The Emperor was furious at his shamelessness, and he also suspected him, but he could not obtain any particular evidence.
In the end, William IV sent his beloved son to a remote province for treatment, and newly appointed Aaron as the Crown Prince. He buried his suspicions about Duke Bedford and his second son, Aaron, in that way.
‘Without knowing that everything was what my father intended.’
That’s right. Harrison’s madness was created by Duke Bedford.
It’s not about spreading rumors that a sane person was insane. It meant that he made a sane person have no choice but to go insane.
What was the way to make a person go insane?
At first, he used rumors. From one day on, malicious rumors about the Crown Prince, Harrison, began to circulate throughout Edinburgh. And of a very lewd kind.
The nobles of high society snickered whenever Harrison passed by, and the commoners cursed him or even threw stones at him.
Harrison, who had a kind but weak nature, was greatly hurt by the sudden change in attitude of those he cherished.
Despite the Imperial family’s efforts, the rumors showed no signs of subsiding, and rather, the more they tried, the worse rumors were added.
Harrison became more and more emaciated and sensitive as time went by. However, even so, he did not collapse. There was a strong fence, his family, that protected his heart from the outside.
His beloved wife and the child growing healthily in her womb. Harrison gained the strength to endure from the two of them.
But that also meant that the last bastion holding Harrison’s mind together was the two of them, and that if only the two of them disappeared, Harrison would collapse like a sandcastle under the waves.
And soon, an accident happened.
One day, when heavy rain was pouring down, the Imperial family’s carriage, which was traveling on a slippery rainy road, overturned, and the Crown Princess and her child, who was not even a hundred days old, lost their lives in the accident.
Unfortunately, the overturned carriage fell into the river, and the Crown Princess’s body was found in a bloated state, but the small and fragile body of the child could not be found intact.
That day, Crown Prince Harrison lost his mind.
“I saw it, Your Majesty! The day before the accident of the former Crown Princess, my father conspiring with the Speyers about the accident! I remember the voice saying that carriage accidents often happen on rainy roads, and that Aaron would soon become the Crown Prince!”
The Emperor’s hand holding the table trembled.
He expected it. This was also what he had expected. He couldn’t find any evidence, but he was sure that the Duke had planned it. He believed so even a decade ago.
What the young princess heard would not be adopted as evidence. So even if he found out the truth now, nothing would change…
William IV thought so, but this was not true.
The most important thing had already changed. It was his feelings towards Duke Bedford.
Suspicion and certainty are different dimensions. By learning the truth, the Emperor harbored a deep resentment towards the Duke, and this was an emotion that could not be washed away by anything.
And that animosity would inevitably be of great help to her revenge.
Ariella thought so and slowly continued.
“…Aaron does not know this truth. He was not at that place that day when he was young, and even now, my father has not told him. He probably hid it because it would be difficult if he harbored ill feelings towards me.”
The Emperor’s face, which had been deathly, relaxed a little. He seemed relieved that Aaron had not dared to contribute to making his brother insane.
But unfortunately, what Ariella had just said was a lie.
Aaron already knew that Duke Bedford had killed his sister-in-law and nephew in order to make him the Crown Prince. In addition, he accepted that fact very willingly.
“How could such a weak person have become a great Emperor? He couldn’t have done great things with that kind of temperament. So it was a very good decision to choose me instead of my brother, Duke Bedford.”
He did not feel any pity for his brother’s misfortune.
His older brother Harrison, who was much older than him, loved him very much, and his kind sister-in-law never forgot to bring him a heartfelt gift for his birthday, and even his baby nephew smiled brightly at him whenever he saw him. Aaron was just pleased that he had gained an opportunity by their deaths.
Ariella didn’t withhold the truth from the Emperor out of concern for the shock it would cause him.
While she felt a pang of sympathy for him, having lost his beloved son, daughter-in-law, and grandchild because of Duke Bedford, she wasn’t in a position to spare much thought for others’ misfortunes.
