Chapter 152

Chapter 152
Chapter 152
The abrupt, brash action of the youthful attendant sent a ripple of disbelief through the gathered crowd.

Lucian had already deduced who the man truly was, yet he intentionally adopted a facade of outrage, barking, “By what right do you presume to come forward in this assembly?”

“I am…!”

The young servant paused, a heavy silence hanging over him before he dropped to a single knee. “I offer my respect once more to Your Grace, the Duke. My name is Dennis, and I have served as one of the ‘Eyes’ for the Late Emperor.”

“What?!”

Gasps of pure astonishment broke out from every corner of the room.

Within the circles of the high-born, the ‘Eyes’ was a polite term for a network of informants. Dennis’s admission was far more than a personal reveal; it was a public acknowledgement that the Emperor had placed a mole directly within Lucian’s inner circle.

Lucian bellowed at Dennis, his voice vibrating with a calculated tremor of fury.

“Ridiculous! It is impossible that the Late Emperor would have assigned a spy to track my movements! He was a sovereign who gifted me his boundless confidence. Do you presume to defile the memory of the deceased Emperor?!”

“That is not the case!”

“Take this man to the oubliette at once! I will discover who is employing him to sow discord between the Imperial Family and myself!”

“Your Grace!”

Thud!

Seconds before the guards could lay hands on him, Dennis drove his forehead into the stone with a desperate force. He hit the floor so violently that crimson blood began to pool on the white tiles of the White Palace.

“How could the Late Emperor have ever mistrusted Your Grace? He was simply plagued by the worry that his protection could not span the vast distances of the North!”

“You continue to speak such lies?!”

“I can provide the confirmation you require! The Late Emperor gave me a token for this very purpose! An object Your Grace has surely encountered before!”

Dennis reached into his clothing and produced a scarlet gemstone. It was a perfect match to the one Glen had previously utilized to establish a link between Lucian and the Emperor.

Watching Dennis offer up the smoking gun with his own hands, Lucian felt a surge of internal triumph.

‘I was prepared to act as if I were being slowly convinced if things got difficult, but this is an absolute jackpot!’

Now, the fact that the Emperor had deployed an infiltrator because of a fundamental lack of faith in Lucian was irrefutable. This event would remain an indelible mark on the prestige of the Imperial Family and provide Lucian with a flawless justification for any future defiance.

Stifling the impulse to let a smirk reach his face at this unexpected gain, Lucian cried out in feigned grief, “I cannot fathom it… How could the Late Emperor have done this…!”

“Y-Your Grace! You must understand! As I stated, the Late Emperor never harbored any doubt regarding you!”

Dennis fought frantically to salvage the late ruler’s honor, but the damage was irreversible. No matter how sleek the rationalization, the nature of the deception remained plain. By revealing his role as a spy, Dennis had handed Lucian a political weapon on a silver platter.

‘However, that isn’t the priority at this moment, so I will let that rest for now.’

While it was a significant tactical victory, it was merely one piece of leverage for the future. Right now, he required a testimony that would dismantle the fabrications of Casval.

Lucian swayed slightly, as if the revelation had sapped his strength, and spoke in a weakened tone. “I see… the Late Emperor could not have truly doubted me. He must have simply taken drastic steps out of a deep concern for the people around me.”

“Y-yes, precisely!”

“That is enough. Clarify your intentions. Why have you chosen this moment to reveal your secret? And what is the meaning of your claim that this coronation is a snare?”

Under Lucian’s questioning, Dennis lowered his head once more and responded. “Not long ago, the First Prince reached out to me. He claimed he required an escort of soldiers to bring the oath-breakers to justice.”

“…?!”

Lucian’s eyes widened at this revelation, which went far beyond his most optimistic hopes.

‘Curses. I never suspected the Late Emperor would have been so transparent with those specifics.’

Casval wiped away the beads of cold sweat and swore under his breath.

What? That the First Prince would be able to trigger the magical artifact whenever he wished?

‘Naturally he would. The real issue is that we cannot allow the First Prince to get near a magical artifact under any circumstances.’

The Second Prince had established a total grip over the Imperial Palace, and even though the First Prince was stripped of every supporter, he was the sort of individual who would continue to command with an unbroken spirit. In fact, he had recently been apprehended attempting to signal the outside world using a concealed magical artifact.

If they provided a man like that with a magical artifact, he wouldn’t simply unlock the gates and call it a day. Critically, Duke Lucian was the most powerful patron of the First Prince within the realm. If he discovered the actual state of affairs at the Imperial Palace through the First Prince, he would never remain passive—whether driven by sincere fealty or a hunger for power masked as loyalty.

‘In a worst-case scenario, he could use the chaos at the palace as a legitimate excuse to launch an open insurrection.’

Finding no easy exit, Casval let out a heavy breath. Judging by the flow of events, it appeared he would have to scrap the scheme to draw Lucian to the Imperial Palace. If the dimensional gate failed to function, Lucian would undoubtedly grill him on the matter.

“It is unavoidable. I will simply have to execute the secondary objective flawlessly.”

Mumbling to himself, Casval opted to take a rest. He felt that if he continued to obsess over the problem, he might start falling into useless loops of thought, like the fact that ‘only those of the direct Imperial bloodline can operate the magical artifacts.’

The following day, Casval stood in the main plaza of Asagrim and scanned the surroundings. The space was overflowing with settlers from past the frozen wastes who had assembled at the behest of Lucian. Casval swallowed hard at the sight of the towering figures filling the square.

“Astonishing.”

