“Well, you’re still a bit naive, but I think it’s a passing grade, Your Highness.”
“So you acknowledge that you are in charge of the Shadows?”
“Am I?” Orphen still wanted to play dumb even though we had gotten this far, but his words were that of someone who had the power of decision. “It’s one of the trials imposed on those who sit on the throne. Will the king act out of his own selfishness? If he does, it will send the kingdom into chaos. I could’ve used Alexei or Glen, but they were too loyal. Even if their families and lovers were taken hostage, they would have shown their loyalty to His Majesty and you.”
I could feel His Highness’s hand clenching into a fist, yet Orphen sounded indifferent, even though he saw Glen and Alexei standing behind us.
“In addition, it was possible that they would take their own lives out of loyalty. You wouldn’t have been able to overcome that yourself. Still, Your Highness, you are as naive as you ever were.”
Orphen then directed his calm gaze at me.
“Whether he was a friend or not, if Ian’s crime had been revealed, Duke Odin’s crimes would have come to light then as well. And then Elianna wouldn’t have been targeted, and the clue to the cure wouldn’t have been in danger either. You still have a long way to go, Your Highness.”
It felt as if poison were creeping into my chest. Orphen was speaking as if Prince Christopher had weighed my life and the clue to the cure against his friend’s honor.
“Your words are all lies, Dirk Orphen,” Prince Christopher declared. His voice was no longer that of a student answering to his teacher. “First of all, you informed Duke Odin about my friend Ian, in anticipation that his betrayal would render me unable to care for Elianna. And you told him about Furya’s Jar, that it might hold a clue to a cure. You also told him it was possible that Elianna was in possession of it.”
I had been targeted on my way to the town where the riots occurred. At that time, my life itself had been in danger. That must’ve been on Duke Odin’s orders. However, Dr. Furness’s research book was of equal value to Furya’s Jar; it was a clue to the cure. Who had ordered it be destroyed?
“Even if you were trying to put me through a trial to become king,” Prince Christopher went on, “I can’t understand the fact that you tried to erase the clues of the cure. You were worried. Even if you got rid of Elianna, someone else—a member of the Bernstein family—could obtain it and complete the cure.”
I was also staring back at Orphen, the gentle-looking old man with a white beard, holding my breath.
“Elianna Bernstein is the crown prince’s fiancée, and the Bernstein family is known by their secret name of Sauslind’s Brain. You wanted to insult them, didn’t you?” Prince Christopher asked. “You wanted people to say that not even a family with such a reputation could figure out a cure for the disease that strikes fear into the heart of our continent.”
“What is ‘Sauslind’s Brain’?” Orphen asked. “After all, aren’t they nothing but bigheaded people who are only useful in times of war when others’ lives are taken?”
Orphen’s laugh was scornful, but the dignified voice of His Highness overpowered it.
“You are not one of the ‘three wise men’ of the royal palace. You are just a snob like Duke Odin, who was inflated by your own suspicion and jealousy.”
Orphen’s expression changed completely. The eyes under his heavy-looking eyebrows became sharp and cold.
“Ho ho. You’ve got some nerve, seeing as how inexperienced you are. The only reason you realized it is probably because the servant there talked about it.”
I knew without looking back that Jean had twitched, and this time, I was the one who responded—involuntarily and emotionally. “Jean didn’t say anything! He never said a word about you!”
How had Jean felt when he had come back to me? I’m sure he had been more lost and worried than I could imagine. Even so, he had returned, probably because he had faith in me—because he believed me when I said I would accept everything about him, no matter what.
“Hmph!” Orphen grunted coldly. “And yet he betrayed you.”
I trembled in pain, and His Highness lightly squeezed my hand.
“That’s not the only reason I set my sights on you,” Prince Christopher stated. “This time, Duke Odin unfortunately predicted my movements. I had no choice but to fall behind. This has never happened before, so I thought someone might be giving the duke advice. And something about the way he spoke gave me déjà vu.”
His Highness paused before continuing. “Professor, ever since I was young, I played many board games with you. Just as you read my moves, I picked up the habit of reading yours. This time, Duke Odin’s moves were much like ones you would make.”
With a coldness I’d never heard from him before, Orphen replied, “He seems to have fallen into a trap you set. Did you deliberately arrange for Lady Elianna’s decoy? He thought he had won, but that was his greatest moment of confusion. So yes, I did give him advice, but he thought he’d done it all on his own, and he didn’t listen to me.”
Orphen was admitting everything. I felt His Highness’s fist tightening.
“Why?” he whispered. “Why did you use Ian? Even if Duke Odin gave the order, you should have offered any other option. Why did you use my friend to hurt my father?!”
“Have you already found the answer yourself?” Orphen replied.
That quieted His Highness’s rage, and even though his voice was that of an adult, he still sounded like a young student.
“You wanted to hurt me,” he said.
“Ho ho.” Orphen walked to a desk near the window. “Isn’t that unfair, Your Highness? It’s like I’ve been living in hellfire in the depths of the earth for a long time. It’s surprising to me that such a creature lived among humans. I’ll never forget it. Almost forty years ago, during the Continental Highway War, I witnessed for the first time the genius of it. Sauslind’s Brain turned the strategy I had devised into dust.”