After Retirement, Living a Stud Life in Another World - 161
Episode 161: Forgive Me, Your Majesty!
“Viscount Verdan… This guy is really a small fry. He’s a sycophant of the Finance Minister, but the minister himself probably wasn’t directly involved in this matter.”
Beato sighed. I had hoped we’d get to someone more significant, but it seems that truly evil people don’t get involved in rough business themselves—they let their underlings handle it while they keep their hands clean.
The possibility of the priestess lying can be ruled out in this case. While we were questioning her, Beato was continuously using “Spirit’s Eye” to determine the truth of her responses. Thanks to this high-performance lie detector skill, we didn’t have to resort to bloody torture, which is a great relief.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect someone from the church to harm the royal family… She was young but truly talented and a very earnest priestess.”
The cardinal, who had become a familiar face, lowered her shoulders. Since she had been helping with such an important ritual, she must have been a favored daughter. It seems that the crime was committed under duress, with her family held hostage back home.
“For now, we will hide her with the Dark Clan, but ultimately she will have to be handed over to the lord.”
Chief Kanako is pushing the trouble onto us again. Well, it can’t be helped… It’s clear that if we kept her in prison, the mastermind would come to eliminate her. Besides, I wish the chief would stop calling me “the lord.” I really don’t want to be the head of the ninjas.
“Leave tracking down the root of the evil to us.”
The chief’s laughter was disturbingly eerie. The viscount who had directly backed the attack on me had been missing for three days now. It’s likely he has fallen into the hands of the Dark Clan and is undergoing severe interrogation, or rather torture.
“So, about that dagger…”
Yes, it had a tremendous power. Continuously draining the life force of its victims—rather than magic, it’s more like a curse. If Gretel and the baby hadn’t combined their strength, Clara’s life would have been lost by now.
“It’s regrettable, but it’s clearly something made in Akitsushima. It had a powerful dark magic so strong that our clan can no longer infuse it. It must be from two or three hundred years ago.”
Even Chief Kanako doesn’t know where it came from. The clans that left Akitsushima were scattered into various groups across the continent, so it might have been passed down through one of those factions.
“The church will take custody of it. After a week of prayer, it should be able to be de-cursed.”
I sighed in relief at the cardinal’s words. I didn’t want to deal with any more troublesome matters. Just then, a commotion occurred at the entrance of the room, and the door opened hurriedly… Everyone except Beato bowed their heads. Of course, so did I.
“Mother, Clara is…”
“Yes, she’s calm now. Gretel’s magic has completely healed the external injuries, and surprisingly, the baby seems to be helping her recover from within.”
Beato sighed in relief at the emperor’s words as he entered the room with Gretel. Though they couldn’t show their closeness publicly, their bond was strong.
Then the emperor turned to me with a smile.
“Thank you, Lutz, for protecting Beato with your own body. Truly, you are a model royal consort… Though I’d like to say that, you must also take care of your own life.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Well, I didn’t intend to be careless with my life, and I don’t like pain either. But seeing Beato, whom I love, injured while carrying my child, made my body act on its own. Maybe the emperor sensed my thoughts, as he slightly raised the corners of his mouth.
“There is no man in this country who can move so quickly in such a situation.”
It seems I’m being praised. However, relieved that I wasn’t scolded, I realized I might have been too lenient.
“By the way… We need a proper explanation of why things turned out this way with Clara.”
The once-kind voice turned as cold as ice. This is the end.
—
In the end, I managed to keep my head.
Instead of me, who was frozen like a frog stared down by a snake, Beato, usually lacking in words, passionately explained today. She elaborated on the strategy to resolve the succession dispute by having Clara become pregnant, and the appropriateness of labeling her as “the Seed of God.”
“Well, indeed, making Clara withdraw from the conflict was an effective strategy…”
“But the lack of foresight was not anticipating that the opposition would take such extreme actions. It ended up putting my sister in danger.”
“Yes, reflect on that. However, I never expected Clara would make a ‘substitute deity’ for a man… and to her brother-in-law at that…”
This is something I can only say is regrettable. I didn’t know that such a cute doll carried such a heavy meaning.
“It seems, as usual, Lutz managed to charm them…”
“Why is that…”
“Yes, it is true! After all, Lutz…”
Gretel overshadowed my protest with a lengthy explanation of everything that happened in the Baden territory. She recounted everything I did to help her regain confidence, despite her lack of significant achievements due to magical deficiencies, without hiding anything.
“…Well, Lutz. What people call ‘charming’ is just this. It’s natural that Clara would want to protect you even at the cost of her own life.”
Ugh, even Her Majesty is looking at me with a warm gaze.
“Well, you impregnated a princess. You will take responsibility, won’t you?”
Eh?! Does this mean official recognition of a sisterly affair?