Counter a Big Plan With a Big Plan
Counter a Big Plan With a Big Plan
Mid-June. The marketplace was not the only place bustling.
A banquet was held at the Imperial Palace as well. A party where only the upper echelons gathered, where champagne rained instead of water.
A sofa sat in the center of the banquet hall. There was a man buried in that sofa, tilting a wine glass.
It was Clion Philiut, the Second Prince.
Since the Black Death crisis had ended and the prince had finished a semester, it was only natural for the Imperial Palace to host a nightless revelry. Jack, Duke Blanton, who had organized the party, approached Clion and bowed his head.
"Are you enjoying yourself?"
"Just as you see."
Every time Duke Blanton drew near, Clion's heart had to pound. Ever since he had come to his senses, the man no longer felt like an ally.
"But must you stay here by yourself? Finishing the semester among your friends would not be so bad either."
"Jack. Do you know who I am? Those people are not on my level."
"Ho-ho, a most just observation. Nursing a glass of whiskey in a place where one can build connections is a hundred times more meaningful than some unrefined drinking party."
Trickle. A fresh brandy was poured into a wine glass shaped like an inverted cone. It was a red-hued liquor, its color resembling cola that had gone flat.
"The aroma is excellent."
"Yes, it is a new variation of a liquor called Black Jack, specially procured from the brewery of Viscount Eliyev's house."
With a flushed face, Clion pretended to enjoy the revelry, a fine drink in one hand and a woman in the other.
Was it because Duke Blanton was at his side? The beauty fawning over him right next to him never quite registered in his eyes.
"By the way, Your Highness."
"What is it?"
"It seems that lately, you do not look me in the face properly when we speak."
Only then did Clion look Duke Blanton straight in the face.
Clion knew it himself. Every time his gaze turned toward Blanton's face, he could not stop his pupils from trembling.
Duke Blanton wore sunglasses all year round. His trendy ceremonial robes and the way he leaned on his cane exuded an air of nobility. A stranger would mistake him for an utterly ordinary old gentleman.
However, Blanton's physique was too robust to call him an old gentleman. Beneath his stylishly cut clothes, he seemed to conceal monstrous muscles. Frankly, Clion felt he would lose if he fought him.
Blanton softened his voice and continued.
"Have I perhaps given Your Highness some cause for offense?"
"What? Me? What for?"
Clion hiccupped and feigned ignorance.
Even though the brainwashing had been lifted, he had to keep playing the wastrel. The monster before him might decide to eliminate him otherwise.
"What I mean is, have you not done something wrong?"
"I asked you what!"
In his heart, he wanted to push further. How dare he interrogate a prince! How wonderful it would be to issue a dismissal order with those words.
But Clion knew his place. Nothing good would come from ruffling Blanton's feathers here.
When he remained silent, Blanton stroked his mustache and went on.
"No, it's merely that not long ago, five hundred Gold Coins suddenly vanished from the palace's First National Treasury. Might this not be Your Highness's doing?"
"Ah, really? I wouldn't know."
"You are saying it was not Your Highness who withdrew the funds?"
"Why. Was the finance minister pestering you?"
"Yes, with the treasury suffering immense losses from the plague, he ordered an investigation into the origin of this expenditure."
"I see. Five hundred is hardly a great sum, so let us simply consider it misplaced. Or could the Minting Corporation not simply print more money to cover the lost amount?"
"An entirely just point. I shall relay that."
Blanton replied, lifting the corner of his mouth slightly. Only when Clion saw him leave with a satisfied expression could he finally calm his pounding heart.
Clunk.
The moment he saw Duke Blanton close the door and disappear into the distance, Clion let out a deep sigh from the bottom of his lungs.
Despite his own foolish remarks, the Duke merely agreed and moved on instead of pressing the matter.
At this rate, the empire would crumble in an instant. Yet there was nothing he could do right now.
"Your Highness, shall I refill your glass?"
"Please do."
Yes, the time was not yet right.
With the thought of merely enduring until the right moment came, he downed his drink. It tasted like shit.
**
After taking his leave of Clion, Blanton passed through the eastern corridor. This path led to the detached palace that the imperial family had bestowed upon him, the Water Duke, one of the Four Great Dukes, generation after generation.
He sneered inwardly. No matter how he thought about it, it was laughable.
Blanton was heading to the magnificent personal office the emperor had granted him. It was a full twenty pyeong—a room the size of a modest family home—where the Water Duke handled all his affairs.
"Daddy, you're back?"
A slender girl's voice rang out from a sofa placed in one corner of the office.
