Chilling Intuition
Chilling Intuition
"Really?! Are you really going to let me play?!!"
"Yes, of course, Your Majesty. If Your Majesty focuses on your lessons, I will make time once every two weeks for you to play with other children."
"Really?! For real?!! If you're lying, I'm going to tell the Lord Protector!!"
An innocent laughter comes out of my mouth. I heard Andrew let out a small sigh of relief.
Andrew and I nodded. It felt like Andrew was gradually getting used to this acting as well. Maybe it was because nobles had to act like this all day long anyway.
With that, the acting—which was nothing short of a farce—came to an end, and today's lesson was also over.
When I went out after class ended, Andrew gathered some papers and started moving to a different place than where he usually went.
I trusted Andrew to do well.
After Andrew's proposal was rejected, I would pretend to be angry and directly complain to the Lord Protector, repeating this process to create a justification for the Grand Duke of the Gate to intervene.
...Or so I thought.
Until the Lord Protector came to see me.
"I, too, was just thinking that Your Majesty needed some breathing room. There is no need to take time away from Lord Bartolomeo's lesson hours; instead, let us invite playmates every weekend so you can have time to play."
"Wow! Really?!"
It was best not to show my fluster on the outside. Meanwhile, a line of cold sweat slowly rolled down my spine.
The Lord Protector approved it in one go.
It was a matter of gathering nobles who were not part of the Lord Protector's faction, and gathering playmates to play swordsmanship games in the training ground of the Imperial Guard that he himself had dismantled.
From the Lord Protector's perspective, there was naturally no reason at all to allow such a thing.
I thought he would eventually permit it since he couldn't keep refusing forever, but I hadn't expected it to pass in one shot.
He is aiming for something. He sensed something in this proposal and is harboring suspicions.
"The arrangements will be concluded within today. I shall invite the children starting tomorrow, Your Majesty."
"Ah, hm-hm! Right! Good work, Lord Protector!"
When I spoke with a forced pretentious air, the Lord Protector only then flashed a slight smile, paid his respects, and left the room.
What is the Lord Protector thinking?
Did he doubt me after all this time? No, if he did, he would have assembled the playmates exclusively from the children of his own faction. If so, the answer is obvious.
It's Andrew.
To be precise, it's the Former Emperor Faction!
The Lord Protector moved while thoroughly choosing where to exert his power.
Just now was proof.
Because without pressuring or scrutinizing me, he simply dropped what he had to say and left.
I proceeded with this matter while consulting with Andrew.
However, since most of it involved things I couldn't move directly to do myself, I entrusted a significant portion to Andrew.
The Lord Protector felt something unusual in that movement.
Andrew said he used a servant of his colleague from the Former Emperor Faction to contact Velvet Rat.
Right, the Former Emperor Faction.
Although the Lord Protector couldn't purge them because he lacked justification, they were people who already bore the name of the Former Emperor Faction.
Would it have been different if it was just Andrew? No, it was strange from the start.
Even if the lesson didn't hold much meaning and was a class where gaslighting or brainwashing-like praise of the Lord Protector—which other teachers mainly did—was almost impossible, would there be any reason to go out of his way to make a neutral faction figure who used to be 'Former Emperor Faction' the Emperor's teacher? And by none other than that Lord Protector?
The Lord Protector must have placed Andrew as my teacher from the beginning anticipating he would pull something like this. The reason?
To purge the eyesore that is the Former Emperor Faction once and for all this time.
I revive all my memories: the lessons I've taken so far, the information I received from Andrew.
The Lord Protector wanted to erase everything related to the Previous Emperor.
The Imperiani, the imperial guard directly under the Emperor, was like that, and besides that, he had repealed some of the imperial edicts issued by the Previous Emperor and demolished buildings constructed during that era.
Would such a man want to leave them alone, even if they were now the Former Emperor Faction rather than the Emperor Faction?
Not a chance.
Once my thoughts reached that point, my frozen mind began to work.
Right now, I am not reflected in his eyes.
In that case, I will simply turn this into an opportunity.
It's fine if he doesn't look at me. It's even better if he doesn't care about me.
Though it will start faster than I thought, leaving me unable to cast a shield for the worst-case scenario, gathering children to make them my allies was one of my long-term targets from the very beginning anyway.
If he sets the stage, I have no choice but to play.
Hardening my resolve like that, time passed and the day without lessons arrived.
