“How was your meeting?”
Cecilia looked down at Elrian with a slightly displeased expression. Elrian was currently sitting with her legs crossed, swirling her wine glass.
“Hm? What about it?”
“I mean the man named Glenn.”
“Hmm… I’m still thinking it over.”
Elrian closed her eyes quietly.
Glenn, huh. Quite an interesting figure.
He’s much like the image I had when I watched him from afar.
“Cecilia, did you think he looked angry when he left?”
“… No, not really. His expression was pretty much the same as when we first met.”
To be honest, she hadn’t paid much attention to his face.
Just a flashy exterior—a typical nobleman vibe.
“Hmm…”
“Did the conversation not go well?”
“No, despite being cautious, he was actually quite favorable to my proposal. And he seemed fairly positive about the alliance with the Empire too?”
“Is that so?”
Cecilia made a surprised face. It was rare for talks between Lepent and the Empire to end on good terms.
“He said he thinks his views differ from his father’s. That Lepent and the Empire need to gradually move towards cooperation. He said continuing the current state of affairs would only harm both sides.”
“He sounds quite reasonable for a Lepent.”
“Yeah. He understands well, and his mind seems sharp. I deliberately tried to find a fault, but he’s not hot-tempered. Doesn’t seem like a womanizer either. Hmm…”
“You think highly of him. So what’s your concern?”
When Elrian is at work, her assessments of others tend to be very precise.
In other words, it’s rare for her to praise someone so highly.
“I just don’t know how far the act goes.”
“He doesn’t seem like someone good at pretending.”
Most from Lepent are like that.
Stiff, rigid, hot-tempered. All far removed from subtlety.
“So that’s what’s bothering me. Whether he might be dangerous for the Empire.”
“… Is this something the Marquis ordered?”
“More of a personal request than an order.”
Isn’t that the same thing?
After all, it was Marquis Mephisto who sent Elrian and me here. His request is practically an order.
“Do you think he’s dangerous?”
“No, from what I’ve seen—he just feels a bit arrogant.”
Elrian praising someone as ‘arrogant’?
Cecilia couldn’t help but shake her head.
“… Sounds pretty dangerous to me.”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Anyway, that’s how it is now. But depending on the situation, we might need to recalculate.”
The wine glass swirling stopped.
Elrian opened her eyes and quietly met Cecilia’s gaze.
“Top-tier dangerous individual.”
Had she ever judged someone this way based on a first impression?
Cecilia was secretly surprised.
“You really think he’s that dangerous?”
“… Honestly, I’m still not sure.”
“To be honest, I don’t think Elrian would praise someone like that so highly.”
“Hm? You don’t seem to like him?”
Elrian smiled sideways at Cecilia, having more or less guessed the reason.
“It’s not that… From experience, flashy-faced men like him rarely turn out to be decent.”
“Oh, so that’s why you kept beating up the suitors every time they showed up?”
Cecilia’s swordsmanship is quite famous in the Empire.
Because of that, many suitors approached her, but she declared that any man weaker than herself wasn’t worth considering. So the countless duels she fought amounted to nothing. Surprisingly, no one had defeated her yet.
“… I was just confirming their qualifications.”
“Hmm, anyway. Prince Glenn made me an interesting proposal.”
Elrian recalled her conversation with Glenn just moments ago.
***
“A meeting with the Heir, you say?”
The Heir Meeting was an old tradition held in royal courts or among noble houses of high standing.
It went beyond the head of the house simply appointing the heir; the heirs themselves would appeal to their vassals and territory subjects.
However, recently, very few places directly held such meetings. The designation of heirs had become an absolute right of the house head.
“Yes, as you said, Riberton is a very important place. It wields influence over the entire northern region and is officially ‘Empire territory.’ Do you think it makes sense for the heir of such a territory to be decided by a senile old marquis’s whim?”
Her nod was involuntary, as this echoed Elrian’s own argument earlier.
“You have a point. But will the Marquis accept it?”
“Then Lepent, the Empire, and even Ariane should come together and pressure the Marquis. In other words, change the power dynamics at the table.”
“… The Marquis probably thinks he’s in a thoroughly advantageous position right now. It’s quite a clever move.”
It was brilliant.
From the Marquis’s perspective, it’s either checkmate or stalemate.
Yet, at the same time, she felt a twinge of discomfort.
“- But the words don’t quite add up. Earlier you said you consider cooperation with the Empire a priority?”
Elrian swirled the wine glass again.
But Glenn no longer cared to show any nerves.
“That’s right. At the same time, I said now is not the right time. Is there a problem?”
“You’re shameless. Surely Prince Glenn plans to support Sir Kyle? Everyone knows that guy is half an Empire sympathizer.”
Glenn chuckled at that.
“Do you think the current succession will change just because I support him?”
“… No. That makes it worse. Proposing a Heir Meeting to support the clearly losing younger son?”
“Think whatever you want. But this is definitely a gain for the Empire. That alone is reason enough not to refuse.”
A gain?
Elrian paused the wine glass and fell into thought.
And soon enough, she found the answer.
“… An opportunity to put Godric in debt?”
“Exactly. If Godric becomes Marquis as is, it’s just a coup. The Empire has no role in it. But if at the meeting the Empire directly supports Godric becoming Marquis—”
“That will create a debt owed to the Empire. A perfect pretext on our side.”
