Isabella had been thrown into a daze. Why had things turned out this way? She’d overcome countless difficulties with her allies to achieve victory. She was supposed to have arrived at her happy ending.
“I can’t... Why, why did this happen?” Isabella had wept, inconsolable.
“Isabella...” said the third prince Joseph.
“Miss Isabella...” Alicia echoed.
Not even the people who’d fought with her could cheer her up.
In the end, Joseph had succeeded the throne thanks to the accolades he’d earned fighting alongside Isabella. She had remained shut in her room, shedding tears, even during the coronation ceremony held among the joy brought about by the end of the war.
Nevertheless, Isabella had eventually dried her tears, left her room, and started an investigation.
There’s something bizarre about this. The events that led to his execution are beyond unnatural.
Isabella had enlisted the help of Alicia, the one who’d been by her side the longest, and started looking into the specific circumstances that had led to the first prince’s execution, as well as everything surrounding them.
“Miss Isabella, this settles it.”
“No, this can’t be true!”
The two of them had uncovered a clue which led them to the terrible truth. The Humanity Defense Coalition judge who’d conducted the first prince’s trial had been Joseph’s old friend. He’d also received a large donation from Joseph’s messenger during the subjugation of the demon army.
The two had disguised themselves, and they used their charms to enter the exclusive club the judge in question had been drinking at. Once with him, they’d “encouraged” him to imbibe alcohol laced with truth serum and had heard the facts directly from him. The information had been firsthand, so there’d been no room for doubt.
With that clue in hand, they’d gone on to uncover several pieces of proof. First, the classified documents on humanity found at the demon army’s hideout had been forged. Second, the late king himself had told those close to him that the first prince would inherit the throne, so the prince had no reason to plan an assassination.
In conclusion, the one who’d been pulling the strings had been none other than Joseph, Isabella’s academy friend and comrade in arms. After all, he’d been the one to benefit the most from this state of affairs. He’d left the second and fourth princes in his dust and become king himself.
Isabella had been at a loss for words when faced with her close friend’s betrayal. Even so, she’d wanted to trust him. He’d been her friend ever since their days at the academy, they’d fought side by side, and although he’d sometimes turned a little violent when he lost his temper, he’d always been helpful to others. She’d thought that he couldn’t have resorted to such extreme measures. However, the definitive evidence she’d gathered herself had broken her trust.
“I...believe in people. Everyone...has a kind heart,” she’d tried to reassure herself.
Joseph’s behavior had done a complete one-eighty after he’d taken the throne. He’d expelled various individuals who’d supported the kingdom for years, filling his surroundings with sycophants. He’d also increased taxes under the guise of postwar reconstruction and had used the money to live an indulgent and luxurious lifestyle.
As if that all hadn’t been enough, he’d designated Isabella as his wife. By then, his word alone had been equivalent to a royal decree. Thus, Isabella had been forced into an engagement with Joseph.
On their wedding night, when they’d withdrawn to his bedroom and had prepared to consummate their marriage, she’d gathered up the nerve to ask him something.
“Wait. Joseph, what did you...really think about your brother?”
She’d wanted to trust him right up to the very end.
“Don’t bring him up when I’ve finally made you mine.” Joseph’s reply had oozed with loathing and irritation.
The moment Isabella had heard Joseph’s words, she’d finally been convinced: this had been his plan since the very beginning. He’d fought the demon army alongside her to increase his prestige. He’d had the king assassinated and framed the first prince to eliminate him. As a result, his war accomplishments had placed him above the other two princes and made him a shoo-in for the throne.
Isabella had reflected on the moments they’d shared up to that point. She’d occasionally gotten the feeling that Joseph had been looking at her with wicked eyes. She’d chalked it up to her imagination, but he’d just admitted as much. She had to accept it. Joseph had desired everything the first prince had, and he’d stooped to immoral and cowardly methods to achieve his goal.
“Come, Isabella. Turn your butt this way.”
“I...believe...in people.”
“Dammit. You have no idea how to act in the bedroom.”
She’d gripped the sheets in frustration and regret, tight enough that her nails had cut into her skin and stained the fabric with blood. As Jacob violated her from behind, she’d felt nothing but disgust. She’d had absolutely no desire to sleep with Joseph, but he’d been the king. Unlike Alan, Kevin, or Norman, she hadn’t been strong enough to manage on her own after making an enemy of her own country. Complying had been her only option.
What a fool I’ve been, Isabella had thought as she endured the pain; Joseph’s reckless thrusting had shown zero regard for his partner. Believing in people? Everyone having a kind heart? Idealistic delusions. There’s no end to the malice in this world. That’s what’s really at the heart of it.
Isabella had sought more information after that. She’d learned that Joseph might have been the ringleader, but apparently, many members of the royal family or high-ranking nobles had either backed his plan or looked the other way. The first prince had been a sincere, pure, and moral individual, enough so that Isabella had once admired him. If such a man had become king, there was a good chance he’d have one day judged their corrupt actions.
With that knowledge in mind, Isabella had no longer felt any indignation.
“I see, so that’s how it is,” she’d flatly replied to Alicia’s report, her eyes narrow and icy. “Alicia.”
“Yes?”
“From here on out, I’m going to show those pieces of garbage hell. Come with me.”
“As you wish, Miss Isabella.”
After that, Isabella had started operating behind the scenes in political circles. Her work had quickly turned the political power structure in her faction’s favor. Her influence as the king’s consort had played a role, but it had been her new ability that’d become her greatest asset. Once she’d accepted that humans were creatures bent and gnarled by desire, she’d turned her intelligence into a surgeon’s scalpel, perfect for dissecting the thoughts of others.
For the next three years, she’d pretended to obey Joseph—the king, her husband, and the person she hated the most—while slowly plotting against him.
“Your Majesty, you are under suspicion of multiple acts of accounting fraud and bribery, but most importantly, of the assassination of the late king,” declared one of the members of the military police as they’d rushed into Joseph’s room.
“Th-That’s preposterous!”
Joseph hadn’t been shocked that his assassination plot or other wrongdoings had been uncovered; given enough time, he’d assumed that someone would dig around and discover the truth. However, he’d thought that even if the truth were to come to light, his prosecution would’ve been impossible. In the Fourth Kingdom, prosecution of the king’s crimes required the unanimous consent of all four archdukes, and Joseph had forcibly placed his sycophants into those positions. That system had been little more than a formality, one that had never been put to use since its inception.
“Let me go! Who— Who do you think I am?! Damn those bastards! How dare they betray me! Me, after I gave them a free ticket to the easy life?!”
Isabella had stared down at her husband with cold eyes as he’d been pinned down to the floor for resisting arrest by the military police.