If she were truly such an angelic person, she would have revealed the whole truth long ago, even before vowing revenge.
The reason Ariella, who had remained silent until now, only revealed a portion of the truth to the Emperor was because it served her own revenge.
She aimed to incite William IV’s full fury towards Bedford by not disclosing that Aaron was already aware of the incident’s details and had willingly sided with the Duke despite knowing.
She wanted the Emperor to vow revenge against Duke Bedford without the slightest hesitation.
As she intended, William IV trembled with unspeakable rage. His eyes were bloodshot, and the veins on his thin neck bulged like leeches.
Clenching his fists and panting, William IV suddenly slumped onto the sofa. Then, he bowed his head so low that the crown of his head was visible and remained silent.
In the heavy atmosphere, Ariella waited patiently on her knees for him to speak.
“…Ariella Bedford. Can you take responsibility for what you have said?”
After a long wait, a low voice cut through the silence.
Ariella bowed even lower, her back already deeply bent, and replied, “How dare I lie before the great Emperor of this Empire? I am only distressed that my testimony alone cannot stop my father.”
Her claims alone wouldn’t be enough to bring Duke Bedford to trial. The incident was already several years old, fading from people’s memories, and a single witness wouldn’t dare to stand against Bedford.
The fact that the witness was a Duchess of Bedford would be somewhat helpful, but considering her young age at the time and her current status as a ‘fake Duchess,’ its effectiveness would be significantly reduced. This was a fact known to both Ariella and the Emperor.
Therefore, Ariella offered a tempting proposal.
“Therefore, I will become Your Majesty’s ears and hands. I will listen to everything my father says by his side and inform Your Majesty. I will also create opportunities for Your Majesty to lawfully punish my father.”
“…You?”
“Yes. Although I am being called a fake, I am still trusted as a Duchess of Bedford and my father’s daughter. Not only my father, but even the servants of the Duke’s residence trust and rely on me. I will exploit that. Your Majesty, simply observe the situation as it is now, and if you find the opportunity I bring to be useful, do not miss it and utilize it.”
William IV, who had his elbows resting on the armrests and his hands clasped tightly together, narrowed his eyes.
He found the proposal quite appealing. All the more reason to be suspicious.
“The Duchess of Bedford, why? What do you hope to gain by helping me?”
He had some expectations.
She, who had once maintained a noble position as the Crown Princess and the Empire’s only Duchess, had suddenly fallen into being a fake, losing her name and her fiancé. It wouldn’t be strange for her to harbor resentment towards her family.
But if that was the reason, it wasn’t a welcome sound to the Emperor.
He was displeased that she dared to use the Imperial Family for her personal revenge, and he couldn’t be sure that her revenge wouldn’t include her former fiancé, Aaron.
His gaze swept over Ariella, as if trying to dissect her intentions.
Ariella raised her head slightly and bit her lip as if she were ashamed of something.
“I would like to say it’s for Juvenil… but there is another reason. A shameful reason that I cannot tell anyone.”
“So, you’re going to hide it from me too?”
“No. Now that I’ve said this much, what more can I hide before Your Majesty?”
Ariella slowly shook her head. Then, she took a deep breath as if preparing herself and continued.
“I am no longer Ariella Bedford, nor am I the Crown Prince’s fiancée. But… but, even so. I still love Aaron.”
“What?”
William IV’s eyes widened at the unexpected statement.
“I have become a fake, and another woman has become his fiancée… but even if the situation changes in an instant, how can a heart that has been built up for so long suddenly disappear? I knew I had to stop, but I couldn’t stop my feelings of affection.”
Her voice, trembling as she desperately tried to calm herself while reciting her love, was very pathetic.
When even her reddened eyes came into view, the Emperor couldn’t hide his embarrassment. He had watched her as his prospective daughter-in-law for a very long time, but this was the first time he had seen her with tears in her eyes.
