I Wasn't Trying to Seduce with the Male Lead - Episode 103

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

The princess screamed as if she had lost her mind, clutching her hands together.

While the guards used their spears to threaten Lian and force him back, Zepplin rushed to the emperor.

“Your Majesty!”

He turned the emperor’s face, which was slumped on the floor, to check his condition.

His eyes were closed, and a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, but he was breathing.

It seemed that in that brief moment, Liane had hit him in the abdomen and the nape of the neck to knock him unconscious.

Zepplin’s relief at his survival was short-lived.

Lian, who had retreated slightly, seemed to be approaching again.

Zepplin covered the emperor with his own body and shouted to the guards.

“Surround Count Calabria! Protect His Majesty the Emperor!”

The remaining guards tried to block the way, but they were quickly subdued and fell to the floor.

In the grim situation, Zepplin heard a loud roar from a distance.

A considerable number of knights who had been following the emperor were clearly entering the imperial palace now.

‘His Majesty the Emperor trusted Count Calabria.

His heart was in a hurry because of the princess’s crisis, but he arrived one step ahead of the knights because he didn’t think Lian Calabria would actually harm him, even in this situation.

And because of that, he’s now lying on the floor.

Zepplin raised his head to look at Lian.

“Are you truly… betraying the Empire?”

“I am protecting the Empire.”

Lian answered, even though he must have known Zepplin was just trying to buy time.

Zepplin wanted to yell at him, asking how causing this division in the Empire and striking the emperor from behind could be protecting it.

But the words wouldn’t come out.

“The current emperor is better off not existing for the sake of the Empire.”

Liane’s merciless words pierced Zepplin’s heart.

Behind the speechless Zepplin, the knights began to appear.

Behind the several hundred royal guards were the far more numerous Imperial Knights, and behind them, private soldiers stretched out endlessly.

No matter how strong he was, Lian would not be able to contend with this many people.

The commander, who had arrived late, looked very flustered upon seeing the situation.

Before Zepplin could give them any orders to stop their advance, Lian’s voice rang out.

[The emperor has used forbidden sorcery for the selfish prosperity of the imperial family, deceived the Empire’s nobles, suppressed legitimate rights, and even issued orders to massacre civilians. As the Imperial Knight Commander, who must respect the laws of the Empire and uphold justice, I intend to take him into custody and bring him to justice before all people.]

He used some method to make his voice reverberate throughout the entire vast imperial palace.

Liane lightly moved his body and jumped onto a carriage.

When his figure was visible, the attention of the knights, who had been looking around in confusion, turned to him.

[Everything will be handled according to imperial law. As the Imperial Knight Commander, I order the Imperial Knights not to shed meaningless blood.]

Most of the knights simply stood still.

However, the air conveyed that a significant number had lost their will to fight.

Although Liane had only been in charge of the knights for a short time, most of them had believed since his boyhood that he would one day become their commander.

For the Imperial Knights, the presence of Lian, who was regarded as the world’s greatest knight and the next emperor, was even more weighty than that of the emperor.

However, there was a movement that would not let the knights’ hesitation go unchecked.

Whoosh!

As a sharp sound rang out, Lian’s body on the carriage disappeared.

And an arrow narrowly passed through the spot where he had been.

Zepplin, startled, looked in the direction the arrow had come from and saw the furious face of Count Pritchard.

“How dare you spill the blood of the emperor and still call yourself the Imperial Knight Commander!”

It was Marquess Ricardo who let out the chilling command.

The two men still had their full will to fight.

Having already come this far, they couldn’t just turn back.

“Everyone, charge! Save His Majesty the Emperor and punish that traitor!”

When he shouted at the top of his lungs, the frozen knights showed signs of moving.

If a clash were to happen again, additional casualties were inevitable.

Liane, who reappeared on the carriage, seemed to frown for a moment before leaping again.

“Count Calabria! What is that!”

Zepplin couldn’t believe his eyes.

Liane was doing something he seemed to be absolutely incapable of doing.

[If you want to protect the emperor, follow my words.]

That noble knight was holding up the fallen emperor’s body and holding a sword to his neck.

Everyone who witnessed the scene looked horrified.

“H-How dare you be so sacrilegious to His Majesty the Emperor…!”

[Just as you do not want to see blood, I also do not want to see anyone’s blood here. I will use any means necessary to achieve that.]

On closer inspection, Liane’s lips weren’t moving, but his voice was flowing out.

With the emperor taken hostage, the many knights and soldiers, who were already in a commotion, fell into even greater chaos.

Even with their large numbers, it was impossible to save the emperor from Lian without him getting hurt.

Count Pritchard and Marquess Ricardo seemed unable to give the order to attack without regard for the emperor.

