Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 30

30.

“That’s the second time.”

At my words, Father’s eyes darkened.

I didn’t bother trying to read Father’s thoughts.

“There was an assassination attempt just a while ago.”

The audience hall buzzed once more.

Father asked with an indifferent expression, “This isn’t the first time?”

“Yes. Back then, they directly invaded the Crown Prince’s palace while I was asleep.”

Everyone in the audience hall understood the meaning of my words and shuddered.

Especially the captain of the capital guards, the commanders of the imperial knight orders, and the commander of the imperial palace guards glared at me as if they couldn’t believe it.

‘What remarkable fellows.’

Except for the commanders of Father’s direct knight order, even the imperial knight orders each had their own loyalties.

‘When I think about it, isn’t this country a complete mess? In a centralized state, they’re loyal to someone other than the emperor.’

In any case, I completely dispelled their disbelief.

“I apprehended the culprit with Gale and have them imprisoned in the Crown Prince’s palace.”

This time, even Father’s eyebrows twitched. The nobles were in shock, of course, and those responsible for the security of the capital and the imperial palace flinched.

I continued calmly.

“The Snake Venom Guild… They’re a fairly well-known assassin guild. Both the previous assassination attempt and this attack were carried out by members of that organization.”

“Is there a way to verify their identity?”

It wasn’t Father.

Duke Beregon of the Aetran family was the first among the nobles to step forward.

I turned my gaze to him and smiled.

“I heard the Snake Venom Guild’s reputation is known throughout the empire, but I guess not. Yes, there is a way to verify their identity. They have a unique tattoo.”

Beregon hardened his expression and retorted.

“Tattoos can be copied easily enough.”

“The Snake Venom Guild’s tattoo uses special materials. These materials are not easily obtainable. Furthermore, they have great pride in their guild and have killed anyone who copies their tattoos. There is no doubt that those who invaded my palace and carried out today’s attack are members of the Snake Venom Guild.”

It was information I heard from Ken, so it must be correct. Beregon seemed to have no basis to refute my logic and backed down.

“So, the culprit has been caught.”

Beregon was well aware that there was someone behind it, but he spoke as if the matter should end there.

“Round up all the remaining members…”

I interrupted Beregon’s words.

“Of course, the remaining members must be rounded up. What remains is the mastermind.”

As if he had nothing more to say to Beregon, I turned my gaze to Father.

It was just a simple conversation, but the nobles were more surprised by the fact that I spoke to Beregon without being intimidated than by the fact that I had been attacked.

‘Beregon is nothing.’

The owner of the empire sits on the throne.

I intend to use the authority of the emperor, who is more cold-blooded and ruthless than anyone else, so Beregon is nothing.

Of course, it would be a big mistake to think of Beregon as an easy opponent compared to Father, so I never let my guard down against Beregon.

Right now, it’s just a process of showing everyone that I’ve changed through Beregon.

And Father, perhaps sensing that fact, began to show a variety of expressions.

“Indeed. It’s hard to believe that a mere guild would carry out such a bold act.”

He was taking my side in a place where everyone in the audience hall was watching.

Of course, everyone thought there was someone behind it, but it was a different matter when the emperor acknowledged it.

I went one step further.

“Recently, there have been many incidents in the Crown Prince’s palace. Before the assassination attempt, two knights insulted me.”

Beregon didn’t reveal any expression.

Before I knew it, he had composed himself and was calmly watching the situation like the head of the empire’s leading family. It felt like he was watching to see what I would say.

I ignored the murmuring nobles and continued.

“It has been revealed that the deputy chief of the Crown Prince’s palace, along with servants and maids, were privately embezzling the budget allocated to the palace. They dared to use the Crown Prince’s palace budget to increase their own wealth, and some of it flowed somewhere else.”

As I spoke, I glanced at Ted and smiled.

Most of the nobles knew that many of the imperial palace’s servants and maids were from the academy run by the Aetran family.

Just as Ted was about to step forward, Duke Beregon subtly grabbed his cloak.

‘Too bad.’

Ted wasn’t easily agitated and wore a thorough mask, but he might not have been able to tolerate the fact that the flow of my words was subtly heading towards the Aetran family.

But Beregon stopped him.

Father said.

“There have been quite a few incidents.”

“They can be said to be different incidents, but I think there is a flow to all of these events. The deputy chief, servants, and maids embezzled the budget and reported various issues related to me to a certain place, and as a result, the security of the Crown Prince’s palace, which should never have been breached, was breached.”

In the first place, there was no security in the Crown Prince’s palace.

But there should be security in place. The Crown Prince’s palace requires a level of security similar to that of the Emperor’s bedroom.

Those in charge of security were desperately managing their expressions.

The reason they couldn’t rashly take my side here was because their lord, Beregon, was watching.

“And it led to the attack. It seems the forces that have been watching me for a long time are behind it.”

Father rose to his feet.

