Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: The Blind Date
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"The end times are upon us."
The report submitted by Owl, which I saw the moment I arrived at work, revealed that the café I had planned to visit with Christina the day before was a front for an underworld crime syndicate.
To explain briefly, they had set up a normal café on the first floor and a torture chamber on the second. Contrary to expectations, business was booming, drawing unwanted attention.
Apparently, one of the criminals was genuinely passionate about baking bread or something like that.
In a way, it's a tragic tale.
Anyway, the culprits had all been rounded up, so my job was simply to stamp the approval.
I stamped it and moved on to the next item, but suddenly the minister's office door flew open with enough force to shatter it, and someone stormed in.
Why does everyone always burst in like they're trying to break the door? Can't they just enter normally for once?
And to top it off, it was the loud, annoying, bothersome, and irritating woman.
"Minister!"
"What is it, Captain Chirner?"
She was clad in gleaming white imperial armor, striding toward me with thunderous steps that seemed ready to crack the floor. Her name was Francesca Chirner.
The renowned captain of the Acherus Empire's 3rd Knight Order.
"Are you asking because you don't know? Your subordinates have invaded our knight order's territory again! I've told you countless times that maintaining security in the capital is our knight order's role!"
As expected.
No helping it.
She's scary, so I'll stick to my usual silence.
'I'm exhausted...'
After causing a scene at the Intelligence Department minister's office, Francesca returned to her knight order, barely resisting the urge to slump her shoulders.
For all her fussing, it was essentially a one-woman show.
As always, no matter what she said, the minister just sat there silently, fiddling with the ring on his finger and watching.
It felt like shouting at a wall, she thought.
'No, a wall would be better.'
Being stared at with those emotionless eyes sent chills down her spine. Even though their gazes met, it felt like her entire body was being scanned.
She was the one yelling, yet it felt like her own mental strength was draining away.
'Sigh. Why am I always stuck with this role?'
Francesca didn't actually want to go storming into the minister's office every time something like this happened.
As the youngest knight order captain, her seniors had forced this unpleasant duty on her.
'The seniors are scared of the minister too, so they dump it on me...'
She understood. He was the Iron-Blooded Minister.
Not only had he proven his abilities with insane achievements over the past decade, but he was also the eldest son of the Barrmut Duke Family, one of the empire's top powerhouses.
A mere knight order captain was someone he could eliminate with a flick of his finger.
Honestly, the only reason she survived her outbursts unscathed was due to the minister's immense tolerance.
'Maybe I should just quit and become an adventurer.'
Despite her innate talent and hard work earning her the captaincy at a young age, Francesca had recently been overcome with doubt.
For one, the position of knight order captain was far from what she'd imagined. The endless political maneuvering and factional infighting within the order were wearing her down.
Some might call it proof of peace, but she couldn't shake the feeling it didn't suit her at all.
Perhaps that's why.
She finally gave in to her parents' persistent marriage proposals.
To be precise, she agreed to at least meet once. But after resisting so firmly for so long, even that concession had her parents overjoyed.
And on the day of the meeting.
"...?"
Arriving at the arranged location first, Francesca tilted her head upon seeing the minister already seated there.
"Karl will inherit the duke's position next. So you go on the marriage meeting."
That was what my father said, barging into my workplace out of the blue.
"I understand the first part, but I have no idea what the second means."
My brilliant younger brother taking over as duke was something I already knew and didn't care about.
I'd never been interested anyway.
But how that led to me having to go on a marriage meeting was beyond me.
In response to my question, Father continued as if I were an idiot.
"Going on a marriage meeting means getting married."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Quiet. Just do it."
"No."
I'd never even considered marriage. And with Karl succeeding, there was no need for me to produce an heir.
When I pointed that out, Father seemed to change tactics.
"I see. You have no intention of it. Fine. If that's how it is, no helping it. Though it'll ruin my face after already discussing the match, and tarnish our family's reputation, it's okay."
Excuse me.
"The entire imperial social circle will whisper about rejecting without even meeting, but don't worry. Because of this, your mother, I, and your siblings won't be able to show our faces outside anymore, but you don't have to care about a thing."
This man, seriously.
After more pessimistic ramblings, I had no choice but to raise the white flag.
