Chapter 166
Chapter 166
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: Side Story - Memories of a Certain Imperial Princess (14)
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After receiving the first report, the first emotion I felt was absurdity.
“Already… it’s over?”
“So it seems, Your Highness.”
“Already? Over? For real?”
“Yes. I heard Sir Ast provided tremendous assistance…”
Lea wore a deeply troubled expression as well.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected Ast to resolve this matter.
I had simply handed him over to the military officials and mages as a stress-relief punching bag.
And yet, he solved it?
Was the military incompetent? Or was Ast competent?
I couldn’t comprehend it at all.
“What a puzzle.”
“Yes. Quite the puzzle.”
Even Lea couldn’t make sense of it, and there were more than one or two suspicious aspects to this incident.
It was a problem that even the gathered geniuses of the Empire couldn’t solve.
To end it in a single meeting?
It was far more convincing to think this had all been planned from the start.
Stories like Ast being a spy sent from another nation or from an evil organization—they held more weight.
But that didn’t add up either, given the tactic’s immense strategic value.
It was a tactic that had the Empire’s mages racking their brains over how to counter it.
The military had even proposed deploying several griffon, drake, and wyvern knight orders for 24-hour aerial patrols as a solution.
Factoring in rest periods, it would require at least one knight order per unit.
And those would have to be the elite Sky Knights among knight orders!
It was practically impossible, which was why the military had scrapped the plan.
Why would a spy reveal a method that geniuses in magical theory and military operations from the Empire couldn’t solve?
“Lea, contact the military and have them award Ast a medal or a plaque of appreciation.”
My opponent was Ast.
Ast, the mad dog whose notoriety was spreading even in the palace.
So rather than agonize over it, I concluded it might be better to test him once.
And the result?
“Argh! Chief of the Magic Division, how could you do this to me!”
Proved otherwise.
“Your Highness, Sir Ast seems utterly unhinged… What should we do?”
“Lea, Ast was always a madman. You know that. He’s just a bit emotional right now, so let’s leave him be.”
Ast, clutching the plaque and shedding torrents of tears, had surpassed mere madness into something grotesque.
“Waaah… Chief… To think you’d stab me in the back… I trusted you!”
If this was an act? Then it would be polite to play along.
Born and raised in the scheming palace, I had witnessed countless pretenses and lies.
In the palace, only Lea was free of pretense and deceit.
Well, in a certain sense, Ast qualified too.
Only Ast could so brazenly perform such lunacy in front of me.
Thanks to that, I could instinctively tell who was feigning and who was lying.
Amateurs showed tells when lying.
Intermediates obsessed over perfect lies, making them stand out instead.
Experts deceived even themselves first. Believing their own lies made them nearly undetectable.
And Ast’s current display went beyond mere emotion—it was his very soul grieving.
If someone could feign a wailing soul, they’d be the world’s greatest con artist.
“Your Highness… It’s gotten downright terrifying now. Please do something.”
“Don’t tell me a swordmaster is scared of something like this.”
I watched for about ten minutes, but Ast’s wailing showed no signs of stopping.
No, it was intensifying, evolving to the point where even a swordmaster felt fear.
If this continued, it’d spawn another nasty rumor in the palace, so I needed to wrap it up.
“Ast, if you don’t cut it out, I’ll promote you to viscount?”
“Are you trying to kill me?!”
A hollow laugh escaped at his horrified leap to his feet.
Any normal person would risk their life for a title promotion.
But this guy looked like he was facing death at the mere mention.
Well, ever since the engagement talk, I’d gained a fine threat.
“Anyway, you handled it well.”
“I haven’t handled anything, Your Highness.”
“That’s your problem.”
Sipping hot tea while eyeing Ast, I saw his face was utterly guileless.
“What’s with that obnoxious look?”
“My apologies, Your Highness. It just showed on my face.”
“…No denial, huh?”
“I couldn’t lie to one as vast as the heavens, Your Highness.”
I wanted to affirm Lea’s mutter of, “It’d be better if you just denied it…”
Was this guy bold or timid?
Casually committing lese-majeste while refusing a title?
“Thanks to you, my schedule cleared up massively, and now I’m bored.”
“You’re not about to say it’s my fault and I should take responsibility, are you?”
“I’m not that unreasonable!”
“…Is that so?”
“Fine with you, but what’s Lea staring at me like that for?”
I furrowed my brow slightly, and Lea gave a small cough while averting her gaze.
And Ast…
“Your Highness, Lady Lea’s look means something like, ‘Oh, really? I had no idea.’”
“Sir Ast? There’s no need to explain that, is there?”
He was kindly interpreting Lea’s gaze for me.
Leaving Lea trying to silence Ast and Ast ranting about how pitifully Lea had looked at me, I reviewed the intelligence reports.
“Hmm… Oh? Huh?”
I had entered the military to assign work to Ast, but it was recognized as an independent military faction.
Unprecedented given my age and background, but royals get those breaks.
Thanks to that, I had an independent force even legion commanders couldn’t touch, letting me access intel from various sources.
Among them were foreign military training info, border skirmishes large and small, monster movements, and more.
