Chapter 115 - If You Know Your Enemy and Yourself, You Can Win a Hundred Battles Without Peril (2)

After sending the Marquis back, I attached two additional Sword Maidens to him. I even told them they could reveal themselves and monitor him openly if necessary.

The Marquis wasn't the type to gamble with his own life, but you never knew with people. I needed to strengthen the surveillance just in case.

I stood before the long-distance communication crystal ball.

It was a precious artifact I had additionally extorted from the Marquis.

As I rubbed the crystal ball, a tiny amount of mana drained from my body.

『Your Highness.』

Before long, Vincent's voice could be heard from the other side.

『Have you been well?』

"Yeah. Is everything alright at Winter Castle?"

『Winter is approaching again, so we are in the midst of preparing for war.』

After exchanging greetings, I naturally ended up telling him what had happened in The Capital.

『How could the Third Prince...』

『The Palace Count, you say? I saw him a very long time ago as well, but he didn't seem to have the guts to commit such an act.』

Vincent was saddened when he heard about the Third Prince's treason, and he was dumbfounded when I told him about the Palace Count's betrayal.

『I've never seen such a piece of shit!』

『To think it was all a false charge. Why are you not revealing the truth? Do you not feel wronged!』

『Ugh. I'm sure you have something in mind. What's the point of saying anything when you won't listen anyway? It just upsets me.』

And when I told him the truth about what happened four years ago, he became furiously angry, and when I said I had no intention of revealing that truth, he lost his temper and grew frustrated. But in the end, he resigned himself and told me to do as I pleased.

"So, about that. I'm going to be away for a while."

I told Vincent that something had come up that required me to go to the Empire.

『Are you out of your mind!』

『Do you even know what kind of place you're going to!』

『Are you mistaking the Empire for some neighboring town or something!』

The words Vincent screamed at the top of his lungs were exactly the same as what the King had said to me. The emotion within them was also identical.

However, Vincent's emotions weren't burdensome in the slightest, nor were they uncomfortable.

I just chuckled, and Vincent screamed even louder, growing more upset.

『You started all these things! The Empire? The Em-pire?』

"Ophelia will handle the Magic Tower with the dwarves. And Vincent, see if there are any useful ones among the young nobles..."

『So you're telling me to fight the war, babysit the noble brats, and do everything Your Highness was supposed to do!』

"War was originally Ballorhard's job anyway..."

『If I die on the battlefield, at least it's honorable! I'm going to die at my desk cleaning up your messes! I'll die faster from handling the things Your Highness started than from preparing for war!』

"Come on. It's not like I started that many things..."

『Oh, so the Magic Tower is just a matter of the Mage and the dwarves hammering away, and the dwarves just migrating here, right? The lord of the territory just needs to think, 'Oh, a tower is going up,' or 'Oh, we have new neighbors,' and that's it? And the knight candidates will just grow on their own as long as I water them, right? And when those bastards sent by the noble families try to arrogantly boss the Rangers around with a tilt of their chins, I should just laugh it off and think, 'Haha, what cute guys,' right?』

I kept my mouth shut. Even if I had ten mouths, I wouldn't have anything to say.

After silently listening to him for a long time, Vincent, having exhausted himself, asked me.

『So when are you going?』

"I'll handle some business in The Capital for the next few days. I plan to head straight there from here."

『When will you return?』

"I'll probably be back before my eighteenth coming-of-age ceremony."

『If you're any later than that, I'm going to throw away the Magic Tower and everything else.』

At Vincent's furious voice, I could only laugh.

"Oh, right. Send me one Ranger platoon. Send old man Nicolo with them, too."

『I suppose sending Yorden would do.』

"Won't he hate it?"

『If he's told to do it, he has to do it. What else can a guy like him do.』

I burst into laughter again, perfectly picturing the Ranger's sour face as he grumbled about being assigned to another long-term mission.

Since I kept laughing, Vincent threw an even bigger fit.

『More importantly, why are you going to the Empire?』

"Took you long enough to ask."

『Just answer the question.』

"To personally inspect the situation in the Empire."

『Don't tell me that's it?』

He looked ready to start nagging again if I said that was it, so I hurriedly explained my plan.

I told him that place was also currently in an uproar over the right of succession to the imperial throne. And that among them, the Third Imperial Prince and the Fifth Imperial Prince were highly likely to try and win me over.

