C156
"What do you mean by saying goodbye?"
Liena looked at her lover, thinking she must have misheard, but Mikhail's face seemed cold.
"Exactly that, let's end our relationship here. From this moment on, you and I will have no relationship whatsoever."
"Do you think I asked because I didn't understand what you meant?! Why are you doing this all of a sudden?"
"Do you really not know why?"
"I don't know!"
"A prince cannot continue being the lover of a swindler who crushed the empire's pride."
Suddenly, Mikhail distorted his expression and covered his face with his hands.
"Moreover, a large portion of my personal funds went into founding Conejito. Some people even went as far as to say that I was involved in this investment fraud as well."
"M-Mikhail..."
"I was already languishing compared to Terence, but this incident pushed me even further from power. Even if it turns out I had nothing to do with the fraud, the fact that you've been my lover for almost ten years will still haunt me like a shackle."
"Why are you talking like this? Do you really think I committed investment fraud?"
"Then, isn't it so?"
"Think with common sense! Is there any reason for me to do that? I am the duke's daughter. If I did something like that, I would lose more than I would gain."
Instead of responding to Liena's words, Mikhail looked at the investigator behind him.
"Have you explained it?"
"I apologize, Your Highness. Since the suspect hasn't cooperated since yesterday, the story hasn't progressed to that point."
After nodding to the prince, the investigator turned his gaze back to Liena.
"Yesterday, there was already a reference investigation against Duke Cassius. I heard you distanced yourself from the duke's family two months ago, is that correct?"
Mikhail intervened for a moment.
"That's why you stayed in my palace. I heard a few days ago you fled from Cassius, who was trying to hospitalize you because your illness worsened."
"Now, wait a moment, then...!"
"Weren't you planning on making a big deal and starting an empire before your relationship with Cassius ended completely?"
This time Mikhail also offered a helpful comment.
"Coincidentally, your relationship with them had deteriorated at that time. The engagement had been temporarily and indefinitely postponed. Ah... I should have ended it then."
Liena fiercely retorted.
"No! My uncle imprisoned me at that time."
"Stop. Why would Isaac Cassius imprison you? It's a well-known fact that he cares deeply for his niece."
"It's about money, of course! Trying to impersonate me, he..."
"You're the one who needs money, not him, Liena. Due to the contract with the temple, the Conejito group continued to suffer losses due to purchasing magical stones at high prices."
"I could have compensated for it after some time!"
"By what means? The warp gate project you ambitiously prepared has also become uncertain due to the discord with the person named Kais."
"That's..."
Liena's legs trembled, unable to continue speaking.
She's ruined. Liena finally realized that the imprisonment had traumatized her so much that she had taken the false accusation relatively less seriously.
As she was innocent, she never committed fraud or anything of the sort.
She harbored the complacent thought that, with Mikhail's help and other powerful people, someday her innocence would be revealed to the world. But.
"Every situation is against me!"
At least in the eyes of the world, Liena had many reasons to commit fraud, but Isaac didn't.
Thinking that it really would be the end if she lost here, Liena unleashed her divine power with all her might.
"Well, believe me, Mikhail. I really didn't..."
I staggered towards him and bowed.
"Think of the me you've seen until now. Do I seem like the type of person who would do something like this?"
Every time Liena showed signs of weakness like this, Mikhail was always anxious because he couldn't do anything for her.
Moreover, she even had her secret weapon, tears. Liena trusted that Mikhail would immediately soften his heart.
"Could you please step back?"
Oh? But Mikhail pushed her away.
Liena stared at him with a puzzled expression.
"To be honest, despite the disappointment I've felt with you lately, I'm not sure you're not the type of person who would commit fraud."
"Mikhail! Don't you know me well?"
"That's what I'm saying. You committed various kinds of corruption during your stay in Iver."
"Why are you bringing up old things now...?"
Liena, who was about to retort loudly, quickly looked in the direction where the investigator was.
"Stupid Mikhail!"
Elliot already sacrificed himself and took responsibility, what if he mentions it now?
Although the investigator's gaze became sharper, Mikhail continued speaking without any concern.
"Liena, you said you were the kind of person who would never engage in loss-making business. Was investment fraud the only way to compensate for the losses suffered while you were running Conejito?"
"Stop! Don't you trust me at all?"
"Yes, I don't trust you."
"How can you do that? You said you loved me. You said I was more precious than anything else in this world."
