I Have No Intention Of Training The Male Leads - Chapter 17 Part 4

17. Catfight (4)

Translated by: ???

Eve occasionally contacted William and pondered on her own about how to proceed in the future.

In the process, she increasingly thought about abandoning everything, disregarding roots and obligations, and simply leaving the country. She thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to cross the border, change her identity, and start a new life.

Sitting on the bed, eating a sandwich on a tray, Eve even considered changing her name and using the money she had saved to buy land in a neighboring country and engage in farming or building. She then took the newspaper handed to her by a maid who was tidying up the empty plates and asked.

“When did Brother come in yesterday?”

“He came in around midnight.”

“It seems like he is on official business.”

After leisurely blowing on a cup of herbal tea and taking a sip to cool it down, Eve opened the first page of the newspaper and suddenly spat out what was in her mouth.

“Puh, cough! Ugh, cough!”

“Oh my, miss! Are you alright?”

“I’m fi– cough! Fine, cough!”

Fortunately, the tea only slightly dampened the newspaper, causing it to wrinkle a bit. Eve, barely suppressing her cough, stared at the crumpled newspaper with a soaked face.

‘Reynold, the second prince, attempted to assassinate the emperor? What is this? How did this happen?’

The headline of the newspaper undoubtedly stated that the son had attempted to murder his father. It was a shocking event that would be considered horrifying even in an ordinary commoner’s family. Moreover, since it happened within the imperial family, it was bound to attract the attention of the public.

“Did the palace just let this be published in the newspaper without any intervention?”

It felt like a tasteless joke. It would have been impossible for such a story to become a featured article in the ?Royal Brighton?, a third-rate weekly magazine or one of the opinion magazines, without prior agreement. Eve immediately instructed her servants to fetch all the newspapers available for today.

After some time passed, Eve spread out the newspapers brought by her servants on her bed. They all seemed to cover the tragedy that had occurred in the palace on the front page, as if it had been planned.

‘It may be the front page, but the newspapers couldn’t have acted so boldly without permission from the palace. Edward, that crazy bastard.’

Alberic seemed busy for a while. Eve thought that he must have worked tirelessly, even if he had two bodies, as he was preparing for such a dangerous act. She calmly examined the tone of each newspaper, one by one.

As expected, all the articles repeated the claim that the second prince, without providing any concrete evidence, had harbored resentment towards his father, who refused to abdicate the throne, and had poisoned him. They relied on the words of an unknown ?close aide to the emperor? or a ?medical personnel? without presenting any solid evidence.

‘The administrative officer in charge of palace complaints replied that such a thing was baseless, but it was reported that Emperor Frederick III did not appear at the council meeting the day before… It seems that the journalists, who advocate for the citizens’ right to know, are throwing themselves into uncovering the truth as if the palace is trying to cover up the incident.’

Eve looked at the clock hanging in the room. Since the maid had said that Alberic came in at midnight, it was time for him to wake up and start his activities. Eve, wearing a light beige muslin dress without any special adornments, entered Alberic’s room without any maidservants.

As expected, Alberic, who seemed to have just finished washing and was drying his hair with a towel, was standing in front of the door with wide eyes, surprised by the sudden opening of the door.

However, he quickly composed himself and instructed the startled servant to continue drying his hair. He seemed to have guessed why Eve had come rushing in.

“What happened?”

“Well, why do you need to know that?”

“Of course, I need to know. If something goes wrong, it’s not just Brother who will die.”

Eve smirked and crossed her arms at Alberic’s cold attitude. The hand of the servant who was drying Alberic’s hair trembled slightly, as if realizing that the conversation between the two was not an ordinary one.

“…Go and prepare the tea table in the reception room.”

The servant quickly bowed at Alberic’s euphemistic command and hurriedly left his bedroom.

“He’s using someone so weak as a scapegoat. How pitiful.”

“…It’s easier to manipulate someone who is easily frightened. After all, he’s not someone who is involved in important matters.”

