After Putting the Slayer of the Night to Sleep, I Ran Away - Chapter 110

Leo’s face slowly hardened.

It was proof that he didn’t disagree with Isla’s words.

“If you have Prince Edward, the Empress will try to take me hostage.”

“Knowing that, why?”

“Isn’t attacking the Imperial Family the best way?”

Isla squeezed the hand she was holding with him.

“In this situation, what’s the easiest and fastest way?”

“Right now, attacking the Imperial Family is the fastest.”

“You’re wrong, Leo.”

She quietly shook her head and continued.

“The easiest and fastest way is for His Majesty the Emperor to wake up.”

“……”

“Take me to His Majesty the Emperor.”

Isla’s eyes, looking at Leo, were filled with conviction.

He, who could come and go so freely to this high place, avoiding the Imperial Knights’ surveillance…

“You can take me, right?”

“Haa, I really can’t stop you.”

Isla’s expression brightened noticeably at his sigh, as if admitting defeat.

Leo stared at her for a moment, then carefully said a word.

“I know what you’re thinking but don’t expect too much.”

How much could he trust things like dragons and dragon tears?

If there really was such an ancestor in her mother’s country, and if that’s why she appeared to help Isla.

In the first place, Eisen Felt shouldn’t have lost its status as a duchy and been annexed into the Empire.

Leo was skeptical, but he respected her opinion.

He took Isla’s hand and led her to the balcony.

“Are you ready?”

“Don’t tell me we’re going out here?”

At Isla’s pale question, Leo chuckled and hugged her tightly.

“Did you think we’d go out the door?”

“But this is a high floor…!”

“Hold on tight.”

Leo held Isla in his arms and jumped over the balcony railing without a moment’s hesitation.

“Hiiiik─!”

With the wind whipping up her clothes, Isla instinctively squeezed her eyes shut and hugged his neck tightly.

Fortunately, it wasn’t just a fall, as Leo continued to leap several times, and from some point on, he began to run straight through the darkness.

Following a narrow path that seemed to be attached to the outer wall of the castle, Leo moved with surprising agility.

He moved only along deserted paths and entered a landscaped forest connected to the castle walls.

Then, stepping familiarly, he opened a small iron door hidden under a vine and let Isla in first.

“This is…”

“A secret passage.”

It was a secret passage that Leo’s father had told him about when he was young.

He couldn’t rule out the possibility that the Empress or someone else might know about this passage, but his father’s words that he was secretly telling him still held true.

“Be careful. The floor will be slippery because of the moisture.”

After letting her down, Leo held her hand tightly and led the way.

The passage was long and complex, but there was no hesitation in his steps.

After walking for a while, he stopped.

When he pressed down on a certain point on the seemingly ordinary wall, a sound like the seams coming loose was heard.

When the door that had been the wall opened, a neat study appeared.

Leo walked ahead and raised his index finger to Isla, and after confirming her nod, he approached the door silently.

After checking for any signs of movement beyond the door for a moment, he opened the door, and the inside of the Emperor’s bedroom was immediately revealed.

Isla swallowed hard and moved her steps carefully.

As she approached the large bed in the center of the bedroom, she saw Frederick’s pale face.

“Your Majesty!”

Seeing him still unable to wake up, Isla’s heart sank.

She hurried over and began to examine Frederick’s complexion.

“His breathing seems too shallow.”

As she muttered worriedly, she caught sight of Leo’s expression, standing blankly.

His brow, which seemed calm but was furrowed as if in pain, made her heart ache.

‘Let’s hurry.’

Isla took out the pendant with trembling fingertips.

The light that the pendant was still emitting made her heart feel more stable.

After hesitating for a moment, she looked at Leo.

“Actually… I was worried. No, I’m still worried.”

“Worried about what?”

“This pendant. It said only once. Only once, if you say what you want, it will grant it.”

Isla smiled bitterly at Leo, as if apologizing.

“Actually, I wanted to wish for your curse to be removed.”

“…Isla. I…”

“But still, I want to wish for His Majesty to wake up.”

