Chapter 248
Camilla glared at me resentfully.
But I met her gaze with a smile.
"It is for the sake of the Empire. Please understand."
I deliberately threw Camilla's own words back at her.
If using Mother as a decoy and escaping herself was for the sake of the Empire, then carrying a dummy Rainbow Sky Jewel to draw the enemy's attention should be for the sake of the Empire too.
Camilla took a deep breath, composed herself, and argued back.
"Prince Arnold, why is it necessary to take the dummy Rainbow Sky Jewel with us? With Commander Alida here, the enemy will assume the real one is here. It seems like a dangerous plan despite its limited effect."
"Rest assured. We'll take the real one too."
"What...?"
Camilla gave me a puzzled look.
She couldn't understand why we would deliberately abandon the formation of Alida and the First Imperial Guard unit protecting the throne room.
Indeed, this formation was quite formidable. An ordinary opponent could never break through it.
But our enemy was no ordinary opponent.
"Now that Captain Raphael has betrayed us, it's not wise to hole up here. He'll eventually come here with the militant generals. If that happens, even Commander Alida will have difficulty holding this place."
"I don't think we'd lose a fight, but I admit we might not be able to protect the Rainbow Sky Jewel."
Camilla asked Alida with her eyes if she was serious, and Alida answered calmly.
Very few people could defeat Alida one-on-one. Especially in the throne room, where magic could not be used. They would have to break through using swordsmanship alone.
Winning would be unrealistic. But Raphael could probably hold them off.
Then Alida's subordinates would have to hold them back, but no matter how elite the Imperial Guards were, they would eventually be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Even more so if they had to spare men to protect Camilla and the others.
"...Then we will carry the real one."
"Everyone knows that Sister Therese and Commander Alida are sisters. Moreover, as the wife of the eldest prince, Sister Therese is known throughout the country. Given this lineup, Sister Therese is the person Commander Alida is most likely to entrust with the Rainbow Sky Jewel. We can't be so foolish as to entrust the real one to someone like that."
"If you're going to serve as the decoy, you'll be exposed to great danger. Would that be all right with you, Commander Alida?"
"Once my sister became Crown Princess, she became a member of the imperial family. It is her duty to sacrifice herself for the Empire. Moreover, we are members of the Vaitling family. As you said, Camilla-sama, our family bears the disgrace left by our younger brother. No matter what path we take or what rank we attain, that disgrace will follow our family and everyone connected to it forever. The only way to clear that disgrace is through our deeds. Sister, I will risk my life too. Please accept this. This is for Father's sake as well."
"...I understand. I, too... will fulfill my duty."
Sister Therese nodded deeply after Alida persuaded her.
Camilla frowned when she heard that.
From the Empire's perspective, it was fortunate that Sister Therese was willing to serve as a decoy.
But it must have been bad news for Camilla.
First, she herself would be put in danger. She had just said Christa or Sister Therese should have top priority, and after frightening Christa, she couldn't very well say she wouldn't go with Sister Therese now.
And what would trouble Camilla most was if the enemy did not react to the decoy, Sister Therese.
Even Fiene and the others, who had acted quickly, had been forced to use a secret passage on their way down beneath the castle. Yet Camilla had made it all the way up to the upper levels without any sign of fighting.
I had struggled through secret passages; could she really have reached the upper levels merely by slipping through gaps? It would make more sense if she had known a route no one was using.
If she had moved exceptionally quickly, that raised the question of how she had done so. If not, there was still the question of how she had found a route to the upper levels while soldiers were taking control of the castle.
No matter how I looked at it, suspicions clung to Camilla.
Even setting aside my personal feelings about her using Mother as a decoy, there was nothing about Camilla that didn't arouse suspicion.
This was a test.
If the enemy did not react to Sister Therese, Camilla would be almost certainly implicated. That would make her son Erich look suspicious too.
Usually, whoever benefits from an upheaval is suspicious.
