I Became the Childhood Friend of the Northern Duchess – Chapter 187

A fair bit of time had passed, yet Albrecht found himself responding to the Emperor’s summons to explain the beam of light that had risen from the castle.

Even though he had been maneuvering in the shadows behind the Emperor all this while, he still had to present himself as a loyal subject in public.

If he didn’t respond to the Emperor’s official call, all sorts of rumors would undoubtedly circulate.

After all, what he truly desired was to operate unnoticed behind the Emperor’s back, not to flaunt it publicly as if it were something to boast about.

If he wanted to parade around like that, he would have long since threatened the Emperor with the dirt he had on him and seized real power.

‘What a ridiculous scheme. Is that the woman’s doing?’

Typically, his face showed little change, but today his frustration was quite evident.

In a way, it could be said that Ariel’s little ruse had worked wonders.

Eventually, when his carriage arrived at the Imperial Palace, he entered the palace alone, without an entourage or guards.

To others, it might seem a rather humble sight for someone described as the Empire’s third most powerful figure.

But this was simply a reflection of his character.

The absence of guards wasn’t because he mistrusted anyone; he simply had no one he believed was competent enough to entrust his safety to.

The reason he lacked loyal attendants or users was precisely because he had so few people he could fully trust.

“Your Excellency, His Majesty is waiting for you.”

As he entered the palace, just as he was about to head straight to the audience chamber, a woman who had been waiting outside bent down to take on the role of a guide.

Albrecht immediately lowered his gaze to examine the woman with brown hair and her outfit.

It wasn’t the lewd gaze of lustful young men, but rather the keen eye of an observer searching for something.

‘A face I’ve never seen before.’

Albrecht was quite prudent.

Thus, he had placed a significant number of watchers around the Emperor, whom he puppeteered.

However, it was only natural that there were countless individuals he hadn’t planted.

Whenever he encountered someone like that, he had a procedural habit of thoroughly examining their face and appearance.

“…Lead the way.”

Once that process was done, he would respond differently based on who it was.

If they were someone he had planted, he would ask about the Emperor’s schedule or actions that day, checking whether they sensed anything strange.

If they turned out to be a regular palace attendant, he would simply let them do their job while keeping his lips sealed.

Addressing such individuals was not something he particularly enjoyed, as he preferred silence.

Clip-clop, clip-clop.

As he was led down the hallway to the audience chamber, the sound of his high-heeled shoes echoed loudly with each step, in contrast to the other shoes worn by the others.

What followed was an oppressive silence, devoid of conversation or even the chirping of birds outside the windows.

The woman guiding Albrecht felt extremely uncomfortable with this silence, but she could not show it outwardly; she only wished to reach the audience chamber as quickly as possible.

“This way, Your Excellency.”

Her wish was granted; before long, they reached the audience chamber, greeted by enormous doors that seemed to overpower anyone who looked at them.

Usually, one might take a moment to tidy up their attire or engage in some manner of behavior before the audience chamber, but Albrecht felt no such tension at all.

After all, if there were no observers, he would have entered without any permission.

“I have brought Lord Bertus, so I ask permission for an audience.”

“Please wait a moment.”

The two soldiers standing guard on either side of the door, with solemn expressions, notified the inside as per the woman’s instructions.

Once permission was granted inside, they exchanged glances and nodded before jointly applying their weight to push the massive doors open.

“You may enter now.”

“Then let’s.”

Responding in a flat voice, Albrecht stepped into the audience chamber.

What met his eyes was the sight of a man seated on a crimson throne.

It was none other than the Emperor of this land, Bartheus Helbenior.

Most would usually feel a sense of oppression at such a sight, but Albrecht merely wore a faint smirk.

It made sense, as to someone who dealt with such an Emperor, the effort to put on a solemn face came off as nothing more than childlike theatrics.

‘Were there other attendees? That wasn’t expected.’

Albrecht had assumed their conversations in the audience chamber were typically one-on-one, yet contrary to his expectation, several notable figures occupied the space.

As his gaze shifted…

“…!”

Upon spotting one particular person at the end of the room, his eyes widened in disbelief.

Whether the Emperor was aware of it or not, he called Albrecht’s name, snapping him back to focus.

“I apologize for summoning you, Albrecht.”

“…It’s no problem.”

Although he felt not a shred of contrition showing on his face, Albrecht chose not to remark on this.

