It is truly remarkable how the flow of time is simultaneously comforting and uncomfortable.
A week has already passed, and Ferzen quietly sipped on his tea while looking at the scenery outside his window.
"..."
At that moment, a carriage stopped in front of the mansion's door.
Tak-.
Putting down his teacup, Ferzen rose from his seat.
Imperial Officials emerged from the carriage.
There could be only one reason for their presence here.
Indeed, the investigation of the materials brought from the Claudia Family's mansion has finally been completed, and they've come to report their findings.
With that in mind, Ferzen descended to the first floor and welcomed them.
There was, however, no leisure allowed for the matter at hand.
"Greetings, Lord Louerg."
"Skip the pleasantries. You must have something to report to me."
"Yes...! Here..."
Ferzen watched as the official presented him with quite a thick bundle of documents.
"Firstly, it appears that there were no others involved with Claudia's treason."
"Is that so?"
To be honest, Ferzen already expected this development.
No sane person would join such a foolish plan unless, of course, they were either insane or obsessed with revenge.
But as he flipped through the documents, Ferzen stopped at Lizzy's entry.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Even after reading it a dozen times, the contents of the document did not change.
Ferzen then stared at the officials in front of him and spoke.
"Is this true?"
"Yes?"
The poor official wondered what could have made Ferzen react like this, but then when he showed them the entry, a resourceful "Ah..." left his mouth.
"Yes. According to our investigation, this is definitely true."
"..."
Given the use of the word 'definitely', evidence must have backed up his claim.
Despite this, Ferzen couldn't bring himself to believe the contents of this report.
"Euphemia, Yuriel."
Jolt-!
Startled by him, both women moved in closer, waiting for his next words.
"I have to go to the Imperial Palace right now."
Without even waiting for their response, Ferzen had turned and walked away.
The Imperial Officials, on behalf of Ferzen, bowed towards the women and hastily followed him.
There was an important fact stated in the document that concerned Lizzy.
She had tried to warn the Imperial Family in advance about her family's plan.
But from what Ferzen knew about the Claudia Family's bonds, he knew this had to be false.
It wasn't a simple hunch.
It was a matter of conviction.
Had Lizzy been ruthless enough to abandon her own family, then she wouldn't have hesitated in the past.
"I see it now...So this is your final move, Roer, Cesar."
Providing a makeshift escape boat for her to avoid sinking with them.
Their 'evidence' was good enough to have even the Imperial Officials fooled.
But Ferzen was convinced this was the word of Roer and Cesar, and should he investigate this matter more deeply, he would undoubtedly find inconsistencies.
Of course, some might argue that this could be overlooked.
In fact, Lizzy truly played the role of a perfect victim.
But rather than watching her waste her days away in isolation...
Ferzen wanted to sever every knot with his own hands.
He would wipe every form of his past wickedness from this world.
There would be no room for doubt, discomfort, or guilt.
Indeed, he wished to make himself more comfortable by dirtying his hands once again.
After all, the act of showing pity and bestowing mercy on the other party was something reserved for the Heroes, not the Villains.
As the officials entered the carriage after him, Ferzen leaned back comfortably and spoke a single word.
"Go."
"Yes…..Yes! Let's move!"
~Neighhhhh
With a thunderous neigh from the horses, the carriage began its journey towards the Imperial Palace.
* * * * *
"This is the place."
Upon arriving in the Imperial Palace, Ferzen followed the officials to the location where the evidence was stored. He then took off his coat and started to examine it.
First, he looked at the mercenary's corpse and mustered his mana.
...Her name was Jenifel.
According to the evidence, she was commissioned to receive a letter from Lizzy and deliver it.
'Considering the time period...It must be then.'
Some habits of daily life were common despite the gender. So when conducting the investigation, the prosecutors must have naturally reached out to the Mercenaries' Guild.
They also must have inquired about the servants of the mansion or collected data through other means.