“You really understand things well.”
***
Cecilia frowned at Elrian’s explanation.
“So you’re really going to accept that proposal?”
“Not yet. Why? You don’t like it?”
“Didn’t you notice? Prince Glenn is definitely scheming something.”
“I know. But even considering that, we have nothing to lose. That’s why I’m pondering it.”
As Glenn said, indebting the next Marquis to the Empire is a huge advantage.
If later the Empire demands just compensation for their contribution, how many other countries would be involved?
“… That’s true.”
“Besides, from our perspective, buying time itself is already a gain. This is all just a smokescreen anyway.”
“… Hmm.”
This was exactly what Marquis Mephisto ordered.
Pressure the Riberton Marquisate to subjugate the Republic of Lepent. If that fails, at least drag out negotiations to divert Lepent’s and Ariane’s attention.
In other words, the true nature of Elrian and Cecilia’s mission was closer to espionage.
“Godric’s position is already solid. The Marquis made it so. A meeting won’t change that. So what reason do we have not to proceed? A pretext that’s handed to us for free.”
“It won’t be free, right? There’ll be support funds.”
“That’s just the money planned to be offered as negotiation to the Marquis. It’s the heir receiving what the father was supposed to get.”
Judging by Glenn’s attitude, he clearly had something planned. But whatever it was, the proposal was beneficial to the Empire.
Yeah, an offer you can’t refuse.
“Still… It bothers me that Prince Glenn is aiming for something.”
Most likely, Glenn supports the younger son Kyle, who came with him. And it’s already been investigated that Kyle harbors resentment against the Empire.
From Elrian’s perspective, Kyle is someone who shouldn’t be considered the next Marquis.
“Prince Glenn knows that too. Yet he says he wants to cooperate with us. Isn’t that interesting? Shameless, really. Haha.”
“Unbelievable man.”
“That’s why I’m worried. How far does he intend to go with such a brazen proposal?”
Unlike usual, there was a lively spark in Elrian’s expression.
Cecilia knew that look well.
“… You look entertained.”
Elrian was the youngest chess champion.
And now her expression resembled how she looked when facing a powerful opponent on the chessboard—like discovering an intriguing new toy.
“Hm? Well… He seems like a more interesting opponent than the idiots in the capital.”
A faint smile curved Elrian’s lips.
In her mind, countless chessboards appeared and disappeared repeatedly.
Cecilia asked with a slightly concerned look,
“You don’t intend to play chess with him, do you?”
“Chess? That would be fun. But if it’s chess—”
The wine glass spun again gracefully.
Elrian closed her eyes quietly.
“It’s just too boring.”
She had never lost a single chess match.
***
In the end, Elrian accepted Glenn’s proposal.
She suspected he had ulterior motives, but even discounting that, the immediate benefits were too great.
Yes, it was an offer she couldn’t refuse.
As the two forces decided, the situation in Riberton began to change rapidly. Elrian officially supported Godric, while Glenn and Murka backed Kyle.
Rumors about the “Heir Meeting” soon began to spread throughout the mansion. It was the result of Puruka secretly sending people to stir things up.
“What? A Heir Meeting? Who on earth authorized such a thing?!”
Boom!
Of course, the Marquis strongly opposed it.
He slammed his armrest hard and shouted at his two sons in the study.
“That’s why I’m here to get your approval, Father.”
“Just give me your permission, Father.”
Boom!
“You fools! Didn’t I make it clear to you, Kyle? No matter how great you think you are, my decision won’t change!”
“I intend to say the same. What’s the problem with a more capable person becoming the next Marquis?”
“If someone without any foundation becomes the heir, Riberton will be halved in no time. Do you think I’ll stand by and watch?!”
Hearing “without foundation,” Kyle smiled coldly.
“Who do you think destroyed your maternal and paternal families?”
The question implied that the Marquis himself had destroyed his mother’s and wife’s families.
“You damn bastard!”
Thud!
The Marquis grabbed the nearest liquor bottle and threw it in frustration, but Kyle dodged smoothly.
Since before, the Marquis had felt something stirring in Siya without realizing it. Probably because his mind was burning fiercely right now.
Partly because of the arrogant younger son, but the bigger reason was the idiot elder son standing beside him.
“Godric, you blockhead! You could be the next Marquis just by staying still. What foolishness is this?”
“Father, I have my reasons for this. Elrian said if this meeting succeeds, she’ll sponsor 100 gold coins. Since I’ll win anyway, I’ll be getting the gold for free.”
Seeing the confident expression on his elder son’s face, the Marquis’s anger boiled over. White foam formed at his mouth.
“That right there is proof of how reckless you are!”
Once again, the Marquis’s furious roar filled the study.
“That money was supposed to be mine anyway! Then why the hell would those Empire scum interfere… Gah!”
His outburst suddenly stopped.
His face turned pale, and his arms began to flail meaninglessly in the air.
Then he grabbed his own neck—
“Ughk!”
Suddenly, he bent forward and collapsed to the floor.
A moment of silence.
“Father!”
“… Is there anyone outside?”
Godric and Kyle’s panicked shouts filled the study one beat too late.