"... Is that really love?"
Mikhail's face and voice were tinged with pain.
"Do you know what rumors are circulating outside right now? I heard you've been seducing Duke Cassius and many people, including me, with black magic."
"B-Black magic?"
"I'm scared that it's hard to deny. I couldn't make a rational decision when it came to dealing with you. Even when I think about it, my love for you was strangely passionate. And it disappeared in an instant."
"It's a rumor! If you want, search around me! You won't find evidence anywhere that I used black magic!"
At that moment, a good thought crossed Liena's mind.
"Alright, I guess we can gather a group of people and investigate in front of them what this power flowing through my body is. If I really used black magic, there would be some corrupt magic left behind."
However, his power was clearly divine power. The noble power that comes from faith in God.
It was clear that public opinion would change if it were known that Liena possessed such divine power and that she was chosen by God.
"Did you try with all your might to please my father, but still do not know his character?"
But Mikhail smiled with contempt at himself.
"If you did something like that, and even once evidence comes out that you used dark magic, how will people see us?"
"What?"
"The real prince, the duke, and numerous high-ranking nobles have been deceived by your dark magic. It won't end just with you."
"No, really not. It's divine pow-..."
"Don't think about anything and wake up from your dream. If your father decides he can't ignore the rumors about dark magic, he'll choose to deal with you quietly after people's interest has cooled to some extent, much less in a public setting."
"I was chosen by the Goddess Miella! What flows through my body is divine power!"
Mikhail's eyes widened at Liena's sudden declaration.
"...You should have received treatment at the hospital as Duke Cassius said."
But they only treated her as if she were crazy.
The investigator also laughed and shook his head.
"Enough. What should I say now?"
Mikhail averted his eyes from Liena's tear-streaked face and headed for the door.
"Wait! I'll tell you everything you've been interested in!"
Liena shouted at Mikhail's back.
"You said you wanted to know how I accurately predicted future events and why I have such good intuition! I actually received it from the goddess..."
"I did. But I'm not very curious anymore."
A torrent of tears welled up in Mikhail's eyes as he caught sight of the lover he once loved.
"I'm too tired to care about those things, Liena. I loved you, and all that's left is the scar."
He declared a total end.
-------------------------
Annex of the palace.
"Ha."
I patted my bulging stomach.
"I think I ate too much because the food at the temple was lighter and more delicious than I expected."
Then Terence suggested, holding me in his arms.
"So, shall we take a walk together?"
"That's a bit bothersome..."
We had just visited the temple.
There are two main reasons to go to the temple.
One was to lay the groundwork to extract Herciso, Liena's henchman who had infiltrated the temple, and the other was because the person I had agreed to meet with the help of Terence was someone from the temple.
The conversation with that person ended well, so Terence and I finished the meal provided by the temple with joyful hearts.
"Oh, I don't know. I won't move anymore today~."
I burrowed further into Terence's arms and lifted my head to look at his face.
Actually, I've wanted to tell him something since I left the hospital during the day, but I haven't had the chance.
"Terence."
I looked into his eyes and opened my mouth.
"I have no relationship with Isaac. I say this in case there's any misunderstanding."
Terence's round eyes immediately curved into crescent moons at those words.
"I know. If I say I know you better than anyone... would that be arrogant?"
"No. Terence is right."
Suddenly, I realized that this response brought me immense satisfaction.
If I hadn't met Terence, I probably wouldn't have told anyone that I had transmigrated.
"Even if I made friends with other people, at the same time I would feel like a stranger."
The last two years I spent in Cassius were like that.
Although I had a good friend named Laura by my side, I couldn't fully attach myself to this unfamiliar land.
But now I have Terence.
Today, when I was by his side, I realized that even a boring temple seemed like a nice place.
Will there ever be another miracle like this?
We looked at each other in silence for a while.
"Terence, do you know what I'm thinking right now?"
"Hmm, that I'm very handsome?"
"That's something I always think about. I think it was good that I told you my secret."
If I hadn't had the courage back then, I wouldn't have the relationship I have now.
And at that moment, I was trying to take another brave step forward in our relationship.
"Can I now give you the answer to the confession you made to me earlier?"
For a moment, embarrassment spread across his face and Terence opened his mouth to say something.
But there was one thing he overlooked.
The problem was that I had no intention of hearing his response to what I asked.
I simply kissed him.