"...Where... am I?"
"You're awake?"
"—?!"
Coming to on the bed, Don tried to scramble up in shock, but a jolt of pain sent him collapsing right back onto the mattress.
We were not at my mansion, but in a single room of an ordinary house on the outskirts of the capital. It was just Don and me.
"Don't push yourself. You nearly died."
"D-Died?"
Enduring the pain, he knitted his brows and stared at me.
"Don't you remember? I had you watched from start to finish. If your memory's blank, I can fill you in."
"...Ah."
It seemed it had all come back to him.
"Right. After reporting that you'd eliminated the witness, your contact cut you down. You botched the job, so they threw you away."
"I... see..."
Even lying flat on the bed, Don was visibly crestfallen—utterly defeated.
"I had you tailed suspecting something like this might happen, but they really went ahead and tried to silence you."
I let out a sigh.
My eldest brother truly was something else...
"And here I believe people are treasures."
"..."
Don turned his head on the pillow, gazing up at me.
"You're saying... you foresaw that I would be cast aside?"
"Pretty much."
"The rumors of the Wise Imperial Prince do not lie. Remarkable..."
Don let out a faint chuckle, his expression a mix of awe and complete surrender.
"If only I had served Your Highness from the beginning..."
A bitter tinge of self-mockery laced his murmur.
"It's not too late to start now."
"What?"
"You're saying that if circumstances were different, you would have been my subordinate, right? That means it's not too late."
"Are you... serious?"
"In exchange, I do not tolerate betrayal. Once you become my subordinate, you will never be permitted to leave until the day you die."
"Thank you... so much...!"
Wincing against the pain, Don pushed himself up on one elbow and bowed his head all the way to the mattress in a deep kowtow.
――――――――――――
Name: Noah Ararat
Imperial Prince Minister of Justice
Gender: Male
Level: 3 / ∞
HP: E+F Fire: F+B MP: F+F Water: E+S Strength: E+E Wind: F+F Stamina: F+F Earth: F+F Intelligence: F+E Light: F Spirit: F+F Darkness: F Speed: F+F Dexterity: F+F Luck: F+F
――――――――――――
Unlike when he first arrived as a spy, my stats had increased.
It was undeniable proof that, from the bottom of his heart, he had chosen to serve me.
"All right. Focus on recovering for now. Tomorrow, I'll find a fallen noble family to adopt you. You'll get a new name and identity. Down the line, change your face a little as well."
"Y-Yes, Your Highness..."
"You shouldn't stay in the Imperial Household Ministry—or rather, the capital—for the time being. I'll secure a position for you as a magistrate in Almeria, so lay low there until things blow over."
"T-Thank you! Thank you so very much...!"
"That will suffice for now. We'll decide what comes next when the time comes."
"..."
"What is it?"
"I do not know if I can ever repay Your Highness's benevolence, but... the Poinix liquor that Gilbert presented to His Majesty—you must have him stop drinking it at once."
"...Why?"
When I pressed him, Don lowered his voice to a hushed whisper, confiding the secret to my ears alone.
☆
Leaving the safehouse on the outskirts of the capital where Don was resting, I returned briefly to the Ministry of Justice before rushing straight to the imperial palace.
Once inside, I requested an urgent audience with His Majesty and waited.
After about an hour, I was ushered into a library-like study.
"Oh? What brings you here, Noah?"
"Your Majesty, I have a matter of extreme secrecy to discuss. Please dismiss the room."
"Hmm...?"
His Majesty fixed his gaze on me, studying my expression intently.
"Speak freely as it is. Aside from Cruz, everyone here is deaf."
I glanced over at the young eunuch attending to chores beside His Majesty.
Even as I spoke before the Emperor, he acted as though he couldn't hear a single sound.
I see. To safeguard state secrets, only deaf servants were stationed in this study from the start.
"Understood. Your Majesty, you must cease drinking the Poinix liquor immediately."
"Poinix... The liquor produced in Gilbert's fief and presented to the palace starting this year, correct?"
"Yes."
"And why is that?"
"A lethal food pairing."
I relayed everything Don had told me.
"On its own, Poinix liquor is a fine tonic that nourishes the body and bolsters vitality. However, when consumed in tandem with a specific substance, it transforms into a virulent poison."
