Chapter 611: Arrested on the Spot

Bugard family, estate.

Not long after returning from the palace, Count Bugard lay back in a rocking chair, calming himself down after the mental torment he’d suffered earlier.

During that stretch of time when they’d been forced to stay at the palace, Her Majesty the Empress apparently worried they might get bored, and actually called that bastard Pink Bear over to “keep them entertained.”

Heh. Pink Bear. “Entertained”...

Yeah, the boredom was relieved—at the cost of that bastard dragging several ministers into an all-night discussion about big boobs, perky asses, and a full-blown critique session of an indescribable “art photo album” he’d pulled out from who the hell knew where.

What was the point of critiquing it? Who sitting there wasn’t some decrepit old man in his fifties, sixties, seventies, or eighties? Like any of them were going to “rise again” from that?

If the former Saintess hadn’t charged in later, probably half those old men would’ve died on the spot from their blood pressure exploding.

...But torment or not, Count Bugard still couldn’t rest for now.

He suddenly opened his eyes and said flatly, “It failed?”

“...Sorry, Father.”

Orlando, who hadn’t been pushed by anyone and had wheeled himself into the room, lowered his head.

“That bastard won’t listen to reason no matter what. And if I make a move, I’m afraid it’ll only add another charge. Besides, I did consider the bond between siblings, so...”

“Trash!”

A teacup was thrown straight at him. A maid had only just brought it over—scalding hot tea splashed all over Orlando.

Count Bugard stared coldly at his only son, the disappointment in his eyes completely undisguised.

“Why are you always so useless? You can’t even handle something this small, and you still fantasize about inheriting the Bugard family?”

“I’m truly sorry...”

Orlando buried his head even lower, letting the tea run down him.

“Hmph.”

Count Bugard snorted, then abruptly turned his head and looked toward somewhere outside the window, murmuring in a low voice, “Not even the whole Bugard family could move her... She really does have the same temperament as you.”

At his father mentioning that cheap woman, Orlando’s eyelid twitched, but he didn’t dare show anything. He only asked, “Then... Father, what do we do next?”

“What do we do... Colluding with the Inner Council is a capital crime. Absolutely cannot let it implicate the whole family. The Bugard family climbed step by step to this height over generations. It can’t be ruined in my hands.”

Count Bugard thought briefly, then looked at Orlando, his voice suddenly much gentler.

“So... we can only sacrifice you, my son.”

“Wh...”

Orlando froze, then his face changed violently. “N-no, Father, you can’t do this!”

“Why not? Orlando Bugard is the Canary, but the Canary is not Bugard. As long as we can prove that, Her Majesty the Empress isn’t some bloodthirsty person. And she just took the throne—her first priority is stability. She shouldn’t wipe out the entire Bugard family at a time like this.” Count Bugard spoke without expression.

“B-bullshit!”

Orlando’s emotions exploded so hard he nearly sprang out of his wheelchair. He pointed at Count Bugard and shouted, “That Canary disguise was clearly something you handed to me! Otherwise, with my status, how could I possibly—”

“Shut up! You trash don’t get to negotiate. Who do you think—”

Count Bugard’s face went cold. He cut Orlando off, waved a hand like he didn’t want to hear another word.

“Someone, come.”

“Yes.”

At the side, an old butler with white hair stepped forward, bent at the waist.

“Break this traitorous son who defied the Emperor—break his hands too—and send him to the palace to beg forgiveness!”

“Yes!”

“Oh, right.”

Count Bugard stopped the old butler, who was already dragging the struggling Orlando toward the door, and pointed at his own Adam’s apple.

“Be careful. Don’t let him run his mouth.”

“I understand.”

The old butler nodded knowingly. Though he looked as if he could drop dead at any moment, he dragged Orlando out with effortless ease despite Orlando’s not-weak strength.

Orlando screamed curses, but Count Bugard acted as if he didn’t hear a thing. He only sighed, and with something like reluctant pity, looked off to the side.

“Sigh. What misfortune in the family. Surely Her Majesty will understand me.”

Soon, after a shriek outside the door, everything went quiet.

...

A while later, the old butler came back in. His clothing was still as neat and spotless as ever, without a speck of blood on him.

“Handled?”

“Yes.”

“No loose ends?”

“All evidence tied to the Bugard family has been dealt with. Miss... Ariel’s money-scraping move did indeed buy us time to react. However...”

The old butler hesitated.

“In my opinion, this alone likely won’t be enough to deal with Her Majesty. She doesn’t seem like a foolishly kind person. In these last few days in Belrand, a great many nobles have already been purged. Her methods seem even colder and more aggressive than her father’s.”

“Heh. Of course. For Her Majesty to end up the victor, how could she be fooled by tricks like this?”

Count Bugard gave a self-mocking cold laugh, then looked to the three letters he had just prepared on the table.

“So I have to use other means.”

...

The palace was still grand and exalted. But in recent nights, the atmosphere had become much more austere. Even the passing palace maids hurried along, not daring to stop and chat.

The Royal Knights and Royal Mage Corps guarding the place had been temporarily dispatched to garrison Belrand, to prevent desperate people from doing something insane when cornered, and also to seize the opportunity to thoroughly flush out the rats still hiding in the shadows.

Her Majesty the new Empress clearly intended to use this chance to sweep away the capital’s long-standing rot in one go.

So even though palace lighting had been cut down a lot lately, that temporary affairs hall was still brightly lit.

