When the sage Emanuel Darwin, the Jewelled Mage of the Seven Sages of the Kingdom of Riddill, died, an emergency summons was issued to the remaining six sages. However, it took nearly three days for all of them to gather.
The last to arrive at the Jade Room, where only the Seven Sages and the king were permitted entry, was Bradford Firestone, the Artillery Magician who had been out on a dragon-slaying expedition.
Having just returned from slaying the dragon, Bradford's beard was thicker than usual, and he simply wore his Seven Sages robe over his travel attire, looking rather unkempt. Nevertheless, there was no sign of fatigue on his rugged face.
Rather, the five who had arrived earlier looked much gloomier. Only the Thorn Witch, nonchalantly munching on vegetables as usual, remained unchanged.
"Well, well, you all look pretty gloomy. It's normal for Abyss to be gloomy, but you, the Barrier… it's rare to see you looking so haggard."
As Bradford pointed out, the one who looked the most fatigued and haggard, surprisingly, was Louis Miller, the Barrier Magician.
His long chestnut hair had lost its luster and was hastily tied back instead of his usual triple braid. Furthermore, he had prominent dark circles under his eyes, making his exhaustion evident to all.
"I thought you, who disliked the Jewelled so much, would be laughing and tipping back some wine… Turns out you have a heart after all."
"I'm sorry for disappointing you, but my condition is due to the fatigue of childcare."
"For some reason, my daughter won't sleep when I try to put her to bed."
Bradford gave an inscrutable "I-I see" nod and turned his gaze towards Monica.
"You look pretty pale too, Young Silent Girl. Did you have breakfast?"
Monica's pallor was due to her near-constant activity with hardly any rest.
After hearing Heidi's information about Marcy's whereabouts, Monica immediately rode Nero to the northern monastery and returned to Serendia Academy.
Although Monica rode on Nero's back, riding a dragon is not as comfortable as Lynn's flight magic. It was cold, and terrifying to be at risk of falling off, and there was the constant threat of colliding with birds head-on, leaving her unable to relax for even a moment.
Therefore, whenever Monica rode Nero, she had to tie herself to the protrusions on his back with ropes and maintain a thin defensive barrier at all times.
After returning to the academy dormitory, utterly exhausted, she was then abducted by Lynn and brought to the castle. At this point, Monica was on the verge of depleting her magical power and physical strength. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel~fire~net
Beside her, the Thorn Witch Raul Roseburg took a carrot from his pocket and offered it to her, but Monica politely declined. Her nerves were not as sturdy as to munch on a carrot just before a meeting began.
Raul remained nonchalant as ever, and the Abyss Shaman Ray Albright was also emanating his usual gloomy aura.
Amidst this, the eldest, Mary Harvey, the Star Oracle Witch, opened her mouth.
"Well then, since everyone's here, let's begin the meeting… although there's hardly anything we can do at this point."
The Jewelled Mage Emanuel Darwin had conspired with the imperial magicians to overthrow the nation.
Specifically, he had assisted the Imperial Magician in murdering the Second Prince and replacing him.
If this explanation were to be accepted as is, Ike would be executed as the Imperial Magician impersonating the Second Prince. At worst, it could even lead to war with the empire.
Therefore, Monica desperately spoke up.
All attention was suddenly drawn to Monica, who rarely spoke up during normal meetings.
Here, she had to skillfully persuade the other sages not to execute Ike, lest the situation spiral out of control. Monica steeled her resolve.
"I… I don't think… Lord Jewelled Magician… would do such a thing."
"Well, you might have a point," Louis readily agreed with Monica. Leaning on the desk, twirling a stray strand of his disheveled hair around his finger, Louis said, "It's as Miss Silent Witch says, there's no way that timid man could betray Duke Crockford. Let alone that disgusting old geezer committing suicide out of guilt——it's simply laughable. He's the kind of man who would kick others down and lick someone's shoes just to survive."
Bradford gave Louis a puzzled look in response to his harsh words.
"So, Barrier, you think the Jewelled was killed by someone?"
"Nine times out of ten, that's the case."
