The Curtains Rise on the Imperial Gala
On the day of the imperial gala, I woke up early and headed to the entrance of the ducal estate. Waiting there was a grand carriage emblazoned with the crest of the Decartes family, flanked by ten knights.
Did the Duke arrange this? Usually, Eden handled these preparations. But judging by the knights' rigid postures and the pristine condition of the carriage, it seemed the Duke had overseen this personally.
I guess he's paying attention now that we've started a business. Of course, if we failed, he would strip away everything in an instant. That was simply the kind of man Duke Decartes was.
"Tsk." As I approached the carriage, one of the knights clicked his tongue and turned his head away. The others didn't seem to hold me in high regard either.
Well, it's only natural. I did beat the crap out of their comrades the moment I arrived. Looking at their faces, though, none of the guys I had thrashed seemed to be present. Were they just hostile because of the rumors?
Not my problem. I stood before the carriage with an indifferent expression. The knights continued to direct their murderous intent toward me, clicking their tongues and muttering under their breath, but honestly, it didn't bother me in the slightest. So, I just kept quiet.
"Is he really just going to stand there while we insult him like this?"
"Cold-blooded bastard. He calls himself royalty, yet he doesn't give a damn about his own people."
"Wretched piece of trash. If it weren't for the Duke..."
My, what filthy mouths. The reason they were so furious with me wasn't just because their comrades had been beaten within an inch of their lives. They were even more enraged by the perception that their status as knights had been utterly disrespected.
A knight's rank was second only to the nobility—essentially quasi-aristocrats. Those who achieved knighthood took immense pride in this status. In other words, I had stepped on a landmine they held sacred.
But I didn't have the luxury to care about their fragile egos. I was already busy enough raising Franche.
When is Franche coming... I stared blankly at the sky, where the sun had yet to fully rise. Soon, the rhythmic click of approaching footsteps echoed through the quiet morning. Franche had arrived.
Click. Clack. In the silent dawn, before even the birds had begun to chirp, the sharp sound of her heels resonated. She was wearing a standard dress. Seeing Helena follow behind her carrying a garment bag, it seemed Franche planned to change into the dress Andrea made for her later.
Well, that's not a bad idea. To maximize the advertising effect, she needed to make a dramatic entrance.
"Let us go."
"Yes, My Lady." I naturally assisted Franche into the carriage and climbed in after her.
"How are you feeling today?"
"I am well."
"You aren't experiencing any headaches, are you?"
"No. I haven't had any lately."
"I am glad." Franche smiled softly and looked out the window. She was completely different from how she had been during our very first carriage ride together. Seeing her like this filled me with a strange sense of pride.
Wait. I shouldn't be feeling this way. If I did, that damn system would probably notify me that my synchronization rate had deepened again.
...Fortunately, no voice echoed in my head this time. Is there a specific trigger I'm unaware of, rather than just looking at Franche? If so, this is going to be incredibly troublesome.
I'd have to sacrifice my own personality just to figure out the trigger. The future looks bleak...
"What are you thinking about so deeply?"
"I was just reminiscing about the past."
"The past?"
"I was thinking of when I first arrived here."
"Ah." A faint smile played on Franche's lips. "It doesn't feel like much time has passed, yet things are so different now compared to then."
Indeed. It hadn't even been a year, and yet so much had changed.
"It is all thanks to you."
"Have I proven worthy of the five hundred million?"
"More than worthy."
Okay. I've officially paid off the initial investment. Now, all that's left is to return an overwhelming net profit.
Just you wait, the real surge begins now. I'll show her what a vertical spike on a stock chart looks like. A chuckle escaped my lips as I imagined our future success.
"What on earth are you thinking about to make you chuckle like that?"
"It's nothing. I was just thinking about the old days again."
"By 'the old days,' do you mean your time in the Kingdom?"
"Uh... yes, that's right."
Franche's expression darkened. I had only told a casual lie, but seeing her react like this made me feel guilty. Franche always grew somber whenever Barenberg was mentioned. It made sense. Her own terminal illness—a setting I had created—and the destruction of my homeland were both the Empire's fault.
Putting aside the fall of my homeland, the fact that she was living on borrowed time must have been her deepest wound. I offered a gentle smile and continued.
"Please do not trouble yourself over it. I do not think much of it."
Franche furrowed her brow. "...I am sorry to bring this up, but the people of Barenberg have been enslaved. Your leaders were purged. You are royalty—do you not feel any guilt toward them?"
Well, if I were the Jin from the original character profile, I probably would have felt guilty. According to his character settings, he was warm-hearted and couldn't tolerate injustice. But I wasn't the real Jin. Besides, bound as he was by a powerful Slave Brand carved directly by a Transcendental Mage, saving the people of his kingdom would have been an impossible feat from the start.
But still... I had thought about this before, but the real mystery was why Jin didn't leave after Franche's death. Instead, he returned to appear as a boss. Surely, once the master of the brand died, he would have gained his freedom.
What exactly was the relationship between them? I knew they weren't just a simple master and slave. Did they eventually become lovers? If not that, I had no idea.
I formulated an answer based on what I knew.
"This is how I see it: waging war in the first place was a mistake. If the king and the leadership truly cared for the nation, they would never have even considered going to war. The disparity in national power was simply too overwhelming."
A king who truly worries for his country and cares for his people will protect his nation, even if it means swallowing his own pride. But the King of Barenberg could not endure the humiliation. As a result, he dragged his kingdom into the abyss, leaving his people dead or enslaved. Could such a man truly be called a king who cared for his country?
