Chapter 186
“Uh, no, absolutely not!”
Only then grasping the situation, Count Petier jumped up in panic, swearing he hadn’t told a soul, not even his wife or children.
But the emperor, knowing how loose-lipped the count usually was, didn’t believe him so easily.
At that moment, the count hesitated and asked,
“D-don’t tell me… was the item I offered Your Majesty taken during the attack?”
“…”
“No, how could something so precious…!”
The count stomped his feet in frustration.
“The person who sold me that item swore it was a one-of-a-kind ancient relic! Do you know how much it meant to me to offer it!”
Blinded by regret over the lost artifact, the count kept babbling without noticing the emperor’s dark expression.
Then suddenly, he looked at the emperor with growing unease.
“Your Majesty, but… you’ll still keep your promise and release my son, won’t you…?”
“Nonsense. I didn’t receive the item, why would I fulfill my end of the bargain?”
The emperor cut him off coldly, raising an eyebrow.
“Besides, Count, you seem to know the value of that item quite well. Are you the culprit, perhaps?”
“Pardon? I-I don’t understand what you mean…”
The stunned count asked dumbly, and the emperor suddenly exploded.
“Are you saying this was a staged act because you didn’t want to part with the relic?!”
“N-no, never! This concerns my son—how could I…”
The count protested his innocence, claiming he had no knights or private soldiers capable of attacking the Imperial Knights, nor the guts to attempt such a thing.
But the emperor merely scoffed, saying, “Who knows if you hired mercenaries.”
The captain of the Imperial Knights, suddenly regarded as less capable than a mere mercenary, hung his head like a criminal.
The emperor, unbothered, continued his accusations.
Since the item was already gone and they had no clue who was behind the attack, he shifted the blame to the easiest target: Count Petier.
‘Completely the wrong target.’
Watching from the side, Nicholas saw through the emperor’s petty motives and shook his head inwardly.
Just then, he met eyes with Duke Elard standing across from him.
Reflexively narrowing his eyes, Nicholas gave a slight nod, but the duke pretended not to notice and looked away.
Duke Elard was never the warm type, but he certainly wasn’t generous enough to acknowledge the greeting of the emperor’s son during such an uproar.
He knew all too well why the emperor was so obsessed with collecting ancient relics.
Then, the emperor opened his mouth again.
Nicholas stopped watching Duke Elard’s expression and quickly leaned in to listen.
As always, he was diligently fulfilling his role as Lucio’s eyes and ears.
***
Back at the marquisate, I rushed to contact Lucio.
It was likely working hours, but I had to learn the details behind what Diana had told me.
Fortunately, the communicator lit up not long after I sent the message.
Then, Lucio’s subordinate, Bert, arrived at the marquisate.
“My lord said he will come tonight to explain everything in detail. And…”
Bert relayed Lucio’s instructions briefly and left in a hurry.
I jotted down the key points from what Bert said on a sheet of paper:
At dawn, the carriage from Count Petier’s estate was attacked in front of the imperial palace
The attackers, dressed in black, were extremely skilled and quickly overwhelmed the Imperial Knights before stealing the item inside the carriage.
Whether the emperor was furious, whether he berated the captain of the knights, or took it out on Count Petier—none of that mattered much.
I circled the word ‘attackers’ multiple times and stared at it for a long while before tossing the paper into the fire.
“Just as I thought…”
Those attackers were definitely demon worshippers.
And…
“Hah! So that’s why I was the only one left out that day.”
The realization hit so hard that my head felt numb.
Back then, the day I went to Count Petier’s estate was also the day I’d been sulking because I was the only top-level agent who hadn’t been assigned a mission.
Everyone else was busy preparing for an operation, and I didn’t even know what that mission was.
Bored and frustrated, I’d impulsively gone to the estate, hoping that watching Kenneth Petier’s downfall might cheer me up.
Thinking back on that now sent a chill down my spine.
‘If they had chosen the estate as the target instead of the palace…’
I had considered the possibility of running into them, but I’d narrowly avoided it. A sigh of relief escaped me.
“Wait. If the same thing happened in the past as well…”
So in the end, the holy relic really did fall into the hands of demon worshippers?
And on top of that…
“…I had no idea the incident happened right in front of the Imperial Palace.”
I’d always known Master was keeping my eyes and ears closed to some extent, but to be deceived this thoroughly… It made me feel like a complete fool.
A hollow laugh escaped me, followed by a wave of self-loathing.
But I quickly shook my head.
“This isn’t my fault…”
The one who deceives is the bad person.
So I’m not bad.
