Chapter 99
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It seemed that Her Majesty Evgenia’s summons was not simply about returning to the palace.
As soon as we set foot in the royal palace, we were immediately guided to a conference room. Evgenia had ordered us to head there…….
‘A conference room.’
It was a place that had never been within the scope of my usual activities. Furthermore, seeing that only Reno was excluded, and Lord Isaac Harsen was also required to attend, it was clear that other nobles would be present in the conference room.
‘Other nobles.’
The thought of facing nobles I hadn’t met before made my heart race.
I calmly reminded myself of the interview tips I had learned during my school years.
‘When entering, make sure to look at people’s foreheads to give the impression of meeting their gaze, then smile slightly, exuding confidence…….’
Although the situation was different, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to leave a good impression.
Before long, we arrived at the conference room. As I opened the door and stepped in, countless eyes turned toward us. The round table in the center looked like it could comfortably seat at least twenty people.
As expected, most of the faces sitting around the table were unfamiliar to me. On the other hand, there were a few familiar faces. Of course, there was Evgenia, the royal scribe Morris Futurum, and Equus Cecil, as well as Meliana and Killis.
While I quickly scanned the room, as I had been doing since we entered, I froze when I saw one person.
‘Duke Futurum?’
Even though no one had told me, I instinctively knew who he was the moment I saw him. After all, the brown-haired man with sharp eyes, who was staring at me, could only be one person.
He even looked strikingly similar to Morris Futurum. It would have been strange not to recognize them as siblings.
As I scanned the conference room, it became clear why I had been summoned. It seemed obvious, even though I had been waiting for this moment all along.
I greeted Evgenia and took my seat. Thanks to the knowledge Killis had passed on, I was able to handle this situation.
“Now that the First Princess and Lord Harsen are here, we can begin the discussion.”
Evgenia opened her mouth while organizing the documents.
“The matter we will discuss now concerns the accusation made by Duke Futurum against the First Princess.”
Duke Futurum accused me?
“According to Duke Futurum, the First Princess, out of jealousy towards his business, damaged his goods.”
“…….”
“Nepheli Leta Anesis. Tell us the truth. Is Duke Futurum’s claim accurate?”
It was an accusation so baseless that it wasn’t even worth defending. However, since it had been formally filed with Evgenia and other nobles were watching, I had no choice but to refute it.
“No, it isn’t true. I swear, I never interfered with Duke Futurum’s business.”
“I see. Well then, I would like Duke Futurum to explain why he accused the First Princess.”
“I accused the First Princess because of this item.”
At Duke Futurum’s gesture, his assistant placed an object in front of Evgenia. It was a smooth, shiny, silver-colored rectangular metal object.
“This is the substitute for Hezica medicine that I recently developed. As everyone knows, Hezica medicine was one of the relief efforts launched by Queen Beatrice Rus Anesis, the 12th of the Anesis line.”
“…….”
“It is, in fact, a great achievement that saved many lives of the kingdom’s citizens, but the Hezica medicine has two fatal flaws.”
Duke Futurum said, sweeping his gaze across the room before continuing.
“The cost of production and maintenance is too high, and its taste is unbearably bad. These two issues have been long-standing problems, and though we’ve been unable to find a solution, we’ve had no choice but to leave them unresolved until now.”
There were some murmurs of agreement from around the room. Some responses seemed to acknowledge the facts, while others appeared to be siding with him, likely due to his influence.
“But recently, I, Talus Futurum, have solved this problem. With this alternative!”
Duke Futurum slapped his chest proudly and pointed at the metal object placed in front of Evgenia.
“However, here’s the thing. When I discovered this and sought royal approval, I heard that the First Princess had discovered the exact same thing.”
“Duke Futurum knew about it, but the First Princess also discovered it? Even the exact same thing?”
“Don’t interrupt Duke Futurum. Let him finish.”
At Evgenia’s warning, everyone fell silent. Once they did, Duke Futurum resumed speaking.
“When I first heard the news, I was shocked.”
“But, Your Majesty, you assured me it was a coincidence, and I believed you. That is, until the moment the First Princess damaged the items I distributed.”
“It looks fine to me now. What exactly are you claiming was damaged?”
“What we showed to Her Majesty was the item we originally distributed…….”
Duke Futurum said, his gaze signaling to his assistant again. The assistant placed another wooden box in front of Evgenia.
“This is the item the First Princess damaged.”
Inside the box was a rusted, brownish metal lump.
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