Chapter 204
Chapter: 204
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 204
>Chapter Title: Louise (7)
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The first morning in Sigismund Territory. Sungjin opened his eyes at the usual time without fail.
But instead of jumping up to start meditating like always, he lay still, gazing at the dim beam of light seeping through the small window.
It was an indescribable, strange feeling. A precarious and unsettling sentiment that seemed like it would scatter if he so much as turned his head.
‘Why do I feel so off? Is it because the bed’s unfamiliar?’
Or maybe because he’d pushed himself too hard late into the night before.
As he raised his hand to block the sunlight with such thoughts, Sungjin suddenly noticed a boy’s small hand—familiar yet unfamiliar.
‘…Ah!’
He had a vague idea now.
From here on out, he had to live a proper life as Moreth. Maybe he was unconsciously feeling the pressure.
It would surely be different from his previous life, defined solely by revenge. This wasn’t some extra vacation tacked onto the end of life, nor was it a life borrowed temporarily to return to someone else.
This was the full, complete life of a young boy with a brilliantly shining potential, a family that loved and was loved, one that he absolutely could not fail.
‘That’s too much for an old geezer like me.’
Everything that had seemed so clear until now suddenly felt vague and anxious.
Yet that very feeling was somehow thrilling, not entirely unpleasant.
‘Well, I’ll just have to make it work somehow.’
As he steeled himself with that resolve—
Knock knock.
Along with the knock, Edith entered as always, holding a pitcher of water.
“Did you cough during the night, Your Highness?”
Ah, Edith.
My devoted maid, flawless no matter where I put her.
I just hope she doesn’t cause any trouble while staying at the count’s estate.
When Sungjin stared at her more intently than usual, Edith flustered a bit and began making excuses in a panic.
“Ah, forgive me, Your Highness. Yesterday, I was following the head butler around, receiving training on what’s needed in the count’s residence, so I neglected my duties. Thankfully, Miss Louise handled most of it, but were you very inconvenienced?”
“No. It was fine.”
Right. You might’ve dosed me with gallberry tea way more times than I even know.
I’ll remember that, so let’s get along from now on.
Edith shuddered and muttered.
“What’s this? Why am I suddenly getting chills…….”
As she busily activated the aura within her body, Maison arrived at Sungjin’s room as usual.
“Your Highness, did you have any issues overnight? How’s your body feeling?”
“Ah, come in. Sir Maison.”
Sitting up as he replied, Sungjin looked at Maison’s face anew.
Come to think of it, this man had always been consistently kind to Moreth since the first time they met.
Normally, he’d just think, ‘What a loyal personality.’ But the moment the possibility arose that it was truly directed at him, his feelings grew subtle.
Had he truly understood this man’s loyalty?
Had he responded adequately to it all this time?
“…What’s wrong, Your Highness?”
Maison asked, puzzled, sensing Sungjin’s slightly different aura.
“No. It’s nothing.”
Sungjin rubbed his eyes and sighed.
This is bad. If I keep acting like this, how am I supposed to face the Holy Imperial Family from now on?
‘Lady Amelia is Lady Amelia, Logan is Logan, and the little one is…….’
And that wasn’t all.
What about all the karma piled up by that utter scoundrel Moreth? The possibility that it was all actually my doing!
Sungjin suddenly felt his mind going blank.
“Your Highness?”
At Maison’s worried voice, Sungjin shook his head vigorously, shaking off the spiraling thoughts.
No, what good does thinking do here? I’ve got to face it head-on first.
For now, there was only one thing to do.
‘I need to wrap things up here quickly and get back to the capital!’
Let’s just get it over with fast.
Might as well look for some souvenirs as a bonus.
* * *
“I want to meet the Count of Sigismund.”
After a simple breakfast.
Orden and Hermann, summoned suddenly by Sungjin, were stunned by the prince’s abrupt declaration.
This suddenly?
“If I may be so bold, Your Highness. Isn’t this investigation supposed to be conducted in secret from the family head?”
