Chapter 149
Chapter 149
Creak. Thunk.
Father sat behind a massive desk, flipping through documents.
"You called for me."
When I gave a slight bow, Father asked dryly without taking his eyes off the documents.
"I've heard you've been getting close to House Rohanna lately?"
Flip, flip.
A question tossed out amid the sound of turning pages.
I was impressed despite myself.
'Wow. His information network really is something else.'
It had only been a few hours since I'd eaten a meal with Sophia and knocked back samgyeopsal and whiskey with Lucius last night.
That meant every move I'd made in that short time had ended up on Father's desk.
The Imperial Intelligence Department's web was beyond imagination.
"Rather than spending time with them, I'd say we've merely become acquainted. I owed him for helping me out during the Legion tour last time, so I simply bought him a meal."
I answered as nonchalantly as possible.
I really played up the implication that it was nothing important.
But Father set down his fountain pen and looked me straight in the eye.
"For a mere acquaintance, the ripple effect seems rather substantial."
"Pardon?"
"Reports continue to come in of generals moving behind the scenes, with Rohanna at the center of it all."
For a moment, the back of my neck grew stiff.
Resting his chin on his interlaced fingers, Father continued in a chilly voice.
"Those reports also include the fact that you met Professor Wilhelm privately at the Academy."
Fuck.
No way. They even knew that the two of us had coffee in the professor's office?
This family's Intelligence Department really must monitor everything except breathing.
"Even though they're retired, a group of former generals moving together is an extremely sensitive matter."
Father's voice sank another notch.
"Report immediately what you discussed with Professor Wilhelm."
"It wasn't anything important. Just an old geezer making a fool of himself."
"Making a fool of himself?"
"Yes. The former head of House Rohanna was their old comrade, wasn't he? But with the family's fortunes declining and his one remaining niece about to be sold off to a worthless match, it seems old ties had him feeling rather bitter."
I shrugged.
"So he asked me for a favor. My name has been gaining some oddly considerable clout in Academy and capital social circles lately, after all."
"How presumptuous. And then?"
"He asked whether I could escort the young lady of House Rohanna and keep her company so she wouldn't be looked down on in high society. He said it would ease the old men's burden a little."
Father's eyes narrowed.
"So did you accept?"
"Well, more or less. I do owe that family's son for the alchemical reagents I used, so I said I'd eat a few more meals with her on the weekends."
"Hmm."
"The generals are obviously throwing their weight around behind the scenes to look after their old comrade's daughter. Those old men take loyalty terrifyingly seriously."
There was nothing false in what I said.
Though I had omitted a few things at my own discretion.
Father stared at my face for a long while.
A chilly gaze, as though weighing truth against lies.
"……I see. That's Wilhelm for you."
Phew.
I let out a deep sigh of relief inwardly.
The story of Wilhelm, a true soldier to the core, taking pity on the descendant of an old comrade and trying to make me—the hottest name around these days—play the chaperone seemed to fit together rather neatly.
"By the way, how do you know about their loyalty?"
Gasp.
"Did you perhaps develop an interest in the military without my knowing?"
For fuck's sake.
"No, not that. But men's loyalty and all that is obviously something I can understand, isn't it?"
"Hmm."
Father's reaction seemed almost disappointed, which was fucking terrifying.
"Fine. Mind your conduct."
"I will."
"And don't get too deeply involved."
Flinch.
"I'll just eat a few meals with her and be done."
"And one more thing."
"Yes?"
More?
I was already feeling uncomfortable; my guilty conscience was starting to prick.
Father pulled a new file from a drawer and asked,
"Have you been taking good care of the Saintess?"
Suddenly?
No, why were we suddenly having Pinkie time after talking about Rohanna?
Could he know that I'd struck a deal with Viscountess Müller with coins on the line?
"Well, I've been making sure she eats properly. But why are you suddenly asking?"
In response to my question, Father answered while lightly running his fingertips over the file's cover.
"I can't tell you all of the Intelligence Department's classified information."
"Then why did you ask me—"
"The Saintess is, by position alone, a person of considerable importance, ranking within the top twenty in the state protocol."
"……?"
Ah.
For an instant, it felt as though a lightbulb had clicked on in my head.
I had to read between the lines.
There must be some damn important reason, I thought, before saying,
"I'm just eating with her regularly. I've let her claim a sofa in my lab and peel tangerines for her."
"Is that so."
Only then did Father give a short nod, seemingly satisfied.
"Good. Keep looking after her."
Father gestured toward the door with his chin.
"You may go. You'll be late for the Academy."
"Yes. I'll be off."
I turned around and left the study without hesitation.
* * *
Creak, thunk.
Cassian left the study.
Corinth quietly stared at the empty space where Cassian had disappeared from view beyond the desk, then pressed his fingers to his brow and let out a long breath.
Hoooo───.
What a headache.
Lately, he had been wondering why his second son kept sticking his foot into one sensitive matter after another.
Quite apart from the issue of his entanglement with the Saintess, which had drawn the attention of the church hierarchy.
