Episode 37

As soon as I thought that, my lips moved of their own accord.

“I propose a new pact.”

“Speak, Your Majesty.”

“If you protect Lothania and me, and pledge your loyalty to Lothania, who will be the future emperor, I will release you from the bonds of the oath. You will not have to use that power anymore.”

Aiden blinked his wide eyes, and I reflected on what I had just said.

Releasing Aiden from his leash was something I had previously discussed with Lothania.

In any case, our ultimate goal is still survival and ensuring Lothania’s safe ascension, so a slight strategy adjustment shouldn’t be a problem, right?

However, for the new pact to be valid, Aiden must keep his promise, and how much I could trust him was the key.

Had I perhaps been fooled by his acting?

With doubts in my mind, I looked into Aiden’s eyes. He seemed dazed as he asked,

“Do you mean that I should protect you both until the Crown Princess ascends to the throne, and then, as Duke Tilender, pledge my loyalty, and you will break the bonds of the oath?”

“Yes.”

“Without hunting down the snake or the eagle?”

“Yes.”

He seemed to understand well, summarizing it neatly, but now he looked dazed and asked,

“Then can I live as an ordinary person?”

“You can be free from the bonds of the oath.”

Though I doubt you’ll ever be an ordinary person.

I didn’t bother to add that last part, though I felt it wouldn’t matter even if I had said it aloud.

His next question was even more absurd.

“Then, can I become Your Majesty’s dog?”

Here he is, finally being freed from his leash, and now he wants to become a dog again.

“Aiden, didn’t you say you didn’t want to live as a dog?”

“I didn’t want to be in a position where I couldn’t choose my master. Being Your Majesty’s dog seems fine to me.”

I couldn’t understand what he was saying, and I felt a sense of crisis that I might end up with an uncontrollable large dog.

“If I were to raise a dog, I would prefer a small dog with white fur.”

A large black dog looked at me with wounded eyes.

Three hundred years is a long time, enough to shake even one’s sense of self-identity.

After convincing Aiden, who was confused about whether he was a dog or a person, to live as a human and sending him away, I returned to the main palace.

* * *

As I approached the entrance, Tito, who had been waiting for me, informed me that Henry Senwood had come to visit.

I instructed him to bring Henry to the office. Henry entered hesitantly, head bowed.

The boy, with his dark brown hair and reddish eyes tinged with turbidity, glanced at me nervously.

“My mother… gave me this…”

Henry cautiously took a letter from his pocket.

When I received it, he looked at me anxiously and mustered up the courage to speak again.

“Your Majesty, may I play with the Crown Princess?”

His attitude was cautious, but his eyes were full of anticipation.

Though I wasn’t pleased with Lothania getting close to the Senwood family, it was hard to say no to a child looking at me with such expectant eyes.

“Let’s ask Lothania. Let’s see if she has time.”

I asked Tito to check with Lothania.

Tito returned from the Crown Princess’s palace with the response that she couldn’t because her history lesson wasn’t over.

Henry left, shoulders drooping.

“The lesson still isn’t over?”

“No, Your Majesty.”

Tito awkwardly shook his head.

This meant Lothania had refused to play with Henry.

I had thought Lothania would welcome Henry since she often played with Melbrid, the brother of the Serpent, but it seemed that to Lothania, a blood-related aunt was more distant than the beasts who might pounce at any moment.

Lothania didn’t know, and I hoped she never would. If Bonita really had assassinated the emperor and the evidence came to light, the Senwood family would be eradicated.

Bonita and the Marquis of Senwood would be beheaded, and Henry’s life would be in jeopardy too.

So, was it fortunate that Lothania decided to keep her distance from Henry?

Lothania and Henry were both innocent children, yet my heart felt heavy.

I sighed and opened Bonita’s letter. It revealed the manipulations of a guilty adult.

“Royal Guard?”

Bonita’s letter proposed this:

Currently, Brincia has the Capital Defense Force under Captain Aiden, numbering ten thousand.

The Zernia family, the noble family with the most private soldiers in the capital, has over five thousand knights and soldiers.

To counter them, we need a force, and she suggested forming a guard unit, as proposed by the venomous snake this morning.

She wanted to call it the Royal Guard and appoint her husband, the Marquis of Senwood, as the captain.

I folded Bonita’s letter in half, then in half again, and once more.

As I crumpled the letter, a thought crossed my mind.

I uncrumpled the letter and read it again before asking Tito, who stood there with a perplexed expression.

“Tito, what’s the financial status of the Senwood family?”

“The Senwood family is probably the wealthiest in the empire. There’s a rumor they might even have more wealth than the royal family.”

“More than the royal family? They’re that rich?”

“The Marquis of Senwood owns assets under the names of his relatives and vassals, so no one knows the exact amount, but they say half of the luxury residences in Brincia belong to the Marquis.”

“Is that so?”

That changed things.

Bonita’s letter, which had seemed filled with nonsense, now looked like a gold mine.

Thinking about how to exploit it, I smiled and asked Tito again.

“But how did the Marquis of Senwood become the richest family in the empire, with three powerful dukes around?”

“Well, the Duke of Kidmillan isn’t extremely wealthy but has solid finances because he manages his territory well, even though he’s not interested in making money. As for the Duke of Zernia, it’s impossible to gauge his financial status.”

“Impossible? Why?”

“The Duke of Zernia can generate enough money to buy the entire Belpator Empire if he puts his mind to it.”

I didn’t fully understand what Tito meant, but I remembered Lian’s words about emptying the imperial treasury and understood.

If the head of the Zernia family was Lian, the apparent financial status would be meaningless.

“What about the Duke of Tilender?”

“The Duke of Tilender…”

Tito paused, choosing his words carefully, then said something strange with a serious expression.

“There’s a rumor that the Duke of Tilender eats gold.”

“What?”

I thought it was a metaphor or a joke, but Tito was serious.

The Tilender Duchy, located in the empire’s north, had been unmanaged for a long time.

When Aiden became the Duke of Tilender, the duchy was on the verge of financial collapse due to various issues.

Aiden, holding multiple positions, received his salary in cash and gold every month. The cash was handed over to the butler, but the whereabouts of the gold were unknown.

The Tilender Ducal Residence was still in such a state of disrepair that rumors of Aiden eating gold had spread.

“The Duke of Tilender has no interest in luxury, not even in daily necessities. There are only four servants in the ducal residence, so there’s nothing to be done.”

Tito sighed as he added.

The ducal residence was a large mansion, so having only four servants was a clear indication of its state.

While it’s good for a powerful person to be frugal, isn’t that degree of frugality a bit too much?

I clicked my tongue, thinking about Aiden, who had no ordinary aspects, and asked Tito to call Anna.

The financial state of the beasts wasn’t important, but the fact that the Senwood family was the wealthiest in the empire was quite significant.

Soon, Anna, Lothania’s maid, arrived at the office.

“Welcome, Anna. I’m sorry, but I need you to go outside the palace.”

“Whatever you need, Your Majesty.”

“Go to the Marchioness of Senwood and relay exactly what I’m about to say.”

I gave her a bright smile and told her what to say to Bonita.

Anna, who had been listening quietly, asked with a puzzled look when I finished.

“Just relay what you just said? Not send a letter?”

“I don’t want it in writing. Is it too long to remember?”

“No, I can remember it.”

“Good, then I’ll leave it to you.”

After sending Anna to the Marquis of Senwood’s residence, I also got up from my seat.

Having worked hard today, I decided to spend the remaining time with Lothania, enjoying some healing time filled with cuteness and affection.