When the Female Lead Went Off-Script, the Main Male Lead Became the Tyrant's Empress - Chapter 31.1
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“So I’ve been rejected.”
At the clean-cut rejection, Troanne murmured quietly.
Contrary to her words of disappointment, the relief in her voice was unmistakable.
It had been a mischievous joke, but the words themselves were tempting.
If he had heard something like that a few years ago, he might have wavered.
Haster looked into Troanne’s eyes.
The dark green eyes he had once revered sparkled like blades of grass beneath the early summer sunlight.
“Have you no intention of seeing anyone else?” Troanne asked.
“None at all.”
At the resolute answer that cleanly severed even the last of her lingering attachment, her eyes, which had been tracing a fragment of the past, returned to the present.
“A lover can leave even if you treat them well, but a niece won’t leave unless you deliberately drive her away.”
She smiled bitterly.
A brief silence settled between them.
“So.”
A heavy voice sounded above Troanne’s head.
When she looked at Haster with puzzled eyes, he spoke again.
“Is there anyone suitable to serve as Clary’s lady-in-waiting?”
Troanne couldn’t help laughing.
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Arden took Clary around with him, pointing out the rakes she needed to be wary of and the young ladies from ducal families whom it would be fine for her to befriend.
While roaming around the grand ballroom, he spotted Mishien waiting for him on the other side of the hall.
“I have something to take care of, so I’m stepping out for a moment. Stay beside His Majesty or Haster until I get back. And watch out for the men I pointed out.”
“Sure, sure.”
Leaving behind Clary, who answered halfheartedly, Arden left the grand ballroom.
The two entered an empty room.
As soon as the door closed, Mishien reported everything that had happened.
“So things have been quiet around Marquis Anberg?”
Arden asked in a whisper after hearing his report.
Mishien glanced at the firmly closed door, then nodded.
“Yes. Hardly anyone visits, and the only person who frequently comes and goes from the townhouse is his eldest daughter.”
Under Arden’s orders, Mishien was currently keeping watch on the great nobles.
It was night, and with no lamps lit, the shadowed room was dark.
Silver moonlight faintly revealed the outlines of the two men.
They spoke without pause in low voices that were still perfectly clear to each other.
“By his eldest daughter, you mean the one who married the former court knight……?”
“Yes, Rutinata Anberg Ivain. She’s the eldest daughter, but she doesn’t hold a separate title. Her husband, Sir Nezer Ivain, resigned as a court knight and is now the commander of the knights on his father-in-law the Marquis’s estate.”
“Then did he come up to the capital as well?”
“No. Only the Marquis and Madam Ivain came to the townhouse. I heard Sir Ivain has been traveling since last summer. And the Marquis reportedly doesn’t go out except when attending sessions of the council. Could Count Nestin’s death have shocked him?”
Arden firmly shook his head.
Several weeks ago, heretical proselytizing and illegal religious reform centered around the court preacher, Purgat, had been uncovered.
The treasonous plot had been thwarted by the Crown Prince, who was governing in the Emperor’s stead.
However, just before the trial was to begin, the court preacher died of illness.
He had even handed over evidence before his death so that the heretical traitors could be captured.
Even if it’s true that he was a renowned court preacher, he couldn’t have plotted something of that scale alone.
The list he had handed over also contained the name of the person behind it all.
Arthur Lurie was the only culprit who had yet to be punished.
“Arthur Lurie still isn’t talking?”
“No.”
Arthur had committed all sorts of crimes.
When heretical proselytizing and illegal religious reform were added on top of everything else, Arden’s only thought had been that the greedy lunatic truly would do anything.
But where had a Baron buried in debt gotten the money to support heretics?
And for a rebellion that might not even succeed.
Arthur had been bait meant to divert attention.
That was why Arden had interrogated him.
Given his frivolous personality, Arden had expected him to spill everything before long.
But even under threats, persuasion, and torture, Arthur Lurie remained silent.
Far too silent.
As though he were being careful that, if he opened his mouth, the words he had been hiding might accidentally slip out.
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