The Banquet Ends, but the Real Plot Thickens
The meal with Prince Michael had ended, and we moved on to a quiet tea time.
Unlike the dinner, the tea was serene and unhurried. When Prince Michael paused, lost in thought, I lowered my racing heart and began to anticipate what might come next.
“However… there is one thing I must ask.”
Suddenly, a single question surfaced. I called out to the prince with caution.
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“First, obtaining the Marquis title from Prince Luke’s camp is fine, but if His Highness shows no reaction at all, it will only raise suspicion, won’t it?”
Prince Michael nodded calmly, as if he had anticipated this exact point.
“Indeed. I intend to act defiant, then step back as if overwhelmed by the momentum.”
Of course, he understood the necessity.
But I believed more was required.
As the one who had schemed betrayal, he would surely see the Marquis title as pure profit. I refused to let the matter end with him simply retreating.
“Rather than a simple retreat, let us offer the Marquis title to Prince Luke. His Highness must gain something in return, I believe.”
“For example?”
My words prompted Prince Michael to lean forward, his fox-like eyes sharp with curiosity.
“This time, the loss suffered by Viscount Raven due to our troubles was severe. Losing forty percent of military power because of a personal grudge is simply unthinkable. I believe he lacks the qualifications to command the marquisate.”
“Instead of yielding the Marquis title, we seize command from Viscount Raven?”
“Is that not a perfect justification? Simply demoting Raven to Count would cause minimal loss to Prince Luke’s side.”
The marquisate’s military strength rivaled that of a duke and was two and a half times that of a normal count.
By halving the marquisate’s forces, we were essentially offering Raven a title he could never hope to claim.
“Sounds like personal hatred to me.”
“I would not deny it.”
An enemy was always the sweetest to crush.
The opportunity to tighten the leash and torment him had arrived; we would not let it slip.
“If Prince Luke refuses to release Raven’s leash entirely?”
“Then we could elevate one Count from His Highness’s side to Marquis. Since I gained my title through battlefield merit, it would be fair to promote one Count who earned merit in this very war.”
The second proposal mentioned Marquis rather than Count because we needed the prince to feel some benefit.
A brand-new Marquis suddenly appearing to side with him would feel very different from one of His Highness’s own Counts rising to the same rank.
Moreover, I was already a Marquis with an Aura Master daughter-in-law.
“If this plan is accepted and circumstances flow as hoped, the effect of betrayal can be maximized even further.”
Yet the emotions radiating from Prince Michael as he nodded and showed faint surprise differed sharply from my expectations.
[Relation: Suspicion / Alliance]
[Status: Flustered / Interested]
His current state on Mankyung was far too complex to label with certainty.
Suspicion suddenly? I was puzzled and called to him.
“Your Highness?”
“Ah, sorry. You are… Adrian Lawrence.”
“Yes, speak.”
“Before our meeting, did you encounter anyone from the Second Prince’s camp?”
I already knew who he meant. I simply listed the names.
“Prince Luke, Marquis Hamilton, and Baron Walker.”
Nine names in total.
Prince Michael nodded, as if confirming they matched what he knew. Then he murmured “Ah” and let out a small sigh.
[Relation: Interest / Alliance]
[Status: Flustered / Amazed]
And his emotions had shifted once more.
I realized a new possibility.
“You must have had the same thought.”
“Hahaha. Does the prince read others’ minds? You guessed my betrayal plan faster than I expected.”
I could not read thoughts directly, but Mankyung allowed inference.
His enthusiastic reaction confirmed he had anticipated the same scheme.
“Magnificent. We considered two identical plans.”
“Suggesting something already calculated as if it were brilliant. How embarrassing for me.”
“No, quite the opposite. Watching Prince Lawrence’s judgment was delightful. After all, achieving seven circles at twenty years old is no small feat.”
I shrugged.
My suggestion had failed, but the evaluation of me had risen even higher.
“I truly hope to remain your enemy. Let us be close allies going forward.”
“Hahaha…”
I felt the same way.
“Oh dear, the tea has gone cold. I shall have it refilled.”
“No need. We have stayed long enough. Let us rise.”
We had already spent enough time.
I was tired today and wanted to return.
“Very well. Here you are.”
“Isn’t this a terminal?”
“Yes, a secure line that cannot be tapped. If you have anything to say, use it to contact me.”
My own was an expensive Brigham Empire model, but the one Prince Michael had given me seemed even more special.
He handed one to Arsia and another to me, each with a different design.
“See you again.”
“Yes. I look forward to it.”
And Arsia and I returned to the secret room.
Prince Michael once more withdrew a switch from his pocket, deactivated the spatial-restriction magic, and teleported us to another location.
“Here?”
We stood before a warehouse near the royal palace that Prince Michael had prepared in advance.
According to him, it belonged to several shops that operated jointly within the palace.
As we left the warehouse, a corridor lined with identical doors appeared.
It struck me anew how thorough Prince Michael was.
How many such hidden locations existed inside the palace?
We walked into a dim alley between buildings, where the faint sounds of people began to reach us.
A popular commercial building near the palace entrance came into view.
“Eh? Young Master?”
“Lady Serene?”
There stood Sir William, the Grandmaster Knight Captain, and Sir Lopez, the royal inquisitor, holding overflowing shopping bags in front of a souvenir shop.
“You seem to be enjoying yourselves.”
The shopkeeper’s eyes widened in shock at my appearance. William and Lopez turned deathly pale and hurriedly tucked their bags behind their backs.
