Chapter 159 - The Princess's Value

Ferda answered.

"She is beautiful."

It was a fact he could state calmly.

"Beautiful indeed. There is a reason she is called the Flower of the Empire."

Waldemar let out a displeased breath.

"But if she had only been beautiful, that would have been truly fine... The problem is that she is not."

"Is that so?"

"Do not play innocent. A man like you, who is not swayed by appearances and is not sentimental, must have noticed her true nature."

"What is it you want to say, Grand Duke Waldemar?"

"I want to say that woman is my destined one."

Ferda thought.

Had this old man gone senile?

"You must be thinking the same thing. That old man is lusting after a young thing. If he is that old, he should just die quietly."

At least he seemed to know what others thought of him.

"But no matter what anyone says, I am certain. Olivia will become my destined companion."

Madness was mixed into his calm tone.

What the Emperor had promised was precisely that he would match Olivia with Waldemar as his partner.

"My companion is still wandering. And..."

His gaze turned cold as he glared at Ferda.

"It seems you are trying to become a stop along the way in that wandering."

"..."

Disgust welled up on Ferda's face.

Garnet had once told him about someone who had died after becoming entangled with Waldemar.

"To my knowledge, Stella Arken was your destiny."

Stella, the elder sister of Princess Olivia.

Her elder sister was known to have died in an accident when a balcony collapsed.

In truth, however, it had been suicide, and Waldemar had been behind it.

It had been because of his obsession that he had to have her.

"Ah. Stella... Yes... There was Stella too."

Tears fell from Waldemar's eyes.

Waldemar mourned as he called that name.

"Poor thing. If only that poor thing had not tried to defy her fate, this would never have happened..."

That alien sight meant he was sincere, and it was enough to make even Ferda shudder.

"Since Stella ended up that way... I will never let go this time. I cannot lose the woman of my destiny twice."

When he wiped away his tears, his dry eyes showed again.

He was already a man broken beyond repair.

Ferda stared into those eyes and answered him.

"I will say it once more, but I have no interest in the Princess. Even if the Princess feels favor toward me, it is not romantic, and even if it were, it is something I do not need."

"Is that so?"

At Ferda's firm attitude, the pressure bearing down on him eased slightly.

But soon, it made him wonder whether he had just misspoken.

Waldemar's gaze had sunk even deeper.

"Then you may be able to help me."

"What are you talking about?"

He made a proposal.

"Make Olivia acknowledge that she is my destiny."

Ferda climbed into the carriage and left the imperial palace.

From the moment he left the reception room, Waldemar's words had been circling in his head.

-As I said, this Empire is already full of people without patriotism. Even if you do not love this Empire, it will only mean one more unpatriotic citizen.

Ferda was merely a single streak of rain falling into a great river.

He had stated the reward for the proposal like this.

-If you cooperate with me, I can establish the far east's position. I can even strengthen your autonomy to the point that it is practically the same as separate independence.

Waldemar's proposal was drastic enough to be called conspiring treason.

Under the name of a single Empire, such a proposal would normally be impermissible.

'Is Olivia worth that much?'

It was a terrifying obsession.

How had Ferda reacted there?

Ferda had not been able to answer immediately.

To be precise, while he had been weighing his answer, Waldemar had postponed hearing it.

That was why the proposal kept circling in his mind instead of being answered.

'Olivia Arken.'

She had failed to become a Saintess and brought a nation to ruin with her beauty.

Even that had ended in failure.

'Though things are different now.'

She, who had remained at the 3rd Circle, had now reached the 4th Circle and was seriously taking the first steps toward becoming a Saintess.

She had gained potential, and she had the ability to match that potential.

Olivia was a skilled strategist and politician.

Even so, there were many variables.

To the nobles around her, Olivia's value while she remained a Princess was far too great.

To noble ladies, she had become an excellent stepping stone, and to young lords, she had become a fairy-tale dream and source of inspiration,

And powerful old men like Waldemar were also watching for a chance to seize her beauty.

If she spread her wings to soar higher, they would grab those wings and tear them off.

Everything about her seemed solid, but dangers far beyond imagination were lurking around her.

By contrast, everything about Waldemar was solid.

He was supported by both the commoners and the nobility, making him a person of real power.

If he supported Ferda, it would be the same as removing every danger that might face the far east in the future.

'All of this can be done by selling out one woman.'

It was brutally simple.

Selling an unstable possibility to gain a stable supporter.

It was a clever situation that felt unpleasant and yet alluring at the same time.

