Wilhelm sat alone in the study.
The fire in the fireplace had burned down to embers, flickering uncertainly in the darkness.
He hadn’t lit any lamps, just sat in his chair, holding a yellowed photograph.
The photograph showed three people.
A woman held a three- or four-year-old boy, her cheek pressed against his, smiling gently and contentedly.
The boy giggled, his little hand grabbing a lock of her hair.
He himself stood beside them, wearing a military uniform, standing ramrod straight, a stiff smile on his lips from being unaccustomed to the camera.
That was when his wife Melina was still alive.
Wilhelm’s fingers traced the edge of the photograph, worn out from being touched too many times.
He brought the photo closer to his eyes, trying to see Melina’s face, but the firelight was too dim, only a blurry outline visible.
He knew he shouldn’t be doing this.
A man, a former marshal who once commanded thousands on the battlefield, shouldn’t be crying over his wife’s photograph in the dead of night.
But he couldn’t help it now.
Tears slid from his cloudy aged eyes, winding down the wrinkles on his face, dripping onto the photograph.
He couldn’t wipe them clean no matter how hard he tried.
He pressed the photo to his chest, a suppressed sigh escaping his throat.
“Melina… our son… I have failed our son.”
No one answered him in the empty study.
After a long time, Wilhelm slowly stood up and carefully placed the photograph on the shelf above the fireplace, alongside the portraits of the three previous Dragon Knights.
He looked up at the three portraits hanging side by side on the wall.
The leftmost one was the first-generation Dragon Knight, ‘Edmund von Klein.’
In the painting, he sat firmly on a dragon’s back, holding a spear, his gaze sharp as a torch, as if he would charge into battle at any moment.
Since childhood, Wilhelm had always pestered his grandfather to tell him the legends about him.
That ancestor had single-handedly conquered an entire city.
The middle portrait was the second-generation Dragon Knight, ‘Friedrich von Klein.’
He stood quietly beside a giant dragon, one hand on his sword hilt, his expression calm and majestic.
It was during his time leading the family that the Kleins reached their peak, and the empire’s territory expanded to unprecedented distances with his dragon’s wings.
The last portrait was the third generation, and the family’s final Dragon Knight…
‘Konrad von Klein.’
The man in the painting was no longer young, his temples frosted with gray, but his eyes were still sharp as knives.
When he died in battle, Wilhelm himself had not even been born, but he had heard that story countless times.
In the final battle, he faced an entire enemy legion alone, slaying countless foes, and ultimately fell from exhaustion.
The achievements and glory of three generations of Dragon Knights were now, in his generation, nearly to the point of having the dukedom stripped away.
Wilhelm closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
The butler’s voice came from outside the door.
“Master.”
“What is it?”
“Lady Alisiya has arrived. She says she wants to see you.”
Wilhelm was taken aback.
He glanced at the wall clock—it was nearly eleven.
“Take her to the living room. I’ll be right there.”
He wiped his face with a handkerchief, straightened his collar, and left the study.
Alisiya sat on the living room sofa, the teacup in front of her steaming.
She wore a plain casual dress, her hair casually draped over her shoulders, without the heroic air of her military uniform, looking more like an ordinary young woman.
“Uncle.”
“Sit down, child.”
Wilhelm sat down across from her and gestured for the butler to leave.
“So late, why did you come out alone?”
Alisiya lowered her head, her finger slowly tracing the rim of the teacup.
“I came to see you. It’s nothing.”
Wilhelm looked at her and sighed softly.
“Did you have a conflict with your parents again?”
Alisiya nodded.
“They arranged another matchmaking meeting without my consent. I… I couldn’t take it anymore and fought with them.”
“Mother was so angry she cried. Father was comforting her, so I ran out.”
Wilhelm thought for a moment…
“Is it the eldest son of the Orlando family?”
“How did you know?”
“The capital is small, news travels fast. I’ve seen that Orlando boy. He’s not a bad person, but…”
“But what?”
“He’s too young, not worthy of your excellence.”
Alisiya let out a laugh after hearing that.
There was no joy in that laugh, only an indescribable bitterness.
“Uncle, are you comforting me?”
“I’m telling the truth. You’re a good child. Always have been. Diligent, strong-willed, with your own ideas. You deserve someone better.”
“I’m sorry, child.”
His voice dropped.
“If it weren’t for my worthless son Rex, you wouldn’t be going through this now.”
“No! That’s not true, Uncle!”
Alisiya looked into Wilhelm’s eyes and said word by word.
“It’s not Rex’s fault. It was me… I was too impulsive back then and didn’t consider the consequences at all. It’s my fault, not his.”
Wilhelm’s cloudy old eyes flickered with surprise.
“You… don’t blame him?”
“What right do I have to blame him? I broke off the engagement in public, I made him a joke in the capital. He did nothing wrong. It was me…”
She couldn’t continue.
Wilhelm didn’t reply.
He was like a silent harbor, containing the unspeakable regret of this girl.
The two of them just sat there, neither speaking.
But strangely, this silence wasn’t uncomfortable.
On the contrary, it made Alisiya feel at ease.
Only with Uncle Wilhelm could she take off all her armor, not have to be the Vice-Commander of the Holy Knights, not have to be the daughter of the Haisen family, not have to be the Alisiya who had to be worthy of anyone.
She was just herself.