Of the Emperor's six wives, Zuzan and the Fourth Consort had sided with the rebels. The remaining three were the Empress, Mother, and Jianna.
The Empress's son was Brother Trau, and he had no intention of becoming Emperor. That meant that if Mother and Jianna died and the rebellion was suppressed, the rear palace would become almost entirely Camilla's domain.
If Father died, the Empress at his side would be in considerable danger too. If that happened, Camilla's position would be even more secure.
If either Erich or Camilla made it through the rebellion, their obstacles would be gone. Gordon could eliminate those obstacles, giving them a righteous cause to defeat him.
Thinking it through, I could faintly make out the mastermind lurking behind it all.
But Erich would surely not expose himself.
If anything, Camilla was more likely to slip up.
Once the rebellion was suppressed, if the enemy did not go after Camilla, I could question her. Once I had the chance to press her, I might be able to find evidence as well.
"Then, Camilla-sama, please look after Sister Therese."
"...If Therese-san is willing, it would be improper for me to object. I accept."
She seemed to realize she could no longer overturn things with words, and backed down obediently.
As expected of Erich's mother, she knew when to back down.
Of course, it was possible everything was a misunderstanding and I was jumping to conclusions. Even so, the more conspicuous the decoy, the safer the true target would be.
The turning point would be the fourth Rainbow Sky Jewel. The longer we kept it out of Gordon's hands, the greater our advantage. Conversely, if the fourth jewel fell into Gordon's hands and he strengthened the celestial sphere, we'd be finished.
That's why we absolutely couldn't hand it over. If we did, everything would be for nothing.
"Sister. This is the dummy Rainbow Sky Jewel. Here—be careful."
"Thank you, Alida. Well then... I'm off. If we're all still alive, let's meet again with smiles."
Saying that, Sister Therese entered the secret passage.
Camilla and her attendants, the female guards, and the Imperial Guards followed.
After some time, Christa and the others would leave as well.
I looked at the pedestal where the Rainbow Sky Jewel had been displayed.
There was a mechanism beneath it; when I manipulated it, the bottom of the pedestal opened.
Hidden inside was a fist-sized jewel.
"So that's the Rainbow Sky Jewel, is it? It's incredibly beautiful!"
Mia murmured as she peered over my shoulder.
But holding the two jewels, I let out a sigh.
"This is a dummy too. The Chancellor certainly went to a lot of trouble."
"That one's a dummy too!?"
Mia cried out, looking incredulous.
Naturally. I could clearly sense magical power from this jewel—quite a lot of it, too.
Making it a dummy was incredibly wasteful.
But that was precisely what made it convincing, I supposed.
"If even the one you kept hidden is a dummy, does that mean the real one is with the Commander?"
"Good observation. I have the real Rainbow Sky Jewel."
Saying that, Alida took out the real Rainbow Sky Jewel.
It looked exactly like the one I was holding. No, perhaps the dummy I was holding was the one that looked exactly like it.
There was virtually no way to tell them apart by appearance.
However, anyone sensitive to magic would notice. The real Rainbow Sky Jewel gave off an unfathomable amount of magic.
Its power was so deep and vast that it felt as though an abyss lay within it.
"You seem to be good at telling fakes from the real thing, Your Highness."
"I always have been. When it comes to things like this, I'm confident I could even outdo Leo."
Alida must have been referring to the fact that I had seen through the strange discrepancy in Leticia's corpse as well.
Maybe it's because I'm a liar myself, but I'm good at seeing through this sort of thing. I doubt everything, after all.
As I thought that, Alida took out two pouches. They were identical.
She placed the real jewel and the dummy inside them.
"Here. I'll leave it to you to decide what to do with them, Your Highness."
"Are you sure? You're entrusting them to me?"
"I have faith in you, after all you've done to lead so many people this far."
"Well, thanks. Then I'll handle things my way."
Saying that, I took the two pouches and headed toward Christa and the others.