Chapter 162 - North Rabbit

Chapter 162

That was after Arpad and I had already confirmed each other's feelings.

Naturally, we had also finished discussing how to deal with Gaspard together.

But I hadn't expected him to suddenly act like this during the face-to-face negotiation.

Arpad looked at me with dew gathering in the corners of his eyes, as if he had been abandoned.

It was a disgustingly pitiful expression.

"If you're my wife, you should get angry at or protect me from someone who's after my body!"

"......"

It was so absurd that even the will to get seriously angry disappeared.

Then, Tower Lord Gaspard's eyes began to shine even more dangerously.

"Oh ho? Are you really willing to sell him off if the price is right? The possessor of dragon blood? Impressive!"

At those words, Arpad did not unleash a murderous aura or slice off Gaspard's neck.

It was remarkable patience.

I stretched out my hand and stepped in front of Arpad.

Partly because I knew well how dreadful it was to be subjected to that creepy gaze of Gaspard's...

'*Arpad will like this.*'

As I had predicted.

Even though it held little real significance, Arpad was pleased simply by my taking a protective stance.

Gaspard spoke to me with a genuinely admiring expression.

"It's truly rare for a successor of dragon blood to obey someone's words so absolutely. Like Artanus and Istride."

I almost flinched for a moment without realizing it. But I was not foolish enough to reveal any change in emotion.

Especially not in front of Gaspard.

Arpad propped his chin and casually tried to steer the conversation elsewhere.

"Well. For all that, His Majesty the Emperor longed only for Her Late Majesty the Empress."

"True. Because of that, Isabel failed to keep her promise to me. If Empress Roxelline hadn't been of royal blood, I might have researched whether it was a similar case."

Not wanting this topic to drag on, I immediately brought us back to the main point.

I pushed away the dragon heart Gaspard had presented.

The Tower Lord's confident expression stiffened slightly.

"Is this not enough? It's the second largest dragon heart within the Empire."

"If it's so great, why are you offering it as a bargaining chip?"

I confidently lifted the corner of my mouth.

"You must think what you want is more valuable than this, right?"

"......"

Ignoring the silent Gaspard, I held out my hand to Arpad.

He obediently placed his hand on mine.

I led Arpad's hand away from the table to put distance between us and Gaspard.

Then I took out the self-defense dagger I always carried. I just needed to prick Arpad's fingertip with this.

"......"

I took a deep breath and tried again, but it was difficult. I'd rather prick my own hand and draw blood any number of times.

As I hesitated, Arpad snatched the knife away. And wounded himself.

A drop of red blood welled on his fingertip.

Arpad didn't bat an eyelid.

It was Gaspard who jumped up in shock.

Just as a drop of blood was about to fall, *plop*, from Arpad's fingertip.

"Wah! This precious thing...!"

Gaspard flung his body forward and caught the single drop of blood with both hands.

*Thud! Roll, roll...!*

He could have blocked it with magic, but I knew well why he had thrown his whole body to catch it.

'*He must have thrown himself because he was worried the blood would be altered by magical power.*'

Unintentionally, my experience from the second regression allowed me to easily predict Gaspard's rationale.

I declared boldly.

"The blood of a royal, inheriting the most potent dragon blood in history that you so desperately desired. Is it insufficient as a bargaining chip?"

Then Gaspard shook his head frantically.

"No! I need it completely! Truly, supremely satisfied!"

"Good. Then let me state what I want."

"What? I already gave the payment...!"

I pushed the dragon heart box still lying on the table so it would fall to the floor.

Then Gaspard, with a horrified face again, desperately wiped the basement floor with his back and limbs and caught the dragon heart too.

"What are you doing to my precious treasures?!"

I sneered at Gaspard, who had become a crumpled rag-like figure from rolling on the floor.

Considering how much that man tormented me in my past life, this didn't even qualify as revenge.

I whispered to Arpad. Then he moved obediently and swiftly.

Stepping on the arm of Gaspard, who was lying on the floor, he then reclaimed his own blood.

"No! Give it back!!! You said you'd give it! Where does it say you can give and then take back?!"

"I never said I'd give it. I only asked if you wanted to have it."

"You can't mean..."

"Do you want a drop of blood, or more?"

I said, crossing my legs.

"First, try crawling on the floor a bit."

Then Arpad chimed in with a beaming smile.

"You're too kind, that's the problem. He's already crawling. You need to order something else to confirm his sincerity."

"Then what should we do?"

"Ah, Hilia's shoes have gotten dirty. It seems it's because of you we had to come to a place like this. Lick them clean. Start with that."

"......"

Indeed, this side(?) was more proficient with Arpad.

Thus, I succeeded in completely making Gaspard my ally... or rather, in controlling him by holding Arpad's blood hostage.

Of course, it wasn't truly accomplished with just one or two drops of blood as payment.

"Just let me dissect one arm! It's not like you'll die anyway! I'll stitch it up prettily when I'm done!"

"Don't talk nonsense."

"I can comply if it's what you want."

"Absolutely not. Absolutely, absolutely not!"

Arpad smiled with satisfaction.

