Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.23 – The Knight Holds an Audience (4)
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"-These lowly scum are starting to crawl their way up."
Crack.
A fountain pen snapped in the hand of the noble princess, her dazzling silver-white hair fluttering.
It was a custom-made item crafted from the finest materials, befitting the princess's station.
Given the expensive materials, it was remarkably sturdy, so the fact that she broke it so easily was proof enough that the princess was no fragile flower.
"What a shame. It was a fine fountain pen... Please mind your strength, Your Highness. This isn't some boast about being raised on elixirs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."
"You insolent fool, flapping your mouth. A butler should worry about his master's hands before anything else."
"That might hold for an ordinary young lady, but worrying about you, Your Highness, might be the height of foolishness. Heh heh."
"...Insolent."
Tsk!
She clicked her tongue in displeasure. She was Isis Pendragon. Isis brushed off the broken fountain pen and took a sip of her cool tea.
"Hoo, even this doesn't calm the anger in my heart."
"Heh heh, does it displease you that much?"
"Of course. These lowly scum keep testing my patience."
"...You must watch your words. If you make such reckless remarks about the 'Guild Union' in an official setting, it could backfire on you."
"Nonsense."
Isis let out a scornful snort.
Lowly scum.
She was openly displaying her utter contempt for the Guild Union.
'Filthy little rats.'
Guild Union.
They were the fourth major power rising alongside the pillars that supported the kingdom: the Noble Council, the Merchants' Alliance, and the Mercenary Union.
They held no honor, power, or prestige like the Noble Council, nor did they control the flow of capital like the Merchants' Alliance. They weren't an independent military force like the Mercenary Union either...
"Remember this: the Guild Union commands the largest workforce in the kingdom—no, the entire continent. Provoke them wrongly, and you'll lose the 'people's support' in an instant."
"Do you think I don't know that? How dare you lecture me?"
"Consider it the advice of a worrywart old butler. Heh heh."
"...Hmph."
All talk and no respect.
Isis shot her butler a dissatisfied look. She wanted to give him a piece of her mind, but trying to prank him might backfire on her instead, so she had to exercise patience.
Competent people were always so insolent.
'...Of course I know that.'
Still, a ruler must acknowledge what needs acknowledging.
Isis cooled her head, replaying Albert's words—advice or nagging, she wasn't sure.
'To catch the irritating rat, I need to understand its habits first.'
Knowing your enemy clearly was the top priority in any strategy to defeat them.
So Isis grumbled curtly but held back her anger...
'...At times like this, I resent my late father.'
Her frustration was inevitable.
...What had allowed the Guild Union's power to grow in the capital to begin with?
None other than the late king granting them strength, which became the starting point for their rapid expansion.
The late king had said in life—
- If the power of nobles or merchants grows too great, it becomes entrenched interests, and the people's cries will grow louder. The powerless can't even make their voices heard, while only the privileged shout. How can that be a proper nation? So, we need a force to amplify the voices of the people, one strong enough to stand against the established powers... Yes, a faction for the common folk alone! Let us bolster the Guild Union. The more the nobles and merchants rampage, the more we need a united force to drag them down.
...Even now, it was a terrifyingly prescient vision.
The established powers.
The late king had already seen that the stupider and more corrupt the nobles and merchants became, the more the people's lives would suffer.
And ignoring the people's discontent would invite uncontrollable disaster, as proven in the war years ago.
'That's how Britann fell.'
Pendragon's long-time enemy, the Kingdom of Britann, fell not just from defeat in war with Pendragon—that was merely the signal flare for its downfall. Britann was already crumbling before the war even began.
They reaped what they sowed.
That's how she wanted to see it.
'...It was absurd.'
Even in defeat, with the continent's largest granary in the south and abundant resources, they had the means to recover.
Yet not a single citizen yearned for Britann's revival or hesitated to abandon it...
It was the result of repeated blunders: raising taxes and prices not to share with the people, but to swell their own coffers, ultimately losing the people's trust.
Well, thanks to that, Pendragon's victory made population influx and integration relatively smooth—Pendragon had reason to be grateful for their enemies' folly.
...Though there were some rebel factions.
In any case, this chain of events served Isis as an excellent cautionary tale.
'The kingdom isn't just the sovereign's—it's the people's too. The moment you lose their trust is when the nation truly falls.'
The beginning of a fallen nation.
...And to avoid that path, smooth communication and direct dealings with the Guild Union were necessary.
