Chapter 64

Chapter 64
The expressions of the nobles were a picture of bewilderment.

Those who had accompanied Alon also wore looks of complete confusion.

Even the nobles who had expected the king to stifle Kalpha’s growth were taken aback and stunned.

Yet, they were not alone in their reaction.

“…??”

Alon, who had just been addressed by Cretinia Siyan, was equally perplexed by the situation.

‘A marquis?’

For a noble, a title held profound weight.

It functioned as a social standing, and a marquisate would bestow upon Alon significantly greater authority than his present status as a count.

It would influence everything from the size of his lands to the number of personal troops he could command.

It would also legitimize his leadership of a faction within the nobility.

While Alon, a count, had already risen to lead Kalpha, it was an irregularity.

By the conventions of noble society, it was unthinkable for a mere count to hold such a high rank.

It could be described as an aberrant arrangement.

However, if Cretinia Siyan elevated his title to marquis, this irregular structure within Kalpha would be instantly normalized.

In essence, Cretinia Siyan was not suppressing Kalpha, but assisting them.

‘What… is going on?’

Alon could only stare up at her with a dazed expression, but Siyan, leaning her chin casually on her hand, spoke.

“I have been informed of the events. That you have eliminated all the parasites feeding on Asteria. This is your recompense.”

Her composed voice filled the hall.

While her statement was logical, the underlying suspicion persisted.

There was, after all, no clear reason for her to reward him on such grounds.

‘It seems she is merely using this as a pretext to raise me to marquis.’

Alon studied the queen.

Was she so self-assured that she believed she could crush Kalpha at will, even if they grew more powerful?

A plausible explanation crossed his thoughts.

Though he stared directly at her face, attempting to discern her intentions, he found only a cool, unreadable mask.

At that moment.

“Why, does it displease you?”

Alon was jolted from his thoughts by Siyan’s voice.

“No, Your Majesty.”

He lowered his head as he answered.

In reply, Siyan, who had not shown a hint of a smile until now, rose from her throne with a slight curl of her lips.

Step, step-

With light footsteps, she approached Alon.

Then, bending down to meet Alon’s upward gaze, she pressed her index finger against the corner of his right lip and gently tugged it sideways.

“……?”

Alon’s expression became odd, with one side of his mouth lifted by her finger.

It was a bizarre sight to any observer, but she merely smiled and said,

“You should smile. It becomes you more.”

Having said that, she withdrew her finger from his cheek.

Looking thoroughly pleased, she watched the confounded Alon, her distinctive golden eyes gleaming.

The Queen, who had been observing with an entertained look, finally addressed the room.

“I will depart now. Please, all of you, enjoy the banquet.”

As soon as she finished speaking, as if she had no further interest in the ball, she turned away.

Creak! Bang!

The great door opened and closed, and a quiet stillness settled over the ballroom.

Alon, gazing blankly at the space she had vacated, thought to himself.

‘…What exactly transpired?’

He was more bewildered than ever.

***

After the Queen’s departure, the ballroom, which had fallen into silence, gradually began to stir back to life.

However, the mood had transformed entirely.

The change was that the nobles who had been smug earlier now wore entirely opposite expressions.

The nobles of the royalist and aristocratic factions, who had anticipated Kalpha being reined in today, looked as if their world had collapsed.

Conversely, the nobles who had entered the ballroom with Alon were all grinning, congratulating themselves for having backed the winning side.

And.

The man who had effectively become the centerpiece of the ballroom, Alon, found himself at the center of a crowd.

“Congratulations, Count!”

“Ah, we mustn’t call him Count any longer! He is to be a Marquis!”

“Oh, that’s right! My error~”

Whether Alon acknowledged them or not, the nobles surrounding him continued to pour out eager flattery.

“Truly, Count Palatio—no, Marquis Palatio is exceptional.”
“Precisely. When did he manage to gain the Queen’s favor?”

Receiving the admiring, though misguided and uncomfortable, looks from Duke Altia and Count Zenonia, Alon reflected internally.

‘When… did that occur? I have no idea.’

With a perplexed expression, Alon turned his eyes toward the door through which Siyan had exited.

‘What is her game…?’

He started to mentally review everything he knew about the 8th monarch of Asteria, Cretinia Siyan.

No matter how much he pondered, Cretinia Siyan was not the type to behave in such a manner.

She was not deeply invested in governance, but she was known to eliminate anyone she perceived as a threat to her royal authority without a second thought. And that smile?

Alon recalled the smile she had shown him earlier.

