Chapter 393: Court Intrigue (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 393: Court Intrigue (2)
After handing his pass to the gatekeeper, Kang Hyun-woo was led by a man who had come to meet him and boarded a carriage.
However, no matter how he looked at it, the carriage wasn't heading toward the Ruby Palace but somewhere else entirely.
“Hey, where are we going?”
At Kang Hyun-woo's question, the man sitting across from him smiled meaningfully, revealing his true colors.
“Please forgive my rudeness. A person of high standing wishes to see you in person, Mage.”
“A person of high standing?”
“Let's just say she is the one at the pinnacle of power in the Nivia Kingdom.”
Kang Hyun-woo quietly stared at the man's affable, smiling face.
—!!!
“Keuk?!”
In that instant, an formless energy tightened around the man's neck.
Lifted into the air, the man desperately tried to summon his magic.
But against Kang Hyun-woo, who possessed several times more magic than a typical 5th Circle mage, it was futile.
“Why, why are you doing this... Keuk, keuk!!”
“Cut the crap.”
Kang Hyun-woo's black eyes glinted with killing intent.
The moment their eyes met, the man felt an indescribable pressure.
It was as if his neck was on the guillotine.
“C-Crap? What are you talking...!!”
“Playing dumb? Then let me ask you one thing. Is it a tradition in the Nivia Kingdom to hypnotize invited guests?”
“?!!”
The man was horrified by Kang Hyun-woo's words.
Just as he said, the man possessed a hypnosis-type ability.
He had been recognized for this power and tasked with winning over nobles both at home and abroad, and never once had his ability been detected.
It had even worked on a 5th Circle mage dispatched from the Magic Association.
That mage had left the kingdom without ever realizing he had been hypnotized.
'D-Don't tell me he's a 6th Circle mage?!'
The man swallowed dryly.
This was the worst-case scenario.
The order given to him was simply to bring Kang Hyun-woo. Using his ability had been entirely his own decision.
If the Second Queen heard about this, he wouldn't be abandoned or killed thanks to his useful ability, but the standing he had built up over the years would surely be jeopardized.
“M-Mage, you've misunderstood... Keuk?!”
Thud—
Suddenly, the man was released from the bind.
He collapsed onto the carriage floor, coughing endlessly and breaking out in a cold sweat.
“I see. It seems I was mistaken. Would you please forgive my error?”
“...”
The man was at a loss for words at Kang Hyun-woo's behavior.
This wasn't a situation he could smooth over with a clumsy excuse.
Moreover, mages were known to be rough and violent; it wouldn't be strange at all if he were killed on the spot.
“What is it? Don't tell me you're unwilling to accept an apology from a mage without a title?”
“N-No, not at all! I'm perfectly fine, so please don't worry about it!”
“Is that so? What a relief.”
Kang Hyun-woo nodded as if satisfied, but the man was utterly confused.
It was obvious that Kang Hyun-woo had seen through his ability.
'...What on earth is he planning?'
A cold sweat trickled down his back in anxiety, but whatever the case, the man had no choice.
For now, all he could do was hope Kang Hyun-woo's whim would last.
Afterward, Kang Hyun-woo alighted from the carriage and followed the man to the Sapphire Palace.
The palace he arrived at was incomparably more splendid than Elisabeth's Ruby Palace.
Unlike the Ruby Palace, which was so short on budget and staff that neither its gardens nor its interior were properly maintained, the gardens of the Sapphire Palace were lined with statues made of gold.
It felt like he had entered another world.
'She certainly seems to have a lot of money.'
Looking around the Sapphire Palace, Kang Hyun-woo smiled with satisfaction.
Soon, the Second Queen's fortune would be his... no, it would be returned to the national treasury. Just the thought of it was gratifying.
His own funds were a bit tight after he had converted most of his jewels and gold coins into cash to prepare for the auction in England.
Considering his journey ahead, he needed to secure ample war funds.
Of course, he could receive them from Elisabeth after this was all over, but Kang Hyun-woo's personality was such that he preferred extorting from those he disliked rather than taking from his own woman.
Hiding his true intentions, Kang Hyun-woo walked through the palace as if sightseeing.
Soon, they arrived before an ornate door.
“Your Highness, I have brought the mage as you commanded.”
—Yes.
Creeak—
Along with a venomous voice, the door slowly began to open.
Having met even the Queen of England, Kang Hyun-woo felt no particular nervousness and walked in calmly.
Inside the room, a noblewoman adorned with all sorts of jewels and an elderly, white-haired knight were present.
'Is that the Second Queen?'
