After visiting Sachis and having dinner with Arcrayne, Estelle decided to stay over at the Leo Palace. But even though she was given a bedroom, she couldn’t get a wink of sleep.
While she was tired and worried, the main cause of it might’ve been the fact that she’d gone to bed with Arcrayne at an unusual hour.
“Your lack of sleep shows on your face, Lady Estelle. Are you all right?” asked Leah with a worried look. She’d come over from the Libra Palace for Estelle.
“I have to go with Lord Arc to visit Queen Truteliese today. Could you do something to make my complexion appear well-rested?”
“Oh, I had no idea. Very well, I’ll do everything I can to freshen you up.”
“Don’t overdo it, though. We’re visiting the prison,” said Estelle, seeing Leah getting fired up a little too much.
Arcrayne didn’t seem to have gotten much sleep either. Leah pointed it out when he came to pick up Estelle, and applied makeup to him to hide it.
✦ ✦ ✦
Queen Truteliese was imprisoned in a special chamber in the Tower of Albion. It was a different one from where Estelle had been held. Apparently putting the queen here had been Sachis’s final act of mercy.
By the king’s order, a special team of investigators had been formed to look into the case at hand. Once the investigation was over, Truteliese would be tried and most likely given the death penalty.
Arcrayne wanted to talk to her before that happened.
Visitations took place in a parlor-like room inside the tower, with sofas and a table inside. Estelle and Arcrayne sat next to each other.
After a short while, Truteliese entered the room, escorted by two guards.
“I am sure Your Highness is not in any danger, being an Awoken...but we will be waiting outside the room, so please call us if something happens,” said one of the guards, then they both stepped outside.
“It’s an honor to have you visit me, given how busy you are, Your Royal Highness. And you even have Lady Estelle with you,” said Truteliese, her manner somewhat affected. Then, with a graceful motion, she sat down opposite Arcrayne.
While she looked emaciated, she was still beautiful enough to be compared to a red rose, as she’d always been. Even the signs of tiredness on her face looked bewitching.
And as always, there was a mismatch between her mana and the look on her face. Her speech and facial expression were utterly snide and malicious, but her mana was radiant. She even looked somewhat happy.
Estelle couldn’t stop wondering about the reason for it and stared intently at the queen’s face.
“I’m not a crown prince yet,” said Arcrayne. “Someone has been putting in work all this time to ensure I wouldn’t be invested as one.”
Here in the Kingdom of Rosalia, being the first in line for the throne wasn’t enough for you to call yourself crown prince. According to the custom, you had to be invested as the crown prince first, and only then would you be recognized as the king’s heir both in name and reality.
“It’s only a matter of time. Good for you—you won, and we lost. I suppose the one unfortunate thing is that you allowed Mircea Marwick to end his life.” The moment she brought up the subject of the duke’s death, Truteliese’s mana turned pitch black.
What...? Estelle went pale. It wasn’t normal for mana to be this dark. It was even darker than Arcrayne’s mana when he’d learned about Duke Marwick’s death.
The queen’s expression remained completely unchanged, however. If anything, her smile had even begun to look mocking.
“It’s quite inept of you to let him escape through death. What were you so busy with, pray tell?” The sneer on her face practically said, Serves you right.
In contrast with her scornful giggling, however, the entirety of her mana was jet-black. Estelle saw deep hatred in it, with murderous intent mixed in.
It was too frightening to look at, so she averted her eyes nonchalantly. But as Estelle couldn’t control her power, she continued to perceive the queen’s emotions, even when Truteliese was fully out of her field of vision.
“I find it deeply vexing too, of course,” said Arcrayne. “No doubt they will start interrogating you more rigorously now that they can’t have Mircea’s testimony.”
“And you’ve come just to tell me that? How kind of you.”
Truteliese’s mana began to normalize—she seemed to have calmed down a little. Estelle casually looked her way once more. The queen still had the same sneer on her face.
“While I’m told you’re being quite honest with the interrogators, stepmother, are you still plotting anything?”
The moment Arcrayne called her “stepmother,” the queen’s mana began to shine bright.
“Oh, you still call me your stepmother? Well, it’s true; I don’t remember giving birth to you.” Despite the sour look on her face, Truteliese’s mana indicated joy.
What’s the meaning of this? wondered Estelle. She had to think—think why the queen’s emotions didn’t match what she said and did. It felt like if Estelle didn’t uncover this now, it would be too late.
She desperately racked her brain while staring at the queen’s face.
“You’re still my stepmother, despite everything,” replied the prince. “And you’ve still got a comeback for everything I say. I just hope you won’t hide anything from the interrogators either.”
“I am telling them what they want to know. Have you not heard?”
“As long as all of it is true... It’s suspicious to see you so honest.”
The spiteful exchange between Arcrayne and Truteliese continued.
Why does she seem to be in such a good mood...? Estelle frowned. And then a thought came to her like a divine revelation. What if she deeply resents Mircea Marwick but likes Lord Arc...?
In retrospect, the first time Estelle had found Truteliese’s mana strange had been at the party she’d hosted in the Leo Palace, before Estelle’s engagement. Estelle was of lower birth and upbringing than Olivia Rainsworth, who’d been considered the most likely candidate for Arcrayne’s future wife. Because of that, Arcrayne had expected Truteliese to approve of Estelle, but that hadn’t been the case.
The emotions Truteliese had directed at Arcrayne when they’d all gone to see an opera together had been strange too. Estelle recalled how, even as the queen had said spiteful things to the prince, her dark mana had made Estelle suspect she’d done so with reluctance.
Duke Marwick had hated Arcrayne. There was no doubt about that. Estelle recalled how, at the New Year’s dinner party where her engagement had been announced, he’d regarded her with joy while directing negative emotions at Arcrayne.
The duke had taken all the answers to the grave with him. His son Silvio shifted all the blame onto his father.
The queen, meanwhile, answered with honesty. Her testimony continued to reveal Duke Marwick’s previously unknown offenses, one after another. It was looking like a rather large series of arrests would be taking place soon.
The rebellion, which had started with an attempt on Sachis’s life, had only resulted in the arrest of those related to Mircea Marwick. Not much harm had come to Arcrayne and Sachis, or people close to them.
The fact that Liedis had gotten away without any punishment and had instead been placed under protection felt like a clue too.
Estelle went pale, an artificial sort of unpleasantness coming over her. The words “controlled rebellion” appeared in her mind all of a sudden. She also recalled what Sachis had said at the Shrine, in the depths of the palace.
“All of this was brought on by a large mix of motives and various circumstances.”
If the king and the queen had colluded to get rid of Mircea Marwick...
Even Estelle thought the idea was wild. But once it had appeared in her mind, it wouldn’t leave her.