『So, are you going to let yourself be won over?』

"I don't know about being won over. But I'm going to try and make a mess of things."

『Even as a prince of a foreign nation, if you cause a mess in the Empire, it will be hard to handle.』

"Why would I be the one handling it?"

To Vincent, who asked back in confusion, I replied nonchalantly.

"The Scoundrel Prince over there will be the one causing the trouble."

* * *

My business in The Capital was steadily wrapping up.

All that was left was setting the schedule and route for the Empire, but even that was resolved when the King appointed me as the representative of the official delegation attending the Empire's New Year event.

All I had to do was tag along with the delegation.

Of course, before that, I had to select which of my knights would accompany me to the Empire.

"I'm going. I am unconditionally going."

This was Karl's answer,

"The Empire, huh. I suppose I should go see just how great they really are."

This was Gawain's answer.

"I should pack my bags."

Arwen left the room saying she would pack her bags right away without even asking for my permission, and Adelia also darted off, saying there was a lot to prepare for a long journey.

Almost all the knights following me expressed their intention to participate.

But I couldn't take all of them.

Since the delegation's quota was already set, I couldn't possibly fill all the spots with my own knights.

After some thought, I managed to narrow down the selection.

Among the former royal knights, I chose Karl as the representative, and Arwen and Adelia, who would follow me to the end even if I told them not to, were confirmed from the start. On top of that, I included the Eus trio (Gawain and two comrades)—who made me anxious because I never knew when they might cause trouble—and added Gunne and one Sword Maiden.

With that, I was able to finalize the roster of knights to be included in the delegation.

Before long, it was publicly announced that the King was appointing me as the representative of the delegation.

I later heard from Marquis Bielefeld that there was a lot of talk among the nobles regarding that appointment.

The nobles, unaware that the conflict between the King and me had been resolved, chattered that the King including me in the delegation probably didn't mean anything good, and some of the more extreme ones even babbled that he would pass the throne to the Second Prince while the First Prince was away.

Of course, it was all completely unfounded.

My trip to the Empire had been decided by my own will in the first place, and giving me the position of delegation representative was intended to cement my journey as an official event so that the Empire's figures wouldn't be able to treat me carelessly.

But the nobles, ignorant of the fact that my relationship with the King was different from before, gossiped that I was being driven out of the kingdom after fiercely clashing with the King over the rewards for the war.

I didn't react at all to that nonsense, which couldn't even be properly called a rumor.

The more it was known that the discord between the King and me was deep, the easier things would be in the future.

The King's thoughts were no different from mine.

"The day will soon come when the opportunists who tried to profit by exploiting the discord between you and me will be in for a shock."

"I'm truly looking forward to it."

We chuckled as we faced each other, then belatedly shut our mouths in awkwardness. The King also cleared his throat for no reason and averted his gaze.

We had cleared up the misunderstandings, and there was no lingering resentment left. Strangely, though, this awkwardness couldn't be helped.

"That's just how the relationship between a father and son usually is."

When I confessed this fact to the Marquis who visited late at night, he smiled warmly, saying that was how most father-son relationships in the world were.

"I see."

Having nothing else to say, I replied like that and silently drank with the Marquis.

"Ah, right. I heard the roster for the delegation has been finalized. It seems they've also found the right person to assist Your Highness."

When I asked who it was, the Marquis said something unexpected.

"I heard they volunteered personally."

"Who would volunteer for a long journey that takes a year round-trip and offers nothing to gain?"

"They volunteered because they had their own reasons."

A playful look surfaced around the Marquis's deeply wrinkled eyes.

The Marquis refused to tell me who it was until the very end.

"If you're going to be like that, why don't you just leave?"

"I was just about to get up anyway."

The Marquis subtly rose from his seat.

"Next time you come, bring some alcohol at least."

I said that because I was annoyed by the Marquis coming over every day to drain my liquor, but he pretended not to hear me.

The royal palace was quiet, and yet, it was also turbulent.

At first glance, the state of the kingdom seemed no different than usual, but underneath, the King's behind-the-scenes work to weed out the traitors was busily underway.

It was not an easy task, and it required a long time of dedicated effort.

The power of the royal family was far too weak to weed out the traitors all at once.