Normally, this was a day to attend the royal court council, pretend not to listen to a single thing, and simply echo the Lord Protector's words.
The court council sometimes dragged on until evening at longest.
Basically, for the position of Emperor, there is no such thing as a day off.
Although there are times carved out between routines for breaks or times meant entirely for rest, it is a position where one must do something every single day.
However, starting today, under the Lord Protector's judgment, I got a day off.
Since I wasn't needed at the court council from the start, it probably means it doesn't matter if I'm absent.
At any rate, today is the day they gather.
"It is here, Your Majesty."
What appeared after stepping through the door opened by the Lord Protector was a rather old training ground.
The sparring area was a dirt floor, and the rest was stone floor. Though small hole-like gaps could be seen, perhaps for ventilation, there were no windows or anything.
Even though there was nowhere for light to enter, for some reason, the inside was bright.
...Come to think of it, the entire imperial palace was like that. It didn't particularly use fire, nor could it use magic tools, yet the imperial palace was always bright during the day and grew dark once the sun set.
"Wow! Lord Protector! How is it so bright here when sunlight doesn't even enter?!"
"Haha, there is a stone called Lapis Lucens. It is a stone that emits light when exposed to sunlight. It is the stone used in the bricks of all buildings in the imperial palace."
"The drawback is that it is expensive," added the Lord Protector.
If the Lord Protector, who holds everything in this empire in his hands, says it's expensive, I can't even fathom how much it costs.
Exchanging such trivial small talk, I moved my feet toward the center of the training ground, where children were already gathered.
A total of 11 children of nobles whom Andrew and I had gathered information on and contacted. Plus 2 more added later by the Lord Protector.
Most of the children were nervous seeing me, and terrified seeing the Lord Protector.
However, that was not the case for the two children brought by the Lord Protector.
The largest boy, who looked the tallest and oldest, was instead puffing out his chest with a haughty expression, looking at me and the Lord Protector.
On the other hand, the child on the other side, who appeared to be of a similar age to me, wasn't cowed, but was simply looking at me with sunken eyes.
Bringing a guy who's both older and bigger on one side shows he blatantly intends to swallow this gathering whole.
I knew it wouldn't go smoothly, but to think he would utilize it in this manner...
Swallowing the sigh about to burst out, maintaining an arrogant, pretentious, childlike smile filled with anticipation, I opened my mouth.
"So you are My playmates! From now on, become my subordinates and serve Me!"
I only hope that, in a true sense, they will do so as well.
＊ ＊ ＊
The time was a few days before Julian went to the training ground, at the point when the Lord Protector received Andrew's proposal.
The sunset was swallowing the Lord Protector's office whole.
Scanning the numerous documents dyed blood-red by the sunset with a glance, picking out and processing only the necessary contents, the Lord Protector appeared peaceful at first glance.
However, Marquis Collat von Schleicher, standing before him waiting for a response, didn't dare to breathe heavily even once.
He swallowed saliva into his bone-dry mouth.
While cold sweat soaked his back, Marquis Schleicher regretted dutifully bringing Count Bartolomeo's proposal.
Count Bartolomeo had asked him while gifting an ancient book that he was interested in.
As a gentleman, if one receives a gift, it is only natural to return the favor. However, he couldn't help the wave of regret washing over him.
"......."
That silence is terrifying, rather.
This silence, silently flipping through documents without a single word, was precisely the most terrifying aspect of the man named Maximilian.
He knew better than anyone else.
When to speak and when not to speak for that silence to become a blade.
Though Marquis Schleicher was called Maximilian's close confidant, even he could not help but find that sovereign terrifying.
"......Did you really have to bring something like this to me?"
Finally, Maximilian spoke.
"T-That is......"
Those words were not demanding an answer.
From the beginning, Maximilian was rebuking the very act of bringing him such an utterly useless proposal about creating a gathering to let the Emperor play.
Marquis Schleicher had nothing to say. Naturally so.
Even if his mouth were ripped open, he could not say he had brought it inevitably because he received a gift.
Thus, when Marquis Schleicher failed to continue his words, a heavy silence settled over the office once again.
"Haa......"
A short sigh. At that sigh, Marquis Schleicher flinched, his shoulders jerking violently. Maximilian was about to carelessly discard the proposal Marquis Schleicher had brought, then paused.
He examined the proposal for a moment.