Meeting the Second Queen's eyes, Kang Hyun-woo gave a slight nod.
There was no need to observe trivial etiquette.
By the standards of this world, it was normal for mages to be ill-mannered.
'I thought she'd be in her thirties at most, but she looks to be in her early... no, mid-forties?'
Kang Hyun-woo was inwardly disappointed. It was practically an unwritten rule that in situations like this, the queen would be a sexy villainess with a mole under her lip.
Then again, perhaps it was a good thing.
If she had been beautiful, he might have been reluctant to act against her.
“I'm sorry for the sudden invitation. But when I heard my one and only daughter had brought a man home, I simply couldn't remain idle.”
“It's fine.”
“I'm glad to hear that. Ah, my name is Serphina.”
“I am Kang Hyun-woo.”
Kang Hyun-woo gave a short reply and quietly took a seat.
The queen's expression hardened slightly.
“...Your name is a bit unusual. If you don't mind my asking, where are you from?”
“I'm from a minor tribe. You wouldn't have heard of it.”
At his tone, which was completely devoid of courtesy, the expressions of the watching servants darkened.
Despite the instantly tense atmosphere, Kang Hyun-woo paid it no mind and picked up his teacup.
“How dare you!!”
Enraged by the repeated disrespect, the knight was about to draw his sword when the Second Queen stopped him with a gesture.
Seeing this, Kang Hyun-woo fiddled with his teacup, a look of disappointment on his face.
'Flower Realm... no, is he a high-level Aura Master?'
Gabel Greymore Laxion.
As Marquis Laxion, he was not only the Second Queen's father but also the strongest swordmaster in the Nivia Kingdom.
He originally held a key position overseeing the military, but at some point, he began to serve as his daughter's personal guard.
Because of this, some pointed fingers, saying that Marquis Laxion had abandoned his pride and honor as a knight to gain power.
'Tsk, this could have been easy.'
Kang Hyun-woo's plan was simple.
First, he would provoke Marquis Laxion into attacking him, then kill him.
Of course, facing a marquis who had reached the Flower Realm wouldn't be easy, but since the marquis had to protect the Second Queen, it was like fighting with a dead weight.
It was obvious the battle would flow in Kang Hyun-woo's favor.
After eliminating the marquis under the pretext of self-defense, he planned to assassinate the queen and the prince.
Some might call it an overly drastic measure, but they were the ones who had tried to poison Elisabeth when she was only ten and had made dozens of assassination attempts since.
Finally, he would drag out Count Hevaron, the leader of the neutral faction, and semi-forcefully make him support Elisabeth.
If the plan went accordingly, it would be possible to hand over stable royal authority to Elisabeth.
Of course, it wouldn't be easy given the immense power of the noble faction, but Kang Hyun-woo had a countermeasure for that as well.
It was extremely rare for a noble in this world to be free of sin. Ethically and legally, this world was far behind Earth.
Therefore, if he made an example of a few nobles from the noble faction who had committed particularly heinous crimes by assassinating them, the rest would have no choice but to bow their heads.
Kang Hyun-woo recalled Duke Winchester's words.
—The closer one is to power, the closer their essence is to that of a beast. They may appear more rational than anyone on the outside, but in reality, they become more faithful to their instincts than anyone else.
Indeed, even the British nobles, who were more passionate about racial and species discrimination than anyone, didn't dare treat Kang Hyun-woo carelessly simply because he was acquainted with two dukes.
So, if he could instill in the noble faction the perception that behind Elisabeth was a formidable figure who could defeat the kingdom's strongest knight head-on and wouldn't hesitate to assassinate, he could buy the time Elisabeth and the neutral faction needed to grow their power.
But because the Second Queen stopped Marquis Laxion, the plan went awry from the very beginning.
Kang Hyun-woo had no choice but to bow his head and apologize.
“My apologies. I'm not accustomed to etiquette and have committed a discourtesy.”
“It's quite all right, you don't need to worry. I'm well aware that mages are not well-versed in etiquette.”
The Second Queen spoke with a gentle smile, but Kang Hyun-woo was not oblivious to the fact that her words were a sweeping disparagement of all mages.
However, as long as it wasn't his woman or the people from the orphanage, he didn't care who insulted whom, so he paid it no mind.
Of course, that didn't mean he would stay quiet.
“It is shameful. It's inevitable that one becomes disconnected from the world while exploring its mysteries, but one should at least know the basics of how the world works. Still, it is not because their nature is evil. So if another mage should commit a rudeness, I hope you will be generous and forgive them. At the very least, they do not try to kill their own children, do they?”
“...”
In that instant, the air in the room turned frigid.
