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TN: And we have arrived at the climax. I still feel something will happen - something will explode. Since Laila's mana is stable enough, I wonder how they'll defeat Rowell. Do you guys have any idea? Leave us a comment!
"Ardion! I'm fine." I desperately shook my head while meeting his gaze.
Ardion's face twisted in sheer anger. "Laila, you didn't do it."
"Yes, I didn’t. That's why it's fine. I’m not at fault."
Suddenly, a scoff echoed. "That’s something the court will decide."
The commander of the knights gestured, and smoke began to rise at his feet. Ardion’s mana glowed and scattered black ash. The commander furrowed his brow and looked around. As soon as he saw Ardion, he stepped back. The knights surrounding us were also ready to rush at him at any moment.
Just as he raised his arm…
"Ardion, stop! If you use your mana here, I won’t see you again!" I shouted.
Ardion immediately hesitated. He exhaled and looked at me, his gaze seemingly losing its focus and trembling.
I turned toward the commander. "Let's go. Wasn’t it your intention to drag me away when the situation escalated into this?"
The commander hastily gestured to the knights, and they dragged me into the carriage. The carriage quickly took off. I couldn't bring myself to look out the window, a heavy sadness weighing down on me.
❋ ❋ ❋
I was dragged into an interrogation room that reeked of mold and dampness. I saw someone was already sitting there on an out-of-place glossy chair and a clean red carpet. Rowell sat with his legs crossed, tapping the table.
When I was brought in by the knights, his hand stopped its motion. He looked at me. "Laila."
His slow, dropping tone echoed in my ears more than usual. When Rowell met my gaze, a smirk formed on his lips. "It’s great to see you here."
He gestured to the knights. I twisted my body, but the knights forced me to sit in the chair.
"Tie her tightly. I don’t want to lose her again," he said while flipping through papers on the table.
The knights bowed and left. The interrogation room was now just me and Rowell.
"How did you manage to do that with my mana? I never went near the emperor, and now you’re saying I poisoned him. Are you daft?" I couldn't help but speak rudely, feeling so wronged.
Rowell slowly lifted his gaze. "That hurts, but I don’t mind hearing it."
"What?"
"You’ve got a talent for constantly irritating me." Rowell laughed, his eyes locking onto mine. "Serina was unable to kill you, but she reluctantly gave me a vial filled with your mana."
"…"
He stared at me before shaking the paper in his hand. "And after investigating, it seems you didn’t live as innocently as you claimed."
"What investigation? I still…"
"A well-functioning wheel came off from the carriage, hurting someone, and you even stalked someone persistently…"
Right, those had been Laila’s past actions. I bit my lip. The sharp taste of blood lingered in my mouth. I must have bitten too hard.
"But I didn’t poison the emperor."
"So what? The emperor's potion had your mana in it, along with a deadly poison."
"Poison?"
"Yes, your mana and poison were together."
"My mana? Again, I’m telling you I never went near the emperor!"
Rowell smirked. There was something unsettling about it.
Without meaning to, my voice trembled. "Are you trying to pin everything on me knowingly?"
"Well, should I confess that I’ve been putting poison in those magic potions all along?"
"…"
"Maybe if you had married me earlier, we wouldn’t be in this mess. I was going to let you go after Ardion died, but now…"
I glared at Rowell. It seemed he was finally losing it. I had always thought he was rotten ever since he started tormenting his younger brother out of insecurity. To think he even killed his own father…
Moreover, it was treason.
"Do you really think you can get away with all this?"
"I didn’t stay here just to hear your nonsense."
Rowell now seemed to show his true nature, his words sharp and unrestrained. His expression was no longer the controlled, smiling one he usually wore. His bright blue eyes, which appeared clear at first glance, now seemed clouded, and his neatly formed lips looked only vile.
He stood up and touched my cheek. I turned my head, but he ignored it and kept smiling. "The world has taken so much from me. They gave me this worthless position as crown prince and told me to survive on my own."
Rowell grabbed my chin, using his strength to force me to look him in the eyes. "Someone once said… why not ignore the illegitimate brother and boldly take the position of crown prince, then the emperor's throne?"
"…"
"But that damn prophecy, you know? The one that the foolish citizens of the empire believe in, passed down from the temple.