Even if it was a force of filthy street rats, she had to acknowledge that they voiced the grievances of the powerless.
However.
"Still, I can understand Your Highness's frustration. They're crossing the line. To think they'd start backroom deals with the great nobles—no kidding."
"Too late to take their side now."
-Their goodwill had turned into entitlement, creating cracks. But still.
Isis hardened her expression and scanned the documents again, clicking her tongue.
Still unpleasant, no matter how many times she looked.
"'Secret meetings with great nobles and various merchant houses confirmed'... Those shallow fools. Bellies full, now they want power too?"
"I suspect they want strong influence over the kingdom rather than raw power. Grown so big, they've forgotten their roots and think they're wolves now. Heh heh."
"...You find this amusing?"
Isis caught a hint of amusement in Albert's tone, which sounded sharp at first glance.
It felt like he was enjoying the nobles' collusion with the Guild Union.
And sure enough.
"Watching a fight is always fun, after all."
"......"
As expected, to that superhuman in butler's guise, power struggles or the birth of new warlords held no interest.
Of course, in his eyes, all their actions were...
'Just sandcastles he could topple anytime.'
...Truly, an exceptional but overwhelming butler.
"Hoo."
Isis tousled her neatly combed hair and sighed.
The situation was a headache: bad timing, circumstances, lack of justification piling up.
She desperately wanted to rein in the Guild Union, but she didn't know exactly what they were plotting with the nobles and merchants. Likewise, the nobles' and merchants' schemes weren't clear yet.
So it was all a headache, and Isis resigned herself to overtime into the night.
"The trials of youth are the privilege of the young. Chin up, Your Highness."
"...I'm turning forty this year."
"To borrow Sir Lee Han's metaphors, you're still in your prime, a vigorous twenty."
"......"
"And royals whining about age? Boast about it after you pass 150."
"Ugh..."
For some reason, it sounded like he was telling her to work even after a century, leaving her inwardly conflicted.
At that moment.
Knock knock.
"Princess! I'm here!"
"...If you've knocked, shouldn't you wait?"
"Oh, right! I'll step out and come back."
"......Never mind."
Talking to herself was pointless.
Watching her utterly bright-eyed maid, Isis felt a different kind of headache and pinched her brow.
Leira Winter.
Isis's direct maid, assigned to attend her sworn little brother.
...Word was she wasn't attending him so much as wrecking his household.
But such minor issues weren't for Isis to worry about. What mattered now was why this bright-eyed maid was in the palace.
"I placed you with my sworn brother trusting your diligence. Why are you in the palace? Do you find my orders amusing?"
How could she neglect her duty and be here?
Well, she wasn't really scolding her maid.
It was just habit, and scolding wouldn't get through to her anyway.
It was more genuine curiosity. Leira opened her mouth, eyes sparkling as always.
"It's not that—Sir Knight asked me to pass on a message!"
"...That boy?"
"Yesss!"
"Hm."
Isis knew he rarely sent messages through her directly.
He might drop hints occasionally, but outright sending a message like this was extremely rare.
...Suspicious.
And—
"Sir Knight said, 'I'm about to throw down with the Guild Union, so please handle the cleanup.' He said you'd figure out some justification on the fly?"
"......"
Her unease was spot on, and Isis pinched her brow again.
"Heh heh, what a top talent. He solves Your Highness's dilemma in one go. Heh heh!"
"Don't laugh. I'm serious right now."
"Isn't it delightful? He always exceeds expectations—such a joy."
"Nonsense."
"...Hm. Despite your words."
"......"
"You seem pleased."
"......"
She couldn't stop the satisfying sense of anticipation blooming within her.
And the knight who had boldly asked a princess of the realm to handle his cleanup—
"-You'd better talk straight. Lie even once, and your head's the first to go."
"......"
...was threatening the life of the Guild Union chairman.
"......Ha."
The Guild Union chairman let out a dazed laugh, at a loss for words.
The knight before him radiating murderous intent, his sprawled-out subordinates.
Smashed doors and desks everywhere, cracks in the building floor.
Even a gleaming hand axe embedded upright in the table.
Caught between a rock and a hard place.
This must be what a no-retreat crisis felt like. He couldn't even meet the knight's eyes directly.
'Damn it, I've run into a real lunatic...!'
...He was too afraid to make eye contact.
Simon, the Guild Union chairman, was rediscovering the timeless truth: better the devil you know than the man with a hand axe whose eyes gleamed with killing intent.