I began repeating, like a chant, the words Raizel always told me when I was on the verge of breaking down, and it helped calm my heart—if only a little.
“At least, it’s a relief.”
We wouldn’t know for certain whether the relic I found was the real one until Raizel returned and verified it but in any case, the item they took was a replica I made.
“Which means, what’s left now is…”
⟨Do you know anything about a demon’s relic?⟩
⟨…What exactly do you want to know?⟩
⟨How to break a contract made through a demon’s relic.⟩
How on earth did Lucio even come to know about demon relics?
“And now he’s talking about breaking contracts too…”
As I murmured seriously to myself, a chill suddenly ran down my spine.
I’d always assumed that Lucio founded the intelligence guild for the sake of the succession struggle.
But I’d never really thought deeply about why he got involved in the fight for the throne—or why he was trying to make Nicholas emperor.
I’d vaguely assumed he must have had his reasons… that he knew what he was doing.
Aside from my personal feelings for Lucio, he was a responsible and trustworthy man as the heir of House Elard, with a strong sense of duty to his family.
But then, my thoughts caught in my throat.
Maybe I was just imagining things. Maybe this was all nonsense.
And yet…
‘What if everything he’s done is related to the demon relics?’
Overcome by a growing sense of dread, I found myself nervously biting the edge of my nail.
Please, let this all just be my imagination.
I desperately hoped so.
***
Late at night.
Having finished his imperial duties and quickly reviewed the newly arrived Class-A intel at Darel, Lucio returned to the estate with somewhat heavy steps.
Standing between the Elard Ducal estate and the Diapel Marquisate, Lucio leaned back against a tall wall.
The estate was still and silent, deep in the slumber of night.
“…”
Staring at the marquisate where Lia resided, Lucio slowly loosened the cravat that had been tightening his breath, letting out a long sigh.
Uncharacteristically, he was hesitating.
He’d already said he was coming, so she was surely waiting for him.
All he had to do was go to her, and he could see the face he longed for.
And yet he hesitated, because what he was about to discuss with Lia was an unbearably heavy matter.
Still, precisely because of that, Lucio chose not to hesitate any longer.
By the time he reached the balcony connected to Lia’s room…
“You’re here?”
As if sensing his presence, the curtains flew open before he could even raise his hand to knock, and the door to the room burst open.
Lucio silently looked at Lia as she stepped out.
Her fair face bathed in moonlight, her clear eyes looking up at him—it all felt oddly familiar.
Before he could trace the source of the déjà vu, Lia opened her mouth.
“You must be tired from working so late. Was it rough?”
She probably thought he was staring blankly because he was exhausted.
Lucio didn’t deny it; instead, he let her lead him into the room. His face flushed slightly.
When Lia noticed the redness on his cheeks, she gasped.
“Why is your face like that? Are you still sick? I knew it, you pushed yourself too hard yesterday, didn’t you? Oh no! You must’ve gotten sick from not resting. Should I get medicine? Wait, I have a potion that’s good for recovery…”
As she flustered around, about to turn and search for medicine, Lucio quickly caught her by the arm.
“I’m fine.”
“Fine? But your face is red.”
“That’s because…”
Lucio hesitated to answer, but under Lia’s puzzled gaze, he gave in.
“You said exactly what my mother used to say to my father.”
“Duchess Elard said that to the duke?”
Lia tilted her head, clearly not understanding.
Lucio let out a short laugh.
She made his heart race like this and still looked at him with that innocent, unknowing face. It was a little maddening.
With a crooked smile, Lucio said,
“You’re the one who must be tired—waiting up so late for me.”
“…?!”
“Next time, just go to bed first. I’ll…”
“W-wait a second!”
Startled, Lia stumbled back in a panic.
“What are you saying right now?!”
Tilting his head slightly, Lucio asked with a teasing smile,
“Should I use honorifics? The Grand Duke addresses the Grand Duchess respectfully. I don’t mind calling you ‘my wife,’ either.”
Only then did Lia realize she had been acting like a wife welcoming her husband home late at night.
Her face turned far redder than Lucio’s had earlier.
She glared at him, fuming, but seeing the amused look on his face, she lost the will to stay mad.
With a short sigh, she said,
“Enough with the weird talk. Sit down. It’s late—we should get to the point.”
Sorry for the late chapters, some matters came up and I couldn’t upload them yesterday.
لماذا عندما يكون لدي موعد تنزل الفصول انا اسفة و لكن ساقراه بعد ان ارجع ال المنزل🥲💔
على راحتك يا فاطمة لا داعى للعجلة
شكرا على الفصل كان رائعا!! و لا داعي للاعتذار لقد كانت 💞✨ضروف