Chapter 159

Chapter 159: The Value of the Imperial Princess

The Value of the Imperial Princess
Chapter 159. The Value of the Princess
Ferda replied.
— She is a beautiful person.
A fact he could affirm calmly.
— She is beautiful. It is not for nothing that they call her the Flower of the Empire.
Valdemar exhaled with displeasure.
— But if she were only beautiful, that would have been truly pleasant… the problem is that it is not the case.
— Is that so?
— Do not play dumb. Someone like you, who is not swayed by appearances nor emotional, would have noticed her true nature.
— What do you mean to say, Archduke Valdemar?
— I mean that woman is my destined partner.
Ferda thought.
“Has this old man gone senile?”
— You are thinking the same thing. That this old man is coveting a young girl. That he should die with dignity since he is so old.
He seems to know what others think of him, at least.
— But no matter what they say, I am certain. Olivia will become my destined companion.
Madness mingled in his calm tone.
The Emperor’s promise was precisely to unite Olivia as Valdemar’s partner.
— My destined partner continues to wander. And…
His gaze pinned coldly on Ferda.
— That stop in her wandering is trying to become you.
— …
Disgust surfaced on Ferda’s face.
Garnet had once spoken of the person who died entangled with Valdemar.
— As far as I know, isn’t Stella Arken your destiny?
Princess Olivia’s older sister, Stella.
It was known that the older sister had died in an accident when the balcony collapsed.
But in reality it was suicide, and Valdemar was behind it all.
Due to his obsession that he had to have her.
— Ah. Stella… yes… Stella also existed.
Tears fell from Valdemar’s eyes.
Valdemar mourns as he utters that name.
— Poor thing. If that poor thing had not tried to defy her own destiny, this would not have happened…
That disparate appearance signified his sincerity, and it even made Ferda’s hair stand on end.
— Since Stella ended up like that… I will never let her go again. My destined woman cannot be lost a second time.
Wiping away the tears, his dry eyes showed again.
He was already a broken human being beyond repair.
Ferda looked him straight in the eyes and answered him.
— Allow me to say this once more. I have no interest in the Princess. Even if the Princess favors me, it is not as a man, and even if it were, it is unnecessary to me.
— Is that so?
The oppressive energy relaxed a bit before Ferda’s firm attitude.
But soon it made one wonder if he had made a slip.
Valdemar’s gaze sank even deeper.
— Then, perhaps you can help me.
— With what?
He proposed.
— Make that child, Olivia, recognize that she is my destiny.
Ferda boarded the carriage and left the Imperial Palace.
From the moment he left the reception hall, Valdemar’s words lingered in his head.
— As I said, this Empire is already overflowing with people who lack patriotism. Even if you do not love this Empire, it only means one more person without patriotism.
Ferda was nothing more than a raindrop falling into a great river.
He presented the compensation for the proposal this way.
— If you cooperate, I can establish the position of the Far East. I can grant an autonomy strong enough to be practically indistinguishable from secession and independence.
Valdemar’s proposal was so unprecedented that it could be considered a treasonous conspiracy.
Under the name of a single Empire, even such a proposal would normally be inadmissible.
“Is Olivia worth that much?”
An obsession to a terrifying degree.
How did Ferda react there?
Ferda could not answer immediately.
Precisely, while he weighed the response, Valdemar postponed hearing the reply.
So, instead of answering, the proposal lingered in his head.
“Olivia Arken.”
She failed to become a Saint, and tilted the country with her charm.
Even that ended in failure.
“However, now it is different.”
She, who remained in the Third Circle, has now reached the Fourth Circle, and is genuinely treading the path toward being a Saint.
A possibility was born for her, and she possessed an ability commensurate with that possibility.
Olivia is a skilled strategist and politician.
But even so, there were many variables.
For the surrounding nobles, Olivia’s value as a Princess was enormously great.
For the young ladies, she became a splendid stepping stone; for the young knights, a dream and a fairy-tale motif;
Even powerful old men like Valdemar watched her charm with the vigilance of a hawk.
If she spread her wings to fly higher, they would seize those wings and try to tear them off.
She seemed solid in every way, but many more dangers than imagined lurked around her.
On the other hand, Valdemar was solid in everything.
He enjoyed the support of both commoners and nobility, a de facto power holder.
If he supports Ferda, all future dangers in the Far East could very well be eliminated.
“All of this only requires selling one woman.”
