While I had my eyes closed, it seemed that Caesar had attacked with his dagger.
“Are you okay?”
Caesar asked without taking his eyes off Marriott.
“Yes…”
As the tension eased, all the strength drained from my body.
After hearing the cave’s location from Poji, I immediately contacted Caesar, asking him to send knights since I had likely found the whereabouts of the lottery winner.
The problem was that the message was delivered by a servant carrying a letter. Since I had climbed the hill without even waiting for a reply, I couldn’t be sure if Caesar had actually received my message.
Thank goodness, he came just in time. But I didn’t expect him to come personally.
“Your Majesty, what about today’s lessons and training…?”
“Are you really worrying about that right now…?”
Caesar looked at me, his face twisting in frustration.
Seizing that moment, Marriott sprang up from her crouched position and lunged toward the dagger that had fallen to the ground.
Thud— But Caesar’s sword was faster.
“Do you have a death wish?”
His sword struck the ground right in front of Marriott’s outstretched fingers, so close that her nails nearly grazed the blade.
“Ugh!”
Marriott trembled violently, glaring at us. Caesar looked down at her as if she were an insect, his gaze devoid of even a shred of sympathy.
I had never seen his expression so cold before. Even though I knew his anger wasn’t directed at me, it was still intimidating enough that I found it difficult to speak.
“Your Majesty. Everything has been taken care of.”
Alvin approached at just the right moment, easing the tense atmosphere. He had been handling the assassins on his own for some time, so his body was covered in minor wounds, but fortunately, none of them looked serious.
“We captured most of them alive, but some took their own lives.”
Behind him stood several assassins bound tightly in ropes, with a few lifeless bodies scattered on the ground. Two knights remained on guard, swords drawn, keeping watch over the prisoners.
“And inside the cave, we found an unconscious commoner. We believe he is the lottery winner.”
Thank goodness, he was alive.
Caesar seemed relieved as well, his expression softening slightly. Pulling his sword from the ground, he gave Alvin an order.
“Prepare to interrogate her.”
“Here, Your Majesty?”
“Yes. Quickly.”
“As you command.”
After confirming that Alvin had bound Marriott, Caesar stepped back a few paces—still holding onto me.
I wondered if he had forgotten he was still embracing me. I wiggled slightly to test it, but instead of letting go, Caesar looked down at me and asked,
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“Huh? No…”
“Then stop squirming and stay still. It’s still dangerous.”
Then, instead of releasing me, he pulled me in even tighter.
‘This feels a little strange…’
Had Caesar grown desensitized to physical contact with me?
Because of the guiding, we held hands every day, and I had become more comfortable around him as a result.
Still, if weird rumors started spreading, it would be troublesome for Caesar.
Of course, only a few knights he personally brought along were here, and they were known to be tight-lipped. Plus, the cave was too dark for anyone to see clearly.
“The interrogation area is ready, Your Majesty.”
Alvin returned shortly, his gaze briefly lingering on Caesar’s hand around my waist.
It seemed Caesar was now conflicted—not because of Alvin’s look, but because of the location of the interrogation.
If he took me inside, I’d have to face Marriott again. But if he left me here, he wouldn’t feel at ease.
Sensing his hesitation, I took advantage of the moment and slipped out of his embrace.
“I’ll go with you. I’ll just stand behind you with Sir Alvin.”
“Hmm…”
Caesar looked down at his own hand for a moment before finally nodding.
Following Alvin’s lead, we moved deeper into the cave. The space inside was divided like separate rooms.
Inside, Marriott sat bound, with a knight standing over her, sword at the ready.
We stood a few steps away from her, facing each other. Speaking loudly enough for Marriott to hear, Alvin reported,
“The lottery winner confirmed that this woman was the one who kidnapped him. She was the mastermind behind everything.”
“I see.”
Caesar looked down at Marriott with a blank expression. His voice carried no emotion as he asked,
“Do you admit to orchestrating all of this?”
“Hah!”
Instead of answering, Marriott shot Caesar a glare, her expression filled with contempt, as if she was about to spit at him.
Displeased by her disrespect, Alvin frowned and said,
“Answer His Majesty’s question.”
“His Majesty?”
Marriott sneered.
“His Majesty, His Majesty! What a joke. A mere puppet prince sits on the throne!”
Before she could finish speaking, Alvin unsheathed his sword.
Even with its cold blade pressed against her throat, Marriott didn’t stop talking.
“You devoured your mother, and that wasn’t enough—you had to covet your own father’s throne? Do you think a stolen crown will bring you a glorious future—”
“Silence!”