There was nothing unusual. It was a typical, useless proposal from a powerless noble trying to accomplish anything by clinging to the authority of the Emperor, straw man though he may be.
However, if there was one thing sticking in his mind...
'Andrew Bartolomeo.......'
The Imperiani, which Maximilian himself had dismantled.
Andrew Cassis von Bartolomeo, who was the commander of that place.
Andrew Bartolomeo, who, when the Imperiani disappeared and he lost that position, lost the official title of Cassis granted to the commander, his territory, and the right to use the nobiliary particle 'von', returning to being merely the second son of a count family.
He had thought there must be some scheme. That was why he intentionally let him get close to the Emperor, telling him to try if he wanted to. Sure enough, he sent something like this.
Did he think I would permit it? There's no way he would.
Maximilian pondered deeply.
He had received a report that shortly after Count Bartolomeo started working as a tutor, he almost said something strange, which that brat blocked with foolish talk.
On top of that, a noble of the Former Emperor Faction who recently made contact with an information guild.
"Hmm......"
Maximilian thought about it in a different way.
The fact that those bastards are moving means they've caught onto something.
And they are trying to forcibly shove that stupid brat into it. Is it tenacity? Is it delusion? He doesn't know.
However, one thing. He found a use within it.
"L-Lord Protector, Your Excellency?"
Marquis Schleicher called out to Maximilian in confusion, but Maximilian ignored the voice and remained lost in thought.
The Former Emperor Faction caught onto something and is trying to use that brat to execute it. If so, it is enough for this side to hold the same hand.
Nobles who belonged to the former Imperiani, who still remained because there was no justification to purge them, even though he had erased most things related to the Previous Emperor anyway.
The 'Former Emperor Faction' who could not use the name of the Emperor Faction. It creates a justification to wipe out those eyesores of bugs who pretend to be neutral on the outside.
Maximilian slowly began looking into the proposal.
He looked at the roster of nobles listed there who wished to participate as playmates.
Most were dregs who had fallen away because they could no longer remain in the central power. However, even if they had been pushed aside, they hadn't lost all their power.
For his part, a reason to pressure and extort them had rolled right into his lap.
Having thought that far, Maximilian flashed a satisfied smile.
He had considered it a useless proposal, but instead, it had become a stepping stone for his side to go on the offensive. It was more advantageous to pass this.
Maximilian opened his mouth to utter words of approval—and then closed it.
Certainly, there is a profit. Those people must have had some reason for trying to do this, but the moment they cross the line, the ones who die are them.
However, there is something catching his mind somewhere.
No matter how many times he read the proposal, there was nothing else to be found besides that. On the contrary, the more he looked at the proposal, the chill he felt at the back of his neck did not fade away.
It was a chill he had often felt on the battlefield.
When an arrow flew toward his head, when a spear thrust in from a blind spot, when searching for places where an ambush was expected, when that damned Swordmaster of the kingdom invaded.
Every time, without fail, Maximilian felt this chill. And that sensation always saved his life.
However, this time, no matter how much he tried to find the reason, he couldn't figure it out.
'There's no need to take such a risk.......'
If so, there is no reason to go out of his way to accept this proposal.
Although this proposal itself was something advantageous to him, rather than carrying an unidentified chill along, it was right to nip it in the bud altogether.
Even so, the reason Maximilian hesitated was regarding what this chill was pointing to.
Why was it? No, who was it because of?
Maximilian glared at the proposal again.
The Emperor's playmates. It was clearly written as such.
'......The Emperor......?'
Is the identity of this chill... the Emperor?
'............No way.'
Maximilian dismissed that nonsense himself. That stupid scoundrel? Preposterous.
Yet Maximilian still could not take his eyes off the proposal. After gazing at the proposal for quite a while like that, he quietly opened his mouth.
"......I shall pass this. It is not something disadvantageous to our side either."
"Y-Yes?"
"However, it shall be executed from my end, not Count Bartolomeo's. We have our own position to maintain, after all. Convey it as such to Count Bartolomeo."
"...Yes! A-Understood!"
So saying, Marquis Schleicher paid his respects, turned around, and exited the office. Gazing at him briefly, Maximilian shifted his eyes back to the documents he had been processing until now.
If it is advantageous, do it. If the chilly sensation bothers him, monitor it.
If Maximilian himself cannot monitor it, he just needs to insert a spy inside. If so, whatever they do inside, he will be able to find out.
Yes.
No matter who does what.