[2 days earlier]
One morning, several people visited David's house. Gruzhnil, Grelmure, and Glynpatra already knew about Johann's action previous midnight, while Sherubiel and Mendicore had only learned about it that morning. They saw workers repairing the throne chair, which was nearly finished. Gruzhnil asked the workers for a moment, then requested David's permission to talk briefly. David nodded, and they headed to the sofa room beside it to sit down.
"I sincerely apologize, Great Lord David, for what happened to your throne last night. I never imagined Johann could do something so reckless and go this far..." Gruzhnil still shocked.
David only nodded once while briefly closing his eyes.
"What do you think made Johann become like this? You two who live together with him surely able to explain what his condition was like before." Glynpatra asked Mendicore and Sherubiel.
Each of them began recounting how it had started two days earlier in the morning when Johann had suddenly changed his attitude without reason. That afternoon, when they visited Johann's room again, they heard that Johann was feared of what might happen to David. Gruzhnil had reassured him by saying that David was still fine after all. Yesterday afternoon, they met Johann again, and his condition had suddenly improved. He had even invited them to the rooftop café. They heard one question from Johann that seemed truly strange to them. However, Johann said it was only a joke, so they never realized that afterward Johann would do something so far beyond reason that it would land him in prison.
"I don't understand at all why Johann reacted so intensely when he heard that news. If I were him, I would be very proud of that..." said Grelmure.
Suddenly David immediately looked at Grelmure with a slight glare. As if knowing what David felt, Glynpatra immediately nudged Grelmure with her elbow, signaling him to stop talking about that.
"My deepest apologies, Great Lord David! I didn't mean to offend you..." Grelmure bowed several times toward David. Gruzhnil and Glynpatra only smiled at his behavior.
"Forgive me in advance, but I will attempt to interpret this. It is true that most of society sees Lord David differently after that news spread. However, Johann sees that all of us have been together with Lord David long before the great war happened. Perhaps what Johann wanted was for people to continue seeing Lord David as the same person as before." said Mendicore.
"Allow me to express my opinion. I would not consider Johann selfish. But we cannot fight the perception of society at large right now. What Mendicore said is true: all of us have known Lord David personally from the beginning. However, I suspect there is a specific reason beyond Johann's frustration beside that." said Sherubiel.
"That is correct. With your permission, my Lord, I feel my view didn't change much after learning that my Lord was the reincarnation of Archangel Marsiel." said Gruzhnil.
David silent briefly while glancing at all of them. "Something has influenced him..."
All of them were startled after hearing his words. They exchanged looks with one another.
"F-Forgive me, but do You mean there is someone else besides us who caused Johann to become like this? But we have seen that Johann is not close to anyone else besides us." Gruzhnil asked, followed by everyone nodding.
"It's not here." David said again.
Everyone became confused again trying to know who was that David meant. Suddenly Mendicore faced the group.
"Forgive me in advance, but I have observed a similar pattern in Johann's sudden behavioral change this second time. The first time, Sherubiel, Grelmure, and I learned that the change occurred after Johann experienced a nightmare about Grivendal being destroyed by Realm of Terror invasion, which never actually happened. When Johann experienced a sudden behavioral change for the second time, I believe it was most likely caused by another terrible nightmare." said Mendicore.
Gruzhnil, Grelmure, and Sherubiel nodded, seeming to agree with Mendicore's opinion. Glynpatra was still confused because she had only just learned about Johann's previous strange condition.
"But I'm still confused about how Johann could hide that bomb by himself without us becoming suspicious beforehand. It is impossible for this place to store explosives, isn't it?" said Sherubiel.
"He is quite clever when it comes to planning something. The bomb should have been safely stored in the weapons factory warehouse. Most likely, before that night, Johann visited the factory and secretly took the bomb, storing it somewhere, perhaps in a suitcase or something similar. You truly were not there at that time, were you, Mendicore? I know you possess teleportation abilities." said Gruzhnil. Mendicore firmly stated that it had absolutely no idea Johann had gone to the factory.
