Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: A Prime Example of a Splendid Deal
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“ Your Majesty the King.
They say Count Sefer Kashugar has been apprehended.”
At the chamberlain’s words, Edgar IV nodded with a face grown icy and rigid.
He then lifted the cup before him, filled with tea long gone cold.
“Everything you said was spot on.”
The woman of captivating beauty and mysterious age bowed her head at Edgar IV’s words.
When she raised it again, the pointed tip of her ear peeked out from beneath her hair.
“Helen Hynes.
Owner of the Hynes Merchant Company.”
“Yes, Your Majesty the King.”
“I have one question.
You’d been aiding Kashugar in plotting this horrific scheme up until now—why step forward to reveal it all to me on the very day of the uprising?”
It was a point strange enough to raise eyebrows for the king himself, and for anyone else who heard.
She could have alerted him the moment she was coerced, or even during the preparations—so why wait until the day the plot burst into the open?
“I was under surveillance until then.
Even as the head of a rather large merchant company, true power ultimately comes from ‘martial might.’
When Kashugar’s side pressed down with force, there was little even I could do.”
“Hmm.”
“Only on the final day did the watch over me loosen slightly, allowing me to come to Your Majesty before the uprising could begin.
But I never imagined he’d catch on and accelerate his plans like this…”
With her hands and feet bound tight and a blade at her throat, Edgar IV had no words to offer.
Finding that gap and risking everything to come forward was praiseworthy in itself.
“Helen Hynes.
You’ve done well.
But I won’t express my thanks.”
“…”
“No matter the circumstances, you and your company were involved in this affair.
Even if coerced, it doesn’t erase the crime entirely.”
“I am prepared for that.”
“…Even so, I can’t overlook the merit of coming forward at the risk of your life.
Thus, I have no intention of pursuing the matter further against you or your company.
Do you find my judgment unfair?”
“How could I?
To think of living on Hispania’s soil and being forced into such a vile act—it fills me only with regret.”
Then that’s for the best.
Edgar IV murmured to himself as he set down his teacup.
“To think such formidable figures were backing Count Kashugar’s house.
Not attacking the palace outright, but striking the nobles to sow discord and crumble us from within…”
“…What of the assailants?”
“One fairy like yourself was captured; the rest were all slain, they say.
Good heavens.
Raido—that old man—when did he take on such a fearsome youth as his disciple?”
It was Lucia and Kim Yu-hyun, whom Sion had sent into the palace ahead of time.
And Kim Yu-hyun, forewarned, was already guarding the path to the banquet hall with ironclad resolve.
Not merely tripping them up, but a powerhouse capable of severing their ankles entirely and leaving them to crawl.
“Helen Hynes.
Do you know why Count Kashugar joined this plot, or what drove those shadowy forces to conspire in fracturing the kingdom?”
“…I don’t know for certain.”
“I see.”
“But whenever I visited the Kashugar count’s estate, I could tell he was hiding something.”
She made no direct mention of the slaves.
Only a vague, sweeping answer: “He was hiding something.”
But that was enough.
Helen knew well that for a king already resolved to strike down Kashugar, too much detail might breed suspicion.
“You’ve done well for now.
I’ll provide you a room in the palace for the day—rest there.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty the King.”
Helen immediately grasped that Edgar IV meant to shield her from any potential assassins.
As she rose to leave, Edgar IV slowly spoke once more.
“Helen Hynes.
One more question, if I may?”
“Please ask.”
“You could have stayed silent and been done with it—why choose to reveal this?”
At that question, Helen nearly confessed it was for her revenge, but held her tongue.
Exposing her past to others was something she absolutely refused to do.
Instead, she decided to gift the man who had brokered such a fine deal for her.
“I’ve heard news of Young Lord Sion Klauzen.”
“Hm?”
“His speech at the banquet two days ago.
The one where he said he’d merely fought at the hero’s side, honoring all those who toiled far away to protect this nation and its people—I heard it all, and it made me wonder what I should do.
Even a mere merchant like me has no desire to watch this country they struggle to defend crumble away.”
Edgar IV nodded at Helen’s words.
A sigh escaped him unbidden.
Word had come again of how Sefer Kashugar had exposed what Sion Klauzen had labored to conceal.
‘He can’t handle mana at all.’
The device attached to the city walls to detonate the mana bombs operated by injecting mana from its bearer.
Had someone else been with Sefer, they might have shared the suspicion—but no one would imagine the mana-incapable Sion Klauzen touching such a thing.
‘Worse, he was reportedly injured in the blast aftermath—that worries me.’
Margrave Lichten Klauzen of the borderlands had loyally guarded his back for decades.
And his son, Sion Klauzen, barely of age, had achieved the unbelievable in battle.
Just when he’d seen him as a steadfast ally for the next ruler, he’d nearly lost that hero at the very party meant to celebrate him.
“Your Majesty.
Young Lord Sion Klauzen has arrived.”
At the chamberlain’s words, Edgar IV bade him enter.
Moments later, Sion entered, his face utterly haggard, and the king unwittingly clicked his tongue.
Seeing the young man caught in the blast due to Sefer’s villainy, reduced to such a state, stirred pity beyond measure.
“Are you all right, Young Lord Sion?”
“It’s nothing.
