes Emperor."

Silvia declared confidently.

"Ten years at most, five at the least. Complaints about the Emperor's incompetence and tyranny will start erupting from every corner of the empire. From the nobility and even the common folk. Then, when that happens, it'd be a breeze for the Ivansia family to dethrone the Emperor."

"......"

"Sure, we could replace the Crown Prince now if we wanted to. Easily. The real power of the empire is already shifting to Ivansia, but the common folk still don't know what a mess the Crown Prince is. If Ivansia is to become the new royal family of the empire, it'd be best to have the support of the people as well... What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No, it's just unexpected. You actually have a political mind."

Silvia made a disgusted face.

"Hey. If it weren't for you... ah, sorry. If you hadn't been there, I would have become the Crown Princess and then the Empress, bringing down the Ivansia family... Yes?"

Right. Silvia was a returner too.

"Your advice is sound, but my chamberlain seems to be misunderstanding something."

"Misunderstanding?"

"Yeah. I plan to bring down the Crown Prince, but it's not because I want Raviel to become the new Emperor."

"Eh? Why not?"

I answered calmly.

"Because if Raviel becomes the Emperor, she'd be even busier than now."

"......"

Silvia was speechless.

"......Really? Is it really just for that reason?"

"What other reason could there possibly be?"

"You crazy bas... No, fine. Of course you would do that. You absolutely would. Damn it. Being around you warps the standards by which I weigh everything in the world, and it pisses me off."

Silvia vigorously scratched the back of her head and muttered, "I suppose this is why you can be in love with a woman like that."

"So, you just want to replace the Crown Prince while keeping the current royal family intact? Is that correct?"

"Spot on."

"Then... we'll have to support either the Second Prince, the Third Prince, the First Princess, the Fourth Prince, or the Second Princess. Damn it. Am I the only one well-versed in the imperial situation to be chosen as your advisor?"

Silvia grumbled.

"If you want my recommendation, choose the Second Prince. He has no ability to think for himself, but unlike the Crown Prince, he also lacks the capacity to create a disaster on his own. Thoroughly mediocre."

"Isn't there a royal family member who could become a sage ruler or a wise monarch?"

Silvia scoffed.

"If there was, do you think the Crown Prince would have maintained his position?"

Truly, the chamberlain knew how to strike with facts.

6.

The next day, Raviel and I entered the imperial palace.

It was not the palace in the true capital. Sormewin had grown into the second capital, and an annex palace befitting its importance had been established there. As it happened, the Emperor was staying there at the time.

"If it had been the capital's palace, the Crown Prince wouldn't have dared to command a servant to poison."

Raviel noted.

"However, this place is different. Excluding the Emperor's entourage, the servants handling menial tasks are mostly the Crown Prince's people. It was relatively easy to plot a poisoning here."

Of course, it was only "relatively" easy.

The Crown Prince had mobilized all his connections and power for this assassination attempt. Yet, in the end, only two servants in the separate palace were actually involved in the poisoning.

When we knew nothing, the Crown Prince's final desperate struggle had caught us, but now we knew every person who had taken part in the poisoning.

During those two weeks of leisure, the nearly fortnight of rest wasn't just spent indulging in decadence within the bedroom. We uncovered everything: the servants' family backgrounds, personal circumstances, and connections to the Crown Prince.

"Please, I beg you, show mercy to my family...! I'll accept being enslaved, or you can chop me up and throw me to the sea. Just please, spare my family..."

We easily extracted confessions from the culprits.

Their confessions were promptly reported to the Emperor. Initially skeptical, the Emperor could only groan after personally interrogating the culprits.

"Foolish child... Was he always this foolish..."

The Emperor lamented.

He might have been lacking, but he was the chosen successor. It was natural for the Emperor to feel sorrowful. However, I was ready to deliver an even greater blow to the Emperor.

"Your Majesty. The foolishness of attempting to poison the Duchess of Ivansia is already shocking, but there's an even more tragic foolishness Your Majesty must consider."

"......And what might that be, sovereign of another world?"

The Emperor treated me not as the Duke’s Wife of Ivansia but as the monarch of Lion World.

In official settings, I might pay utmost respect to the Emperor, but in a secured space like this, the Emperor didn't bother with maintaining his dignity.

"The Crown Prince is currently away on a hunt with his close associates. According to intelligence, their gear is unusually heavy for a mere hunt."

I bowed slightly.

"Armored horses for hunting mere beasts? Isn't that an over-preparation?"

"......"

The Emperor's sigh deepened.

He was soft only where his own son was concerned; by nature, he was an astute ruler. He grasped the meaning hidden in my words immediately.

Turning his head, the Emperor ordered his chamberlain (the very same elder who had adopted me as his foster son) to act.

"Immediately inspect the main and rear gates for the guard troops."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The elder promptly checked the palace's security and returned.

"Your Majesty, there were no issues at the main gate, but the guard responsible for the rear gate was absent, and their subordinates were barely half the required number."

"Ah..."

The Emperor heaved a long sigh.

"Is it true... is it true that my son intended to harm me?"

No one responded.

Raviel remained silent throughout. Her mere presence was enough.

Whether it was reporting on the poisoning, detailing the culprits' confessions, or exposing the Crown Prince's intentions, such potentially treasonous words flowed only from my mouth.

Even when reporting this calamity to the Emperor, I spoke not as the Wife of Ivansia but as the representative of another world. It was best not to give anyone a reason to hold me accountable later.

"Your Majesty. Summon the Crown Prince who is away on his hunt."

I urged him towards the final nail in the coffin.

"If the Crown Prince truly considers himself innocent, he will respond to Your Majesty's call. He would have no reason to refuse. However, if he truly orchestrated this entire tragedy, fearing his plan might be exposed, he will flee."

"......Very well. It shall be done."

Following my advice, the Emperor sent a messenger.

Anxiety filled the air as we waited.

Only after a considerable time did the messenger return. The imperial chamberlain listened as the messenger whispered a report into his ear. Once the messenger left the audience chamber, the chamberlain spoke.

"Your Majesty."

"Is the child coming...?"

"I regret to inform you, Your Majesty, but the Crown Prince turned his horse around and fled with his followers."

Silence enveloped the audience chamber.

During this time, the Emperor seemed to age five years. Despite the arrival of people from another world, he had maintained his composure and ruled the empire as peacefully as possible, but the rebellion of his son seemed to have broken his heart.

"Duchess..."

For the first time, the Emperor addressed the Duchess.

Raviel, as if she had been waiting, slowly bowed her head.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Speak, I am listening."

"How am I to make this right with you...?"

"I shall always remain loyal to Your Majesty."

Raviel's words meant she had no intention of using this incident as a pretext to rebel against the empire.

The Emperor closed his mouth again.

Silence lingered.

"...I have done nothing but wrong you."

The voice that escaped the Emperor's lips sounded less like the sovereign of an empire and more like a father to a child.

"I knew my son was lacking and foolish, and I knew you were a bright child. I thought that even if he was lacking, with your support, he could manage the country, but was that judgment blinded by paternal affection? Even that..."

"......Your Majesty."

"The story was already over when my son cast you aside and became infatuated with a lady from a baronial family. How could I call only my son foolish? My own foolishness was greater."

"Your Majesty has always shown concern and kindness to me since my days as a lady."

"I am sorry."

The Emperor closed his eyes.

"......The Crown Prince is no longer the empire's Crown Prince. Nor will he be my son any longer."

At this moment, the fate of the Crown Prince was sealed.

Born a prince, but not destined to die as one.

"Let the Ivansia Ducal family handle this matter."

That day, I led the ducal knightly order in pursuit of the Crown Prince.

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