However, there was one more person who was inciting the situation.

“Don’t stop the attack!”

The princess, who had retreated next to Count Pritchard, was screaming at the top of her lungs.

“Before His Majesty closed his eyes, harmed by the Count, he already told me that I was innocent and that he would give me everything!

Capture that traitor and make him kneel before me!”

The princess probably expected the knights to be encouraged by her words and charge forward.

She must have thought that even if they couldn’t deal with Liane, they could at least hold him off, giving her a chance to escape and plan for a future return.

However, the knights did not move.

While no one budged, the princess’s voice continued to ring out.

“Don’t give in here! Catch that man and offer him to me! Make him pay the price for daring to raise a sword against the Imperial Family!”

The more frantic her voice became, the more the knights’ expressions hardened.

Instead of mustering a solemn resolve from the princess’s words, they were dumbfounded.

The princess’s statements sounded as if she were already treating the emperor as a dead man.

Those weren’t words to be said in front of a father who had rushed to protect her and was now lying on the ground, wounded by a sword.

They were even less fitting for a princess who had been called an angel.

They had all heard the impassioned testimonies of the victims exposing the princess’s crimes in the plaza.

Even those with a tiny bit of remaining faith must have turned their backs on her now.

“My words, my, my words are not lies! The Empire must be mine!”

In front of the knights who were turning away, the princess was now almost wailing.

Frantically turning her head and assessing the situation, her eyes met Zepplin’s.

“Quickly, order them to protect me and dedicate the glory of the Empire!”

Zepplin didn’t need to answer her words.

Lian had already removed the source of the trouble before it could escalate.

After laying the emperor down in the carriage, Lian immediately approached and struck the princess on the neck.

[If you do not obey my command, you are next, Count Pritchard, Marquess Ricardo.]

The two nobles seemed as if they would not be taken down easily, gripping their swords in front of them, but their faces were clearly pale.

Lian had knocked down the princess, who was among her guards, with a speed invisible to the eyes of this massive crowd.

They could not protect themselves from this monster.

Even if they won the war, their lives would surely be lost.

[Lay down your weapons.]

The two nobles did not have the will to sacrifice their lives to fight and win the war.

In the end, their swords fell from their trembling hands.

As they dropped their swords, the sound of weapons being dropped echoed continuously from all directions.

It was a scene of a great army of thousands surrendering without a fight before a single person.

“Return to the plaza to deal with the unrest and restore order to the imperial palace. A trial by the Grand Justice will be held soon.”

After leaving this brief message, Lian whistled and called his horse.

As he rode away, casually leaving the emperor and the princess behind, the knights bowed their heads.

“I can’t believe it was resolved so easily. I can’t believe it even after seeing it.”

Eleanor’s voice was filled with bewilderment.

A coup of such a large empire was accomplished in less than half a day.

She had participated in the plan herself, but she never imagined it would be this easy.

It was so effortless; the scenario they had prepared for the worst-case situation didn’t even need to be used.

“Rather than easy, it’s an impossible situation that shouldn’t have been possible.”

“That’s right. To attack a large army with a small number of people and strike the head… The theory is perfect, but in reality, it should be an absurd, armchair argument.”

As Sky sighed softly, Blaine also strongly agreed in a dazed tone.

The fact that such a thing was possible was all because of the existence of that one unbelievable monster.

“In a normal case, the aftermath would be more severe. The forces that supported the emperor would gather factions, and rebellions and resistance movements would start from the provinces, for example.”

He said that, but no one seemed to fear it.

This was because the one who had led the coup was Lian, whom everyone had expected to become emperor.

And the forces supporting him were almost everything in the Empire.

As Sky lightly turned a finger, the lenses showed Otajur Eunice, Duke Bormia, and Duke Lowen.

The manipulation stopped at the scene of Minaz running around frantically, giving orders to move the fallen imperial citizens.

“A capable administrator, a jurist, a diplomat, and finances are all supported, and soon the military will be under his control too. There are even local forces to appease the public opinion of the provincial nobles.”

“The imperial citizens will probably accept it soon.”

“Yes. This fight is over, and it’s a victory.”

It definitely seemed like things were settling down rather than escalating further.

It was truly a day that felt like a lie.

In a state of unreality, when she somehow relaxed and leaned her back against the wall, she had been tensing up.

“By the way, it seems that man’s preparations are complete now.”

Sky, who was sitting with her, asked in a subtle voice.

“Preparations?”

“That’s right. All of this was done to have you as his partner.”

Eleanor’s lips parted.

He was right.

To marry a widow, Liane had fought his family, fought the people, fought the emperor, committed treason against the Empire, and actually accomplished it.

“What are you going to do now?”

Sky asked mischievously.

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