#Chapter 28. Starting with Family

Damian sat upright and observed the situation.

In fact, before even examining the authenticity of the evidence, the moment physical evidence of rebellion appeared, the proper order was to immediately confiscate all records of the entire family and drag them to the imperial palace.

However, the emperor kept tilting his head at the rebellion incident that followed right after the young lady’s kidnapping incident.

The emperor’s eyes, listlessly flipping through the evidence, gradually crumpled.

“Is this…… evidence?”

The emperor scattered the cheap papers to the floor and leaned his upper body back.

At the same time, the papers fluttering down to the floor foreshadowed what would happen next.

“Knight Commander. …… Are you certain the evidence wasn’t switched in the middle?”

“Since I brought the evidence myself, there’s no way it could have been switched.”

“Ha…… This is really…… I don’t even feel the need to proceed with a meeting together with the councilors.”

The emperor shook his head and called the investigator.

“Store those crude pieces of evidence, and bring the person who first mentioned this incident.”

With the emperor’s command, the investigator bowed his head, collected the evidence and withdrew.

Damian sat in the central seat a little distance away and met the emperor’s eyes. The emperor frowned deeply, then hardened his expression while looking at Damian.

“Is the young lady alright?”

The emperor immediately asked about Lucy’s safety and let out a deep sigh.

“She’s fine. There are no external injuries.”

“Good. That’s fortunate. I heard the duchess lost consciousness, did you have a conversation before you came here?”

“Fortunately she woke up. Thanks to Your Majesty, I was able to check her condition.”

The emperor quietly nodded, leaned back and tapped his fingers.

“Being imprisoned will have a big impact on you. But since they fabricated evidence of rebellion and even dragged the imperial palace into it, it won’t be easy to let this pass without any consequences.”

“……It’s fine.”

“Do you have any situations or people you suspect?”

“No.”

Because Damian firmly said no, the emperor pressed his forehead.

“It’s better to catch them quickly. You know too, but covering this up quickly is important for now. Records are just indicators for future generations, not something that affects us right now. When we establish the cabinet, your role will be an important period for the imperialist faction, so this can’t happen already.”

It was a slight reproach and situation briefing toward Damian, who would become the head of the imperialist faction.

It meant that covering it up quickly would reduce damage to the imperialist faction. At the reasonable words, Damian nodded his head.

Dragging out the incident wouldn’t look good.

If he became obsessed with the culprit hidden behind the scenes, ‘Damian’s rebellion incident’ would be prolonged, and that wasn’t a good battle for him.

The culprit who caused this incident probably knew that point too.

They needed to cut the tail appropriately in the middle, identify the culprit and put them on the stand so that this incident would become nothing significant for Damian.

“Quickly. And cleanly.”

The emperor rolled his fountain pen and leaned his upper body forward.

A flashing light passed through the golden eyes directed at Damian.

So that this matter would not shake the entire imperialist faction.

“I will keep that in mind.”

At the emperor’s command, Damian bowed his head with discipline.

“……Since I’m here anyway, I’d like to have a drink, but as you can see, there’s a lot of work.”

The emperor briefly pointed to the pile of documents with a nod, shook his head and rested his chin on the table.

The contemplating golden eyes cut through the air and fell on Damian.

“It wouldn’t be bad to solidify power at this opportunity either. We should also gain something from the situation the opponent has set up. You should return to the mansion. Oh, the empress and crown prince are very worried about the young lady’s health, so when the lady wakes up, I’d like you to send a letter.”

“I will convey that.”

Damian rose from his seat and bowed his head once more.

If it was rebellion, imprisonment couldn’t be avoided.

However, not even doing that and sending Damian back to the mansion meant, as the emperor said, they would also see gains for the imperialist faction from this situation.

When today’s events spread, no one would doubt the relationship between the emperor and Damian.

No matter how crude the evidence was, rebellion meant challenging the emperor’s authority.

However, since it was a situation where public sentiment toward Damian was concerning, it would have been right for the emperor to show at least some wariness.

But the emperor who looked at those crude pieces of evidence seemed to think that might be what the opponent was aiming for.

Of course, Damian’s thoughts were similar.

They had tested the waters between the emperor and Damian once.

Would the emperor not suspect Damian even in such a situation? That must be it.

……But. They used such a scheme just to test something like that?

