The Feud Between Two Families
The fact that the Russell family had yet to be recognized as a true ducal house, and that only Manuela was addressed as a countess in name alone, meant the empire had no intention of letting the Russells take root within its borders.
Pay knew this because the same pattern had played out with Ranya, who had become the emperor’s consort.
After the fall of the Delphier Kingdom, Ranya had received the title of countess and used it to ascend to the position of imperial consort.
Wait a moment.
Pay, who had been sitting quietly, felt her expression harden.
The crown prince treated her with courtesy, but he was still her client. He would never bring up his own broken engagement without reason. Besides, they had been in the middle of discussing the request. Surely he wasn’t…
“…Is the task you wish me to perform connected to Your Highness’s past?”
“You could say that.”
“Then…”
The Russell family was a ducal house in name only, little more than an honorary title. They lived in a mansion provided by the imperial family and received a monthly stipend. Even after the broken engagement, their financial situation remained unchanged. With no territory or serfs, that was only natural.
Therefore, the chances of anything suspicious occurring at the Russell ducal residence where Manuela stayed were extremely low. Most of the servants in that mansion were likely sent by the imperial family anyway.
But what if something did seem off?
Without a fiancée now, the conditions for their destruction have only grown closer…?
A cold bead of sweat traced down Pay’s spine. At that moment, Lucius’s hand lightly tapped her arm. It was a silent reminder to stay focused.
Ah. I’m safe, at least.
Feeling a strange sense of relief, Pay listened as the crown prince continued.
“My marriage must be a political alliance due to my status. The engagement with Lady Russell was the same, and I never once voiced any complaints about it. The Russell family likely felt the same.”
“Yes.”
“The one who proposed the broken engagement was the Russell family.”
“…Pardon?”
It was unbelievable. Why? How could such a thing happen? A single imperial decree could erase the Russell family without a trace, so why had they done it? What circumstances or backing had they possessed?
It defied common sense.
“It’s surprising, but true. After a long investigation, we found no concrete evidence, but there were traces suggesting the Orleans ducal house may have been involved in some scheme.”
“The Orleans ducal house?”
“Right before the engagement was broken, we discovered faint traces of steady contact with someone from their side. We don’t know the contents, but the contact existed.”
“But… as far as I know, there is no young lady of marriageable age in that house. What benefit could they possibly gain…?”
“I chose my request recipient well, Lady Pay. It’s fortunate you’re well-versed in the ways of high society.”
Ah! Did I act too suspiciously?
The reason Pay could recite the movements and family relations of noble houses so fluently was simple: her role as an Eina. She had memorized every detail while being endlessly tormented during the day and crying bitter tears at night. Now, that knowledge was proving unexpectedly useful.
Still, the crown prince clearly knew Pay was merely an ordinary orphan from Grace Monastery. Fortunately, he did not seem overly suspicious.
“As you said, the Orleans family does not appear to have any intention of breaking my engagement only to put forward their own candidate for crown princess. There is no suitable young lady of the right age even among their relatives. There have been no moves to adopt a daughter either. Yet they have never openly defied the imperial will, have they?”
“Ah…”
“We did receive intelligence that they have been engaged in a covert power struggle with the Huiant marquisate. I judged that stirring things up there might reveal something.”
“So the place where I am to cause an incident and provoke them is the Orleans ducal house?”
“Correct. You will create the disturbance at a location where both the Orleans family and the Huiant marquisate have forces stationed.”
The Huiant marquisate…
The Marchioness of Huiant, Jona Huiant, was on friendly terms with the Klein Duchess yet had tormented Pay at every turn. The Klein Duchess, knowing Pay’s troubles, had never once stopped the marchioness from meeting her.
The Duchess of Orleans is so authoritative that she barely spoke to me. Wait, did I ever see the Huiant marquisate openly clash with the Orleans family?
Both houses had simply shared the trait of being unfriendly toward the old Morgana. She could not recall any actual conflict between them.
Yet if an incident occurs, they will suspect each other? They were already engaged in a covert struggle at this point? As expected… there are things happening everywhere that I know nothing about.
It was fortunate that when the incident happened, Pay would not be directly entangled with the Klein ducal family.
“Understood.”
She would see them eventually anyway. Would Dot appear at that place?
Pay pushed the thought aside and considered what she needed to do first.
Silas’s true goal was to uncover and dismantle the Orleans family’s conspiracy. Very well. She would find out what their motive had been.
Having seen his sincerity, Pay resolved to complete the request without fail.
On the way out of the crown prince’s palace in the carriage, Lucius pointed to a large, round domed building.
“We still have time. Let’s stop by there.”
“Ah… Is that all right?”
It was the imperial palace. Was it acceptable to wander around freely?
Whenever Pay had visited the palace before, she had only gone between the reception room and the Acadnia Hall where tea parties were held, so she did not know the layout well.
“You have that thing, don’t you?”
“What thing?”
“The token.”
To prevent future trouble, the crown prince had given her not only the brooch containing the imperial oath but also a rectangular plaque. It was wine-colored, set with a large garnet that glowed faintly orange when light touched it.