‘Are all these savages truly the subjects of that young Duke?’

They possessed frames that looked as though they could snap a standard infantryman like a twig, with musculature that could only be built by a lifetime of brandishing heavy steel. There was also the unmistakable aura of blood that lingers on those with true combat history, and jagged scars displayed like trophies of war.

‘They don’t even require drills. If you gave them steel this instant, every one of them would turn into a formidable combatant.’

Casval felt a chill run down his spine as he pictured them fully equipped. A domain where the bulk of the citizenry could be mobilized into a legion in a heartbeat—it meant this territory was nearly impregnable in a war of attrition.

If he failed to break their unity here, Lucian would remain a permanent threat to the Imperial Family’s authority.

Once he saw that the plaza was packed to the edges, Casval raised his voice in a loud shout.

“Pay attention, people of the frostlands! I am here today to clarify the Imperial Code for you!”

“The Imperial Code? What is he talking about?”

“It sounds like he’s going to lecture us on the rules here.”

“If he is a knight, is he not a fighter? Do fighters spend their time as teachers in this place?”

“Perhaps the duty is so vital they had to give it to a warrior.”

Casval scowled as he observed the settlers, who seemed unable to focus. By the letter of the law, commoners were required to remain silent when a knight addressed them.

“Quiet! This is knowledge that everyone living within the Empire must grasp, so listen well! I will not be repeating these instructions!”

The settlers grumbled at Casval’s arrogant delivery, but they held their tongues. They were well aware that they were newcomers in this territory. Even if they detested the man’s demeanor, they needed to hear the basic societal rules they were currently lacking.

“Firstly, I will explain how the Duke you serve came to govern these lands. Years ago, the Great Late Emperor…”

In the plaza, which had finally fallen silent, Casval began to detail the statutes of the Empire. He put great weight on the fact that Lucian’s authority was a gift from the Emperor, not an inherent right of birth. He described the Emperor as a figure far above Lucian, someone who commanded their ultimate devotion and honor. He also remarked on how the Empire was far more vast than they could conceive, and that the North was a particularly desolate corner of its domains.

“…Consequently, never lose sight of your devotion to the Imperial Family, and hold your heads high knowing you are now subjects of the Empire!”

Finishing his address, Casval looked around to see the impact. However, there was no murmur of wonder or shock. Instead, there was a silence so flat and uninterested that it felt freezing.

As Casval grew agitated by the settlers’ bizarre lack of reaction, a voice rang out.

“I have listened to your tale. But I have one inquiry.”

“W-what is it?”

“Are these Imperial people you speak of mightier than our Duke?”

“…”

Casval, who had been ready to snap at the disrespectful tone, found himself speechless. Just by Lucian venting his internal energy, Casval had felt a physical agony as if he had been bludgeoned. The man was a freak of nature, a warrior the likes of which would never be seen again.

And they were asking if an Imperial royal was stronger than Lucian?

“…Might and nobility are separate things. Do not try to apply your primitive ways to the Empire.”

“So, what you are saying is that they are not only weaker than our Duke, they are not even fighters? And yet we are expected to bow to people like that?”

“Mind your words! To insult the Imperial Family is a treasonous act that warrants instant death!”

“That is exactly what we were going to say to you.”

Casval shuddered as a different voice came from directly behind him. When he focused, he felt the lethal stares of the barbarians tightening around him from every angle.

“You have spoken ill of our King, demanded we serve the feeble, and looked down upon the land he provided for us. Why shouldn’t we end you right here?”

“…!”

Casval turned deathly pale at the words, which felt less like a threat and more like a statement of fact. If he misspoke now, he would be shredded by the barbarians closing in. In that moment, he realized his entire strategy had been flawed from the start.

‘Damn it, these people have no desire to move. They have already made this their home.’

To those born in the snowfields, the North or any other place was all the same foreign world. He had planned to entice them away from Asagrim with dreams of wealth in other regions. But these immigrants already viewed this ground, given to them by Lucian, as their true sanctuary.

‘If they love this home, telling them other lands are superior will only enrage them. It would have been better to say nothing.’

Crushed by the weight of a thousand eyes, Casval fought to find a way out. His survival rested on his next sentence.

After a tense pause, a short phrase left Casval’s mouth.

“…I am a guest of the Duke.”

At those words, the murderous pressure evaporated instantly. In nearly every society, a guest is under the protection of the lord of the house. To kill a guest was to spit in the face of the master himself. Those who followed Lucian could not bring harm to Lucian’s guest.

The settlers who had been ready to strike Casval took a step back.

“Leave.”

Scuttle!

At the command, Casval bolted from the main plaza without looking back. If he lingered, there was no telling if the mob’s restraint would hold.

However, once he reached the safety of the inner walls and arrived at the gate of the White Castle, a fresh wave of indignation washed over him.

‘How dare a pack of commoners treat a knight—one in the service of a Prince—in such a manner…!’

Savages or not, they were legally commoners now that they were under the Empire. Yet they had dared to threaten Casval, an officer of a Prince, unable to let go of their lawless ways.

‘I must have a stern discussion with the Duke. This cannot be ignored.’

In truth, Lucian would likely favor the barbarians over Casval, but he was still a peer of the realm. If Casval lodged a formal complaint about a challenge to the very structure of the class system, the Duke would be forced into a difficult position.

Just as Casval reached the threshold of the White Palace with those plans in mind—

“Apprehend the traitor!”

“…?!”

Casval was paralyzed as the Blue Rose Knight Order surrounded him from all sides, the accusation of ‘traitor’ ringing in his ears.