“A message has arrived from His Majesty Lange.”
The awaited reply came on the day David woke up.
“Summarize it briefly.”
“He’s asking us to come to Bedrokka for a second meeting.”
Elise snorted.
“They’re trying to frame us as Prince David’s assassins.”
“They’re setting a trap and waiting. The king of Bedrokka is quite foolish. If he thought about it for a moment, he’d realize we have no reason to kill David.”
“Chase is probably there, misleading His Majesty Lange.”
Lange’s judgment was likely clouded by the fear of possibly losing David, his beloved son.
“Are we going, Elise?”
“We have something to catch. Since they’ve hidden in their den, we have to go.”
Karan pondered, tapping the table, then made a decision.
“We’ll go. Set the schedule as soon as possible. Concentrate our people scattered in Bedrokka to the capital.”
“We have people in Bedrokka?”
The ‘people’ he mentioned were employees of Pawnshop K.
Karan’s lower eyelid twitched slightly. He looked at Haltbin. Responding to the signal to quickly cover up, Haltbin cleared his throat to get Elise’s attention.
“Well, when managing state affairs, intelligence becomes important, so some of His Highness’s warriors are sent here and there.”
“So that’s why the news was so fast. Then there must be more of His Highness’s direct warriors than I know? How are you paying their wages? I haven’t seen a separate item in His Highness’s budget. If you’re short on money, I’d like to contribute.”
Elise was eager to help Karan.
“No, no. His Highness has plenty of money. There’s an enormous amount of money that you don’t know about, Miss Elise. Our lord is very rich!”
“Money I don’t know about?”
Karan put his hand to his forehead. He told Haltbin to cover up, but he just made things worse.
“There’s just a little, Elise. We seem to have some time before departure, shall we tour the Dex territory? Rosh came saying she had something to tell us. Let’s kill two birds with one stone and get up.”
Karan covered for Haltbin, who was just moving his lips in panic.
“Sure. But Your Highness, I’d like to know the number of your direct warriors. We need to give them weapons made of skeleton bones too. We can’t give to some and not to others.”
Fairness and justice were very important when dealing with subordinates. If that principle wavers, discontent arises, and trust between master and servant cracks.
Even a huge dam can collapse from a small crack.
A strongly built master-servant relationship could be completely shattered because of that small crack.
“Miss Elise, if you take care of all those people, you’ll go broke.”
“What? Are there that many warriors working in secret?”
The trust between master and servant was about to be broken because of the tactless Haltbin.
“We’ll discuss that later, Elise.”
Karan put his arm around Elise’s shoulders and led her away.
“Yes, later! Miss Elise! Let’s talk about it muuuuuch later!”
Haltbin shouted at Elise’s retreating back.
He hoped that ‘later’ would be after his death.
****
Karan’s claim that Rosh was looking for Elise turned out to be a misunderstanding, but she took the opportunity to tour the Dex territory after a long time.
The first place Elise visited was the Bronze District. It had completely changed from before. Roads were improved so that carriages could enter the village, shops had sprung up, and people’s faces were full of vitality. These changes came with the flourishing hot spring tourism industry. Rosh kept praising Elise for her contributions. Embarrassed, Elise couldn’t stay long and returned to the castle, promising to properly enjoy the hot springs next time.
The next day, late at night.
“Bedrokka is quite arbitrary,” Elise said.
The delegation of the Tetris alliance, including Elise and Karan, gathered in front of the castle. Bedrokka had suddenly notified them of the meeting date. Rosh gritted her teeth, saying she wanted to use harsher words.
“Rosh, please take good care of Prince David.”
David had fallen into a deep sleep again, as if his brief conversation with Elise had been a lie.
“Leber will take good care of Prince David.”
“I mean, be prepared for any possible intruders,” said Karan, approaching on horseback.
“Yes, understood.”
“We’ll make sure nothing happens, but just in case. Don’t feel too burdened.”
Although it was already a burden to have performed surgery on Bedrokka’s prince in Dex territory, Rosh smiled brightly.
“Yes. It’s not burdensome at all. Please travel safely.”
Elise boarded the carriage, and Karan took the lead. When Karan blew his whistle, six horses and three carriages lined up to cross the drawbridge. One carriage carried Elise and Regina, another was for luggage, and the last one contained a fully restrained Iris.
“Full speed ahead!” Karan shouted, and their pace quickened.
****
“Your Highness, Prince Chase! How should we proceed with the relief efforts?” “Prince Chase, you need to review the list of supplies for the allied forces.” “There’s a meeting with the corps commanders in the afternoon.”
Chase, walking down the corridor, swept back his hair and turned to look at the administrators trailing behind him. Contrary to their expectation that he would be angry at their urgency, Chase smiled brightly.
“I’ll handle them one by one. Let’s go to the office.”
However, his smile didn’t last long. It was because of a tactless question from one of the administrators.
