Chapter 143 - 70: The Truth

Chapter 143: Chapter 70: The Truth

Colin froze for a moment.

A sense of the absurd shot through his mind.

"How is this possible!"

He subconsciously denied it, reaching out to snatch the sleeve insignia from Lilia’s hand.

Lucian stepped forward and blocked his hand.

Lilia drew her arm back slightly, tilting it so Colin could get a clearer view. "Impossible? And yet, if I recall correctly, this particular design is used exclusively by Prince Colin, isn’t it?"

As a prince who had come of age, Colin had his own private soldiers.

This was the very mark that represented Colin.

But...how could this be!

The men he sent would never have carried this insignia!

Even he wasn’t stupid enough to make such an amateurish mistake.

Colin immediately understood. Lilia and Lucian were framing him!

They couldn’t find any real evidence, so they simply forged some, trying to use this fake insignia to seal his fate.

Colin looked at the smiling girl and the expressionless Lucian, convinced he had seen through their entire scheme.

In a situation like this, as long as he held his ground and adamantly denied it, there was nothing they could do to him.

"This is indeed the pattern I personally designed."

Having figured out the key point, Colin’s voice became much calmer. "But just because someone is carrying this insignia doesn’t necessarily mean they’re one of my men."

"Cultists have been running rampant lately. It must be them..."

Before he could finish, Colin suddenly let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Lilia couldn’t be bothered to listen to his excuses. She strode forward, casually drew a dagger, and nailed one of his palms to the wall.

Bright red blood flowed down his arm, instantly soaking Colin’s sleeve.

His eyes flew wide with terror. Unbearable pain flooded his mind, drenching him in a cold sweat.

He wanted to scream, to curse, to denounce Lilia as a madwoman.

But as he looked at the girl’s delicate, still-smiling face, his throat felt as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand, and he couldn’t make a sound.

Only then did Colin remember...

She had come from the battlefield.

No matter how gentle and harmless she appeared on the outside, she carried a deadly aura to the bone.

She simply couldn’t be bothered to feign civility with politicians like them who had grown up in the Royal Capital.

"P-Princess Lilia..."

In that moment, all his arrogance and confidence drained away. Colin gasped, his voice trembling, "I think you must have misunderstood something..."

"Don’t worry."

Lilia drew another dagger, casually tossing it into the air and catching it deftly.

She raised her eyes and gave Colin a perfect smile. "I’m not planning to kill you here."

Hearing this, Colin let out a huge sigh of relief.

’He knew it... He knew it!’

’How could the Crown Prince be so stupid? To kill a Prince in the Royal Palace?’

’Even if she dared to do it, she’d have to go down with him if she were exposed.’

’They hadn’t made any attempt to conceal their entry. With such a commotion, the guards would surely be here soon.’

’As long as I can hold out, I’ll be saved.’

Colin felt a bit bolder, but to avoid more pain, he still pleaded, "Then, could I trouble you, Princess Lilia, to help me pull out the dagger..."

His palm was pierced clean through, half of the blade embedded in the wall behind it.

The intense pain had left him nearly strengthless; there was no way he could break free on his own.

"Not so fast," Lilia said with a smile. "I won’t kill you, on the condition that you answer my questions properly."

"Tonight’s attack, and the previous ones targeting Lucian... was that all your doing?"

Colin was silent for a moment. "...Yes. I did it."

It was an open secret, so there was no point in him denying it.

Lilia nodded. "And the fire from twenty years ago?"

Colin’s heart skipped a beat.

Lucian turned to look at him as well.

Ever since they had burst into the bedchamber, he had been expressionless, following behind Lilia like a dutiful guard.

But only now did Colin notice...

It wasn’t that he was expressionless.

He was just suppressing the roiling emotions within him.

"Did you not hear me?" Lucian spoke slowly, enunciating every single word with chilling clarity.

As if he wanted to chew up his enemy’s very flesh and blood.

"The fire from twenty years ago...the one that killed my mother..." He looked into Colin’s eyes. "Was it your doing?"

Colin’s heart hammered in his chest.

’I can admit to the assassinations,’ he thought. ’I can see that Lucian and Lilia don’t really care about that.’

’However, I absolutely cannot admit I had anything to do with that fire!’

’Lilia promised not to kill me...but Lucian made no such promise!’

’I’ll be killed!’

"No!" Colin said quickly, forgetting even the pain in his hands. "I was only ten years old at the time! How could it have anything to do with me?!"

Lucian nodded lightly. "Then it seems I asked the wrong question."

"Besides you...who else knows about that fire?"

Colin was speechless.

"I... I really don’t know."

He lowered his voice, his expression utterly sincere. "I know you are heartbroken over your mother’s death, but that’s the reality. The King investigated the fire as well, and the conclusion was that it was simply an accident..."

He was interrupted mid-sentence.

Lucian grabbed his other wrist, slammed it against the wall, turned to take the dagger from Lilia, and nailed Colin’s other palm to the wall.

Another wretched scream tore through the air.

This time, however, it was laced not only with pain, but with terror.

"Don’t try to placate me with that nonsense."

Lucian’s voice sounded again, soft and slow, like an approaching storm.

"Tell me. Who else knows?"

Colin swallowed hard.

’He understood.’

’If he continued to stall...the next dagger would be aimed at his throat.’

"I’ll talk... I’ll talk."

The intense pain left him weak and breathless. "I’ll tell you everything..."

...

The story Colin knew was brief.

Just as he’d said, he was only a ten-year-old child at the time. Children who grew up in the Royal Palace were always precocious, but not so much that they would participate in a murder at that age.

But Lucian hadn’t guessed wrong. He was indeed in the know.

Not only was he aware of it, but the one who orchestrated the fire was none other than Colin’s mother.

Colin was the Second Prince of Ovis. The Eldest Prince had died young, and Colin was the Queen’s own son.

His mother had always assumed that he would be the future King of Ovis.

That was, until Lucian was tested and found to possess immense talent, and the King began to turn his attention to this genius who had appeared out of nowhere.

The Queen felt her position was threatened. Fortunately for her, Lucian’s mother had no power or influence in Ovis, nor did she have anyone to rely on.

So, she conspired with her own maternal family, bribed one of the Princess Consort’s handmaidens, and had her put a drug in the Princess Consort’s dinner.

Then, after she fell asleep, they set a fire, burning her alive in her own bedchamber.