More than that, I’m sorry for causing you worry.
I thought it was just Count Sefer’s kindness and boarded the carriage, only to get swept up in…”
By rights, Sion should be under investigation too.
Whether willingly or not, he’d been in the carriage with Sefer, and it was possible he’d provided the ignition device as claimed.
Yet the possibility seemed not just low, but near zero to any observer.
He hadn’t set foot in the capital for years until this one visit.
Moreover, Sion had fought Nudia on the front lines for Hispania, hailed as a war hero—why would such a man suddenly attack the palace?
If anything, the Kashugar count’s house, with testimonies of hiding something, looked far more suspicious by orders of magnitude.
“Cough, cough!
Ah, forgive me.”
His once refined features now evoked a fragile invalid.
The sight stirred sympathy in onlookers, maternal instincts in women—none could dare name him a suspect in this.
“Father!”
The door flew open as Princess Vanessa burst in.
Her face flushed from hurried steps, she panted heavily.
“At least observe basic decorum, Princess Vanessa.”
“Ah, forgive me.
I just couldn’t help…”
Spotting Sion there, Vanessa let out a silent sigh of relief.
Hearing he’d been at the epicenter of the wall-collapsing blast had made her heart sink.
What if he was hurt?
Sefer Kashugar, that utterly loathsome scum!
Cursing him inwardly, she’d raced here upon learning Sion had entered the palace and was heading to the king’s office.
“Young Lord Sion Klauzen.
Are you… all right?”
Fearing her feelings would show, Vanessa forced a casual tone.
Sion replied with a weary smile.
“I… don’t know, Princess.”
Ah.
Vanessa sighed despite herself at his answer.
The youth so bold mere days ago now looked ready to collapse.
The blast’s aftermath played a part, but so did the weakness Sefer’s scheme had brutally exposed.
‘Unable to handle mana at all.
For someone like Young Lord Sion to have such a fatal flaw…’
The heavens are cruel, she thought—if gods exist, isn’t this too much?
Not some rural commoner or ordinary noble, but the prime heir to a margrave territory, devoid of mana affinity.
In a world where nearly everyone wielded basic mana, that was a lethal weakness, an insurmountable barrier.
Yet Sion wasn’t a knight or mage reliant on mana, so concealing it wasn’t impossible with effort.
He’d fought in the war without it, earned merits, fulfilled all a noble’s duties.
But that damned, detestable Sefer Kashugar had dragged it into the open for all to see.
Now every soul in Hispania—and beyond—knew Sion Klauzen of Klauzen Margrave Territory could never wield mana.
“Young Lord Sion.”
“Yes, Princess.”
“…Do your best.”
“Pardon?”
Startled briefly by the princess’s words, Sion soon smiled and bowed his head.
As if apologizing for the scandal and all else.
Vanessa wanted to tell him not to bow.
If anyone owed apologies, it was her—or the kingdom entire.
“Your Majesty the King.
Is this the lady the knights mentioned, head of the Hynes Merchant Company?”
While Vanessa grappled with her remorse alone, Sion gazed at Helen seated nearby and asked.
His reaction was that of one meeting a figure known only by rumor for the first time.
Helen Hynes swallowed dryly at that.
‘A man even more so than me.’
She had prepared for one man’s death.
Building her company, earning nobles’ trust, weaving the noose for Kashugar bit by bit.
Yet this man—this noble youth Sion Klauzen—had ended it all in days.
As if holding everything in his palm, watching, then acting with utter certainty; events unfolded per his foresight, and he deceived all with brazen confidence.
‘Don’t give too much detail.’
‘Won’t that invite suspicion instead?’
‘In the game of power, those who know too much or speak too precisely draw far more doubt than the vague ones.
Act like you know just enough, not too much, and they’ll move as you wish.
This isn’t a ‘investigation’ to find the culprit—it’s a grand ‘show’ to eliminate obstacles.
Keep that in mind.’
Barely twenty, they said.
Yet his words and deeds echoed one who’d seen the whole world.
Or as if he knew every outcome from the start and bent them to his will—but impossible, so Helen dismissed it.
“Urgh…”
Meanwhile, Sion winced as if in discomfort, fiddling with his arm.
Each time, Vanessa sighed “Ah,” and Edgar IV let out a groan.
‘Oh dear, it hurts.
Look at me, please—look at meeee.’
In truth, his body was fine.
Had he been unaware and caught in the blast, maybe not—but knowing the full flow, he’d braced himself and even received a light shield from Lily.
He’d merely rolled on the ground a bit for effect.
To others, he was the ill-fated youth who’d endured every hardship, forced by the worst villain to bare his weakness.
‘They say looks deceive, but when they fool you utterly, that’s why they’re called deception.’
Add his status as Klauzen margrave’s heir, war hero, and the man who two days prior honored the fallen, praying for unity and the kingdom’s peace.
At this point, anyone muttering, ‘But what if Sion Klauzen orchestrated it…’ would be branded a traitor on the spot, head sent flying.
‘With this, Kashugar’s out.
And…’
Sion had good reason to make Kashugar explode like this.
For years, the great noble house of Kashugar had grown chummy with one particular figure.
That figure was none other than Erader Ragon Hispania.
Hispania’s first prince and the frontrunner for next king.