'Sending me away without hearing my answer must have been for this too.'

It was a masterful move.

The deeper one's thoughts became, the more cautious they made one, but at the same time, they frightened a person.

After frightening them, they made them choose the stable option over an adventure.

"Regent, we have arrived."

The carriage stopped in front of the high-class inn where Ferda was staying.

The knights guarding the entrance recognized Ferda and opened the door with a salute.

But instead of stepping through the door, Ferda turned aside.

"I will take a short walk."

"Then we will accompany—"

"I will go alone."

Ferda answered shortly, as if his head were complicated, and tried to ignore their escort.

Knights could not truly refrain from following just because a noble said he did not need them.

They secretly followed behind Ferda.

But when Ferda slipped into an alley, their mission came to nothing.

He had vanished completely.

"Huh?"

"Did you see where he went?"

"No, I didn't. He really disappeared without a trace..."

Thinking he might have run somewhere at tremendous speed, the knights picked up their pace, but no matter how hard they looked, they could not find a trace of Ferda.

"Spread out and find him! If we lose him, our heads are coming off!"

Unlike the escort knights, who thought he must have already fled far away, Ferda had turned into the alley and had not moved a single step.

It was magic he had learned from Barbatos's Shadow Art of the Great Demon.

Shadow Inside.

It was stealth magic that hid his form inside shadows, allowing him to hide both his presence and every sound.

It even evaded detection magic and was superior to stealth spells of the same tier, but it had a fatal flaw.

'If light comes in, I will be discovered immediately.'

If they had been holding even a small lantern, Ferda would certainly have been found.

But this was the capital of the Empire.

Aside from the broad avenues, it was a maze-like place with more places without light than with it.

Having escaped the eyes watching him, Ferda moved somewhere.

The place he headed was a back alley that left behind the scents of fragrant food and flowers and reeked of sewage.

When he entered it, a slum opened up where sewage treatment and all kinds of refuse gathered in one place.

Beggars lay on the filth-soaked ground as if it were a bed and begged.

Ferda moved past them.

His feet were headed toward a clear destination.

"My lord... Please spare just one coin..."

Waiting there was an old beggar woman pleading in a hoarse voice.

Kneeling and lying flat, she held up a wooden bowl.

At the same time, Ferda noticed a tattoo on the beggar's wrist.

Ferda took out a coin and placed it in the beggar's bowl.

Then the old woman once again touched her head to the ground and expressed her thanks.

"I greet you, Regent."

The hoarse voice was gone, and a young woman's voice was heard.

It was Garnet's voice.

"Are we moving elsewhere?"

"It is all right. This entire area is under my control. There is no hole for anything to leak through."

Ferda quietly stretched out his shadow and searched the surroundings.

As she had said, people watching and guarding this place were hidden here and there.

Reassured, Ferda began to speak.

"How did the observation go?"

"To be honest, it went outside our expectations again."

"Was there a mistake in my conduct?"

"No. As for the response, it was very good."

She had listened to Ferda's entire speech and even checked the reactions around him.

It was above the numbers they had expected.

"Because the response was far too good, the chance that our opponent will make a strong move has become even higher."

A variable that arose because the effect had been too good...

Ferda knew what that strong move was.

"Grand Duke Gold already brought out the Yurei card."

Garnet, who had kept her head pressed low, lifted it.

"He said it directly?"

"Yes."

"If that man is speaking of it openly... It means he is prepared to make sure you cannot escape."

Around the end of the Start of Spring Festival, Ferda had abducted Duke Yurei's son.

It was because he had openly insulted a dragon in the banquet hall.

Ferda had intended to torture him and make him suffer worse than death.

But in reality, he had not been able to do so.

Because before that, the man had taken his own life.

Ferda was the person involved and a suspect, so he knew what had happened.

But what about third parties?

Valdrova was Grand Duchess, and as Grand Duchess, she had an obligation to obey the laws of the Empire.

If they raised the mood like that, the story would naturally veer in another direction.

'Dark magic.'

The fact that what killed Young Master Yurei was not physical force, but dark magic.

They would have to examine in detail where that dark magic had come from and how it had manifested.

It was obvious who would handle this matter.

'Erdes.'

She must have been waiting for this moment.

She was the highest authority on magic on the Serdes Continent, and at the same time, someone who hated dark magic.

Even if she knew it was not magic Ferda had manifested, there was a chance she would deliberately not reveal it.

"What do you think will happen?"