She shrugged her shoulders and looked down at Frederick.

“Because he’s your father.”

If something were to happen to this person, you would be sad.

Isla held the pendant in both hands and clasped Frederick’s hand.

Then, after closing her eyes for a moment and opening them, she spoke her earnest wish.

“Please wake up, Your Majesty.”

A moment of silence passed.

Startled that nothing was happening, Isla opened her palm and checked the pendant.

The pendant, which had been emitting a steady light since she was imprisoned, had lost its light in a short time.

Just as she was moving her lips in the face of an encroaching sense of unease.

“Umm…”

Frederick groaned and stirred.

The moment Isla and Leo’s gazes met in the air and then went down, the closed eyelids slowly opened.

The next day.

The nobles of the Imperial Capital gathered one by one in the conference room.

Their expressions were mostly heavy at the sudden summons to the meeting, and some cautiously watched each other.

This was because rumors had begun to circulate since the day before that the Emperor had been poisoned and collapsed.

However, since there had been no official announcement, they considered it a groundless rumor.

They couldn’t hide their embarrassment at the cold atmosphere they faced as they entered the palace.

“What on earth is going on? To call a meeting so suddenly.”

“Is the rumor that His Majesty was poisoned true?”

“We’ll know soon enough. If His Majesty appears in person, it will be a false rumor, but if not.”

“It doesn’t make sense. They say that the one who instigated the poisoning of His Majesty was the First Prince, but with the Crown Prince competition underway, there’s no way the First Prince would do that.”

“Well, you never know. He may have harbored resentment for being sent to the North as if he were being chased away when he was young.”

Taking advantage of the murmuring, another word came out.

“More than that, there’s a rumor that it was none other than Lady Everett who handed over the poisoned wine.”

In an instant, the eyes in the conference room turned to Marcus Everett all at once.

“Is that true?”

“Even if it’s true, there’s no way the Lady would have done that knowingly. It was strange from the beginning. That the First Prince would marry the Lady of the Everett family. Isn’t she practically the daughter of an enemy?”

The conference room was covered with all sorts of rumors and speculations.

In the midst of it, Marcus kept his place silently with a stiff face.

He couldn’t understand this situation at all.

If this rumor were true, there’s no way Tatiana wouldn’t have said anything to him.

Just as he was suppressing his confusion and trying to calm himself, a servant’s cry was heard from outside the door.

“The Empress is entering─!”

The nobles’ gazes turned to the door all at once.

The Empress’s sudden appearance was very serious.

Tatiana appeared in the conference room wearing a dignified black dress.

And behind her, Alexander, dressed as a grown man, followed.

She stopped in front of the Emperor’s seat, looked around the room for a moment, and then sat quietly next to it.

After confirming that Alexander was seated opposite her, she broke the silence and opened her mouth.

“The reason for urgently arranging this meeting is one. It is because I need to share His Majesty’s current condition with you before anyone else in this room.”

As the conference room buzzed, Marcus raised his hand and asked.

“Is the rumor that the First Prince attempted to poison His Majesty true?”

Tatiana answered without batting an eye.

“It is true. The First Prince sent the wine through his wife, and His Majesty collapsed after drinking that wine. And…”

She bit her lip and added.

“He kidnapped Edward.”

The conference room became a scene of chaos.

Some shouted that they couldn’t believe it, and some shouted that the First Prince should be caught immediately and held accountable.

In the midst of the unorganized chaos, Tatiana, who quietly raised one hand, focused attention.

“According to the court physician, the probability of His Majesty waking up is slim. We must immediately arrest the First Prince and hold him accountable. And we must retrieve Edward.”

She looked around at the nobles sitting around the long table and added a word.

“To do that, we need someone to replace the vacant seat of His Majesty.”

Marcus, who was listening, frowned and asked her.

“What does that mean? Replace.”

“Well, the word ‘replace’ doesn’t suit it.”

Tatiana turned her head and looked at Alexander blatantly.

Then, she put strength into her voice and revealed her inner thoughts.

“After all, the original owner of that seat is that person.”

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