A disgustingly simple matter.
Selling an unstable possibility to gain a stable ally.
An uncomfortable situation, yet at the same time seductive and intelligent.
“Not hearing the response and dismissing me was also for this, huh?”
A high-level skill.
Thinking more deeply makes one more cautious, but at the same time frightens them.
It frightens him, and then leads him to choose the stable option over adventure.
— Regent-nim, we have arrived.
The carriage stopped in front of the luxurious inn where Ferda was staying.
The knights guarding the entrance recognized Ferda, saluted, and opened the door.
But instead of crossing the doorway, Ferda turned to the side.
— I will take a short walk.
— Then we will accompany you…
— I will go alone.
Ferda answered briefly, as if his head were complicated, and tried to ignore his escort.
The knights could not simply fail to follow him just because a noble said they were not needed.
They followed Ferda in secret.
But when Ferda slipped into an alley, their mission vanished into thin air.
He had disappeared without leaving a trace.
— Huh?
— Did you see where he went?
— No, I didn’t see him. He literally disappeared without a trace…
Thinking that he must have fled somewhere incredibly fast, the knights quickened their pace, but Ferda’s trace could not be found even by washing their eyes.
— Split up and search! If we lose him, our heads are on the line!
Contrary to the escort knights’ thoughts that he had already fled far away, Ferda had just turned into the alley and had not moved a single step.
He had learned the Shadow Arts of the Archdemon Barbatos.
Inner Shadow.
A stealth magic that conceals one’s form, presence, and even sound within the shadows, evading even detection magic.
It was superior to stealth magic of the same circle in that it did not even trigger detection magic, but it had a fatal weakness.
“If light enters, I am caught immediately.”
If they had held even a small lantern, Ferda definitely would have been caught.
But this was the Imperial Capital.
Excluding the main roads, a labyrinthine place where locations without light were more numerous.
Escaping the surveillance eyes in this way, Ferda moved toward somewhere.
The place he headed to was a back alley that reeked of sewer, far from the fragrant smells of food and flowers.
Upon entering, a slum district unfolded where sewage treatment and all garbage accumulated in a single place.
Beggars lay on filth-soaked ground, begging for alms.
Ferda passed them by and moved forward.
His feet were heading toward a clear destination.
— My Lord… please, just a penny…
Waiting there was an old female beggar pleading with a raspy voice.
Kneeling, prostrated on the ground, she held a wooden bowl.
At the same time, a tattoo was uncovered on that beggar’s wrist.
Ferda took out a coin and placed it for that beggar.
Then the old woman pressed her forehead against the ground again and expressed gratitude.
— I greet the Regent-nim.
Where did the raspy voice go? The voice of a young woman is heard.
It was Garnet’s voice.
— Shall we change locations?
— It is fine. This entire area is under my control. There is no opening for leaks.
Ferda slightly extended his shadow to search the surroundings.
Just as she said, there were people watching and guarding this place, hidden here and there.
Ferda relaxed and began the conversation.
— How were the audit results?
— Speaking honestly, it exceeded expectations again.
— Was there any mistake in my actions?
— No. The reaction itself was very good.
She had listened to Ferda’s entire speech and had even verified the reactions of the surroundings.
It was a level that exceeded the expected figures.
— Because the reaction was so good, the margin for the opponent to make a strong move has increased even more.
A variable that arises because the effect was good…
Ferda knew what that strong move was.
— Archduke Golt has already played Urey’s card, it seems.
Garnet, who had only been bowing her head, raised it.
— Directly?
— Yes.
— For that guy to speak openly… means he is prepared so that there is no escape.
Around the time the Spring Festival ended, Ferda had kidnapped Duke Urey’s son.
Because he openly insulted a dragon in the banquet hall.
He tortured him, tried to make him suffer more than death.
But in reality he could not do it.
Because the son committed suicide before that.
Ferda, as an involved party and suspect, knows what happened.
But what about a third party?
Valdrova is the Archduchess, and as an Archduchess she had the obligation to follow the laws of the Empire.
As that atmosphere intensifies, the story will naturally take a different course.
‘Black Magic.’
That Urey’s son was killed not by physical force, but by black magic.
Where that black magic originated from and how it manifested must be examined in detail.
The person to handle this issue was obvious without needing to watch.
‘Erdes.’
She must have been waiting for this moment.
The highest magical authority on the Serdes Continent, and simultaneously someone who loathes black magic.