Alvin’s sword pressed slightly deeper into Marriott’s neck.
Despite the venom in her words, Caesar remained completely unfazed. But it was easy to guess that he wasn’t unaffected.
Because Marriott wasn’t just anyone.
She was one of the biggest reasons young Caesar had been forced into hardship.
‘I should have made sure he never had to face her again.’
Caesar had grown—both inside and out—since Marriott had been exiled. He still carried some guilt, but he had also healed significantly.
Yet of all times, he had to face Marriott again now.
I looked at Caesar’s back—no longer small like when he was a child.
Then, slowly, I reached out and took his hand from behind.
Caesar flinched and turned to look at me.
‘He said holding hands calms him down, after all.’
He didn’t say anything, but it seemed my feelings had reached him. The bloodshot fury in Caesar’s eyes softened. He squeezed my hand firmly once before letting go.
‘Is that his way of saying he’s okay?’
Caesar stopped Alvin, who still had his sword pointed at Marriott, and took a step closer to her.
“So this is why you did all this? Because you couldn’t stand that I took the throne?”
“Yes!”
Marriott screamed. Perhaps because she looked more haggard than before, her face, twisted in madness, was filled with nothing but rage.
“You! Someone like you, how dare you—!”
She had clearly lost all reason. Whether she was simply determined to say everything she wanted before her inevitable death, or if she had just completely lost her mind, I wasn’t sure.
Caesar, however, only looked down at her with a calm expression, as if the days when such words could shake him were long past.
“Just because you scream doesn’t mean the truth disappears.”
“What?”
“You didn’t do this alone, did you?”
At his words, Marriott’s pupils wavered. I, too, quickly turned to look at Caesar.
‘Does he know something?’
“Bribing the gatekeepers, kidnapping the winner, all while aiming to tarnish the reputation of my business? This doesn’t seem like your style.”
Without thinking, I nodded in agreement. Marriott wasn’t the type to plan something like this while carefully considering public opinion.
That meant, as expected, someone else was behind this. Just like how someone had manipulated Duke Spiegel’s greed, now they had used Marriott’s malice to control her.
“Who’s behind you?”
“There’s no one! I planned everything myself!”
“It seems you have no attachment to your life. Either that, or you think too little of me.”
“What?”
Without hesitation, Caesar turned his back to her and ordered Alvin,
“Kill her.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Without hesitation, Alvin raised his sword. It was clear he was about to strike her down.
Whoosh— Just as the sword came down—
“W-Wait!”
Marriott trembled violently as she screamed.
“This— This isn’t what was promised! You said… you wouldn’t kill me, that you’d find a way to keep me alive! Hey, are you listening?!”
She was staring into the air, as if speaking to someone who might be listening.
‘Does she have a magic tool for communication?’
Caesar turned back to her and scoffed.
“Looks like they’ve abandoned you.”
“Shut up! That can’t be… I…”
Marriott tried to say something, but Caesar looked utterly uninterested.
“What are you waiting for? Kill her.”
“Yes.”
That seemed to push Marriott into a panic.
“W-Wait! I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!”
Caesar tilted his head slightly, as if inviting her to try.
“T-They… that person is… keugh—!”
Suddenly, Marriott’s body convulsed violently, and she coughed up blood.
“Keugh— Ugh—”
Blood poured from her mouth.
“Hey!”
Alvin reached out, alarmed, but it was no use. It was as if something inside her had burst, and she vomited up more blood uncontrollably.
“Th-That person…”
Her lips moved faintly, but before she could finish, she collapsed to the ground.
And then… she stopped moving.
For a moment, silence filled the cave.
I stood frozen, my body stiff from the gruesome sight unfolding right in front of me.
“…She’s dead.”
Alvin checked her pulse and spoke grimly.
Marriott was dead.
Her blood, still warm, flowed toward my feet. I instinctively stumbled backward.
Marriott had done unforgivable things. But I never wanted her to die like this. Not in a dark cave, without even properly facing justice…
“What happened?”
Caesar asked coldly.
Alvin, who had been searching through Marriott’s belongings, replied,
“It seems she had a magic tool implanted inside her body. It was used for communication, but also designed to kill her the moment she tried to confess.”
My vision blurred.
So, in the end, the one pulling the strings had silenced her.
‘Just what do they think people are?’
Duke Spiegel. The maid who poisoned Floria’s teacup. Marriott.
One by one, they had all died at the hands of some unknown person.
Like tools thrown away once they had outlived their usefulness.
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