Instead, I permitted examinations of his body using magical power, as long as Arpad wasn't harmed.

I also promised a few other experiments under the condition that Arpad would not be injured.

And of course...

'*I naturally have no intention of doing as Gaspard wants.*'

I had not forgotten my grudge against him.

I could see Gaspard's pupils darting busily.

It was not the expression of someone who had made a losing deal.

There were probably at least three or four calculations in his mind.

I could guess to some extent what they were.

* * *

The Tower Lord spilled everything, even things that I, Arpad, the Emperor, and the Grand Duchess had not yet known.

Even things we hadn't asked him to say.

From meaningless statements about being from the same homeland and having served the same master, to the fact that he had been exploiting the royal family's madness for a very long time.

"If you feed a part of the body of a royal who died from madness to another royal, you can artificially induce madness."

This was a fact even the imperial family did not know.

The Magical Tower that Gaspard inherited housed those who had been researching the Istride imperial family's dragon blood for generations.

Dragons are creatures little different from crystallizations of magical power.

Therefore, it was natural for mages to pay attention to dragons or their bloodlines.

But no one had anticipated that the research would be this thorough and even yield results.

Especially that those results would be used in a way harmful to the royal family.

"Before her demise at the hands of a lady-in-waiting, the Late Empress had ingested the powdered remains of royals who died from madness for at least three to four years. At that time, the remains of Grand Duke Ilphenon, who was known to have died from madness, were used. Since it is not poison to ordinary people, it would not have been detected in any examination."

The Emperor's rage was immense.

"How dare!!!"

*Crunch!*

The marble floor cracked.

The Tower Lord was not the least bit afraid.

Even though he was confessing his own crimes. He seemed to be relying on something else.

"Especially if you use that of a close blood relative, the effect is swift. It is even more so if you perform a special magical treatment on the night of the Crimson Moon."

Gaspard lifted the corner of his mouth and gave the decisive testimony.

"Isabel commissioned me. She told me to infiltrate the imperial tomb at the palace on the night of the Crimson Moon and bring her the remains of the Late Empress."

"...!"

"In exchange for bringing her the Late Empress's remains, I received the dragon heart in the Empress's possession."

The one who objected and struggled against this was not Isabel.

Because she was pinned to the floor by Arpad, her mouth covered.

Her eyes bloodshot, she thrashed and groaned, but could not interrupt the testimony.

Her daughter took her place.

Evangeline panted and screamed out.

"It's a lie! If it were true, he would have committed an act worthy of execution, so why would he confess?!"

She pointed a finger at me.

"And wasn't it the Crown Princess who had the dragon heart?! There could be another scheme!"

"A valid point. Perhaps someone with malicious intent is manipulating the Tower Lord."

Archbishop Bio supported her, glaring at me as he helped Evangeline up.

Immediately, the Tower Lord retorted annoyingly, rendering that argument completely ineffective.

"I have long felt the pangs of conscience. This time, I was forced to help Isabel under threat, but fortunately, the Crown Princess learned the truth and persuaded me. To confess all my sins according to my conscience."

He spoke fluently, putting on a righteous expression.

I was genuinely impressed.

'*He lies so smoothly, without even moistening his lips.*'

Even though he had become a slave, held hostage by Arpad's blood, hair, and so on.

"Then, just a little more... just a little more! Then I'll lick this entire basement clean for you!"

...I really didn't order that.

I only agreed to receive the dragon heart and have him testify to everything he did with Isabel.

Gaspard's accusation and testimony continued.

"I attempted to feed the powdered remains of the Late Empress, desecrated, to His Highness the Crown Prince during this Harvest Festival. To incite His Highness's madness."

It meant desecrating his mother's remains to kill her son.

Gasps of shock and angry murmurs about the viciousness of the method rippled through the room.

Arpad took over, explaining directly to the Emperor.

"At that time, the priestess of the Earth Mother seemed to have done something strange to the ceremonial wine. Of course, thanks to my wife, I did not drink it."

"Truly, truly a relief."

Before the Emperor, his face dark with rage, could even finish a sigh of relief, the Tower Lord smiled slyly and continued.

"It wasn't just the wine. During the Harvest Festival, one bathes and purifies oneself often, and incense is always burning, is it not?"

"You can't mean!"

"Yes. The Late Empress's remains were mixed in great quantity into the bathwater for His Highness the Crown Prince and the incense burners around him."

The Grand Duchess, who had been trembling and enduring all this while, collapsed on the spot.

"Your Highness the Grand Duchess!"

"Grandmother!"

Isepin helped the Grand Duchess and took her to a resting room.

Soon after, Lord Beltain and Lord Müzen returned with decisive evidence regarding the Tower Lord's accusations.

"Your Imperial Majesty. As commanded, we searched the Empress's Palace immediately after the event for the oracle began and secured this evidence."

Lord Müzen presented an object wrapped in black silk to the Emperor.

The Emperor's hand trembled as he lifted the silk. What fell onto his hand was a ring that should have been buried in the Late Empress's coffin.

"...!"

It was evidence no one could deny.