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THE wooden door swung shut with a heavy creak. Before it closed, Alicia caught a glimpse of Fritz, who’d erased all emotion from his expression, and Clovis standing behind him. Their eyes met, and her adviser gave a small nod, but the door closed before Alicia could respond.
“As long as you keep your voice low, there is no need to worry about anyone overhearing us,” Elizabeth said. “And I’ve told the guards not to disturb us until we have finished.”
Alicia turned around to see the empress leaning against one of the two chairs in the middle of the room.
“Why does it feel like I’ve said this before…?” she mused. “Oh yes, it must have been back when Yggdrasil and I were still fighting over the throne.”
“I’ve heard the story from Lady Beatrix,” Alicia said. “Your Majesty and the chancellor had a discussion behind closed doors for many days. When you emerged, Your Majesty was proclaimed empress.”
“How nostalgic. Come, let us sit. It is tiring to stand for so long.”
“Thank you.”
Alicia gave a light bow, then sat across from the empress. When she looked up again, the empress, dressed in a deep red gown, was gazing at her in amusement, chin in hand.
This beautiful but ruthless woman, with her charming smile and imposing presence that could make anyone shrink back in fear, was the absolute ruler of the empire of Erdal. Even in Alicia’s previous life, Elizabeth had been a major player in turning the gears of fate that influenced their lives. Now, it felt a little strange to be sitting in the same room as such a powerful figure.
“Just you and me—how nice. Aren’t you afraid of me?” Elizabeth asked.
“To be honest, I am a little frightened.”
“So, you said you wanted the truth. What do you want to ask?”
“There’s a man who passed in our kingdom several years ago.”
The empress’s smile remained calm, but her eyes narrowed, a sign that she’d already guessed what Alicia wanted to talk about. At the empress’s silence, Alicia took a small, deep breath and pressed on.
“Loid Sutherland was the Duke of Sheraford. Six years ago, he confessed to certain crimes and has unfortunately passed on. His crime was secret collusions with an unknown person from Erdal.”
“And what were they colluding to achieve?” the empress asked.
“In exchange for promises that the Privy Council not be dissolved, the duke would support my betrothal to His Highness Prince Fritz and pave his way to the throne of Heilland. And not just that. Lord Sutherland also leaked state secrets and carried out orders that brought detriment to Heilland’s growth…such as interfering with the establishment of the Mercurius Company.”
“How bold. So, who is this unknown person?”
“We don’t know, but we have evidence that he is a high-ranking member of the Erdalian Senate,” Alicia said. “The evidence is one of Heilland’s state secrets, so I can’t show it to you, but it is stamped with the black horse of Julius the Conqueror.”
“…Oh?” For the first time since Alicia began, the empress’s eyes took on a mysterious sparkle. “Only those in the Senate are allowed to use the seal of the black horse. So, if I were to believe you, the one who colluded with Loid Sutherland is someone close to me… Do you think they approached Loid on my orders?”
“I’ve always felt Your Majesty has nothing to do with the Loid Sutherland case,” Alicia stated, “and after meeting you in person, I’m convinced that my thinking is correct.”
“Why?”
“Because Erdal was the first to approve of trading with Mercurius. It’s as if someone had given orders to keep the opposition at bay.”
“Is that all?” Elizabeth quirked a brow.
“In addition, when I met with Dudley Hopkins of Ist, I learned that Your Majesty had a deep interest in Mercurius,” Alicia pressed on. “It would be unnatural for you to give orders to undermine something that held your interest… But the biggest factor is my intuition.”
“Intuition?”
“The idea of approaching Loid to secure a betrothal between His Highness and me may not be impossible, but it was a very roundabout way of doing it. So they must have had an ulterior motive…but even then, it still felt far-fetched and not like something Your Majesty would do.”
“I see. It is true; I wouldn’t have done things that way,” the empress agreed with a chuckle.
Alicia fixed her gaze on the empress as she asked her next question. “Your Majesty had nothing to do with Loid’s case. Am I right to say that?”
“…Yes, you are,” the empress confirmed as she sat up straight. “However, I have no proof, so it is up to you to choose whether to believe my words. All I have to say is, I don’t know these colluders, nor do I recall giving commands to anyone to carry out such plans.”
The empress leaned forward, and the sunlight streaming through the narrow, latticed window cast a shadow over half of her face.
“But I’m getting impatient. You haven’t gone out of your way to dig up an old case just to confirm my innocence, right?”
“But that is of importance…because it is my hope to uncover that official’s identity and have him expelled from the Senate,” Alicia said.
Their shadows on the floor grew long and thin as the rustling of the trees and the chirping of the birds receded into the distance, making it feel like they were the last two people on the planet. Finally, Alicia voiced the suspicion threatening to crush her chest.
“Your Majesty… The official behind Loid Sutherland’s case and the instigator of the incident in Sampston may very well be the same person.”