He had said that with this token, she could enter most areas except the emperor’s palace, the closed empress’s palace, and certain restricted zones.
Lucius had called it a token—a plaque proving one’s identity. It might grant passage in appropriate places. Still…
A token… Well, I don’t even know what that building is. Is it really all right to use it right after receiving it?
“I can smell books from there. I need to look something up.”
Pay’s worried expression brightened. No one in the world would question a mage for wanting to read books.
“What? Is that it? I don’t smell anything like paper here.”
“Your nose is just dull.”
Though Lucius spoke that way, he was faintly excited.
If he visited the imperial palace library, he might learn exactly what had happened during the long sleep of the great dragon. Setting aside the matter of Morgana, an insatiable thirst for knowledge pricked at him. Like any dragon, he wanted to memorize every treasure of history that had unfolded in his absence—whether true or fabricated.
As he had said, the round building was indeed the imperial palace library. After signing their names and safely entering, Pay turned to Lucius, who was already pulling several books from the shelves.
“Will we be able to leave today?”
“……”
“Lucius.”
“Ah, why? It’s still morning, so it should be fine.”
“I asked the librarian. We have to leave by five in the afternoon. Will it be all right if I come pick you up then?”
“Sure.”
Pay smiled as she watched Lucius bury his silver hair in a book.
She always found it rather pleasant to see him, usually so arrogant, occasionally absorbed in reading.
Was it a sense of kinship? His focused expression suited him well, and besides… even among all the mages in the Magic Tower, her gaze kept drifting toward him. Setting aside the fact that they had grown somewhat close, it was simply how she felt.
“All right. On my way out, I’ll request lunch for you, so don’t skip it. Make sure you go to the cafeteria.”
“Just focus on your own work and stop worrying about others.”
“…You’re not ‘others,’ Lucius. I’ll see you later, then.”
Pay left the library without lingering, despite being a mage herself.
Even as her footsteps faded, someone’s gaze followed her every movement.
Lucius, who had been reading a history book about the period of warring kingdoms after the fall of the Sharp Empire, glanced over the pages.
Will she be all right alone? She’ll manage somehow. If not, I’ll be disappointed.
His dark eyes soon returned to the book. There were far too many volumes he needed to read today. Of course, he could always send a thought-form after returning to the Magic Tower, but since he was already here, he wanted to finish at least ten books in a hurry.
If a proper mage from the Magic Tower visited the palace only to fall into danger the moment she was left alone, that would be a problem.
Contrary to his fierce thoughts, a portion of his mana quietly slipped away and wrapped protectively around Pay’s small heart.
After leaving Lucius in the library, Pay’s steps wandered for a moment.
Where should I go…? Where can I spend some quiet time?
Perhaps because she had accepted the crown prince’s request, a hollow feeling lingered somewhere in her chest. Lucius had grumbled not to trust scheming politicians so easily, but the die had already been cast.
Pay had her suspicions.
After causing what he called a “minor incident” at the harvest festival, the crown prince had not explained what would come next. He would stir up conflict between the two families and then use the justification he gained to do something significant. Once she completed the request and time passed, she would learn what happened anyway.
It’s strange. Someone of the crown prince’s stature should have no trouble hiring another mage besides me… Why didn’t he cause such an incident before? The harvest festival two years ago passed quietly. Did he try provoking the Orleans family through other means?
She could not simply grab the crown prince and ask what he had been thinking back then.
Pay stopped walking without thinking and realized where her feet had taken her. A hollow laugh escaped her.
What sin could her feet possibly commit?
The fault lay with the person who had come here without thinking.
“Haha…”
Beyond the terrace of the Acadnia Hall, which she had visited so often that the soles of her shoes had worn thin, lay a familiar space.
It was the imperial garden, where a splendid display of flowers bloomed for visiting guests.
And nestled within it was the small Hall of Verdure. Shaded by a large tree, the modest hall could comfortably accommodate only one distinguished guest and their followers at a time.
Though called a hall, it was essentially a resting place reserved for nobility.
Morgana had never once set foot inside the Hall of Verdure.
“The Hall of Verdure is usually where high-ranking noblewomen and young ladies retreat to escape the bustle of the ball,” the Klein Duchess had once explained before walking away.
She had often left the inexperienced Morgana alone in the Acadnia Hall, surrounded by hyena-like noblewomen, while she herself went to rest in the Hall of Verdure.
Even on the very first day Pay had come to the palace, it had been the same.
Left alone, she had struggled to endure the flood of questions and jealous stares directed at her as the countess’s Eina.
How bleak and frightening that moment had been.
A trace of sorrow welled in Pay’s eyes.
She must have done it on purpose—to test the limits of Pay’s abilities, to keep someone capable of enduring anything by her precious daughter’s side.
She had treated Pay so cruelly, even though Pay was a daughter whose origins she did not even know… If Pay had known she would live like this, would she have gone quietly?
As a chill of anger quietly coiled around her arm, Pay struggled to calm herself.
It’s all right. It’s over now. Please stay calm. This hall itself has done nothing wrong. I…