C88
"Your Majesty! You can't do that!"
The empress exclaimed in shock. Mikhail also had a serious expression but said nothing.
"From now on, Mikhail Petus Asteroth will have the status of First Prince, as before being installed as Crown Prince, and later, the decision will be made on who will assume the position of Crown Prince. That's all."
The emperor finished speaking in silence and turned towards the exit. The empress hurriedly followed the emperor.
"I don't exactly know what's going on, but reconsider it! How can you so easily abolish the position of Crown Prince of an empire?"
"It wasn't easy. It was a difficult decision."
"Mikhail is the legitimate successor of Your Majesty! Even if he makes a mistake, isn't it right to overlook it at least once?"
"He has done so several times."
"Dominic! You must not fall for that wicked bastard's trick!"
"Keep your manners, empress!"
The emperor stopped and looked coldly at the empress.
"If you make another rude comment about my son, calling him wicked, I won't stay silent."
"Are you on that guy's side now?"
"I won't ask you to consider him your son, so I ask you to show the minimum courtesy."
With those last words, the emperor walked away without looking at his wife anymore. The empress staggered back to her original position.
"What's happening? What exactly was His Majesty talking about just now?"
While looking at Terence, she was asking her son.
"...Mother, your complexion isn't good. For now, go back to your palace and rest a bit."
"Is rest an issue now? What's that story about the crown prince taking care of the convenience of the suspects?"
"Why don't you check it yourself?"
Terence took the key from the guard beside him and opened the closed door of the room. There was no way Mikhail could stop him.
"Oh, my God!"
The empress gasped at the sight inside the room, which did not look like a prison at all.
"Mikhail!"
Liena came out of the room and was embraced by her lover.
"How hurt must you be? Your Majesty was too much! How could he do that to you?"
"Liena, I..."
"It's okay if you don't say anything. Because I know how your heart feels."
The empress asked, pointing to Liena.
"Could it be that the crown prince made this room like this? For that girl, Liena..."
The son who received the question was busy embracing his lover, so Terence answered on his behalf. He also kindly provided additional explanations.
"That's right. Moreover, the guards were attending to Princess Cassius."
"Ah..."
The empress, holding her neck, fell backward, probably due to excessive mental shock in a short period. Terence instantly helped her up.
"Mother!"
"Your Majesty the Empress!"
Then Mikhail and the empress's maids took hold of the empress's body, making a fuss, as if they had thrown dirty soil on her.
Finally, a maid carried the empress, and the empress and her entourage left.
"I guess His Majesty didn't want his son to carry her?"
Mikhail immediately responded to Terence's words.
"Your interference is useless."
"Aren't you speaking too casually?"
"Is it good to bring down my mother? I was naive to think, even for a moment, that somehow we could live as a family."
"Mmm."
Terence's mouth was drawn in a line, but his eyes were dry and without a smile.
"I don't know why it's my fault."
"I'm sure I said it last time. If you touch me again, I won't be able to treat you as a brother."
"He did."
"I heard you brought my father here. And that saddened Liena. We're enemies from now on."
When Mikhail showed hostility, Liena, who was by his side, opened her eyes wide and looked at Terence. The two people seemed so different from each other that Terence wasn't particularly angry.
"Whatever you say. I'm busy."
"Just a moment! I need to see Elliot Rudd. Allow me to visit him."
Terence looked at Liena. It was clear that the reason Mikhail wanted to see Elliot was because of that woman. Is he planning to play the role of a messenger pigeon?
"It's not allowed. He's still under investigation, so he can't meet anyone."
"Am I anyone?"
"Now that I think about it, not anyone, it's the crown prince... oops, my mistake. It's Prince Mikhail."
A wrinkle appeared on Mikhail's forehead.
"I want to see how long you can be brave."
"As long as you want."
When Terence left the imperial prison, he remembered what had just happened.
Dethroning the Crown Prince was a very serious matter.
When he looked at the courtiers, they all seemed to be talking about it. Terence also knew that the emperor would do what he did, but he didn't know he would act so boldly.
"He's going to be busy from now on."
He thought dazedly about his future plans and then shook his head. There was only one thought. Although he saw her yesterday, he still wanted to see Ethel again.
