A man wearing a plain white mask.
Except for the fact that he was wearing a mask, he didn’t stand out in any particular way, but Giorgio nevertheless sensed some sort of unease. His gut was screaming at him to be cautious of the man in front of him. Giorgio, who had once felt as though he was on the verge of death, did not ignore his gut feeling.
“Nice to meet you. If it’s okay, could you please introduce yourself?”
The man, Lasette, smiled as he looked at Giorgio with his tail down.
“You don’t have to be so scared; I’m just a person who can’t let go of his long-held dreams.”
It was a vague explanation. Giorgio, however, was only able to make out that he was the leader of a group known as the Priests in Black.
‘I made a mistake.’
He was befuddled and terrified. Giorgio grabbed his reason and thought rationally.
“Please accept my apologies; I was so flustered that I acted rudely; please be patient.”
The priests in black were the main cards for Giorgio. He wasn’t used to bowing to anyone, but he had no choice but to bend his pride for the sake of the future.
Perhaps realizing what Giorgio was thinking, Lasette laughed out loud.
“Haha, you don’t have to bend down like that, and even if you do, nothing will change.”
The air froze for a moment. Giorgio quickly rolled his head.
‘What does he mean by that?’
Giorgio’s question was immediately resolved.
“I put so much effort into you; we made your adopted daughter a saint in exchange for you agreeing to collect disaster byproducts; anyway, you didn’t fulfill half of what you promised.”
“That’s… I’ll try to use that child more if you wait a little longer.”
“Well, that’s something you can definitely work on. Hmm. But you already know that. It is difficult to rebuild trust after it has already been broken.”
Giorgio was in agony. Is now the proper time to summon the knights? However, these individuals used a mysterious power. He wasn’t sure if the outcome would be favorable. Rather, he only visualized the disastrous outcome, and it was dark and depressing.
“However, I’ll give you another chance.”
Fortunately, Giorgio was given one chance.
“……please tell me.”
“You should pretend to be a bully.”
Giorgio raised an eyebrow at the unfamiliar term.
“A bully….”
“I’m referring to Viscount Yurpheon.”
Adelia Yurpheon. A woman he oddly despises. Honestly, Giorgio didn’t find Adelia to be a significant obstacle. There was nothing disturbing about her. Strangely enough, he gets angry every time he sees her.
“Make a rumor that she used sorcery to manipulate the torch and connect it to the disaster.”
“……the vast divine power was unquestionably dubious. It won’t succeed in the end, though, if the temple refuses to acknowledge Selcred’s problems.”
“You don’t have to be concerned about that. You only need to start the fire. The rest will be completed by my brother.”
The priest, who had been hiding herself until now, took off her robe at the end of Lasette’s words. Upon learning the identity of the priest, Giorgio opened his eyes wide and called her by name.
“Princess Evelyn Macbeth?”
When Giorgio called Evelyn by name, she scowled as if she were offended. She appeared as though something soiled got on her clothing.
“He is arrogant because he is Duke of a very powerful country; is there a law in the Empire that says it’s acceptable to be rude to a princess from another country?”
Evelyn expressed her displeasure and pointed out Girgio’s mistake, while Peloche took a deep breath and advised Giorgio, who had stiffened.
Sister Evelyn, the first princess of the Macbeth Kingdom, is the ninth brother in our fraternity. Please bear this in mind as we will need to communicate for our future plans.
The fact that Macbeth’s princess had entered the fray caught Giorgio off guard, but he quickly collected himself. He greeted her courteously right away.
“Greetings to Evelyn Macbeth, the Macbeth Kingdom’s first princess.”
“Tsk, what is this forced courtesy? There’s nothing more disgraceful than this, but I’ll overlook it because Lasette is with me.”
“……I’m simply moved by your kind generosity.”
Giorgio clenched his teeth on the inside. He finds it absurd that he now has to submit to a girl from a remote nation. His pride, which had already been shattered, was shattered once more, and he was frustrated.
“If you muddy the water first, we plan to shake it even more beneath the surface, and when the time comes, I’ll formally file a complaint with the Empire; if they aren’t going to dispose of anyone who may have had something to do with the disaster, hand them over to me.”
“……..but will they accept it?”