Still, the King, who said he would try to break the nobles' power as much as possible by the day I returned, looked full of motivation for the first time in a long while.

By his side was Marquis Montpellier.

Ever since I told him my plan to dip my spoon into the Empire's succession battle for the imperial throne, that Montpellier bastard seemed to have fully made up his mind.

"If things work out according to Your Highness's will, the relationship between the kingdom and the Empire will surely change from before. There's even a possibility they might nullify the clauses of the treaty imposed on the kingdom and treat us as an ally of the Emperor. If that happens, wouldn't my contributions be recognized as well?"

I wasn't even considering giving him any rewards, as I only cared about throwing the Empire into chaos.

That Montpellier bastard was dreaming up a rosy future all on his own.

Since it was a delusion that cost me nothing anyway, I just played along appropriately.

Things were going smoothly.

However, not everything was smooth sailing.

"Just what is happening inside there."

No matter how much I grabbed and shook it, my original body showed no signs of waking up, and the Scoundrel Prince didn't answer no matter how much I called out.

Something was definitely happening inside, but with no way of knowing what it was, I only felt frustrated.

There wasn't much time left.

The Empire had been vigilantly eyeing my original body, and heading to the Empire while holding my original body in such a situation was essentially the same as offering my original body up to them.

So, before I left, I planned to entrust my original body to Maximilian.

The power of a Demonic sword typically dug into the wicked corners of a human being, but Maximilian had absolutely no such wicked corners. If it was Maximilian, he would never fall for whatever was lurking inside the sword even if it tried to play tricks, so I could entrust it to him with peace of mind.

Time passed quickly.

The departure date for the delegation heading to the Empire was rapidly approaching.

One day, a week before departure, an older noble visited me.

He was quite advanced in years, but his appearance was exceptionally distinguished, and his sense of style was so refined that he was a rare handsome man.

However, that face was incredibly familiar.

It was definitely a face I was seeing for the first time, yet it felt as if I were looking at someone I knew.

"I should have come to see you and paid my respects sooner, but I was so incompetent and slow with my work that I only just finished and have come to see you now."

Just as I was thinking of using the power of Judgment, the older noble spoke first.

"I am Siorin of the Eastern Kirgayen."

It was only after hearing the man's words that I realized why he looked so familiar.

Siorin Kirgayen, he was Arwen's father.

"I will be assisting Your Highness throughout the upcoming schedule, so it is nothing short of an honor for my family."

And he was the practical person in charge of the delegation whom the Marquis had refused to tell me about until the very end.

I looked at Siorin Kirgayen.

A cold and haughty impression, and a disciplined attitude without a single trace of excess.

"You look alike."

They were truly a surprisingly similar father and daughter.

Siorin Kirgayen didn't give any particular response to my brief sentiment. Even that indifferent attitude was exactly the same as his daughter's.

But that stoicism only lasted right until Arwen appeared.

"Your Highness!"

Arwen, who had appeared with her normally well-groomed hair disheveled as if she had rushed over, paid her respects to me and then looked at her father.

The expression on Siorin Kirgayen's face as he looked at Arwen was extraordinary.

His face, nostrils flaring and eyebrows twitching, flushed a deep red.

There was no way he hadn't heard the public scandals about his daughter. I figured he was displeased that, out of all people, his daughter had chosen to become my knight and brought infamy upon herself.

I stood up from my seat.

Not wanting to see Arwen argue with her father because of me, I planned to appropriately mediate between them.

However, there was no need for that.

"My daughter!"

Siorin opened his arms wide toward his daughter.

His cold and haughty face was nowhere to be seen. It was truly the face of a man completely overwhelmed by his overflowing affection, unsure of what to do.

"To not contact me once in nearly two years, how could you be so heartless!"

It was the moment the reason why Siorin Kirgayen had volunteered for the delegation to the Empire, which no one else had wanted, was revealed.

I stood there awkwardly, watching the father and daughter, Arwen and Siorin.

When his daughter showed no sign of approaching him no matter how long he waited, Siorin took large strides forward. With his arms still spread wide open, looking as though he would hug his daughter at any moment.

Watching her father act like that, Arwen,

"Your Highness is watching! Please maintain your dignity!"

was appalled.

Genuinely. With a look that said she absolutely hated it to death.