Now that he thinks about it, there's Elliot. This morning, the investigative team completed approximately their research. Terence had promised Ethel that he would place Elliot back in the secure wing. It was a good excuse.
"While I'm out, I have to tell my subordinates to reinforce security. Mikhail might break in just to see Elliot."
With these thoughts in mind, Terence headed to the investigative team.
---
The location is the security annex, the room where Elliot is being held. I sat in the chair that had already become my exclusive seat and watched the two men argue.
"This guy is so touching! He prepared something like this for me!"
Count Miloam chuckled as his eyes scanned the document he had read dozens of times.
"Give it back! I said give it back to me!"
Elliot rushed to grab the paper that Count held, but there was no way he could leave it behind with his strength or agility.
"You're embarrassed!"
"Who's embarrassed? When I think about it again, I feel like it would be a waste to give it to you!"
"Fine, whatever you say."
Even in my eyes, Elliot seemed embarrassed. In reality, he thought he would never see him again, so he handed me the development plan, but he came back.
The person waiting for him when he returned to the security office a day later was Count Miloam, who was excited to see the gift from Elliot that I had handed over. And it has been like that ever since.
"They seem to get along. Should I leave them alone for a while?"
In reality, I couldn't do anything but silently watch the two people.
In Liena's first life, Count Miloam and Elliot became subjects without me. If I had intervened, the same relationship as before might not have formed. The reason I stayed here in the first place was to monitor Elliot and see if he was doing something foolish.
So, my thoughts naturally turned to Terence, who brought me Elliot today. Unfortunately, he stayed for a very short time and then left.
"That's because the emperor said he would dethrone the crown prince."
Terence had to attend the emperor's official announcement of this fact. He deliberately divided his time into small pieces and came to inform me of the results. The results of the information I provided him with.
Who would have thought the emperor would do such a thing? Although the situation was caused by me, I was quite surprised. In the novel, the emperor didn't dethrone Mikhail until the end.
"It's still just a speculation on my part. However, given the personality of the Prince that I learned about in Cassius, I can't ignore the possibility that he's doing that."
When I talked to Terence yesterday, I couldn't talk about novels or transmigration, so I talked about the topic, but it actually appears in the novel. This is the scene where Mikhail bribes a guard for Liena, who is imprisoned in the imperial palace.
"The motive and timing of Liena's imprisonment are different."
The current incident of the Iver guild was an incident created by me.
In the novel, the Iver guild continues well until the novel is completed.
In the novel, Liena is framed by a villain and unjustly imprisoned. The timing is also much later than now.
It was surprising, but my actions made me feel that this world was very different from the novel. The Iver family was ruined, and the crown prince was dethroned.
"At first, I was planning to simply divorce from the protagonist's brother and leave, but somehow..."
Well, I still don't regret it. Looking back, I've been trying to make the best decision since I ran out of Cassius's mansion saying I wanted a divorce.
And more than anything, I was very fortunate to be able to be a great help to Terence. As much as he always understands my wishes, I also wanted to be his strength.
"Miss Ethel! If you're hungry, would you like to eat together?"
At that moment, Count Miloam gestured to me. He brought several times more cornbread than usual and placed it on the table inside the cell.
"I won't refuse, Vinneta can eat too!"
"I'm not very hungry..."
"Yes, sir, please come too! The more people eat, the better it will taste!"
There were two tables in this room. One is inside the cell, and the other is outside the cell.
We set up two tables facing each other with a steel bar in the middle. Vinetta and I sat outside the cell, while Count Miloam and Elliot sat inside the cell.
"All right! There's a lot, so eat as much as you want!"
I asked Count who offered me some bread.
"Why is there so much bread today?"
"I brought a lot to express my gratitude to our genius!"
"Hmph, anyway, I'm the type of person who likes to hear news, so bringing too much ignorantly..."
"Then try increasing the amount now!"
"Hup, kough!"
Count Miloam continued to stuff cornbread into Elliot's mouth, then reached his hand through the bars and handed me some bread too.
"Miss Ethel, eat well and cheer up!"
"Thank you for this meal."
Then it was Vinetta's turn.
"You too!"
"Thank you."
"Ugh! Kugh, ah..."
Elliot, who managed to get the bread stuck in his throat, got angry.
"I thought I was going to die! Are you planning to murder me?!"
---
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