The servants' anxious gazes fell upon the Second Queen.
“On my way to the capital, I stopped for a while in a small country village. There, I met a couple.”
But Kang Hyun-woo, seemingly unconcerned, continued speaking as he leisurely sipped his tea.
“They were a remarried family. The husband had a daughter, and the wife had a son. The wife felt burdened by their modest means and, in the end, fed her daughter poisonous mushrooms to reduce the number of mouths to feed. Fortunately, I had an antidote, so the daughter's life was saved. Afterward, I visited the lord and pleaded with him to lower the tax rate, which managed to solve their food problem to some extent.”
“...I see.”
“It is a truly bitter affair. Though they are not related by blood, for a mother to try and kill her own child...”
At Kang Hyun-woo's words, the lines around the Second Queen's mouth deepened.
Her eyes became bloodshot, and her emotions churned with murderous intent toward him.
But she endured.
No matter how ignorant of the world a mage might be, they weren't so foolish as to not value their own life.
For him to act so arrogantly despite that was proof that he had a formidable background.
At that moment, the Second Queen recalled hearing that the president of the Magic Association had recently taken on a young disciple.
Grit—
With superhuman patience, the Second Queen suppressed the surging killing intent.
If she became an enemy of the Magic Association, she would face serious difficulties in procuring mage mercenaries.
That meant a strategic disadvantage in war.
The Nivia Kingdom was a small nation, bordered by the Veilhaven Republic on one side and the Orsia Duchy on the other.
While the Orsia Duchy was too preoccupied with its civil war to look outward, the Veilhaven Republic was different.
If the Magic Association turned its back on the Nivia Kingdom, they were belligerent enough to seize the opportunity and start a war.
“I read in an old book that the duty that parents and children must naturally uphold is called the heavenly bond. It also said that even if not related by blood, one who forsakes this bond cannot be called human. I would like to ask for Your Highness's esteemed opinion on this, if I may.”
“...I believe they are good words, containing the wisdom of the ancient sages.”
“I think so too.”
Unaware of her inner turmoil, Kang Hyun-woo continued his tightrope walk, subtly getting under the queen's skin.
He particularly kept provoking Marquis Laxion, subtly glancing his way.
But perhaps because of the Second Queen, Marquis Laxion didn't even spare him a look.
Seeing this, Kang Hyun-woo decided he had no choice but to move on to the next stage.
“By the way, about that man Your Highness sent...”
The man Kang Hyun-woo pointed to turned pale in an instant.
“He used a strange ability on me.”
“...”
The Second Queen's expression instantly hardened.
She immediately turned her head and glared at the man as if to kill him.
“I ask just in case, but surely Your Highness did not order him to do so?”
Kang Hyun-woo's expression also hardened as he stared at the queen.
A heavy, precarious silence followed.
Only then did the Second Queen realize that inviting him had been a mistake.
“Huu... I have no excuse, even if I had ten mouths. I am truly sorry. It seems my subordinate misinterpreted my intentions, leading to this incident.”
The Second Queen's chest felt like it was boiling.
If she had her way, she would kill both Kang Hyun-woo and the man right here and now.
But rashly killing Kang Hyun-woo could lead to diplomatic problems, and she acknowledged the man's ability, so for now, she had no choice but to endure.
“Just as I thought. I believed that Your Highness was not the kind of person to do such a thing.”
“I apologize once again. If there is any compensation you desire, please name it.”
“No, that's quite all right.”
Before he even finished speaking, a sly smile spread across Kang Hyun-woo's lips.
Seeing it, the Second Queen began to feel an inexplicable sense of dread.
“Instead, would you entrust his punishment to me?”
“What? What do you mean—”
SPLAT!!
In that instant, Kang Hyun-woo's figure vanished for a second, and the man's head exploded.
Blood and brain matter splattered in all directions.
“...”
The Second Queen was speechless at the sight before her.
Even as blood stained her dress, she could only stare blankly at Kang Hyun-woo.
Dark red blood dripped from his fist.
“A servant who brings trouble to their master through their own arbitrary actions is utterly useless. Where I come from, this would be summary execution.”
Even Marquis Laxion, a battle-hardened swordmaster, was flustered by the completely unexpected scene.
Regardless, Kang Hyun-woo took out a handkerchief and began wiping the blood from his hand.
“What a terrible smell. It would have been cleaner to handle it with magic, but I refrained because I know one shouldn't draw weapons or use magic in the presence of a noble.”
The Second Queen and Marquis Laxion could say nothing in response to Kang Hyun-woo's words, delivered with a bright smile.