However, this broad investigation also meant that an alibi could be easily fabricated.
Sure enough, as Ferzen tried to collect some feedback about Lizzy on the corpse, be it her appearance or characteristics, he received none. Therefore, it was difficult to affirm that this mercenary's contractor was truly Lizzy.
It was not out of the realm of possibility that Cesar and Roer had orchestrated this drama through a third party.
Nevertheless, despite all this, the reason the mercenary's corpse was considered valuable evidence was the content of the latter that remained in its memory.
Moreover, this mercenary took the delivery contract, something that could easily be done while accomplishing other jobs, and died on the mission...
The prosecutors suspected that the cause of this was likely Cesar, as they received no feedback from Roer's corpse.
However, this would raise doubt among the prosecutors, as contracting mercenaries to deliver sensitive intelligence was foolish as they would often open the package and read its contents. Many used more expensive but trustier services.
Of course, from the mercenary's memories, it was hinted at a suspicion of surveillance. This also hinted at the cause for accepting the risks of contracting this mercenary.
Since there was also no feedback on Roer about surveillance being administered to Lizzy's movements, the suspect would once again be Cesar.
Paired with the fact that it was fairly common for mercenaries to die on a mission, it would be difficult for Lizzy to be certain that 'her' letter was delivered or not.
In fact, there was a two-month gap between the second piece of evidence and the next one, so the officials and prosecutors likely theorized that Lizzy had taken some precautions herself.
Observing from this point, it was clear that this scenario was crafted to perfection.
Since Roer had been in the Imperial Knights for a while, the only sensible deduction was that only Cesar noticed the 'truth' about Lizzy's actions.
The amount of information to be gleaned from Roer's corpse was limited due to the passage of time.
"Hahahahaha...."
It was a plot so tragic that it would bring tears to the reader's eyes.
No doubt, almost everyone would only see it as the valiant efforts of a little sister trying to get word out about her family's rebellion, and her family, who tried to cover it up.
"...You may take your leave for now. I'll stay here a while longer. Just let the maids bring me a cup of tea."
"Understood!"
The Official who had stood behind Ferzen sighed in relief as he quickly exited the room.
Sitting down on a chair, Ferzen carefully read a report placed next to him.
Since the prosecutors weren't fools they also suspected this could be a ploy to alleviate their sister's charge of treason.
Indeed, the feedback collected from Roer also indicated Lizzy's innocence.
The only thing Roer's memories lacked was confirmation about the fact that she had tried to warn the Imperial Family in advance.
So, if the situation progressed, Lizzy's life could be guaranteed with this alone.
But Ferzen was sure that Roer had restricted the information that was given to him.
Unlike the prosecutors, Ferzen knew that all of this recent evidence was in Lizzy's favor...
The fact that this information was not present in Roer's memories indicated that, from the start, he intentionally stayed ignorant, trusting Cesar to handle things.
"This...Is ridiculous."
While there were indeed letters with Lizzy's handwriting as evidence, her handwriting could be easily fabricated.
"Should I go along with it?"
He had his doubts before, but with this evidence, Ferzen was now sure.
Even if Roer stayed ignorant of certain facts on purpose, it would be difficult for Cesar to do the same.
All of this would be for nothing if Cesar was executed and had his memories investigated.
"What a stupid plan."
While looking at Roer's preserved head, Ferzen allowed himself to snort with his eyes closed.
'Perhaps Cesar has some countermeasures in place.'
If his plan were to be broken down into stages, this would be the first step.
The most important stage would certainly be the second, which would be Cesar's corpse.
So even if the second stage seemed like the guaranteed way of figuring out his ploy, It was marked with unknowns.
Therefore, it would probably be easier to find a hole in the first stage.
'Sigh...'
And Ferzen intended to see this to its conclusion.
So, as he loosened his tie, and picked up the stash of documents.
Ferzen Von Schweig Louerg...Prepared himself to pull an allnighter.