Based on his knowledge, there existed no portrait or tale from Psychedelia that depicted Siyan smiling.

Her persona was consistently portrayed as aloof and detached.

‘…Something is off.’

As Alon began to sense that things were not adding up, he tilted his head in confusion.

In a corner of the ballroom, Marquis Filboid, who was also surrounded by other nobles, was staring intently at him.

‘Count Palatio…?’

Marquis Filboid unconsciously ground his teeth.

Half a year prior, he had been forced to his knees before Alon, and though his treatment was not as severe as Duke Limgrave’s, he had been summoned to the Holy Kingdom and confined in a strange cell for nearly a month, enduring what amounted to torture.

Consequently, he had been eagerly awaiting today’s proceedings.

He had been certain that Alon would face consequences for his reckless expansion of his faction.

Contrary to his expectations, the Queen had instead granted him a marquisate, as if endorsing his faction.

‘How… can this be…?’

Gritting his teeth as he watched Alon, Marquis Filboid released a heavy sigh.

At this juncture, there was little he could do now that events had unfolded this way.

But that did not mean he would remain passive after having already suffered retaliation.

‘If things have reached this point… I must contact them.’

With a determined look, Marquis Filboid turned and began walking toward a specific destination.

***

Five days later.

As Alon, having sampled all the refreshments at the week-long ball, was starting to consider returning to his colony,

Marquis Filboid, who had departed on the very first day, was already journeying toward Pakason, a territory of the Kingdom of Ashtalon located near the Kingdom of Asteria.

Normally, he would have been wary of being noticed, but now he was indifferent.

Since his abduction to the Holy Kingdom, he had lost the majority of his political influence and was no longer the head of any faction.

In short, he had become a tiger with no claws, and no nobles paid him any mind anymore.

Thus, he reached his destination without concern for prying eyes.

And.

Upon arriving in Pakason, he proceeded directly to the entrance of the underground slums near the territory.

“Whew—”

He sighed as he looked at the foreboding underground entrance before him. Then, pressing his lips together firmly, he stepped toward the opening.

Marquis Filboid had discovered that the “Agent,” an individual who would assassinate anyone, noble or royal, for a price, was based here.

With this knowledge, he descended below ground.

“Tsk.”

He scowled at the sight of the gambling den, filled with raucous people and dense smoke, but pressed onward.

The person he sought would be located deeper within.

As he moved further into the den, he whispered a code phrase to a man blocking his path, then unhesitatingly opened a firmly shut door.

And then,

“?”

“…?”

“Huh?”

Inside the room, Marquis Filboid saw a young girl.

Or, to be more accurate—

A girl with shining golden hair and a guileless face.

And beside her, lying prone on the floor, was a headless body, brutally disfigured.

Marquis Filboid winced slightly at the gruesome sight, but he neither recoiled nor fled.

He had been warned about the Agent’s grotesque tendencies before his arrival.

‘I heard the Agent is a savage beastman who delights in mutilating corpses, but this is more disgusting than I imagined.’

Quickly smoothing his expression, Marquis Filboid reminded himself of his need to hire this Agent.

“Who are you?”

The Agent’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

It was filled with a pure, childlike curiosity, which momentarily startled the marquis before a wave of strangeness washed over him.

Even with a corpse right there, the Agent’s appearance was far removed from what the marquis had pictured.

But the feeling was fleeting, and he soon spoke.

“I have come to hire your services.”

“A request?”

“Yes, I wish to contract for the assassination of Count Palatio.”

Remembering the advice that the Agent disliked lengthy discussions, Marquis Filboid went straight to the heart of the matter.

And then—

A cold shiver ran down his spine.

“Heh—”

Marquis Filboid knew with certainty that the being before him was indeed the Agent.

The moment he stated his request, the Agent’s once-innocent smile warped into something malevolent.

“So,”

Her lips curved as if amused.

“You want to request the death of Count Palatio?”

Her eyes turned frostily cold.

So cold that the marquis felt his breath catch in fear as he met her piercing golden gaze.

The intensity of her stare made his legs feel weak, and he swallowed dryly without thinking.

“That is correct…?”

The moment he confirmed, the blonde beastman, now swaying her hair lightly, nodded several times.

“Ah, I understand. So that’s your desire? But, what should we do?”
“W-what do you mean—?”
“The individual who could accept your request… is already right here.”

She gave a slight shrug.

Puzzled by her words, Marquis Filboid followed the direction of her gloved finger downward and saw it pointing at the headless corpse on the floor.

“…Oh.”

Only then did he understand that something had gone horribly awry, and he let out a soft, stunned breath.