“What is this?”
I was about to tell them we were heading back to the estate when their strange behavior piqued my curiosity. I activated Mankyung’s inspection function.
“Eh?”
I quickly understood what they had been hiding so desperately.
Even without inspection, the items on the shelves were identical to what they had bought.
“What is this?”
I approached the counter and picked up two exquisitely crafted figurines.
“We never expected to actually meet you in person. It is an honor.”
“Pleasure to meet you.”
The common shopkeeper jumped as if he had seen a celebrity. My attention, however, remained fixed on the figurines in my hands.
“Why are they selling these at the royal souvenir shop?”
The figurines depicted me and Arsia.
[Linehatz Kingdom’s Sacred Relic! Adrian and Arsia figurines now in stock!]
In other words, William and Lopez had purchased bulk quantities of our figurines.
Arsia, who usually spoke little, looked at them and uttered one word.
“Pervert?”
Her internal dictionary had clearly failed at the word selection.
Yet that single blunt remark struck them like lightning.
“N-no…”
“We were simply… showing our admiration…”
The entire audience at the royal audit chamber had been far from ordinary.
* * *
[The Prius Republic’s national debt ratio rose by twelve percent in a single year. Its hesitation to adopt republicanism stems from extreme corruption.]
[The Crown Prince of the Croisen Empire: A republic is the crystallized form of delusion. The president and local officials elected by popular vote exist solely to satisfy popular opinion. They lack any sense of ownership over the nation and will plunder it for all they can before their term ends.]
[The Prius Republic focuses solely on military power while the world watches economic inflation.]
[The only hope of the Prius Republic lies in the Manuel Lucas Legacy held by the President’s son, Louis Fairmont.]
[Is the Manuel Grand Duke Legacy held by the President’s son in the Prius Republic real?]
BOOM!
“Has the legacy of Grand Duke Manuel really fallen into the hands of such shameless villains?!”
Rondel, a world where gods walked among mortals and miracles and magic abounded, hosted twenty nations across four continents.
Even the weakest nations possessed continental-sized territory, populations exceeding fifty million, and corresponding military and economic strength. The power balance between nations felt fair compared to Earth.
Yet one force stood out like a mutant among mutants: the Brigham Empire, always ranked first among the Four Great Empires.
Its population reached nine hundred and twenty million, and it accounted for thirty percent of the world’s total GDP.
The nation lay on the Defteron Continent alongside the Linehatz Kingdom, occupying one-third of the continent and a full twenty percent of the world’s landmass.
Together with the Croisen Empire, the Elysia Union, and the Prius Republic, it possessed the military might to face all four rivals alone. It was the United States of Rondel and deserved the title of world ruler.
Yet when explaining the Brigham Empire, a single sentence sufficed.
It was the homeland of Manuel Lucas, the pioneer who led Rondel into the age of magic engineering.
—The Golden Dragon Palace of the Brigham Empire’s imperial capital.
“If anyone has a mouth, speak up! Did our empire put less effort and cost into legacy exploration than they did?!”
Emperor Edward Noah Brigham thundered at the golden-dressed ministers seated on the imperial throne.
No minister dared answer. They simply bowed deeper.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty.”
“Hah! How exasperating!”
The Brigham Empire’s obsession with the Lucas Legacy far exceeded the expectations of other nations.
Everyone knew of the Grand Duke’s greatness, but only the Brigham Empire truly understood his true value.
They knew the number of unknown records he left far exceeded those in the public domain, and they believed his value remained absolute even after twenty years.
While countless treasure hunters and nations turned away in disappointment, the empire never reduced its search scale.
Yet suddenly the Prius Republic, with a search scale one-hundredth of theirs, claimed to have obtained the legacy. The emperor could not contain his fury.
“Intelligence Chief!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“What is your opinion? Do you believe the Prius claim is true?”
In the end, the emperor asked Elfrid, the seven-circle female Grand Mage and head of intelligence, for her assessment.
“I estimate the possibility at around fifty percent.”
“Fifty percent?”
“That is correct.”
The emperor let out a hollow laugh and demanded an explanation.
“We examined their investigation process. Compared to ours, it was far more primitive. Of course, the location they claimed as the legacy site was one we never anticipated. Had it been obtainable in that manner, someone from ten or twenty years ago would already have it.”
“Continue.”
“More importantly, they know nothing of the cipher Manuel Lucas used. He scattered English-language hints everywhere. Ignoring that process while claiming to have the legacy makes no sense unless the scattered hints were mere tricks.”
The emperor stroked his chin, convinced of its logic.
But the real issue was that it remained nothing but conjecture.
“Why give them fifty percent chance of success when the circumstances are so suspicious?”
“They could have planted the hints purely to mock us… or…”
Normally, such an idea would have earned him a warning glare. But the sixty-year-old emperor who remembered Manuel Lucas in life swallowed his complaint.
“If that was the case, it was worth it.”
If Adrian had heard this, he would have been astonished. “Did the Grand Duke really act that way?”
“Any other reason?”
“There is the possibility that someone else actually obtained the legacy and used the Prius Republic as a distraction. It is reasonable to consider.”
“Why make a scene? They could simply have kept it hidden quietly.”
“They may already be under suspicion as the legacy holder, or unknown variables may have arisen. We must consider all possibilities.”
The intelligence chief, Elfrid, approached the truth through reasoning alone.