The shoe sounds echoing in the corridor stopped. Damian frowned deeply and clenched his molars tightly.

A scheme full of loopholes. It wasn’t even a sincere rebellion plot.

What exactly did they gain by drawing attention even to the point of kidnapping a child?

The possibility that the emperor might abandon Damian if things went well? If it failed, it would only make that solidarity known even higher.

Moreover…… such crude evidence couldn’t possibly achieve that.

When the evidence reached the emperor, there was a higher probability that what they wanted to achieve had already been accomplished.

Did they really set up this situation just to eliminate Bruno?

To make me abandon Bruno with my own hands?

*

Ariel’s footsteps headed toward Lucy’s room at the end of the second floor stairs.

She was concerned that the child hadn’t woken up yet.

Ariel’s heart beat rapidly as she grasped the doorknob. It was because fear washed over her that the child might not be there when she opened the door.

Even though she knew that couldn’t be the case, she felt that way.

“Mom……”

Whether she had just woken up, the movement of her body coming out while rustling the blanket made tears well up in Ariel’s eyes.

The relief that the child was in her room and this situation of her calling for her washed over like a tide.

“Lucy…… Are you…… are you feeling alright? Does anything hurt?”

“Huh? ……No. Nothing hurts.”

The child shook her head and slowly approached Ariel.

Ariel quickly walked over, lifted the child up, and shed tears.

Ariel buried her deeply lined face in her daughter’s embrace. As she held Lucy close, warmth rose in her cheeks.

“Mo…… m? Mom.”

Lucy called Ariel in surprise instead, but Ariel was afraid that her child, whom she held fully in her arms, might escape and disappear even in that moment.

Strength entered Ariel’s slender arms. Even pulling the tightly held child closer wasn’t enough.

This clear and bright voice of Lucy calling “Mom,” this situation of her checking on her with a warm and worried voice, encouraged Ariel’s tears.

“Daughter…… Make one promise to Mom.”

Ariel lifted her face from the child’s body and spoke softly.

“That you won’t do reckless things again. That you won’t create such big secrets from Mom.”

The child’s pupils wavered as she realized Ariel had noticed everything.

Looking at Lucy, who had the same green eyes as her but resembled Damian, Ariel faced even that wavering completely.

A daughter who tried to solve everything herself.

A husband who believed everything was under his control.

She felt great disappointment in her daughter and husband who thought too lightly of the world and humans. However, she didn’t want to lose them.

Because she knew that wouldn’t be the case if she looked at their hearts and intentions rather than results.

Sometimes people put sincerity in their eyes. The blue color of her husband, who cared for the Empire over family, was a color that meant the past Damian had lived until now.

She didn’t want to deny his life as a duke of the Empire in one moment, so she didn’t dare think of changing it.

She didn’t think Ariel’s wishes and thoughts were unconditionally right either.

It was just that as a wife, she found it very disappointing.

But Ariel realized greatly while losing her daughter.

The fact was that what she should take from this household was more than just the life of a duchess.

To pass down a good life to her daughter as a mother, as an adult…… she realized very painfully that she had to first pass down a good family.

A good environment, a good family.

She couldn’t achieve it by changing alone. It had to begin with her family.

All those years of wondering how much she should expect from her husband as Lucy’s dad became meaningless as Ariel made her decision in one stroke.

For Lucy’s safety, her husband had to feel even greater responsibility as a dad.

“Mom, you know…… I’m sorry. But I wanted to solve it myself…… I just encountered Lizzy on the way to the bathroom and learned about the incident. Uncle Bruno is still my uncle after all. I guess I wanted to trust him a little.”

Even while shedding tears at the deeply wavering green eyes, Ariel smiled and nodded.

The child was lying.

She didn’t know what or how much she was lying about, but anyway, she wasn’t telling the truth.

She already knew that Lucy didn’t think of her Uncle Bruno as an uncle.

Lucy hated even Derek and drew lines. She didn’t see Jessica as family either, so thinking of Bruno as family didn’t make sense.

“I see. That can happen. But from now on, let’s tell Mom about such secrets first. Understood?”

“……Yeah. Mom.”

She slowly stroked down the back of the child who hugged her neck with her hand.

So that the child wouldn’t tell such well-intentioned lies, she had to change her husband to make that happen.