Chapter 7: The Rat in the Trap

The next day.

Reginald came looking for Rohan early in the morning.

“Forgive me, Your Highness, but I fear it will be difficult to have this outfit tailored.”

“Really?”

“The cost alone comes to a whopping 140 gold kron. That’s an exorbitant sum to deduct from the budget allocated to the palace.”

He spoke with a troubled expression.

“I think it might be best to pay Lucretia a fee for taking measurements, but entrust the actual tailoring to someone else.”

Rohan folded his arms and shook his head.

‘Anyone listening would think he truly cares about the Boronia Palace’s budget.’

His acting really was impeccable.

No wonder he fooled me in the past.

“No. I liked her skills, and I intend to continue having her make my clothes.”

“Sigh.”

Reginald ran a hand through his hair with a sigh.

“Your Highness. You haven’t been in the palace long, so you may not know this, but there are many more expenses here than you might think.”

His tone implied, What could a fourteen-year-old commoner like you possibly understand?

“Is that so? From what I’ve seen, the palace budget seems rather generous. We keep the staff at a minimum here in Boronia Palace—so what could the funds possibly be spent on?”

“Well…”

Caught off guard, Reginald hesitated before answering.

“Even if I explained, I doubt you’d truly understand.”

Ha, look at this guy.

He was just trying to pull a fast one by claiming the budget was insufficient.

‘It’s so obvious I can’t help but laugh.’

Rohan’s lips fell into a flat line.

“Is it even possible?”

“Pardon?”

“Just the dignity maintenance fund that comes in each month for Boronia Palace is at least 80 gold kron. Yet neither my mother nor I have spent any of it on maintaining dignity, have we?”

“Well, that’s true, but money tends to be spent here and there in the palace more than you’d expect…”

“Then tell me exactly where it goes.”

“Well, um…”

Reginald was at a loss for words.

Of course he couldn’t say.

“Never mind. Do you have a budget plan document?”

“Wh-why do you ask, Your Highness?”

“You seem to have trouble explaining it all in words. Now that I think about it, it’s easier to just look at the budget plan than have you struggle to explain it.”

“Ah… Yes! Y-yes, of course? Haha!”

Reginald bowed his head, giving an awkward laugh.

“In that case, I’ll go fetch the document and send it right away, Your Highness.”

“Good.”

With that, he hurried out of Rohan’s room.

“Ha… What the…?”

He quickly headed to the steward’s office, trying to calm his pounding heart.

‘Something feels off.’

Rohan had changed a lot recently.

Before, he never even opened his mouth about palace affairs.

So why the sudden whim to request the budget plan himself?

Muttering to himself, Reginald spread out the budget plans in the office.

“…Not that a brat like him would understand even if he saw it.”

He was a prince who’d never even received proper accounting lessons.

Still, Reginald had always prepared the budget plans meticulously, so he wasn’t too worried.

But then, what was this?

This strangely ominous feeling.

“Tch, what a nuisance.”

If only he could embezzle the money this month, he’d never have to set foot in this palace again.

It felt like he was just poking a beehive and making trouble for himself.

Ding!

He pulled the bell cord hanging on the wall, and a maid entered.

“You called, Steward?”

“Take this to His Highness.”

Reginald handed the budget plan to the maid.

“But why did you come? Where’s Marie?”

Curious why it wasn’t the usual assigned maid, he asked.

The maid answered,

“Sir Martin took her just a bit ago.”

“What? Why?”

“He said he had an errand for her. Something about bringing someone from the Financial Management Office at the Eastern Palace…”

“What?!”

Bang!

Reginald shot up from his desk.

“Wh-what’s wrong?”

Startled, the maid flinched. He hastily cleared his throat and straightened his clothes.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just about to send Marie on an errand.”

“What was it? Should I do it instead?”

“No, that’s alright.”

Reginald waved his hands dismissively.

“Just take that to His Highness.”

“Yes, Steward.”

The maid tilted her head in confusion and left the steward’s office.

“Hah, bringing someone from the Financial Management Office?”

Reginald paced nervously, biting his nails.

Could it be they were bringing them to review the budget plan he submitted?

There was no other reason for the prince to summon someone from the financial office.

“This won’t do.”

Feeling increasingly anxious, he grabbed his coat.

The prince might not know, but if a financial official came, it would only be a matter of time before they found the flaws in his budget.

Then, all the things he’d done would soon be exposed.

He needed to leave before that happened.

“At least I need to protect the money I have!”

He’d worked so hard to stash that away.

He had no intention of getting thrown in prison for life over a sudden whim of the prince.

He quickly left the steward’s office.

His goal: to gather his hoarded money and leave the capital by tonight.

---

Boronia Palace, once quiet, was in an uproar.

“Search everywhere! Don’t let a single thing slip by.”

Inside the steward’s office, several people were going through all the documents.

They were from the Imperial Audit Enforcement Department.

“My goodness, what’s going on?”

“Did something happen with the steward?”

The servants whispered among themselves as they watched.

“When was the last time Steward Reginald Cripps was here?”