"So what do we do now? Can we not defend Johann at this point?" Grelmure asked anxiously.
"It's extremely difficult for me to file an appeal, Grelmure. All legitimacy possessed by Lord David has been established by the empire's constitution. What Johann did indeed violated that. I can't simply ask Father to change this suddenly. If they have surveillance footage showing Johann taking that bomb, then his verdict is sealed..." Glynpatra greatly concerned.
"W-Why did J-Johann have to do thiiiis...?!" Grelmure lamented and began sobbing. Gruzhnil gently patted his back to calm him down. David began to look uncomfortable with all of this. Not long afterward, they took their leave. Gruzhnil promised David that he would seek a way to ensure Johann's punishment would not become too severe. David merely nodded.
"Actually, I remember seeing Johann suddenly pull out a spray bottle from his hand during that war. Could that also be what enabled Johann to secretly summoned those bombs?" said Mendicore as they walked out.
Grelmure quickly recalled that incident when the two of them had been in the aircraft cockpit, then nodded lightly.
"I once saw Lord David suddenly summoned that large weapon when He wanted to destroy Arch-Licoth. Could that ability actually be connected to both of them?" Glynpatra asked again.
"To be honest, even now I have never known who Johann truly is, much less Lord David when they first arrived on this planet. The two of them are complete opposites, yet they seem to share a special connection that none of us can truly understand. Perhaps their existence will have a tremendous influence on the history of this Empire." said Gruzhnil. They all fell silent after hearing that.
"I still want to see Johann again... Can we visit him there?" Sherubiel asked. They all stopped and looked at her.
"Let's visit him right now. Even so, he still needs our presence." Gruzhnil invited.
"I-I don't want to meet him just yet..." Grelmure still sniffled slightly. Everyone looked saddened to hear that, especially Gruzhnil. He knew that his aide had always been close to Johann.
"It is alright, Grelmure. Don't force yourself right now. We can understand that..." Glynpatra reassured.
After that, they visited Johann's prison cell, and they only stared at him without saying anything at all. Some of them even turned their faces away because they still could not believe that someone they cared about had done such a thing. Sherubiel could no longer contain her emotions and cried in Glynpatra's embrace. Afterward, they returned to their respective places with heavy hearts.
That night, Gruzhnil and Grelmure came again to David's house, where Glynpatra, Sherubiel, and Mendicore had also arrived because Gruzhnil had contacted them earlier. David appeared confused by their sudden arrival, but Gruzhnil wanted to immediately deliver something extremely urgent to everyone. They gathered once more in the guest sofa room.
"I apologize to everyone for calling you here so suddenly. However, this is extremely important regarding, first, Johann's trial plan, and second, Tiberos's true plan!" Gruzhnil opened the meeting. Everyone looked shocked and worried, especially upon hearing Tiberos' name.
"I have already tried contacting one of the judges handling this case, and he said it would be extremely difficult to reduce Johann's punishment status because of what Princess Glynpatra explained before. The plaintiffs, who claim to represent the majority of Grivendal's people, wish to seek the harshest punishment possible, namely... the... d-death... p-penalty..." Gruzhnil held back tears as he spoke those final words. Everyone looked deeply devastated and lowered their heads.
David immediately appeared angry upon hearing that. Gruzhnil, seeing his reaction, asked him to remain calm because there was actually a reason why nearly all the people of Grivendal wanted Johann executed.
"...and that person is none other than Tiberos himself. I received information from one of my trusted subordinates that he secretly visited Johann. Afterward, Tiberos appeared extremely angry and ordered everyone to support Johann's execution." Gruzhnil disbelieved.
"H-How could he order everyone else to support him, U-Uncle?!?! Shouldn't they be loyal to your commands instead...?!?!" Glynpatra said in utter shock.
"I-I was completely caught off guard this time... Tiberos... He... He had been preparing this chaos since before the tragedy that befell your mother, Empress Glyresa..." Gruzhnil said he had just realized his greatest mistake.