"It is Tenebrei."
The Emperor examined Jeremiah's corpse.
The Emperor did not examine it particularly closely; after checking the color of the necklace and briefly looking at the abdomen, he immediately rendered his judgment.
The appearance and the black necklace. Anyone who saw it would conclude it was Tenebrei. The Emperor looked at the fabric on the abdomen stained red.
There was a mark left by a blade stabbing into Jeremiah's abdomen. The Emperor knew where Jeremiah's emblem was located, so he might have felt something strange, but he showed no sign of interrogating further.
"Did you stab it?"
"No, I did not."
The Emperor was relieved to hear that answer.
Bishop Marik alone was enough to complicate matters, but of all people, it was Gabriel who brought the granddaughter's corpse. The children of the dragon that eats its own tail always bring chaos, he thought with troubled feelings. The granddaughter who killed his son was now killed again by the son he had abandoned—where else could there be such a ridiculous tale.
"Tell me how Tenebrei died."
Gabriel slightly altered the situation when reporting. 'Tenebrei' had been attacked by knights and was dying, and Gabriel had intended to capture her alive, but she had already lost too much blood and ended up dying.
"Did Tenebrei leave any last words? Though she is a sinner who killed her father, I wish to hear what she said before dying."
The Emperor asked, thinking he might at least listen to his dead granddaughter's final words. Gabriel knew the Emperor's intent, yet deliberately chose words she would not want to hear.
"She said she did not want to die."
The Emperor wiped his face with his hand. That was a dying wish that could no longer be granted.
"Anything else?"
"She said she was not Tenebrei, but Jeremiah."
"What?"
Gabriel gazed at the bewildered Emperor as the conversation he had just shared with Jeremiah came to mind.