Ariel walked out of it.

She had reported everything she’d found to Celicia, submitted a list that could be said to net all the Inner Council remnants still hiding, and made a contribution that huge. She’d even received Celicia’s praise, and an invitation to have dinner together sometime when they were free...

But she wasn’t as happy as she’d imagined.

Maybe because, in outsiders’ eyes, she had done something unbelievably stupid.

“Sigh... Seriously, why did I do something that **?”

Ariel clutched her chest in pain and let out a long, heavenward lament.

“That was... over five million Aimir, all of it, handed to Orlando. Damn it. Why did I have to show off and give all of it? If I’d secretly kept a few hundred thousand, he wouldn’t have known! Now... I’m broke again!”

In an instant, she went from having some savings to being so poor it made your heart swell with tragic emotion. Life’s greatest ups and downs were nothing more than that.

At least... black bread, she was already used to. Eating more of it wasn’t a big deal.

“Are you okay?”

“Who—?!”

Ariel spun around, instantly on guard.

“It’s me.”

A figure leaned against the wall around the corner.

“Tch. Why is it you.”

Ariel clicked her tongue and immediately put on a disgusted expression. “What are you here for?”

“I’m here to comfort you.”

Muen flicked his fine blond hair back and smiled.

“A sad beautiful girl is passing by—how could I just sit and watch?”

“Ugh.”

That wasn’t disgust anymore. That was nausea.

“Alright, alright. Who knows what rotten scheme you’re hiding this time. I don’t want to see you right now. Wait until I steal Liya back from you, then I’ll come talk. When that happens, I’ll really savor the look on your face when you lose like a pathetic dog.”

“So you already know?” Muen froze.

“You think I’m an idiot?”

Ariel let out a cold laugh, waved her hand, and left without wanting to say another word to him.

Muen watched her back, then suddenly sighed, his smile # Nоvеlight # fading.

“Sorry.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was me who recommended to Celicia that you investigate this... But I didn’t know the Canary would actually...”

Muen finally understood why, in the original work, Ariel never had a direct conflict with the Inner Council. Because as long as the late king hadn’t died, the Inner Council wouldn’t have stepped into the open at all.

And as long as they hadn’t stepped into the open, in a certain sense... Ariel could be considered part of the Inner Council too—she just didn’t know it herself.

“What does any of that have to do with you?”

Ariel paused, then looked back.

“I’m the one who investigated. I’m the one who chose not to cover it up. The one who did those things was Orlando, and maybe even the entire Bugard family. What does any of that have to do with you?”

“...”

Muen opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn’t know what to say.

Of course it had nothing to do with him. He really had just come to comfort her.

And yet... those things really didn’t seem to affect this “chosen” main character at all. Maybe it did, but her mental strength was so strong she could ignore it.

So for her right now, what mattered more might be figuring out how to stop eating black bread and start living that wonderful life where every meal came with a chicken drumstick.

“Since it has nothing to do with you, then don’t come in front of me acting fake. Is this the ‘nice guy’ face you use to fool Liya? Let me tell you, I, Ariel, have been roaming the battlefield of love for years—I’ve only ever liked delicate little beauties. You’re not going to fool me.”

“...Heh. Fair.”

Muen suddenly chuckled, scratched his head. “Looks like you don’t really need comforting.”

“What do you mean I don’t need comforting? You make it sound like I’m made of steel.”

Ariel rolled her eyes.

“I’m going.”

“Bye.”

“Tch. Don’t talk like we’re old friends. I still haven’t forgotten what happened before.”

Ariel threw her fist out hard, baring her teeth.

“Don’t let me get a chance. If you don’t, I’ll make Liya understand what the correct choice is. I’m not giving up!”

“Alright...”

Muen waved helplessly back.

Looks like right now, he really needed to stay farther away from this “chosen main character.” Otherwise, if she found out that not only Liya, but even her future target Celicia now had a relationship with his so-called fiancée that was flirting right up against the line—

If she found an opportunity, she really might go for the kill.

The authority of the protagonist—he still needed to keep a healthy reverence for it.

“Ah, right.”

Unexpectedly, just as she was about to leave, Ariel turned around again and said with a malicious grin, “Since you’re at least carrying a tiny bit of good intentions, I’ll remind you of something.”

“What?”

“You’re in danger now.”

Ariel pointed straight at Muen, not even trying to hide her schadenfreude.

“Based on what I’ve learned, my dear father won’t take this lying down. To protect the Bugard family, he’s very likely to come after you.”

“After me?”

Muen pointed at himself too, looking weirded out.

“Where are we? This is the palace. Celicia—Her Majesty right now—is still my fiancée. How does he come after me?”

Run over and drown him in spit? Or hide at home drawing circles and cursing him to death?

“As for that...”

Ariel was about to explain when her gaze slid sideways. The smile on her face grew even wider.

“Looks like it’s already here.”

Suddenly, the sound of synchronized footsteps rang out. Muen frowned and looked over, and saw a squad of Royal Knights approaching.

“Muen Campbell! You are under arrest!”

The leading knight raised a document and displayed it to Muen. His expression was solemn, his tone ringing like iron.

“Someone has reported that you colluded with an evil god, bewitched the sovereign, and committed debauchery within the harem. Your crimes are monstrous! Come with us!”

“Huh?”

Muen froze. “Colluded with an evil god?”

“What?”

Ariel, who had been ready to enjoy the show, also froze. “Debauchery within the harem?”