"First, Duke Yurei's side plans to make a public accusation in front of the inn where you are staying, Regent. In line with that, plants spread throughout the area will spread rumors, and by the time you head to the Golden Council, all the subjects will know."

"I see. Are there any other variables besides that?"

"There is one more besides that."

"What is it?"

"One of Prince Alexander's close associates attempted to make contact in Hestia village."

"With whom?"

"William, the security captain."

He had been a knight cadet under Duke Yurei.

"And?"

"They say he set aside his duties as security captain and teleported with them. It is highly likely they intend to use him as a witness."

"..."

William had taken up his sword for the commoners.

But what if he learned that Ferda was in truth a Dark Mage and had killed Young Master Yurei?

On top of that, Ferda had driven a dagger into his hand because he was angry.

He had tried to take from a knight his hand, his very life.

It would not be strange if he made the grave decision to expose him.

"We have already identified his current residence."

"I see."

"If he is a source of anxiety, it would be worth considering eliminating him."

Assassination...

Erdes hated Ferda, and the Order of Altes had a principle of zero tolerance toward dark magic.

If not today, then tomorrow, he would have two more enemies.

In this situation, the best he could do was not create one more enemy, and if he could make an ally, that would be close to a miracle.

"It seems the time has come to consider Waldemar's demand..."

"What did the Grand Duke demand?"

"He asked me to help him make Olivia Arken his. He said he would leave the far east alone if I did."

"... You mean the Princess."

A faint, complicated breath escaped her.

At present, Garnet knew that their helper within the Empire was the Princess.

"What will you do?"

"I do not know. He could get what he wants and change his words later, could he not?"

"I do not think he will."

Garnet answered Ferda's suspicion.

"You think he will keep his promise?"

"His obsession with Olivia Arken is that great. In fact, right before he obtained Stella Arken, he had even designated an heir and attempted to retire completely. Once he obtains that woman, the situation in the Empire will become secondary to him."

Human greed had no end.

Normally, Ferda would not have believed those words, but there had already been a similar case.

'Henri Dandolo.'

He had driven his one and only father to death and even handed over the trading company to Ferda.

All for the sake of obtaining the eldest daughter of the Pascal trading company.

"What do you think I should do?"

"The one you can trust is the Princess's side, but we cannot be certain of the plan's progress. But in terms of influence, Waldemar is immediate and stable. If he can be trusted, that is."

The pros and cons were clear.

And most people would lean toward Waldemar, and Ferda's mind was also leaning toward Waldemar.

"For now..."

Ferda gave Garnet an order.

"Proceed according to plan."

"... Regent, do you truly believe they will be somewhere in all this?"

"They certainly are."

Ferda spat out the hateful name.

"Those goddamn bastards, I mean."

Before Young Master Yurei died, he had said this.

Welcome to this cruel world.

It could have simply been set as an activation phrase, but Ferda thought differently.

'That was a message.'

The Demons had wanted nothing more than for this situation to happen.

And in that encirclement, the fact that they had chosen the imperial capital instead of the far east, too.

It had been pressure meant to strangle the far east.

With each side's position interlocking, things flowed in a terribly cruel and simple way.

As if they were standing at the edge of a cliff, the situation would become uncontrollable with just a slight push on their backs.

"We will do our utmost to find them, but investigating an unspecified opponent may prove meaningless."

"What do you mean, meaningless?"

"I mean that by the time we find them, it may already be too late."

This postwar council had the fate of the far east at stake.

As someone carrying a heavy burden, he had no sense of what he should do.

What was he supposed to do...

"Perhaps, on that point, asking the person herself would also be a good option."

"The person herself...?"

Garnet gestured toward the alley with her eyes.

From there came the sound of someone's footsteps approaching.

Garnet's voice gradually turned into a sound like nails scraping a chalkboard, then changed back into the old woman's voice.

"This humble one shall take her leave now."

She limped away, and all the beggars who had been keeping watch along with her disappeared as well.

At the same time, a group appeared from the alley.

All of them had robes pulled over themselves.

Those wearing charcoal-gray robes had notably sturdy shoulders.

Among them, the person in the middle, wearing white trimmed with gold thread, was small and short.

As expected, perhaps?

Even though she wore a thick robe, the beauty hidden inside could not be concealed.

He knew at once that the person hidden within was the Flower of the Empire.

"Oh my?"

Olivia Arken.

In a lovely voice, she feigned surprise with practiced ease.

"Isn't that the Regent?"