"Don’t you believe it too? Isn’t that why you couldn’t kill Ardion yourself?
“If you kill the one blessed with mana, you cannot become emperor.”
The prophecy passed down from the temple and the one blessed with mana was Ardion.
"I’ve never believed it, but the empire's citizens do. So what happens? If I kill Ardion, they’ll take me down. I’m not foolish enough to risk that."
"Then what’s the reason behind all this? You even killed the emperor."
"I’m just doing my best, trying not to let them take everything from me." He gave me a playful smirk, then learned forward that our faces almost touched.
"It’s strange. When I’m close to others, they smell repulsive and dirty. But you… you smell different."
I turned my head, but Rowell grabbed my chin again. He immediately made eye contact with me, still smiling. "What is it?"
"Don’t ask me. I don’t know what it is."
"Then does Ardion know? What if I ask him?" Rowell smiled knowingly. When I looked at him doubtfully, he tilted his head slightly. "Oh, do you already know? That he can’t smell?"
A scene flashed through my mind. When I was young, Ardion seemed to not be able to smell the cigars that Duke Orchid smoked. Whenever I covered my nose with my sleeve, he just stayed still, as if he couldn’t smell it.
But Ardion never showed me any hints. He said that the scent of lilac flowers was nice… Was that all a lie?
“Oh, you didn’t know about it.” Rowell’s thumb slowly brushed my chin. I tried to turn my head away from the creepy sensation, but it was useless. His blue eyes flashed with light, forcing me to look at him. It looked like an insurmountable madness.
“At first, I didn’t know. But Duke Orchid, who had a keen eye for observation, reported it. He’s dead now, but it’s true.”
I glared at Rowell. He was worse than Duke Orchid.
“I’ll use you as bait. Ardion will definitely come to this room to save, and when I release poison gas here, he won’t be able to smell it, so he’ll die in this room.”
“You crazy bastard! If you kill Ardion, you’ll never be the emperor.”
“I’m not going to be the one who kills him. This room will be.”
“But that’s the same thing. Everything will happen at your command.”
“No, you’ll be the one ordering it.”
My mind went blank for a moment. “What?”
“You’re going to say you want Ardion killed. Want me to repeat it?” Rowell said softly.
I shouted in anger, “Just let Ardion live his life! Do you really have to do this?!”
He laughed, unusually loud, which made it seem unreal. With a hardened face, Rowell stared at me and said, "I've never been in my right mind since I heard that oracle at the temple. I hated that guy with his dirty commoner blood and the blessing of mana. I also hated that I couldn't become the emperor comfortably because of him."
"So why do you have to do this?"
"My life has to be clean and unstained." His low voice rang in my ears. He snickered and slowly lowered his gaze to my eyes, nose, and mouth. "But I think it’ll be fun to leave you as a stain."
He lowered his head toward my lips, but I pushed my feet off the floor. The chair immediately fell back. My head rang for a moment, but it was better than being close to Rowell.
I heard a low laugh. Rowell was looking down at me with the corners of his lips raised. "If we do it moderately, you won't get hurt. Are you okay?"
He reached out his hand. I put my hands together, imagining something sharp. Before, my head would have been dizzy, but not anymore. It seemed that Ardion’s mana had completely stabilized my mana.
At that moment, I finally caught something in my hand. It was a sword made of water, but I couldn’t guarantee it would hold well.
I quickly cut the rope binding my hands. In the meantime, Rowell slowly straightened up. He turned around the table and approached me step by step. I struggled with my feet and tried to get away from him. But it was difficult because my feet couldn’t touch the floor. Even so, my hands didn’t stop.
Hurry, please…
At first, a tingling sensation lingered in my hands, but I barely held it in. At the moment, getting out here was more important than my pain. Suddenly, my hands seemed to loosen, and the rope wrapping around them came loose. I instantly put my hands together and pointed the sword made of water at Rowell. He paused and looked at me, his gaze cold and indifferent.
“You’re going to kill me with that?” Rowell snickered and offered his neck instead. “If you want to kill me so badly, I’ll give you a chance.”
“Don’t come near me.” I hesitated and stepped back. Then I untied the rope wrapped around my body, and it soon loosened.