Most intriguing were reports on two small kingdoms in the continent’s heart.
“What’s going on?”
“Yeah. Two central minor kingdoms were trying to form a blood alliance through their prince and princess’s betrothal for peace?”
“That’s heartwarming.”
“Hardly.”
“Hey now, where’s a pacifist like me going to find that? Do you know how it feels when your hard-tended field burns, Lady Lea? If not for that, I’d be a simple farmer without all this hardship!”
“S-Sorry.”
Ast, who usually laughed it off or counterattacked, was genuinely angry for once.
Lea apologized in a fluster, but it didn’t calm him.
The field burning must have been traumatic.
“Do you know how it feels to watch a year’s worth of crops you slaved over go up in flames?”
“I’m sorry… I didn’t know! I’m sorry! I’ve never farmed!”
Any longer, and Lea might develop trauma too, so time to intervene.
“Viscount Ast?”
“…Baron! No, a baron about to become a commoner!”
Lea slowly calmed as Ast glared at me indignantly.
“Sigh… Why are none of my direct subordinates normal?”
I ignored the prickling stares.
“Your Highness, you said they tried to form a blood alliance—does that mean it failed?”
“Yeah. Exactly.”
Unable to bear the brief silence, Ast spoke first.
“As expected, your insight is sharp. The two kingdoms are hiding it, but the princess was assassinated.”
“Good heavens!”
“What a mess.”
“Yeah. Total mess.”
It was a simple summary, but the intelligence on the kingdoms’ stances was far more complex.
The princess was assassinated en route to the prince’s kingdom for the betrothal.
All potential witnesses massacred; only the princess’s body was intact—others unrecognizable.
No evidence on the assassins.
With opposition to the betrothal already rife internally, the princess’s faction’s dissenters revolted.
“And then the prince was assassinated too.”
“Wow…”
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Ast started applauding with a stunned expression.
“Pouring oil on the fire.”
“The situation escalated right to the brink of war.”
The intelligence said nobles were rampaging beyond royal control.
“War will probably break out soon. Ah… Poor farmers.”
“The dead royals aren’t pitiable?”
“That’s the royal fate. Thrive politically and enjoy life; fail, and it’s exile or death on the spot.”
“S-Sir Ast?”
“Saying that in front of royalty.”
His brazenness left me speechless.
“Fine. Then, pitying the farmers as you do, Baron Ast, what do you predict for the future?”
Even as head of a minor independent military force, perusing such intel required submitting opinions—a tedious duty.
Not that the military would check.
“Hmm… The ‘central minor kingdoms’ part bothers me. Which ones?”
“Madsen Kingdom and Helkas Kingdom.”
“Right in the center… And among weak kingdoms, these two stand out.”
“They got beaten around precisely because they’re central.”
“Do those two kingdoms gain anything by allying?”
“As minnows, they bribed everywhere, surviving on diplomacy over might.”
Ast pondered deeply as I shared what I knew.
“This could blow up big.”
“They’ve got forces a single legion could crush?”
“If they just bicker, it might fizzle out. But if not…”
“Specifically?”
“A continent-wide war involving over half the nations?”
“Huh?”
Central minor kingdoms.
Ones with territory and forces that could collapse overnight.
Would such piddling states spark a continental war?
“A possibility. If it turns into a pride contest, their allied nations jump in.”
“Would they? If pride alone triggered continental wars, it should’ve happened when your kingdom fell.”
“That lacked pretext. My kingdom’s lord struck first. But here, each side can fabricate pretext as suits them.”
“With both prince and princess dying in mysterious ‘accidents.’”
No intel on assassins.
Just the prince and princess’s bodies.
Each can claim their narrative as truth with no counterargument possible.
“Even so, a continental war? That’s too massive.”
“Well, it’s just my opinion. As Your Highness’s butler, I’ve got to think big, right?”
“What’s Lea’s take?”
“Uh… Um…”
Glancing at Lea, she panicked and looked to Ast.
“I-I think Sir Ast is right!”
“What’s Ast think?”
“Continental war?”
“You’re just piggybacking since you can’t think of anything, right, Lady Lea?”
“Urk…”
Lea glared at Ast, lips pursed—it was adorable.
“Lea, homework. By tomorrow, compile your logical thoughts and bring them.”
Let’s make her even cuter.
“Y-Your Highness?”
“My direct subordinates include you too, Lea—not just Ast. No, military matters are even more your wheelhouse.”
“Your Highness…”
Her slightly resentful glance was cute too.
“I’ll submit it under your name to the military, so no slacking. Subpar work goes straight to Marquis Arais.”
“Yesss…”
Beside sniffling Lea, Ast started chattering.
His words dug into her wounds like salt, masterful at picking at her psyche.
He finally made the sniffling Lea outright cry.
“This should… suffice?”
Treating Ast’s teasing and Lea’s failed rebuttals turned screams as lullabies, I drafted the report.
Content: Ast’s ideas fleshed out.
“This’ll do.”
Our influence in the military was negligible anyway.
Thus, I couldn’t predict the ripple from this half-baked report.
Because half a year after the Madsen and Helkas war began, a continental war erupted exactly as predicted.