6.
The Emperor’s knights and inspectors burst in all at once.
“Everyone, stop what you are doing and step back against the wall!”
The fierce spirit of knights who had marched through battlefields with the Emperor was far too intense for mere desk-bound clerks. Startled, the staff stiffened, glancing at one another before scrambling toward the walls.
The knights lined up across from us, maintaining a fixed distance as if to monitor our every breath. A stern warning echoed: since this was an Imperial order, we were not to cause trouble or incite suspicion. Terrified, the staff kept sending silent, pleading glances toward Donovan. It was their way of begging him to do something—anything.
*You’d think we’d at least deserve to know why we’re being raided.*
Unable to withstand the dozens of piercing gazes, Donovan, sweating profusely, finally approached one of the knights.
“I, um… may I ask what this is about…?”
He had spoken with a decent volume at first, but as the knight’s gaze locked onto him, his voice withered away—a truly pathetic display. The knight scanned him from head to toe.
“Are you the one in charge here, Donovan Shrodes?”
“That is correct.”
Donovan affirmed this with a tone that suggested he wished he could deny it. The knight called over an inspector.
“Donovan Shrodes is here.”
The inspector approached, his eyes cold. “Evidence has been discovered in the reports submitted from this office suggesting document tampering to facilitate tax evasion, bribery, and the creation of slush funds for the House Camelot and its subordinate families.”
Donovan’s face turned from pale to a sickly, bluish-white. “What? T-that’s impossible!”
The inspector, who had been watching Donovan repeat the phrase with a vacant expression, scoffed. “It must be possible, given that we are investigating it.”
As if he had no further use for him, the inspector handed Donovan over to a knight and began sifting through documents while calling for Andrew.
“The person in charge of the Duke Camelot estate and the surrounding area… that would be Andrew Nopen.”
Andrew, who had been hiding at the very back, was dragged out. Held by his arms by knights who towered over him, he kept glancing backward as if desperate to run. The inspector opened the middle section of the documents he held and presented them to him.
“Are you the one who drafted this report, Andrew Nopen?”
It was a copy of the strategic materials trade report for the western region. The very one I had stayed up all night drafting to help Connie a few days ago.
Realizing that we were doomed once he saw the names of the estates listed, Andrew’s face turned the same sickly blue as Donovan’s. He shouted as if he had found his own lifeline.
“Th-that wasn’t me! Constance did it! Two-thirds of the people here must have seen Donovan instructing Constance to do the work!”
He pointed toward Connie, just in case the inspectors didn’t know who she was. “That carrot-haired woman is Constance.”
Connie, suddenly singled out, momentarily started to look my way before stopping herself.
“Well, I’d have to look closer, but at a glance, it does seem like something I would have done…”
She answered vaguely, offering a stiff, awkward smile. I didn’t even have a chance to correct her.
“We are arresting the culprit who aided in the House Camelot’s bribery and slush fund creation!”
The moment Connie gave a semi-affirmative answer, she was seized. Andrew was hauled off right after her, under the pretext that he needed to be questioned. The remaining staff were herded out of the building, and the entire wing used by the Ministry Of Finance was seized.
The knights and inspectors sifted through the office to collect evidence. Not a word was spoken until they disappeared, their arms full of files. Everyone looked somber at the sudden misfortune, but I felt my own complexion drain to a deathly gray.
Knowing that Connie and I were close, some of the staff kept their distance, fearing they might be suspected as accomplices. Others shot me suspicious glances. I politely brushed off their worried remarks while my mind raced.
*What is happening? Why Connie?*
The knights had dragged the three of them away, citing complicity in the House Camelot scandal.
*They presented the western region’s report as evidence.*
But I had done nothing for House Camelot. I had simply drafted the report based on the western accounting ledgers organized by Andrew.
*That means something got twisted somewhere in the middle.*
As the true drafter, I knew that 90% of the trade details covered in that document were iron ore.
*I remember it being difficult to grasp because the debt relationships between the vassal families were so tangled.*
Let’s assume Duke Camelot used those debts surrounding iron ore to facilitate bribery and build his slush fund.
*Whether through the Minister’s reports or some other intelligence, it seems the Emperor has finally caught a lead to strike down House Camelot, and he’s taken the drafter of these reports to secure the evidence.*
The Emperor was famous for his cruelty, but he was not the type to punish those who were truly innocent.
*Besides, I didn’t actually participate in the crimes.*
It was unpleasant to be linked to a scandal I hadn’t touched, but if I clarified the facts calmly, I would be released. If things didn’t go well, I might have to suffer for a few days, but there had been no need for Connie to step forward. Now that she was taken, revealing that I was the true drafter was not a good idea.
*They’ll just drag us both away, thinking we’re all in on it.*
It would only result in the number of prisoners in the Imperial Palace detention center growing from three to four. For now, I suppressed my guilt by mentally scolding Connie for being a nosy meddler, praying only for her swift release.
A few hours later, rumors began to circulate that during their interrogation, Donovan and Andrew were pinning everything on Connie—a classic case of cutting off the tail to save the head.
“Insane bastards.”
After hearing this from Heather, who had come specifically to relay the news, I spat out a string of curses. I could see the staff, who had been peeking through the windows, quickly returning to their seats. It was rare for me to show such emotion; I usually became calmer as my anger peaked. Even as I acted as if I might rush to the detention center to grab Donovan by the collar, my head was rapidly cooling.
Donovan was, without a doubt, suspicious. It didn’t feel like a statement born from the cowardice of someone trying to save their own skin, like Andrew.
*It feels more like they’re moving according to a pre-written script.*
The phrase Donovan had muttered repeatedly, “That’s impossible,” echoed in my mind again. A truly innocent man would claim he was being framed. To act as if he were certain he would never be caught…
There was another reason I suspected Donovan. Why did he entrust the work to Connie instead of the person in charge, Andrew? I had joked to Connie back then, *“Donovan must think you’re the easiest target.”*
Connie was a commoner with no family name, raised in an orphanage attached to a temple. She had graduated from the Academy with excellent grades, but she had absolutely no backing.
*If Donovan is the culprit, his intention from the very beginning must have been to frame Connie the moment things went wrong.*
Donovan was a small-minded man driven by pride, much like a rabbit building multiple burrows to escape. It seemed he had created an extra exit for himself, trusting that he would never be caught.
*If my guess is right, Connie is in danger.*
I regretted the days ago when I had ignored the warnings of my intuition, trusting in Donovan’s baseline because I couldn’t imagine he would commit such a grave act.
*I should have been more suspicious.*
But there was no time for regret.
*There were parts that bothered me when I was drafting those documents.*
I would start there. I had been rushed and exhausted, so I had glossed over them. But if the ledgers submitted by the west were indeed tampered with, I would be able to find the point of interference if I dug deep enough.
*Numbers don’t lie.*
I began to organize my next move.