Chapter 232. Disclosure, Part III

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

Killian's private quarters were east of the first floor of Asta Palace. If they opened the door at the end of the long connecting corridor from the front gate, and came through the office and across the lounge, they would find Killian's bedroom.

So when Ian recommended the fitting room, which was the safest place in Killian's bedroom inside the palace of Asta, Killian finally nodded.

Julietta breathed a sigh at the thought of having to use the fitting room as a bedroom here, after Bertino. She was destined to visit Killian's fitting room wherever she went.

A place to stay like that had been set up. But she couldn't take a break right away. "I'll follow you, too."

"All the nobles who have heard the news at the moment will be gathered. They're going to bite and tear each other to get a little benefit from this. I don't want to take you to that place."

Killian opposed it right away, but Julietta's stubbornness didn't abate. "I need to figure out what's going on. You said it was a fight for time."

They had to find out more than the enemy, and needed faster judgement. Killian had no choice but to give up his persuasion when Julietta kept her opinion on the matter. Eventually, he had to check her appearance in disguise again, and took her to the main castle. He soon found himself doing what Julietta asked him to do, but the situation wasn't so bad. He felt like he could enjoy it if it wasn't for the dangerous situation.

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The nobles moved as expected. Without their knowledge, darkness fell, but in front of the office of the Emperor, all the aristocrats were bound up and gathered in groups.

"Your Highness."

As those who saw Killian gave their courtesy, the Marquis of Anais came to him quickly. Killian coldly spoke after seeing the face of the Marquis, whose anxious feelings were revealed at a glance.

"Have you been worried about your niece, the Marquis?"

The word niece contained everything. Robert stiffened his face when he noticed a signal to calm down his feelings.

"I'm worried because the princess didn't come back to the mansion. There's been a kidnapping attempt before, and I'm afraid that something happened."

The nobles who had gathered roared at Killian's words. "Do you mean there was an attempted kidnapping of Princess Kiellini?" the Duke of Haint asked on behalf of the frightened nobles.

"That's right. On the last day of the summer social season, someone tried to lure the princess and kidnap her, but they failed. Aren't you curious about who dared to do that?" Killian's heartless gaze turned toward Duke Dudley and Marquis Marius, who stood on the other side.

"It makes us feel uncomfortable, if you look at us like you're suspicious of us." The Duke of Dudley frowned with displeasure.

"I just looked at you, but your reaction is too sharp. It seems that he who commits a fault thinks everyone speaks of it."

Killian's eyes were full of ridicule as he glanced at Marquis Marius and Duke Dudley in turn.

"It's unpleasant, Your Highness. Are you saying that we did it? Are you trying to cover up your fiancée's escape and accusing us of guilt?"

"Escape? How dare you accuse my fiancée of running away? How dare you accuse the Empress of the future?"

"The Empress of the future? The terrible work of the Duke of Kiellini has been revealed to the whole world over; how can the daughter of such a guy be the Empress? I suspect that you didn't know about this. If you were a little involved in this, it's enough to lose your status in the royal family."

Duke Dudley's intemperate remark brought heavy silence throughout the room.

A piquant smile leaked out of the mouth of Killian, who had been staring at the Duke without a word for a while. "Dethronement! I was going to end up with deportation, but you mentioned the dethronement... Good, I like that everyone here is going to be a witness. Whoever is involved in this work shall be deprived of all his status and title and demoted to the common people, whatever his status may be. Do you mind if I do this?"

The Duke of Dudley paused for a moment when Killian said that, but he decided that he could not back down. It was a matter of life and death. Now that Francis had told the whole world that the epidemic was actually poison, there was no other way. If they didn't take this opportunity to kill Killian, his side would die.

"Of course. All the soldiers who poisoned civilians during the war and harmed them were executed. Even so, it's not even at war right now. How can we forgive those who have done such a terrible thing?"

"All right. Then, how should we deal with the kidnapping case of a noblewoman?"

Killian looked back at the assembled nobles and called out a young aristocrat. He had a past where his sister was almost got kidnapped by a business for human trafficking. "Viscount Hackett, if anyone fails to kidnap an innocent aristocrat, what punishment should he be given?"

When asked by Killian, he thought for a moment before telling him what he thought. "A kidnapping, whether she's a noble or not, is the worst crime of all time. It has been rumored that young women are kidnapped and sold in brothels to island countries from many parts of the continent. Each country is working hard to eradicate such human trafficking. We've also invested a lot of money to strengthen our security and guard them. I can't believe that someone almost kidnapped a noble lady in Dublin, the heart of Austern, the father of the continent. I think we should set an example with the death penalty, so that it doesn't happen again."

As soon as Hackett spoke his mind, Killian looked back at Duke Dudley, Marquis Marius, and finally, Marquis Anais.

"Yes, I agree. Princess Kiellini could have been killed during the kidnapping, which has been a problem for a long time. What was worse, she is the future Empress and a lady of a great noble family."

Duke Dudley became nervous when he saw Killian's gaze directed toward the Marquis of Anais.

'There's no way he can know that Christine did it, but did he guess it? Why is he looking at Marquis Anais?'

He erased the ominous thought from his head. Even if Killian knew it was Christine, he wouldn't be able to do anything. If there was any evidence, it would not be a time to act slowly. Furthermore, Marquis Anais was Princess Kiellini's uncle!

First of all, Duke Dudley had to put more emphasis on the poison, so that the kidnapping case was to be thought it was nothing. "Your Highness, the kidnapping is not important right now. You know how much wrong the Kiellini family did, but you are pretending you don't know? Innocent people were killed. Now that they've done such a terrible thing, the daughter of the Kiellini family was punished by kidnapping for their fault, wasn't she?"

Killian managed to put up with the desire to smite the Duke of Dudley, who was so pompous.

'It's not important? She's been punished for her fault?'

Something terrible could have happened to Julietta that day, but it was so disgusting to hear it as if it were nothing. A woman who had just had her coming-out could have had such a terrible thing done to her, for she was born with such dirty blood...

Killian glared straight at the Duke of Dudley. "The truth about this will soon come to light… and I think the abduction of the princess is very important. I got the impression that they were trying to incite people's doubts about this with her mysterious whereabouts."

At Killian's words, the Duke of Martin asked, "What doubts?"

"The Duke of Kiellini found out about the poison yesterday and committed suicide out of despair. By the time the Duke was known to have committed suicide, they put the posters on the wall of the streets of the capital at the order of Francis. Isn't that weird?" Killian looked around the nobles once again.

"Yes, I was surprised to hear that earlier. The first thing to do is to call the Congress after it's been reported to His Majesty. We need to gather opinions from the Congress and from His Majesty, and come to a conclusion on what to do about it. But it's really strange that His Majesty found out about this only after he suddenly posted the notices." Most of them nodded and agreed with the words of Count Margio, a member of the Congress.