VIO Ch 60.2 – The Unbeknownst Creeping Shadow (III)

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Editor: Fire

“What…?” Vio was dumbfounded.
Even though he didn’t intend to, a foolish expression crossed his face. 

Eh? What does that mean? According to the manga, Brother shouldn’t have done that yet…When did Princess Liona make a fool of him?

Since Vio didn’t have that information about what was currently happening, he wasn’t prepared at all.

After the confusion and the panic passed, Vio realized who they were suspicious of. Are they thinking that I’m an accomplice? Well, I was talking with her on the balcony at that time.
It wouldn’t be strange to think that I had guided the attacker there.

He happened to come to the balcony by chance.
But when taking an objective look at the incident, most people would see the situation as the younger brother cooperating to assassinate Princess Liona.

Vio’s heart was hammering.
He probably had a tense expression right now.

Ars snorted.
“If you’re acting, then you’re quite good at it… After looking at your state, I guess we’re wrong.
In the first place, there’s no evidence aside from the attacker’s testimony.
If Rupheus is the criminal, I’m sure he will be more clever.”

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Vio sighed in relief.
He felt a little dizzy, perhaps because he was unconsciously holding his breath.

Liona also looked somewhat relieved and added, “Your knight and my knight.
It was a coincidence that neither of them were there.
Night left my side incidentally.”

After a small pause, Vio answered, “Right.” 

Say what you like, but the news came as too much of a surprise to Vio.
His heart almost skipped a beat.
He knew that he would face execution when his family was destroyed in the war against Ruslan.
Even so, he never thought of a future where he got executed because he was suspected as an assassination accomplice.

This all happened as soon as he came to the castle.
He felt like he had seen a glimpse of the horrible whirlwind of schemes in the royal court. 

“I-I broke into a cold sweat when I wondered if I was under suspicion.
Haha…” Vio reached for his cup to calm himself down,but right after he took a sip, he choked.
Vio coughed and covered his mouth with a handkerchief.

He had even imagined himself standing under the guillotine. 

Seeing how terrified Vio was, Liona panicked.
“I’m sorry, Lord Violant.
Actually… we tried to coerce you into a confession.”

“Liona.”

“No, Your Highness.
It’s alright.
I won’t consider this a defamation of my character… If I was in your position, I would at least do this much,” Vio said as he raised his right hand, stopping Ars from reproaching Liona’s careless remark.
“If you’re suspicious of me, please investigate me until you are satisfied.
I will not run away or hide.”

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“No need.
I already know that you’re not an accomplice from your reaction a while ago,” Ars said readily and turned his eyes to Liona. 

Liona had a gentle but bitter smile.
“Lord Violant’s family seems to have a lot of enemies, but I do as well.
I’m also here to help with the investigation.”

“Is that so? If there’s anything I can do to help you, please let me know.”

“No.
I won’t ask for your help, so I want you to take a good rest.
I’m grateful that you covered for me that night.
I want to thank you, but…” There, Liona muttered, “Lord Violant doesn’t seem to be good at rough activities.
Please don’t strain yourself too much.
If you had taken the blow in the wrong place, you might have died.
”

“Haha…, That’s harsh.
But just as you suspected I’m no good at martial arts.
At that time, I just came up with an idea that it would have been better to set up a barrier.
I could only think of distracting him at once.”

“Distracting him was a good idea, but you wouldn’t have been able to control him.
I think you should’ve moved away from him after that.”

“Yes… I apologize.” Vio became crestfallen after Liona pointed out the areas needing improvement.

Even if Vio had this constitution, he was still a man.
He wanted to try saving a woman.

Sympathizing with him, Ars interrupted, “Liona, don’t hurt his pride that much.”

“No, I have to make sure that he understands my point,” Liona said, dead serious.
“It’s alright if his knight is by his side, but an emergency situation can happen anywhere, right?”

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Ars shrugged, now knowing how to respond.
“What you said is reasonable, so be careful Violant.
I heard from Lantz about the incident that night.
It sounded tough..”

Vio couldn’t say ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
He made a vague smile, bitter.
“It’s because Brother is strict.”

Ars grinned, amused.
“I heard about that as well.
Apparently you started a fight with your brother, eh.”

Vio had a morose expression.
“I’m sorry for making you listen to such an embarrassing story… I will be careful to not do anything that will trouble the royal family.
I humbly beg your pardon.”  

“I’m not telling you to reconcile with him.
You’re the one who has endured… I think it’s right for you to at least get angry.”

Vio felt embarrassed at Ars’ sympathetic words.
As Ars straightened his posture, he asked bluntly, “So? As the younger brother who is on bad terms with your older brother, what do you think of him? Do you think he would do something like that?”

“It’s not like I know everything about my brother, but… if he was the culprit, then I believe that he would have been more cunning.
I don’t think he would choose a difficult spot like the party venue to assassinate a princess.
Not to mention, he wouldn’t become hostile to nobles unless they embarrassed him in front of a crowd.
Princess Liona didn’t do such a thing, right?”

Rupheus’s likes and dislikes were clear.
Vio was grateful that his brother was easy to read in that aspect.

At Vio’s question, Ars and Liona looked at each other.
Vio’s expression turned puzzled.
“No way, did that happen…?”

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“Only once,” Liona replied.

Surprised, Vio opened his mouth.
“Is that so? That’s… No, I don’t think so.
Even if my brother had such thoughts, he would get revenge publicly first.
The order is not right.”

“That’s what I felt too.
So I stopped that impatient captain from assuming things and had him reinvestigate.” 

Vio and Liona glanced at each other simultaneously.
They knew that something sounded off, but no one commented on it.

“I’m fine with Your Highness examining this matter until you’re satisfied, but… was my family alright with the investigation? Or did they keep silent about this?”

“Are you implying that they want to investigate too?”

Vio nodded.
“I would be happy to cooperate, but at this point in time, before my brother officially becomes a suspect, I think it’s best not to let my family intervene.
If Your Highness handled this badly, they may pull some cheap tricks during the investigation and make a commotion.
It wouldn’t have any meaning then.”

“Well… you’re correct.
The news will probably leak soon, but keep in mind that you don’t know about this yet.
It would be troublesome if Rupheus got involved again.”

Vio blinked his eyes at Ars’ consideration and bowed.
“Thank you for your concern, Your Highness.”

For the time being, it was decided that Vio didn’t know about the suspicions directed towards his brother.