Rosemary, who had been playing with a turtle doll, came running over to greet Duke Blanton.
"Yes. Did you stay well?"
With a clunk, the door closed.
The curtains were drawn in the spacious room, and the walls were covered in soundproof wallpaper. Unless one shouted quite loudly, no conversation would leak outside from here.
Rosemary tossed the black turtle doll to the edge of the sofa.
With each step the girl took, it was as if achromatic paint bled into the previously warm atmosphere. Standing right before Blanton, Rosemary lowered her voice and asked haughtily.
"So, how much longer does he plan to keep up the act?"
Giggling, Rosemary stepped back once more. It was a dancer's step.
"It seems he intends to stay quiet, at least until we make our move."
"Like father, like son. Well, he was always incompetent."
"To my eyes, he looks like a man who does not care about anything as long as his own life is preserved."
"That's when humans get you, when you least expect it."
"It doesn't hurt to be careful," Rosemary added with a giggle. Blanton, who had been clenching his teeth, hummed thoughtfully.
"We cannot confine the Second Prince as well. It is good to have several scarecrows propped up.... What do you think we should do, 4th Seat?"
"Why are you asking me?"
"Because you are the Demon King Army's tactical advisor."
"That's only when we're fighting, you know. Cases like this call for the 2nd Seat sisters to devise the stratagems; why must I rack my brains over non-combat matters?"
Rosemary made a circle with her fingers. Duke Blanton's nape was visible through the closed curve formed by her thumb and index finger.
[Supreme Unique Magic ─ Scope]
"But it can't be helped. I'll keep the Second Prince marked, one way or another."
"Thank you. But why are you suddenly aiming at my nape?"
"Just checking if your hair was falling out."
"Ha. Is it useful to observe my occiput with a skill that can peer hundreds of kilometers away?"
"It's a joke. Just telling you to always watch your back."
One spell cost one Mana Cigarette. Rosemary grumbled that her body's efficiency was terribly low.
"For now, I'm cooped up here living, and I'm at my wit's end. You know the most fun I have is playing the violin, right?"
"Have you discovered anything?"
"Yeah."
As Rosemary spread both arms, the scene at her fingertips expanded to fill the entire room. Her Unique Magic Art, Scope, could enlarge or shrink its function on a three-dimensional plane as needed.
That was not all. Like filming a video reel, it could also partially reproduce events observed in the past.
What Rosemary was about to show Duke Blanton was an incident from a few days ago, in a corridor at Tillet Academy.
A tall elf and a girl of the Gold-Eye Tribe appeared in the projection. Both wore robes bearing the seal that symbolized Tillet Academy.
Rosemary enlarged the paper the girl from the Gold-Eye Tribe was holding.
[Q. Is there a monster that can see hundreds of kilometers away, yes or no?]
"This is..."
"It means they know of my existence."
"Could she have recovered her memories?"
"It looks that way to me."
[Yes / No]
[Blink twice for yes and once for no.]
At the words written below, the elf male student blinked twice. Rosemary caught even that without missing a beat.
"...Could that be a coincidence?"
"Seeing only this, it might be. But there are two more clear pieces of evidence. One is that the elf gave the Second Prince a brainwashing resistance scroll, and the other is that he knew where the 5th Seat was located and went down into the sewers. Either one is an action impossible to take without knowing our plan."
Duke Blanton's eyebrows twitched. If the elf knew all their infiltration routes and, furthermore, knew how to counter them, that was a serious problem. At this rate, they might be unable to proceed with the grand assault planned for the next semester.
"What should we do?"
Rosemary's aqua-colored eyes flickered. She closed them for a moment and sank into deep thought.
From this eastern detached palace, she had been observing everything within a four-hundred-kilometer radius. Without missing a single day. She had watched the private lives of most people centered on the key figures of Tillet Academy. Naturally, she also knew that Prince Clion had conversed with the elf, and she had quickly received the news that Flare had been developed.
How much time passed? When the girl finished thinking and opened her eyes, her gaze no longer shone like aquamarines. Her pale yellow irises, tinged with the color of lemon, were filled with Blanton's face.
"7th Seat, in my reasoning, it's certain that Aether has recovered her memories."
"Then shall I contact her immediately?"
"No. Even if she's recovered her memories, she isn't necessarily on our side. Why do you think we erased her memories and mixed her into human society in the first place? Seeing how she developed Flare, something she didn't even have to do, it's a guarantee she hates us."
"...Then how can we call her back?"
"It's simple."
Rosemary's lips curled with amusement at Blanton's question.
"We just need to make her feel a deeper sense of betrayal from humans. Then she'll return."