Cassian becoming directly entangled with the circle of retired generals led by Wilhelm, the Academy's tactical studies professor, was an extremely sensitive and dangerous matter.
"……."
Corinth opened the report on the desk once more.
Flip, flip.
Even when he had first received reports from the Intelligence agents about the boy's movements, he had never imagined things would turn out like this.
He certainly had not anticipated that the generals would step to the forefront and move personally.
'Whenever that boy gets involved, matters always grow out of control as though they'd been waiting for him.'
The old tigers rose as one, stretching languidly.
To drag the name Rohanna, which had been fading from memory, back to the surface.
Tap.
Corinth lightly tossed his fountain pen onto the desk and leaned back in his chair.
That was when it happened.
As Corinth pieced together the scattered fragments of information, one fatal question suddenly flashed through his mind.
'……Could it be? Is there any chance that boy knows?'
The secret Lucius von Rohanna possessed.
Could he possibly know?
'No. That can't be.'
Corinth immediately denied it inwardly and shook his head.
Was that the kind of information one could uncover merely by being perceptive?
It was a card held by only a handful of the Empire's highest-ranking powers, including himself, the head of the Intelligence Department.
Even Baron Hamel, who was frantic to swallow up House Rohanna's real power,
despite knowing that secret, had kept completely silent about it and never let it slip outside.
There was absolutely no way he could know.
But still.
'…….'
The furrows in Corinth's brow refused to smooth out.
His rational judgment as head of the Intelligence Department clearly pointed to 'He doesn't know,'
yet the strange things his son had been doing lately kept nagging at him.
He was, quite literally, a magnet for women.
"……."
Corinth's fingers began tapping rhythmically on the desk.
Tap, tap, tap.
"Gale."
Corinth called softly into the empty air of the study.
Swoosh──.
The shadows in the room rippled, and a man with neatly swept-back hair silently emerged from the dark corner beside the bookcase.
"Did you call, my lord?"
Gale answered in a clipped voice, bowing at the waist.
"What is the status of the activity around Cassian?"
"It remains the same as before. If there is anything unusual……."
Gale raised his head and continued his report in a toneless voice.
"Last night, the young master met Lucius von Rohanna near the Academy's main gate, then had dinner with him at a samgyeopsal restaurant in the southern part of the capital and washed it down with whiskey. We assess the atmosphere as having been quite amicable."
Corinth snorted.
"Amicable, huh."
His unease was gradually turning into certainty.
"Yes. The young master showed neither formality nor wariness in his manner toward Lucius von Rohanna. He appeared comfortable, as though dealing with a longtime friend."
"Gale."
"Go ahead."
"For the time being, raise the rank of the agents stationed around the Rohanna estate."
At Corinth's order, Gale's pupils widened ever so slightly.
"……You mean we are to monitor the young master?"
"No. Tracking Cassian's movements at the current level is sufficient."
Corinth closed the file on the desk and added,
"Lucius von Rohanna. Learn every detail of that boy's movements. In particular, when he is alone with Cassian, report what expressions he wears and what they discuss. Don't miss even the shape of his lips."
* * *
In front of the Imperial Academy's main gate.
The campus, drenched in white morning sunlight, was filled with the lively footsteps of students heading to class.
I was no exception.
"Go on in, Uncle Thomas."
"Yes, young master."
It was just a few words, but I felt as though wings had grown on my tongue.
Seriously, my body felt absurdly light.
Hangover? What's that?
Was that the thing beating Lucius senseless?
It was just as I was walking cheerfully through the main gate.
"Good morning, Lord Cassian."
A familiar, annoyingly smug voice came from ahead along my route.
There stood Lucius, approaching me in his neat Academy uniform, wearing his signature narrow-eyed smile.
'What the hell? Why is he fine?'
Does this bastard not have a hangover either?
That can't be, can it?
"You're alive?"
I looked him up and down.
His hair was perfectly styled, not a single strand out of place, and his pristine uniform shirt was entirely free of wrinkles.
His skin even had a subtle glow, without the slightest trace of dryness.
"I'm not dead. Didn't the two of us somehow manage to part last night while still in our right minds?"
What bullshit.
I let out a hollow chuckle, dumbfounded.
"What's so funny?"
"No, nothing."
I gave him a light tap on the shoulder as I walked past and said,
"Nice acting. Your stomach's all twisted up, isn't it?"
"……Pardon?"
Lucius's footsteps stopped dead.
His perpetually curved, narrow eyes trembled for about 0.1 seconds.
"After drinking with me yesterday, you got completely wasted and started repeating things you'd said while maintaining a poker face."
"……."
"Well, looks like you made it home. Judging by how you washed up and even put on perfume before coming out looking this fine."
"……So you noticed?"
He cleared his throat and subtly looked away.
"It really shouldn't have shown. I thought I'd maintained my composure rather well."
"It didn't show. I might never have noticed if you hadn't repeated yourself."
"Ahem."
Even through the expression he was forcing to look relaxed, I could see a strange flush spreading across his pale face.
The tips of his ears were bright red.
'Bastard. You're embarrassed, huh?'
You were always going around with that perfectionist siscon, narrow-eyed pretty-boy act.