Evelyn’s brow furrowed in response to Giorgio’s skeptical response. Giorgio’s suspicions were not unfounded. Adelia Yurpheon was related to Grand Duke Hamilton, the emperor’s beloved younger brother. And the Macbeth Kingdom was just a small country on the continent’s outskirts.
There was a system in place. Even if Evelyn Macbeth is a powerful ruler, she will not be able to destabilize the emperor on her own.
Giorgio was reluctant to intervene in this scheme for nothing. His eyes twinkled. He spoke clearly, pointing out the plan’s flaws.
“I don’t mean to undervalue the Kingdom of Macbeth, but it’s probably difficult to move the emperor by the power of your highness alone. The power of the empire is stronger than it looks.”
For a while, Evelyn couldn’t say anything. She just sighed calmly and looked down at Giorgio.
“Do you think I didn’t figure that out?”
“So ….”
“Don’t worry; after all, an empire is just a country. There is nothing absolute in politics, and neither is the empire.”
Evelyn spoke confidently, as if she had considered every possibility.
“Have you considered what would happen if not only Macbeth, but also other countries united in their opposition to the empire?”
In other words, there are more countries willing to collaborate with them.
Obviously, if other countries were to be added, the empire would be in serious jeopardy.
If everything works out well, I may be able to defeat the Emperor.
It was fraught with peril, but the rewards were enormous. Other than these advantages, Giorgio had only one choice.
“Fine, leave it to me.”
Evelyn’s eyes rolled at Giorgio’s decision. Her pale pink lips curved in a gentle arc.
“That’s a good idea; you didn’t have much of a choice anyway.”
***
Adelia was treated as a VIP when she entered the imperial palace, according to the chief of the Imperial Knights. Of course, only a few people saw how she was treated. As if they wanted to keep her hidden from others. What prompted the emperor to act in this manner?
“This is Selence Palace.”
Ivan said hoarsely as he looked around the palace where Adelia was being guided.
“Are you familiar with it?”
“I’m familiar with it. When I was a kid, I used to frequently flee here. The outer part of the star palace, as you can see, is surrounded by tall trees, making it difficult for outsiders to see.”
Only then did Adelia realize why this star palace had such an unusual atmosphere. Selence Palace is said to be a separate palace, but it felt like it was in a completely different space from the imperial palace.
“From the way you were led here, Your Majesty appears to want to keep you hidden.”
“Did you feel the same way, too?”
“I can’t be sure without knowing,”
“Something must have happened while we were away from the capital.”
Without saying anything, Ivan nodded his head in agreement.
Adelia exhaled a sigh. She’s in a pickle. She needs to get to the sacred ground as soon as possible, but she can’t believe she’s being caught like this. The timing was impeccable. It appears that someone has made arrangements to impede her advances.
‘Well, it’s more likely that it is or something along those lines.’
“We need to find out what’s going on outside as soon as possible.”
“Oh, I’ve already done that.”
Ivan looked at Adelia with eyes that said ‘So fast,’ and Adelia smiled softly as she waited for the informant she had released outside to return.
Tak~
Speak of the devil, and he will come, the informant she released finally appeared.
“Demalo, here you are. Did you find out anything?”
Demalo’s face stiffened when Adelia asked, and he reported to her in a stiff voice.
“The people’s sentiments about you aren’t favorable right now.”
“People’s sentiment?”
Adelia tilted her head for a moment, perplexed, ‘Do I have anything to do with the public’s feelings?’
Demalo sighed deeply and began to elaborate on what he had seen and heard.
“At the moment, people refer to you as the “witch who caused the disaster.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“I think it’s nonsense, too, but……. Anyway, there are false rumors that the Viscount, as a guardian, set a fire using dishonest means, and that you are a witch who brought about the disaster.”
“What’s the basis? Of course, the rumor has to have a basis, right?”
“I did everything I could to find out, but there was no clear evidence.” There was nothing but speculation as to whether you were communicating with the devil or performing a strange ceremony just before the torch ceremony.”
The scary thing about rumors was that, despite the fact that it was obviously untrue, people readily believed it and spread it widely. Adelia was left speechless at that moment.
“Oh. I don’t know what to say. I’m in big trouble.”
“Yeah. As you said, it’s really troublesome.”
From behind her back, Adelia turned to the emperor’s voice. He was walking towards them with a tired face.