"What substance? What is it called?"
"It is known as Dragon's Claw."
"Dragon's Claw... Hmm. The substance the Crown Prince and I partake of once a year during the ancestral worship rites."
"Yes."
Taking a deep breath, I pressed on.
I fleshed out Don's account with my own deductions.
"The terrifying reality of this combination is that the effects of Poinix liquor linger within the body for an entire week after consumption. Moreover, since it was presented nearly a year ago and Your Majesty drinks it regularly, Your Majesty has inadvertently proven to everyone that it contains no poison. Therefore, when the time comes, no one will ever suspect its lethal reaction with Dragon's Claw, nor will anyone suspect the liquor itself."
"Establishing an airtight alibi for the culprit, I take it."
"Precisely."
"Yet all of this hinges on whether this lethal pairing is genuine."
"I have already conducted a test. I had death row inmates ingest them under the condition that they would be pardoned if they survived. The results—"
"I see. The reaction was immediate and undeniable, then."
"It was."
Beyond undeniable.
One inmate drank only the Poinix liquor.
One inmate ingested only the Dragon's Claw.
One inmate consumed both.
Of the three, the two who took only a single substance were entirely unharmed, while the one who ingested both died almost instantaneously.
"I see. In other words, if left unchecked, both the Crown Prince and I would have perished during the ritual. I have bestowed Poinix liquor upon the Crown Prince as well, and Dragon's Claw is consumed solely by the two of us." "Yes."
"Splendidly done, Noah. Magnificent. You did exceptionally well to uncover this plot. Cruz."
"Sire."
"Summon Henry. Order him to mobilize the troops and surround the First Imperial Prince Mansion. My judgment shall follow shortly."
"Understood."
His trusted eunuch, Cruz, sprang into action at His Majesty's command.
That settled it.
I felt a pang of regret regarding Brother Gilbert, but something this treasonous could never be overlooked.
"You may take your leave as well, Noah. Your reward will be granted in due course."
"Understood."
Offering a final bow, I turned to leave the study.
I might be summoned later for my counsel as the Imperial Prince Minister of Justice, but my part was done for now.
Yet just as I turned on my heel and stepped toward the doors—
A sudden thought crossed my mind.
My feet froze.
A profound sense of dissonance washed over me.
I searched my thoughts, desperately trying to pinpoint the source of that unnatural feeling.
Then, it struck me.
I had been shown the truth of it time and time again.
With the incident in Dosso Village, and everything that followed.
His Majesty's eyes and ears spanned everywhere; almost nothing I did escaped his notice.
So why had His Majesty acted as though he had just learned about something that even Don knew?
That dissonance—the Emperor feigning complete ignorance.
...Could it be?
Turning around, I looked back at His Majesty with trepidation.
Our eyes met, and a wry smile touched his lips.
"You truly are extraordinarily sharp, Noah."
"—!"
With just those words, I knew he had realized that I had seen through it.
"Y-You knew all along?"
"Indeed. To take it a step further, I have never actually drunk the Poinix liquor."
"..."
"I have sat upon this throne for far too long. It seems certain people simply cannot wait any longer."
"..."
"You, however... do not appear to harbor such ambitions."
"I do not."
I answered without hesitation.
Frankly, I was a reincarnated soul, and being born into royalty aside, I had never truly viewed His Majesty as a "father."
Our familial affection was faint at best.
Even so, I had no desire whatsoever to murder him just to usurp the throne.
"I see. Noah Ararat."
"...Yes, Your Majesty."
"I hereby appoint you Vice Minister of Military Affairs. You shall hold this post concurrently with your current office as Minister of Justice."
"Pardon...?"
"Furthermore, I appoint you commander of the First Army—otherwise known as the Imperial Guard Army."
"As you command."
I gave my assent, yet I still couldn't fully fathom his true intentions.
"I have no intention of falling so easily. Becoming the laughingstock of posterity for being brought down by my own son is out of the question. However, should the unthinkable come to pass, you are to seize control of the imperial capital with the Imperial Guard Army and seat a worthy successor upon the throne."
"—!"
My breath caught in my throat.
This appointment was nothing less than the Emperor's ultimate trust.