As a weak nation, they should have acted with the utmost rationality, slipping through the Empire's tyranny like a sly snake. I knew diplomacy was never easy. In the end, it was a game of sacrificing the few for the many. Cruel as it might be, that was reality. Real life is not a movie. By nature, kings, commanders, and leaders are not meant to make perfect choices—they are meant to make the choices that must be made.
Franche tilted her head, seemingly unable to comprehend my perspective.
"...The King of Barenberg was your father. Is it really alright for you to speak of him that way?"
"I am not speaking as his son, My Lady. I am speaking as a member of the royal family."
Franche, who had been wearing a complicated expression throughout our talk of the Kingdom and the Empire, spoke with some difficulty.
"You were looking at the root of the problem, rather than just harboring hatred over the outcome."
"Because it is a relationship between nations, not individuals. That is the nature of politics."
"...It is a difficult matter. Will the day ever come when I must engage in politics as well?"
"At this rate, yes. Starting with this business, you will no longer be just an ordinary lady."
Franche's face grew tense as she sank into worry. She seemed to fear politics. It was understandable. Politics laid bare the absolute ugliest sides of humanity.
"You do not need to worry so much. The politics you fear are those played from a position of weakness. You, My Lady, will be playing from a position of strength."
And if worst came to worst, I could always quietly make her problems disappear.
"Playing from a position of strength?"
"Yes. You will hold all the cards right from the start."
"Does that make politics any easier?"
"Of course. Your opponents will be the ones walking on eggshells around you."
Franche tapped her chin, lost in thought. Was she running some kind of mental simulation again?
"Mmh. Yes, I think I understand. Since we hold the initiative, as long as I don't make a misstep, we will be fine, right?"
"Precisely," I said, nodding in agreement.
"Alright, I get that. But what do you mean by holding all the cards from the start? Are you referring to utilizing my status as a duke's daughter?"
A smirk spread across my face at her question.
"Your title is certainly part of it, but there is more. Our first business has just launched, has it not? This is only the beginning. There is still so much left to do."
There were still countless opportunities to exploit the knowledge I had from the game. After all, I had cleared every single sub-quest and gathered every hidden piece in just one short week.
Perhaps because I had been pulled into this world immediately after completing my walkthrough, my memories were still incredibly vivid. I knew exactly what was hidden where, what kind of revolutions would sweep the Empire, and how trends would shift.
Once all of this fell into place, Franche would become the most powerful figure in the Empire. When that time came, my duties and goals would be complete. All that would be left for me was to find a way back to my original world.
"You said it yourself, didn't you? That you wanted to make everyone in the ducal house regret how they treated you. I will make that happen. And when we reach the end of this road, you will stand in a position where absolutely no one can touch you."
A position so high that even the Emperor, who ruled like the heavens themselves, would not dare to cross her. I would eliminate every variable so that even the protagonist, Saintess Somire, could not easily approach her.
"A position where no one can touch me...? I never asked for anything that grand..."
Sigh. How could she be so soft-hearted and lacking in ambition? As the saying goes, one must dream big and harbor deep desires to climb to the absolute peak.
"My Lady, listen closely. From now on, many will envy and resent you. They will do everything in their power to drag you down, and you will have to deal with them. Rather than constantly fighting them off, it is far better to simply rise to a height where they cannot even reach you."
If you stood at an ambiguous height, someone could always reach up and pull you down. But what if you stood so high that they had to strain their necks just to look up at you? No one would ever dare to touch you then.
"But Jin, if I become that powerful within the Empire, won't the imperial family try to keep me in check? If I were in their shoes, I wouldn't leave such a thorn in my side alone."
A sharp observation. But I had a solution for that as well.
"I will explain that when the time comes. Telling you now would be useless information."
"I absolutely hate being kept in suspense. Can't you at least give me a hint?"
"A hint? It is quite simple. Think of the current Crown Prince. And remember that he is the Emperor's sole successor."
Franche's eyes widened as realization dawned on her.
"Ah..."
"Do you understand now?"
"I see."
Rejef's character traits were 'Inferiority Complex,' 'Hot-tempered,' and 'Frenzy.' In short, he was a ticking time bomb of insecurity who would lose his mind in a fit of rage. He would undoubtedly develop an inferiority complex toward Franche as well. That would make things easy. Once he lost his temper and triggered his frenzy, all rational judgment would fly out the window.
After all, he harbored a sickeningly deep inferiority complex toward Jin, whom I transmigrated into. As we conversed, the carriage gradually came to a halt.
"We have arrived, My Lady!"
I immediately opened the carriage door, escorted Franche out, and followed closely behind her. We left the garment bag in the carriage under the guard of the knights.
"By the way, is the Duke not attending the imperial gala?"
"Father will arrive tomorrow. The Young Duke will be coming then as well, along with Lord Line."
"I understand the Young Duke, but is there a reason Lord Line is also arriving tomorrow?"
"He simply does whatever he pleases. After all, the heir to the ducal house is the Young Duke."
Ah. The carefree second son who had no responsibilities. Born into a prestigious family with zero expectations. I was incredibly envious.
"Anyway, let us head inside. You are my partner for today, after all."
"Indeed. I shall serve you with the utmost devotion."
Just as I took Franche's hand and prepared to enter the imperial palace—
"Lady Decartes?"
A voice called out from behind us. I turned around to find Somire standing there. Beside her was the Crown Prince of the Empire, Rejef Fedelian.
Of all the people to run into, it had to be those two.