“Exactly. Since he’s likely to disapprove, shouldn’t we first find decisive evidence to exclude the Millo Merchant Guild?”
The two panicked greatly and tried to dissuade him, worried the young prince’s impulsiveness might ruin everything.
“Hmm.”
“Moreover, Your Highness, if by any chance the family head…….”
Orden trailed off, unable to voice the rest.
The insignia of the Dark Cult discovered during the investigation, defying the family head’s opposition.
They wouldn’t want to believe it, but they couldn’t entirely rule out the possibility that the family head was directly involved with the wrong crowd.
However, Sungjin shook his head firmly.
“Ah, don’t worry about that. Based on my independent investigation so far, the count knew of the Millo Merchant Guild’s misdeeds and turned a blind eye, but there’s no evidence suggesting any particular ties to the Dark Cult.”
“…Pardon?”
Relief and confusion flashed across Orden’s face simultaneously.
It was fortunate if true, but the sudden assertion seemed highly suspicious.
“Independent investigation? What exactly…….”
“Years’ worth of territory management records. The territory’s finances. Transaction logs with the guild. Births, deaths, and disappearances among the residents. Records of beast incursions big and small, and subjugation counts, etc.”
Rustle.
Seeing the high-quality documents spread on the table, Orden and Hermann were speechless.
The prince had only been here a day. When on earth had he obtained such detailed materials!
As the group pored over the documents in admiration, Sungjin smiled inwardly with satisfaction.
‘Good. This might wrap up faster than I thought.’
It was sudden for them, but in truth, Sungjin had considered the possibility of meeting the count and hashing it out from the start.
Before coming here, Sungjin had proceeded with the investigation assuming two main possibilities.
First: Sigismund Territory had already fallen into the Dark Cult’s hands, or the count was deeply involved in something nefarious.
In that case, he’d have no choice but to involve the capital’s Holy Knights and launch a large-scale operation.
The Sigismund family, including Orden, would have no way to survive, and the territory would suffer irreparable damage.
‘But when I actually got here, I couldn’t detect any intervention from demons or anything similarly foul.’
He’d confirmed it through the Demon King’s Demon Eye, no less.
On top of that, the territory’s finances looked solid on paper, and they’d been stably repelling beast incursions for years.
What reason would the count have to ally with the Dark Cult?
That led to the second possibility.
The count had judged that the distribution of the mild drugs posed no real harm to the territory and decided to thoroughly ignore it.
And for this case, Sungjin had prepared for a peaceful negotiation through persuasion or threats.
“Impressive, Your Highness. These are truly meticulously investigated documents!”
Even as he spoke, Hermann kept exclaiming in awe while reviewing them.
“Nothing’s off here. And some of these include confidential items only insiders can access. How did you obtain all this?”
“Hmm. I can’t reveal the source, but I have a very capable informant attached to me.”
“Oh my, such an impressive informant…….”
Everyone was full of admiration for his resourcefulness.
“Huh? Wait a second…….”
Then, Hermann, spotting something in the documents, flinched and muttered.
“This handwriting is definitely the head butler’s. And the approval signatures are really the family head’s…….”
Rustle.
Sungjin hurriedly gathered the documents and made excuses in a fluster.
“Hmm, so, like I said, I have a very capable informant attached to me.”
“…….”
“…Forging handwriting’s a piece of cake.”
Under the two men’s dazed, incredulous stares, Sungjin cleared his throat and turned away.
[Hey, why not just come clean before it blows up?]
‘Are you nuts? I’m a guest here!’
He had his pride as a prince of the Holy Empire.
How could he admit to brazenly raiding the family head’s study on his first night in the territory?
‘Too bad. If Dasha had been with me as planned, we could’ve copied them perfectly and put them back without a trace…….’
For now, pin all the investigations on Dasha. With the family head away, the theft wouldn’t be noticed for a while.
In any case, Sungjin resolved to play innocent to the end.
“…I understand, Your Highness.”
Orden, looking at him with an odd gaze, eventually stroked his chin and sighed.