He slowly descended from the throne and approached me.

I felt suffocated, but I calmly met Father’s gaze.

A low voice landed in my ear.

“What do you want?”

I replied briefly.

“Investigative authority.”

* * *

The fact that I summoned a high-level spirit in the audience hall to defeat the enemy was not mentioned at all.

All the emphasis was placed on one thing.

The Crown Prince was directly investigating the mastermind behind the assassination by order of the Emperor.

And in the audience hall, I created an atmosphere as if the Aetran family was behind it.

“You really used both methods.”

Ken didn’t say a word in the audience hall.

Originally, his official position was a servant of the Crown Prince’s palace.

It would change soon if the Crown Prince’s palace organization itself was reorganized, but in any case, a servant couldn’t express his opinion in the audience hall.

The nobles were curious about who had helped me, but I didn’t say a word about the spirits or about Ken and Soris.

Perhaps people would only become aware of the existence of Ken and Soris after they returned home today and thought carefully about what happened in the audience hall.

Because the shock of the fact that Father directly entrusted me with the investigation was so great.

Through this investigative authority, I gained the power to eliminate my political enemies.

Of course, that power was not my political influence or spiritism, but solely Father’s authority.

“I showed the nobles that I had completely changed, and everyone seemed flustered. Not to mention the princes and princesses. If I have the ability, I am the rightful heir.”

The people in the audience hall today were all aiming for the position of Crown Prince.

They were either connected to the princes and princesses by blood or had sworn allegiance to them.

Of course, there were also pro-emperor nobles, but they were a minority.

‘His skills themselves are so outstanding that he is not pushed back by the majority of the noble faction… Above all, if there is no problem with Father’s health, Father has the power to suppress even the huge power of the noble faction.’

I told Ken about the future.

“Anyway, I got the justification.”

“Yes. But it won’t be easy to involve the Aetran family. They are not behind the assassination… And even if you use the deputy chief’s case to involve them, their power is likely to be enough to cover it up.”

I knew what Ken was talking about.

“That’s right. In fact, I don’t even expect to be able to involve the Aetran family. I was just aiming for the effect of putting pressure on them.”

“Yes. Just by receiving investigative authority from His Majesty and pressuring the Aetran family in a strange atmosphere in the audience hall, the view of His Highness has completely changed.”

I smiled and nodded.

“And I can also lead Chen to be careless. My words aren’t completely unconvincing, are they?”

“Yes.”

Ken agreed.

“If you focus the future investigation on the Aetran family, the carelessness will probably deepen. They will quickly forget about the thought of failure.”

I brought up a heavy story.

“How many of the Shadow Walk Guild members have died?”

“Three died in battle, and two of the ten seriously injured died while receiving treatment. The remaining injured will all recover.”

“Compensate the dead as much as possible. Call Soris.”

After Ken left, he returned with Soris after a while.

Soris’s expression wasn’t very good.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No. I’m sorry. Your Highness… Even though I prepared in advance, I couldn’t handle it properly.”

In fact, I didn’t expect a full-scale attack, so it wasn’t Soris’s fault.

And I felt the full potential of Soris and the Shadow Walk Guild members.

“It was an unplanned event, and it was dangerous, but you and the guild members handled it well. I plan to reorganize the Crown Prince’s palace organization soon, so you and your guild members will officially become my subordinates.”

Soris bowed deeply.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“This investigation will require a lot of work from you and your subordinates.”

“I will do my best.”

“Have a good conversation with the Shadow Walk Guild and organize it appropriately. It would be difficult if there was a problem with the guild leader.”

In any case, Soris and his subordinates still belonged to the guild.

“I will make sure there are no problems.”

I lightly patted Soris’s shoulder.

I immediately said to Ken.

“Ted’s knights are still in prison, right?”

“Yes.”

“Bring them to the palace for now. Interrogate them along with the assassins and try to involve the Aetran family as much as possible.”

“Second Prince Lee seems to be quite angry.”

I smiled.

Ted was a perfect prince on the outside, but I knew his true nature well.

‘With that cruel personality… He might kill a few people in a fit of anger.’

That’s not my business, and anyway, I showed a completely different side of myself through this incident, so I expected various reactions.

“Perhaps a full-scale check might begin. Although I didn’t say it in the audience hall, it seems everyone knows that I summoned a high-level spirit.”

“That’s right. I was careless about Your Highness… Perhaps a full-scale competition might begin.”

“A full-scale competition?”

At my question, Ken nodded.

“Yes. His Majesty took Your Highness’s side this time… But something feels…”

Ken narrowed his eyes.

“What feels like?”

When I urged him, Ken carefully replied.

“It felt like he could finally compete properly. It felt like the Crown Prince had finally come on stage.”

I recalled Father in the audience hall.

“Came on stage…”

I ended the conversation briefly.

“Let’s stop here for today. I’ll be busy for a while.”