No, it was likely because there were onlookers that he couldn’t point this out.

“As you know, many are still inquiring about the recent incident. If you were to explain the whole situation, I could shield you from any liabilities… However, I would like you to understand that simply denying it would put us in a difficult position.”

Albrecht internally seethed at the Emperor’s nonsensical wordplay.

Having up until this point received tacit protection from every move he made, it felt like the Emperor was openly provoking him.

He certainly wasn’t unaware that the matter was gradually being buried.

He had both ears and eyes, after all.

Plus, judging by the person he had locked eyes with just moments ago, it was clear that this situation had been orchestrated due to someone’s overt interference.

“However, Your Majesty, I truly do not know anything about it.”

“Hmm, I’m not accusing you. It’s just that undeniable facts have reached my ears…”

‘Damn.’

Albrecht could easily surmise what that was about without needing to hear more.

But the real issue was that even if he anticipated it, escaping or blocking that statement would be impossible.

“First, it might be quicker to hear the details directly. Don’t you think so?”

‘Duke.’

A woman’s title rolled off his tongue, and the lady who had been lingering in the bottom right of his field of vision slowly lifted her head.

“Yes, Your Majesty. From here on out, I will ask the questions directly.”

Ariel Robeheim.

The head of the Duke’s household who should have been in Hespania had come all the way to the Imperial Palace without a whisper of warning.

* * * * * * *

This story goes back three days.

After discovering that Albrecht was behind the enemy, the Robeheim family had experienced a series of tumultuous days.

Those who could be considered leaders spent at least five hours a day discussing their future actions, which meant operations were overall sluggish.

Given that such days continued, it seemed evident they wouldn’t arrive at favorable results.

Thus, one day, Edgar suggested to Yulken and Ariel that despite it being a bit of a hardline approach, how about they take some initiative?

“Your side? Didn’t you say it would be risky to touch Albrecht first?”

Ariel asked, recalling their conversation not long ago, and Yulken agreed with her.

After all, the opponent was the head of the current marquess’ household, making it quite risky to provoke him carelessly.

Moreover, without substantial evidence other than the light beam, it would be impossible to officially corner him.

Or could there be another angle they hadn’t considered?

“I still hold that view. But there’s no good to engage in mere subtleties like this, right?”

“Well, that makes sense.”

Ariel also agreed with that sentiment.

While she couldn’t ascertain Albrecht’s primary objective, it wouldn’t be beneficial to stagnate the situation without knowing the strength of their opponent.

On the other hand, relying on mere hope that something conclusive would arise while keeping Albrecht huddled in the shadows wouldn’t lead anywhere.

In short, they were just made aware of the man’s existence as their enemy while enduring uncomfortable days.

That was not the outcome Ariel desired either.

“What should we do? It’s been established that cornering him using last time’s incident is virtually impossible.”

“My thoughts align with my daughter’s. Unless we can express their intentions, it seems troublesome to push for evidence.”

The fact of an unidentified intruder, supposedly an underling of Albrecht, having broken into Robeheim Castle and caused damage was already public knowledge.

However, the problem was that if they acknowledged that person was Albrecht’s subordinate, they wouldn’t be able to substantiate their intentions as the Robeheim family.

This was because Kehlag’s existence within the castle remained a closely guarded secret.

First, to demonstrate that their aim was to assassinate Kehlag, they would need to explain why he was in the castle in the first place.

But thus far, they hadn’t acquired enough evidence to substantiate that Albrecht had allied with the Carvita Tribe.

In such a situation, revealing this fact would only lead to speculation that the Robeheim family had colluded with the Carvita Tribe and was now trying to silence Duke Bertus, who had caught onto it.

“No, there is one possible route. To put it more precisely, it’s merely patchwork…”

“Patchwork? What do you mean?”

“Regarding Albrecht’s objective. If we could explain it as something other than Kehlag, it might make our evidence more credible, don’t you think?”

Indeed, that held true.

Ultimately, the most troublesome aspect of the current situation was that they had nothing to propose as Albrecht’s goal aside from Kehlag.

However, why did a solution suddenly appear when they had been racking their brains?

There was nothing to suggest that Yulken had some method up his sleeve.

“Do you at least have a concrete plan?”

“Yes, actually, I consulted Minette, who had been a bit on edge, and asked a few questions. During that conversation, I came across a rather peculiar connection.”