“I won’t inquire further about the source of these documents. So, what do you plan to do when you meet him?”
“I’ll convince him properly. He’ll cut ties with the Millo Merchant Guild on his own.”
“That won’t be easy. If he’s turning a blind eye of his own volition, not because the Dark Cult has leverage over him, then the family head must have his own valid reasons.”
Orden’s eyes held a faint sense of defeat, as if facing an insurmountable wall.
‘Even his own son finds him that intimidating…….’
Dasha had mentioned it too.
Despite being sandwiched between a father and son both hailed as swordsmanship geniuses, the count stood out just as much in territory management.
He probably had an extraordinary charisma.
“But rest assured. I have a plan. For the mild drugs, I’ll meet him myself and settle it definitively.”
Sungjin had not only the documents Dasha had gathered but also decades of records accumulated by exorcists and inquisitors.
If he combined them well, turning a territory into a Dark Cult den would take no time at all. What was so hard about that?
Threaten to bring in a heresy tribunal, and even the count wouldn’t refuse.
Smiling contentedly at the thought, he suddenly noticed Orden and Hermann’s faces drain of color.
Huh? What’s wrong?
The Demon King sighed.
[I told you, didn’t I? Don’t smile like that in public.]
No, why can’t a guy even smile freely?
* * *
That evening, Dasha, who had sneaked into the count’s estate, was pondering atop a tree.
Sigismund Count’s residence was a notoriously tricky place for an assassin to infiltrate.
For one, the terraces aside, the rough walls lacked any holds, making them extremely hard to climb. The building’s simple structure offered no other terrain to exploit.
Above all, the windows were barely palm-sized, so she worried her body might get stuck.
‘Guess I’ll have to find an opening and sneak through the corridors…….’
Then she startled.
The prince suddenly stuck his head out a small window and began waving enthusiastically right toward where Dasha was.
‘Dasha! Come in, come in.’
‘……?’
There were still people’s presences around the prince, perfectly intact?
Dasha hesitated briefly but couldn’t disobey the prince calling her again and eventually climbed through the small window.
Waiting there with the prince were two former knight commanders wearing contrasting expressions.
The affable Captain Bruno, smiling gentlemanly, and Sir Maison, scowling fiercely.
Flustered by the unexpected situation, Dasha just blinked, when the prince apologized awkwardly.
“Sorry for springing this meeting on you so suddenly, Dasha. But I’d always thought we’d have to arrange something like this eventually.”
“Your Highness…….”
“Of course, I know hiding your identity is paramount for you. But we’re bound together in fate now, for the long haul. So let’s make it as efficient as possible, yeah?”
Then the former Decaron Knight, Captain Bruno, tugged his mustache and nodded.
“I’d been wondering how long I had to pretend not to know you. Feels good to get it out in the open now. Name’s Bruno.”
A figure legendary among commoners for rising from rags to riches.
As Dasha awkwardly bowed back, the captain added with a pleased expression.
“Right, you gathered all that intel in just one day after arriving in Sigismund Territory, huh? His Highness wouldn’t stop praising you.”
“…Pardon?”
“I always thought you were remarkable from your visits to the Pearl Palace, but your information-gathering skills are top-notch too. I’m impressed.”
Dasha turned back with a face full of questions, but Sungjin slyly avoided her eyes.
Next to speak was Sir Maison, looking thoroughly displeased.
“So this is the informant. The shameless one who taught His Highness that nefarious ‘aura concealment’ trick.”
Hiccup.
Here it comes.
She hiccuped involuntarily in dread, but Sir Maison suddenly softened his stern face and nodded.
“But if you can procure such confidential documents in short order, I can’t help but acknowledge your skill. From now on, please take extra care not to slip up in assisting His Highness.”
Stunned by the former knight commanders’ unexpected reactions, Dasha turned to Sungjin with a bewildered look.
“…Your Highness?”
Uh, sorry, Dasha.
Good’s good, so can we just gloss over it?