If things continued in this direction, Monica might be able to win Louis over and prevent Ike's execution.
Just as Monica harbored that small hope, Louis muttered coldly,
"However, it would be pointless for us to discuss this matter."
Confused by Louis's dispassionate words, Monica involuntarily raised her voice.
"Wh-Why… would it be pointless?"
"Because it's more convenient for everyone to accept the story that ‘The Jewelled Mage betrayed the nation and conspired with the Imperial Magician to kill the Second Prince.'"
Not understanding the meaning of Louis's words, Monica was perplexed.
Mary gazed at Monica with a slightly sympathetic look in her eyes.
"If it turns out that Young Emanuel was murdered rather than committing suicide, and that someone had set him up, who do you think would be suspected?"
Mary's words prompted Bradford to nod in agreement while folding his arms.
"Well, the First Prince's faction would be the prime suspects, wouldn't they?"
As Bradford said this with a sly grin towards Louis, Louis snorted in response.
Finally, Monica understood.
That's right… Lord Jewelled Magician belonged to the Second Prince's faction… If Lord Jewelled Magician was revealed to have been murdered, the first suspects would be… not the empire, but the people from the First Prince's faction!
In this case, the apparent victim was Duke Crockford, whose grandson, the Second Prince, was killed.
What greater blow could there be to the Second Prince's faction than having their supported prince murdered?
In such a situation, no one would likely realize that the true mastermind was Duke Crockford himself. People would then wonder who the real culprit was.
For the First Prince's faction, it would be undesirable to have suspicion cast upon them. In that case, it would be better if the Empire were the culprit.
For the Second Prince's faction, whether the culprit is from the First Prince's faction or the empire, either would be convenient.
And for the Third Prince's faction as well, whether the culprit is from the First Prince's faction or the empire, it would provide an opportunity to enthrone the Third Prince, so there's no loss either way.
In the end, for anyone in the Kingdom of Ridill, the most convenient explanation would be "the culprit is an imperial agent."
As Monica turned pale, Louis told her, "Ultimately, the most unproblematic conclusion is to say ‘The Jewelled Mage betrayed us and conspired with the empire.'"
"B-But, just because it's convenient, for everyone, to make such a… forceful…"
As Monica desperately tried to argue, Louis gave her a cold look. Today, with his lack of sleep causing dark circles, his intimidating presence was more intense than usual.
"You're being unusually chatty today, colleague?"
Louis belonged to the First Prince's faction. Therefore, in this case, it would be more convenient for him to go along with blaming the Empire rather than carelessly intervening and having suspicion cast on the First Prince's faction.
Realizing that she had no allies in this room, Monica was told with a thin smile by Louis,
"Let me teach you one good lesson… ‘In politics, the facts do not necessarily become the truth. What is convenient for the powerful often becomes the truth.'"
His smile, accentuated by his sleep-deprived fatigue from childcare, seemed to ask, "Isn't this a valuable lesson?"
Monica had the trump card of Felix Prince's real diary. If she showed this to Louis, would he cooperate with her?
…No, if Louis finds out the truth about the prince's replacement and gets his hands on that decisive evidence… he'll make all of it public. To thoroughly destroy Duke Crockford.
If Duke Crockford's actions were fully exposed, his execution would be certain.
That would certainly prevent a war. More importantly, it would allow Monica to avenge her father's resentment.
This would undoubtedly be the "right" way to do things.
——Finally, Ike would be executed, without ever knowing Felix Prince's true wish.
Eventually, as the meeting ended and people started leaving one by one, Monica called out to Mary Harvey, the Star Oracle Witch, after confirming Louis's departure.
What Monica was about to do could never be known by Louis, no matter what.
"Lady Star Oracle Witch… I want to ask a favor…"
Mary tilted her head demurely and looked at Monica with her very pale blue eyes.
To what extent could those eyes see the truth? As the nation's foremost prophet, could she see through even Monica's actions?
Regardless, this was Monica's biggest gamble in her life.
To prevent war and save Ike's life…
"Could you… let me meet with him…"