"...Just this once."
"Oh, you'll do it? Smart choice."
"So, who is it?"
"You'll find out when you meet on the day."
When I asked why not tell me who, he said it wouldn't be fun if I knew in advance.
This man is an imperial duke.
The empire is doomed.
And so, the day of the marriage meeting arrived.
Seated at the promised location, I spotted an unexpected figure approaching.
"Minister...?"
"...Captain Chirner."
The moment I saw her dressed not in her usual white armor but in a pristine white dress, I understood the mischievous grin on Father's face.
I say it again.
The empire is doomed.
The Acherus Empire's Intelligence Department was on high alert.
For one simple reason.
The minister was going on a marriage meeting.
Of course, the minister had never mentioned his marriage meeting to his subordinates.
So how did they find out? Because it's the Intelligence Department, that's why.
Celine immediately formed an emergency response team, centered around herself, Christina, and a few agents, and sprang into action.
Compiling all information related to the Barrmut Duke Family, they uncovered the identity of the minister's unknown marriage meeting partner in less than two hours.
"Francesca Chirner!?"
"No way!"
"That musclehead doesn't suit the minister at all!"
While shocked, they also felt relieved. If it was Francesca, the match would never go through—that much they were sure of.
She was the woman who barged in and caused chaos on her own whims. Everyone agreed their relationship wasn't just bad; they were polar opposites.
Not everyone was so optimistic, though.
"This could be dangerous."
"What do you mean, Celine? There's no way the minister would marry a woman like that?"
As all eyes turned to her at Christina's question, Celine sighed.
"Think about it objectively. Francesca Chirner is a promising young knight who rose to captain at a young age."
It was true. She'd earned the position purely on merit.
"Marrying her would give the minister direct influence over the imperial knight orders. Do you think he'd pass up that opportunity just because she doesn't suit his tastes?"
The faces of the staff and agents paled instantly.
The minister always weighed pros and cons in seconds, presenting the optimal path for maximum gain.
For the enticing prize of the imperial knight orders, he'd marry without hesitation.
"N-Now that you mention it..."
"And that woman's face isn't even bad..."
"She's actually pretty..."
The mood grew hopelessly grim.
They hadn't even met yet, and neither knew the other was their match, but in their minds, wedding bells were already ringing as the two pledged eternal love.
Imagining it, Christina clutched her chest as pain gripped her heart.
"No. We have to kill her."
"Are you insane!?"
"She's an imperial knight order captain!"
"Even so, that's going too far..."
Hearing the frantic objections to Christina's extreme proposal, Celine nodded and added,
"Exactly. Killing is a last resort. We'd have to bear that level of risk."
"...Celine? Forget the risk—killing is just wrong?"
Ignoring the perfectly reasonable objection, she neatly sorted the documents on the table, leaving only those on Francesca.
"From now on, we'll dig into her relationships, colleagues, daily life, evaluations within the knight order—everything about that woman to find her flaws."
"Flaws...?"
"The minister is the Barrmut Duke Family's heir. Would the duke family take a flawed woman as a daughter-in-law? Even if not, no man wants to marry a flawed woman."
"What if there are no flaws?"
Celine answered without looking up, rapidly scanning Francesca's records.
"No one is without dirt if you shake hard enough. But if she's truly flawless, then no choice."
"W-We bless the minister's marriage?"
"What nonsense is that? If no flaws, we make some."
They're insane.
That was the reaction of any sane person watching Celine and a few others, including Christina, pile up documents at breakneck speed.
Information manipulation was routine in the Intelligence Department.
They hid or spread false info to protect the emperor's prestige or the government's image.
Even so, framing someone to sabotage the minister's marriage was unprecedented.
'Should we tell the minister...?'
Everyone thought it, but no one dared approach him.
They couldn't explain how they'd learned about the meeting and the partner, but more than that, they were all terrified of Celine.
In the end, no one acted, and the day of the meeting arrived.
Celine, ever cautious, had prepared contingencies based on the outcome, but fortunately—or unfortunately—they weren't needed.
"It fell through?"
"Yeah."
A few days later, word spread throughout the capital that the marriage meeting between the Intelligence Department minister and the 3rd Knight Order captain had fallen apart.