Eve looked around and picked up a dry cloth that was placed next to the seat where Alberic was sitting. She gently placed it over his long hair.

“You seemed quite busy, but were you involved in these schemes?”

“It’s best not to worry about it.”

“An assassination attempt is obviously fabricated. What about the emperor? Did he completely recover?”

“If I were to reveal that, I would undoubtedly be punished for blasphemy.”

“Both you and Edward, why don’t you answer questions directly? It’s not like it’s a test of patience.”

Eve sighed deeply with an exaggerated attitude and gently patted Alberic’s long hair with the dry cloth. It seemed like a tender moment between siblings, but Alberic was tense, as if Eve’s hand brushing against his neck was like a sharp blade.

“I told you, act accordingly. If you want to be admired, think carefully about your behavior.”

“…..”

“All you have is a pretty face, so take good care of it and don’t get hurt. Your dark circles are getting worse.”

Eve lightly tapped the spot near the man’s eye with her fingertip. She looked down at Alberic’s stiff expression with satisfaction, then gently stroked his cheek before leaving his room.

Eve, who had just poked Alberic lightly, entered her own room and checked that there was no one listening nearby. She then took out a two-way communication device connected to William.

After dialing the designated number and waiting for a moment, she heard a familiar voice from the other side.

—Yes?

“Can we talk?”

—Hmm. I see you’ve read the newspaper.

“You knew too?”

—I’ve been looking into it now. As soon as seonbae left, I came to the territory.

“No one in the newspaper companies is crazy enough to chase after it without any evidence. What’s going on?”

—You can probably guess, but it’s completely fabricated. The emperor has already lost consciousness and collapsed since the night before yesterday, and evidence of treason has been pouring in. Even Lady Elizabeth is implicated and is being detained. They say the trial will be held within the next month, but it probably won’t be a proper trial. They’ll just rush through it and get it over with.

“Those lunatics… Are you okay?”

—I wasn’t particularly close to the second prince. I had a bad feeling, so I came up to the territory and closed the door in advance. Isn’t that why you were sent away too, seonbae?

After saying that, William promised to send someone to the capital to keep an eye on how things unfold as the trial begins. After exchanging farewells and taking precautions, Eve ended the call and massaged her temples with a pained expression on her face.

‘To send him away in the same way he did to me… He’s truly despicable. I always thought he was dirty, but I didn’t expect him to be this filthy.’

According to the original story, it was Crown Prince Edward who was falsely accused of attempted regicide. And it was also Emperor Frederick III’s own plot.

The emperor, who acted like a ruthless tyrant and constantly sought opportunities, used various means to push aside the legitimate successor who carried his blood after the empress’ death. The original promise with her was even to make the child in her womb the ?Crown Prince?.

However, Edward had a remarkable ability to manipulate people from a young age, as well as integrity and a reliable retainer. When the emperor’s efforts to undermine Edward and make him a prince in name only failed repeatedly, he decided that he could no longer delay and made up his mind to sacrifice his eldest son, even putting his own life at stake.

Edward was the culprit directly pointed out by the victim who had consumed the poison. Amidst the fabricated evidence and witnesses, he quietly confessed to a crime he did not commit. It was a script that Eve had read several times in Edward’s route. She couldn’t forget his final moments.

The events that occurred after the ending were often set several years later than the original incident.

‘His attitude changed completely. He had this cowardly character and didn’t even consider trying to fight back and simply offered his neck to be cut. I thought it was just a typical rushed ending due to lack of development budget in the game industry. But it’s strange how he suddenly switched to a ‘kill them all’ mode.’

Soon, Eve was taken aback by a passing memory from the past.

‘What was it about the empress’ position? Could this bastard… be serious?’

If her speculation was true, it meant that all of the man’s actions stemmed from a terrifyingly one-sided obsession. After a moment of silence, Eve made up her mind to seriously find a way to leave the country and head to Burgund.