The Power of the Devil (4)

Philly, enraged for the first time in a while, yelled at Ednet.

He shouted, saying things like, "Are you kidding me?", "Don't you even know what to report first?", and "Go find her right now!"

Only after Ednet retreated as if fleeing, did Philly let out a deep sigh.

Philly's arm naturally rose, his elbow resting on the desk and his hand on his head.

"...Elysia..."

Elysia.

Former First Princess Elysia Terst.

Needless to say, she was Philly's first daughter and originally the most likely candidate to ascend to the throne as the next Emperor.

...Of course, that was on the surface, but the reality was unknown. Elysia herself doubted it and planned the crime, and now that it has failed, she is no longer a princess.

Elysia, who tried to eliminate Aten and Roderick to become the undisputed Empress. Although it was an attempted crime, many people were injured and died due to the "attack." The crime was so severe that the Imperial Palace could no longer protect Elysia.

Rather, the public's voice was loud that Elysia should die, so simply being expelled from the Imperial Palace was an excessively light punishment.

'...Originally, I was going to send her into exile.'

But Elysia is still within the Empire. She wasn't even imprisoned for that long. She's just living as a commoner, hiding her name.

She changes her hair color and wears a mask. Under Philly's orders, she is under the Empire's surveillance.

It's a rather painful life, but it's true that she's receiving a lukewarm punishment compared to the crime she committed.

Being monitored also means being protected, and as long as she's not caught, there's no major inconvenience in terms of food, clothing, and shelter. She can even work and earn money to some extent.

Originally, Philly didn't intend to give Elysia such a light punishment. Even though she was her daughter, Philly knew she had to be strict because of that. So, she actually tried to send her into exile, but...

It was none other than Frondier who stopped it.

When Elysia's own plan failed, she should have died there. At the point where Philly and Frondier discovered the whole truth of the crime, and all means to silence them had failed.

Philly knew that too, so she tried to kill Elysia with her own hands. Borrowing Frondier's dagger.

Philly still vividly remembers the feeling. The moment she realized she had killed her own daughter with her own hands.

But Elysia didn't die. Frondier said the dagger she handed over had "extreme poison," but it was a kind of pun. It was a deadly poison, but there was enough time and means to treat it.

'Thinking about it now, Frondier was watching my choice.'

When she realized she had been deceived by Frondier, she was initially flustered and angry, but later relieved, and as time passed, she now has other thoughts.

What Frondier gave Philly was a dagger. A very sharp knife.

In other words, if Philly had reallynintended to kill Elysia, she could have done so without the poison. If she had stabbed Elysia's heart, she would have died without any need for poison.

But all Philly did was stab her less than 1 centimeter deep. The poison was enough for that, but it was a treatable poison.

How much regret Philly felt at that time. She had made up her mind to kill her daughter and did it, but it didn't help her accept her daughter's death at all.

'After that, I couldn't even think of killing Elysia again. Frondier saw that.'

Strangely enough, Frondier, who had interfered the most with Elysia's crime, was the one who most effectively prevented Elysia's death. She had changed Philly's mind, who had to do it and could do it most easily.

And Frondier even opposed exiling Elysia.

It's a bit of an old story, but it's vivid for Philly.

***

The day Frondier was exhausted from using the fireworks for the first time and Philly was supporting him.

Frondier said,

"If you exile her, Elysia will die. Her magic and skills are not suitable for survival."

That's right. Elysia spent most of her time on monster research and alchemy. Since she was originally a princess, she was desperately unskilled in areas that didn't interest her.

The further you go out, the more terrifying monsters lurk in the Empire. Exile to Frondier is practically a death sentence. Even besides Elysia, only a few people survive.

But still, there was a sliver of a chance of survival compared to actual execution. Philly thought that sliver was the maximum concession, but Frondier shook his head.

"Only you and I know the full extent of Elysia's crime. So we can downplay it to some extent."

"...That seems difficult. The Constel teachers have already noticed the rune thanks to you, and they know that Elysia was the mastermind."

"Yes, the teachers do. But they only received my opinion. There are many possibilities. That I was mistaken, or that Elysia was also a victim of the real mastermind."

Philly frowned as she understood the intention of Frondier's words.

"...Are you saying that we should falsely announce the whole truth of Elysia's crime?"

"We don't need to tell everything. The important thing is that very few people know the truth."

Philly rolled her eyes at those words.

It's not impossible. In fact, only the two of them saw and heard the Chimera and Elysia directly.

Even Philly wasn't sure about Elysia's acting for a while.

However, Philly felt that this situation was somehow strange.

"...But I didn't know Frondier wanted to help Elysia that much. It feels like it's the other way around."

That's right. The mother, Philly, is trying to exile Elysia, and Frondier is stopping her.

"Did you have some personal affection for Elysia? Then I feel sorry for our Aten."

Frondier shook his head at those words.

He said, avoiding her gaze a little, as if he still had some secret he couldn't tell.

"Saving Elysia is not for Elysia."

"...Yes?"

"To be precise, it's for you, Philly."

At that time, she didn't understand these words exactly, but...

Thinking about it now, it was rather a simple statement.

What kind of person Philly would become after killing Elysia. Even Philly herself shuddered at the thought.

Frondier then said again,

"And as for affection..."

The way he started speaking.

Philly, even then, and even now, after a long time has passed since that day...

"That's right. Elysia is a necessary person."

...couldn't forget that expression of Frondier's.