Suddenly, the butler’s voice came from outside the door, tinged with panic.
“M-Master! Lady Victoria has arrived!”
Wilhelm stood up abruptly.
“Prime Minister?”
“Y-Yes! Just one person, no guards, no attendants, came alone!”
Wilhelm and Alisiya exchanged glances, both wearing the same question…
What is she doing here?
The door was pushed open, and Victoria von Astoria walked in.
She was not wearing the black and gold official uniform from daytime, but a dark blue casual dress.
Without those symbols of power, she looked much softer than during the day, but that aura that made people dare not look directly at her was still there.
“Duke Wilhelm.”
Her gaze fell on the old man, then turned to Alisiya.
“Alisiya, you’re here too.”
“P-Prime Minister.”
Wilhelm was about to bow, but Victoria raised a hand to stop him.
“Tonight, there is no Prime Minister.”
Her tone was much softer than during the day, with a trace of imperceptible fatigue.
“I just happened to be passing by and thought I’d drop in. No need for formalities, no need to be nervous.”
Wilhelm looked outside the door—indeed, no one else.
“You… came alone?”
“Mm.”
“At this hour, you alone…”
Alisiya couldn’t help but speak.
“Heh heh.. The empire’s public security isn’t that bad yet. Do you have hot tea?”
Wilhelm snapped back to reality and quickly called the butler to brew a new pot.
The three of them sat in the living room, the atmosphere a bit delicate.
The most powerful woman in the empire was now sitting on the old sofa of the Klein Duke’s mansion, holding a cup of hot tea, looking like a neighbor dropping by for a chat.
Wilhelm tested the waters.
“Did you come tonight… for something?”
“Nothing major. I just came out of the parliament, happened to pass by here, and thought I’d come in for a bit.”
Passing by?
Wilhelm and Alisiya exchanged glances again.
The Klein Duke’s mansion was in the north of the city, the parliament hall in the south.
How could passing by go from south to north?
But neither dared to ask.
“Alisiya.”
Victoria suddenly spoke.
“Yes?”
“I heard you broke off your engagement with Rex?”
“Uh… yes.”
“Why?”
Alisiya was silent for a long time, so long that Wilhelm thought of rescuing her.
But she spoke, her voice very soft.
“I… at that time I thought he had changed. After he disappeared for five years and came back, I thought he had given up on himself. I thought… my breaking off the engagement would wake him up.”
“And then?”
“Then… then he said ‘I understand’… he seemed completely indifferent.”
Victoria’s gaze fell on the ripples of the tea, her expression unreadable.
After a long time, she finally said this.
“You were too reckless.”
Her tone was not reproachful, more like a kind of regret.
Wilhelm looked at Victoria’s profile and suddenly felt something was off.
This Prime Minister seemed to care about Rex’s matters a bit too much.
But he didn’t think too deeply into it.
He just thought it might be that the Prime Minister, considering the past achievements of the Klein family, paid a little more attention to Rex, the last heir.
“Let’s not talk about this anymore.”
Victoria put down her teacup, her tone returning to the daytime briskness.
“I did come tonight for one thing to tell you. About the negotiations with the Federation, and the matter of the ‘Dark Crown Alliance.’”
“You already explained that in the meeting during the day, didn’t you?”
“That was the official explanation.”
Victoria glanced at him.
“In secret, I need you to do another thing. The intelligence from the Federation is much more detailed than what was said at the meeting. The ‘Dark Crown Alliance’ is not an ordinary bandit group. They have organization, discipline, funding sources, and might even have people within the empire cooperating with them.”
“You mean…”
“Someone on the empire’s side is helping them. I need you to investigate this secretly. Don’t let anyone know. Especially the other three dukes.”
“You suspect them?”
Wilhelm’s voice also lowered.
“I don’t suspect anyone. But at this critical juncture, no one can be completely trusted. Orlando, Waldemar, Herbert. These three families have had too many actions recently. Jointly cutting military spending, undermining the supplies of the Eastern Front garrison, pushing their own people into positions in the parliament… Don’t you think all of this seems too coincidental?”
Wilhelm had not failed to notice these things, but he had always thought it was just the three families vying for power.
If these actions were connected to the ‘Dark Crown Alliance’…
“I understand. I’ll cooperate with the investigation.”
“I’ll join too.”
Victoria turned and looked at them, nodding.
“Alisiya. I know you want to go to the North.”
“You… Lady, how do you know?”
“The look in your eyes when you looked at Wilhelm in the meeting today, I knew you had done something wrong and you want to make up for it, right?”
Alisiya lowered her head.
“But now is not the time.”
Victoria’s tone was indisputable.
“I’ll arrange for Seweina to handle matters in the North. You stay in the capital and cooperate with Wilhelm on the investigation. When it’s over…”
She didn’t finish.
But Alisiya understood. When it was over, she could go find Rex.
“…Understood.”
“Wilhelm.”
“Yes.”
“Rex… do you really think he is the ‘good-for-nothing’ that the imperial nobles call him?”
The question came too suddenly, completely catching Wilhelm off guard.
At that moment, he couldn’t utter a single word.
Victoria didn’t wait for his answer.
Instead, she pushed open the door and, guided by the butler, left the house.
“Uncle.”
Alisiya’s voice came from behind.
“Is the Prime Minister… to Rex…”
“Don’t think too much.”