Even if she knows that the magic Ferda manifested was not his, the possibility exists that she will deliberately not reveal it.
— What do you think will happen?
— First, Duke Urey’s side plans to expose it in front of the inn where Regent-nim is staying. In sync with that, instigators scattered throughout the territory will spread rumors, and by the time we head to the Golden Congress, all subjects will know it.
— Understood. Any other variable besides that?
— There is one more besides that.
— What is it?
— Prince Alexander’s aide attempted contact in Hestia Village.
— With whom?
— With William, the Captain of Security.
He was a cadet knight under Duke Urey.
— And so?
— They say he left his duties as Captain of Security and they teleported together. The purpose is clearly to use him as a witness.
…
William drew his sword for the common people.
But what if he finds out that Ferda is actually a black magician and killed Urey’s son?
On top of that, Ferda drove a dagger into his own hand just because he was angry.
He tried to snatch away the hand that was life for a knight.
It would not be strange if he made the grand decision to expose it all.
— We have located his current residence.
— Agreed.
— If it is an anxiety factor, it is worth considering eliminating him.
Assassination, huh…?
Erdes hates Ferda, and the Alte Church has zero tolerance for black magic on principle.
Even if not today, tomorrow two more enemies will increase.
In this situation, not creating one more enemy is best, and if an ally can be made, that is almost a miracle.
— It is time to consider Valdemar’s demand…
— What did the Archduke demand?
— He said to help him make Olivia Arken his. Then he would leave the Far East alone.
— …The Princess, you mean.
She exhaled a breath at the subtlety.
Currently, Garnet knows the fact that the Princess is an ally within the Empire.
— What will you do?
— I do not know. He could get what he wants and then change his word, couldn’t he?
— That will not happen.
Garnet responded to Ferda’s suspicion.
— Do you think he will keep the promise?
— His obsession with Olivia Arken is that great. In fact, just before obtaining Stella Arken, he even appointed a successor and sought complete retirement. Once he gets that woman, the situation of the Empire will take a back seat for him as well.
Human greed knows no bounds.
Normally, Ferda would not believe those words, but a similar precedent already existed.
‘Henri Dandolo.’
He drove his only father to death and handed the merchant company over to Ferda.
Just to have the eldest daughter of the Pascal Company.
— What would be best?
— The credible side is the Princess, but the progress of the plan cannot be certain. But in terms of influence, Valdemar is immediate and stable. If only he could be trusted.
The pros and cons are clear.
And most people would lean toward Valdemar, and Ferda’s heart was also leaning toward Valdemar.
— For now…
Ferda ordered Garnet.
— Proceed as planned.
— …Does Regent-nim really believe it is among them?
— Certainly.
Ferda spat out a disgusting name.
— Those damn bastards.
Urey’s son said this before dying.
Welcome to the cruel world.
It could be just an established keyphrase, but Ferda thought differently.
‘That was a message.’
The demons were expecting this exact situation.
That they also chose the Imperial Capital instead of the Far East in that siege battle.
It was pressure to choke the breath out of the Far East.
Each other’s positions fit together, flowing in an extremely vicious yet simple manner.
Like standing on the edge of a cliff, just a slight push on the back makes the situation uncontrollable.
— I will do everything possible to investigate, but investigating an unidentified opponent may be futile.
— What do you mean by futile?
— By the time we find them, it could already be too late.
This post-war conference has the survival of the Far East at stake.
For him, who carries a heavy burden, he cannot get an idea of what to do.
What should he do…?
— Perhaps, asking the person themselves could also be a good option.
— The person themselves…?
Garnet gestured with her chin toward the alley.
From there, the footsteps of someone walking could be heard.
Garnet’s voice gradually changed to the screeching sound of a chalkboard, then returned to that of the old woman.
— This humble servant takes her leave now.
She limped away, and the beggars who had been watching her also disappeared.
At the same time, a group appeared from the alley.
All of them wore their robes inside out.
Those who wore dark gray robes had broad, prominent shoulders.
Among them, the one in the center, dressed in white with gold thread, was small and short in stature.
Should one say it was to be expected?
Even wearing a thick robe, the beauty hidden inside could not be concealed.
It was known at a glance that what was hidden inside was the Flower of the Empire.
— Oh, my?
Olivia Arken.
She let out an exclamation in a beautiful voice, shamelessly feigning surprise.
— Isn’t that you, Regent-nim?