“He was here just this morning. He sent me to deliver documents to His Highness…”

The maid who last saw him was giving her testimony to an investigator.

“You don’t know where he went after that?”

“Pardon? I’m not sure about that…”

At that moment, someone approached, leading a group.

“Ah, Chief Inspector.”

The investigator receiving testimony saluted.

“How is the investigation going?”

“Quite well, sir. We’ve already found quite a bit.”

He pointed to a pile of documents they’d gathered as evidence.

“Hmmm… Looks like we had a parasite fattening itself under our noses.”

Frowning, the Chief Inspector flipped through the documents.

“He’s a sharp one. For all we know, he may have already tried to escape.”

If he’d vanished in the morning, plenty of time had passed.

If he’d really meant to run, he could have already left the capital.

“Issue a wanted order for all areas around the capital. He dared to embezzle precious imperial assets without fear.”

The Chief Inspector slammed the documents down with an irritated expression.

At that moment.

“He hasn’t left the capital yet.”

At the young voice, the Chief Inspector turned his head.

“Well, if it isn’t His Highness the Prince.”

“Greetings, Sir Gaius Belmont.”

At Rohan’s greeting, Gaius raised an eyebrow.

“You know my name, Your Highness?”

“Of course. I ought to know the name of the man handling this matter, don’t you think?”

“Haha, I didn’t realize Your Highness was so thorough.”

The broad-shouldered Gaius smiled and bowed his head.

“Allow me to introduce myself formally. I am Gaius Belmont, Chief Inspector of the Imperial Audit Enforcement Department. It is an honor to meet Your Highness.”

“The honor is mine as well. I didn’t expect the Chief Inspector himself to step in because of my report.”

Gaius waved his hand.

“What do you mean? This is a report from no one less than a prince. And it concerns palace budget embezzlement. Of course I had to be involved.”

“Hearing you say that is reassuring.”

Rohan smiled faintly.

Within the enforcement department, he was known as the third most powerful man.

With his large frame and relentless pursuit of cases, he was nicknamed the “Iron Bear” by the imperial family.

“By the way, Your Highness, why do you say he hasn’t left the capital yet?”

Gaius’s blue eyes gleamed as he asked.

“Just as I said. He can’t have left yet.”

“Is there a reason you say that?”

“Well…”

Rohan smiled and pointed out the window.

“It’s still daylight, isn’t it?”

---

Night had fallen.

Everyone slept, and only the torches inside houses sometimes illuminated the empty streets in the dead of night.

On a quiet road, a large freight wagon was rolling along a well-paved street.

The wagon rumbled steadily northward, heading for the capital’s outskirts.

“Halt.”

The guards stationed at the northern border of the capital stopped the wagon.

“Where are you going at this late hour?”

“Haha, good evening.”

The middle-aged man driving the wagon produced a badge to prove his identity.

It was a badge for imperial access, indicating his affiliation.

“I’m the steward of the prince’s palace. Actually, I’m on a secret errand for His Highness himself.”

“For His Highness…?”

The two guards exchanged glances.

“The badge doesn’t seem fake… Go ahead and pass.”

The man’s face brightened at the guard’s words.

“Ah, thank you so much.”

“Open the gate!”

With a loud shout, the great northern gate of the capital creaked open.

Creak, creak, creak!

At that very moment.

“So you finally showed up, you rat.”

Beyond the open gate, a large middle-aged man strode forward.

“Wh-what…?”

“What do you think? We’re here to arrest you.”

“W-what are you talking about?!”

Shhk, shhk, shhk!

From the darkness, the Imperial Knights leapt out and surrounded the man—Reginald.

“So you plan to deny it to the end?”

Gaius, who had appeared first, gave a short laugh.

“We have all the evidence here: you falsified the palace budget and embezzled funds.”

Gaius waved the stack of documents in his hand.

“Ugh…!”

Reginald staggered, his face stricken.

‘How did this happen?’

He hadn’t been so careless.

He’d always been thorough—even if he vanished and they started investigating, he’d figured it would take at least a week to gather all the evidence.

“Steward, I’m disappointed.”

Just then, someone stepped out from behind Gaius.

“H-His Highness…”

It was none other than Rohan.

“As if slashing the palace’s necessary budget wasn’t enough, you even embezzled the money for my mother the Queen Consort’s medicine. You must have known this could cost you your life, didn’t you?”

“…!”

He knew about that, too?

“Chief Inspector.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

At Rohan’s summons, Gaius turned to the waiting Imperial Knights.

“Arrest Reginald Cripps for embezzlement of imperial funds and attempted murder of a member of the imperial family!”

The knights immediately seized and bound Reginald.

“A-attempted murder of the imperial family?! I never did such a thing!”

Reginald’s face went deathly pale as he shouted.

Attempted murder of the imperial family?

His mind went blank.

If it were just embezzlement, he could hope for leniency if he returned the money, but attempted murder was another matter.

“Silence him!”

Gaius barked in anger, and Reginald’s mouth was quickly gagged.

“Mmmph! Ughmmph!”

And so, Reginald was dragged away by the Imperial Knights.