Edgar produced a sheet of paper he had brought along.

The paper, divided into two sections by a line drawn in the middle, contained two main strands of content, one of which was about the assassin Ariel had encountered in the past.

“Although the assassin died on the spot, I heard later that they dug through his mind with magic.”

“Ah, I remember that. But retrieving information from a dead body is a challenging feat, so I believe it was just a few words at most.”

“Correct. What caught my attention among those words was this part.”

Edgar pointed to a section where the phrase “Symbol of Dominion” was written.

It was one of three fragments of words gleaned from the assassin’s mind at that time.

The first was ‘Princess,’ which must refer to Ariel.

The second was ‘plot.’ As for this, they had yet to uncover anything.

The third was the ‘Symbol of Dominion,’ referring to that secret treasure present within the Robeheim family.

“At first, I only thought of it as an assassin. But upon considering the recent incident in Whitewood, my perspective shifted quite a bit.”

“…I see. That makes sense. I remember Kehlag mentioning something like that as well.”

When Kehlag, under the pretext of an agreement with the enemy, invaded Whitewood, the ‘Symbol of Dominion’ had been stipulated as a condition for the exchange with Yulken.

At first, it seemed puzzling why a foreign tribe would seek that, but reflecting back, it could also be interpreted to mean it was Albrecht’s goal, rather than Kehlag’s.

Furthermore, if they twisted the intentions of the individuals who had attempted to assault Ariel in the past, there were certainly overlaps to consider.

“That implies… the true goal of the assassin who tried to kill me wasn’t murder but kidnapping?”

“That’s just my assumption.”

As Edgar nodded, a deep furrow appeared on Ariel’s brow.

It could be seen as a stretch, but the relevant circumstances had enough overlap for it not to be dismissed outright.

If Ariel was indeed targeted as a means to secure the ‘Symbol of Dominion,’ then the narrative would align quite well.

“And more critically, the way that assassin maneuvered through the barrier was presumed to be the same as mine.”

“I’m aware of that, but why?”

“It seems that method was something even Minette wasn’t aware of. I heard about it only recently.”

It wouldn’t be that she was unaware; rather, she likely hadn’t deemed it worthwhile to experiment.

Having no magical flow within their body in this world was a considerable flaw, so would a sage from the Mage Tower even bother to investigate ways to pass through barriers using such individuals?

Additionally, considering that making barriers wasn’t a trivial task, there might have been a high degree of reliability in that.

Albrecht would have likely been considered mad for attempting to test it on himself.

“The idea that an underling of an assassin would know something that even Minette, as the sage, was ignorant of doesn’t quite sit right.”

“…In other words, it suggests that the assassin’s backer possesses profound knowledge of magical theory. If they’re above even Minette, that can only point to one person in this country.”

Nod.

“Of course, I’m not planning to kick up any accusations over this. However, if you were to take the lead in probing, their reactions would be telling.”

“Well, then I must act as naturally as possible. Even if it doesn’t work, I should brush it off as if I had no suspicions…”

In essence, the primary aim of this plan wasn’t to make a public accusation against Albrecht but rather to gauge his reactions.

If Albrecht’s objective truly was the ‘Symbol of Dominion,’ he wouldn’t even think there was a chance this information would reach them.

Therefore, realizing that their intentions were known might drive him to take action.

Since both sides were common individuals in this situation, neither would be aware of the other’s underlying intentions.

“By all means, go to the Imperial Palace as soon as possible and convey this to His Majesty. And ensure that you accompany Albrecht to the gathering.”

“And you?”

“I’ll naturally be going with you. Do you think I would let something happen unprepared?”

Edgar shrugged casually, and a faint smile crossed Yulken’s face as he observed.

He was aware Edgar was an extraordinary man, but to deduce this much with just a piece of information was remarkable.

As he said, what mattered now wasn’t whether or not this information was accurate.

What was needed was a justification that pointed to Albrecht’s motives while keeping the existence of Kehlag hidden.

If this could corner Albrecht, then that would be splendid; if not, it would at least serve to reveal his response.

‘Yet there’s an odd feeling nagging at me.’

However, with that peculiar unease lingering in his mind, he cocked his head while pouring more tea.

It was just a fleeting thought, but perhaps there was an aspect he was overlooking.