“To the office? Which office should we go to, Your Highness?”
The surrounding temperature dropped sharply. Chase’s smile slowly faded.
“Which office, I wonder? Try to guess.”
Despite his gentle tone, his eyes were as sharp as an awl. The administrator froze, only his eyeballs moving.
“Well, Your Highness’s office, Prince Chase’s office…”
Before he could finish his answer, Chase’s blade was at the administrator’s throat.
“Wrong. We should go to the Crown Prince’s office. Aren’t the tasks I’m doing now the Crown Prince’s work? To think such a fool is an administrator of Bedrokka, it’s a national disgrace.”
“I’m sorry, I was wrong. Please spare me.”
The administrator trembled violently.
“Your Highness, people are watching,” Chase’s aide approached and whispered. Chase’s head tilted askew.
“His Majesty is watching. It would be best to restrain yourself until his condition is certain.”
Chase was waiting for news of David’s death. When he last saw him before leaving, David looked like he could die at any moment, but there had been no news since.
Chase sighed and threw away his knife. The aide nudged the knife with his toe, and a knight picked it up and put it away.
“I’d rather not see that stupid face anymore.”
At Chase’s command, the aide gestured. Knights dragged away the administrator who had answered incorrectly.
“Now, is there anyone who still doesn’t know where we’re going?”
“No! Let’s go! To the second floor office.”
The administrators shook their heads vigorously. They pointed to the second floor where David’s office was located.
The king’s office was on the third floor. It was an arrangement meant for the crown prince to learn by assisting with the king’s work nearby.
It also meant to act in the king’s stead when urgent matters arose.
Only 20 steps remained to the throne that once seemed so distant. Just 20 steps.
Chase hummed a tune as he headed upstairs.
Entering the office wide open, Chase clicked his tongue at the interior.
The room that housed the old-fashioned David was dreary and stuffy.
“Call a furniture dealer this afternoon. We need to change the curtains too. And the carpet.”
“Yes, understood.”
Chase casually flicked David’s belongings with his finger. He even dropped some items that bore David’s frequent touch onto the floor.
With each falling object, the shoulders of the administrators who had followed him twitched.
After roughly clearing away the bothersome items, Chase sat in the chair. He propped his chin on one hand and wiggled his fingers.
“Let’s start work. Shall we look at the relief project plan first?”
“Yes! Here it is.”
An administrator with a thick mustache sprang forward.
“Your Highness, His Majesty has sent an urgent message.”
Just as the plan was being set down, Lange’s attendant arrived.
“What is it?”
“He has ordered to prepare for an allied forces meeting at dawn tomorrow.”
“An allied forces meeting?”
“It was decided urgently yesterday afternoon. Delegations from Tetris and Magnus are on their way.”
Chase was displeased that Lange had made the decision alone.
However, he was glad that Elise was coming to Bedrokka.
He had to show her his changed status. What should he show first? What should he prepare?
After pondering for a while, Chase snapped his fingers.
“Prepare a banquet. Make it very splendid. Dazzlingly so.”
****
Hearing that Chase was preparing a banquet, Lange pushed away the hand massaging his shoulder.
Although Lange disapproved of Chase’s actions, he let it be.
With David’s fate uncertain, Chase was the only one left to succeed the throne.
Any deficiencies could be taught and filled in gradually.
“Is there still no word from the people we sent to Tetris?”
“The security at Dex Castle is stricter than expected.”
Lange’s lips tightened.
“Is that the extent of our knights’ abilities? I didn’t ask them to infiltrate the royal castle of Tetris’s capital, just a mere count’s castle! They can’t even do that?”
“Your Majesty, I apologize.”
Lange sighed deeply in frustration and waved his hand. It meant ‘get lost’.
After chasing away even his aides, Lange opened a bottle of alcohol. Without thinking to pour it into a glass, he gulped it down.
Was David still alive?
His thoughts, starting with worry for his son, concluded with wondering who could have tried to kill David.
Chase kept insisting that Tetris and the Ivory Tower were the culprits, but it wasn’t easy to believe.
On the other hand, Tetris pointed to Chase and Iris as the perpetrators. That was also hard to believe.
The Ivory Tower had condemned one sage to social death to resolve this situation, but it didn’t feel right.
The sage Ember he knew wasn’t someone who would recklessly commit such an act.
Who on earth could it be?
The frustrated Lange picked up the alcohol bottle.
“Your Majesty, do you need a drinking companion?”
Lange dropped the bottle in shock. Karan was standing before him, though the door hadn’t opened.
“Y-you…?”
“I came a bit early. I have something to tell you.”
Karan gently pressed down on Lange’s shoulder as he tried to stand up. Then he put his index finger to his lips, as if to say ‘be quiet’.
“I’ve come to give you news about His Highness David.”
Lange’s eyes widened.
