Chapter 151
Chapter 151
The Imperial Palace proper, Third Reception Room for Honored Guests.
It was a space with a long red carpet spread across the marble floor, while golden sun motifs decorating the walls radiated a weighty sense of authority.
However, even in this uncomfortable setting, Viscountess Müller sat on the sofa with an air of ease, showing not the slightest sign of unease.
It was at that moment, as Viscountess Müller let a seductive smile play beneath the brim of her hat and stroked the handle of the teacup before her.
Creak.
The reception room door opened, and a man dressed neatly in a black uniform entered.
Corinth del Farne, the Court Count.
The man who controlled all the information flowing through the Empire's underworld, and the father of Cassian, an investment of hers that had recently been providing her with daily amusement.
Today's meeting with the Court Count was taking place not in the secret room of the Intelligence Department director's office or some private space in the Farne estate, but in a reception room of the Imperial Palace.
In other words, this conversation would be treated not as a private exchange, but as an official matter of the Empire.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting, my lady."
"Not at all. I only just arrived myself."
Corinth took a seat on the sofa opposite her.
There was no pointless preamble between them about the weather, the taste of the tea, or anything of the sort.
"Let's get straight to the point, Court Count."
Viscountess Müller removed the hat she had been wearing all along and set it beside her.
"There is an upcoming event that was supposed to be held as a mere formality and in abbreviated fashion, but I would like to sponsor it entirely and make it a grand occasion."
"……I can't help asking why."
Corinth's brow narrowed slightly.
At his weighty voice, Viscountess Müller smoothly curled her red lips upward.
"I would like to have Her Highness the Imperial Princess and the Saintess as the banquet's guests of honor."
She lifted her teacup and added in a low voice,
"I want to announce to every noble in the capital that the recent unpleasant situation between the Imperial Family and the Church has come to an end. Do I need to explain further?"
It was an impeccable justification.
The Church's prestige, brought to rock bottom by Cardinal Barneo's rampage, and the authority of the Imperial Family, which had mediated the crisis.
There could be no better wrapping for announcing that peace had arrived at the end of that precarious balancing act.
But Corinth sharply probed the true intent beyond the attractive wrapping.
"I suppose I will need to hear a separate explanation for why you are declaring yourself the Saintess's patron."
"Ah, ha……"
Viscountess Müller let out a light exclamation.
As expected of the head of the Intelligence Department.
The Court Count was now asking whether she was craftily violating the clause they had previously agreed upon, 'to fully respect the Saintess's own wishes,'
and whether she intended to wield the Saintess like property of the merchant guild in order to monopolize her own political and commercial influence.
"It is certainly a situation ripe for misunderstanding. But don't worry. I have not the slightest intention of manipulating an innocent young lady to suit my own tastes. However, should we not also prevent some ill-intentioned person other than myself from recklessly manipulating the Saintess?"
"When you say 'ill-intentioned person,' you mean……"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Viscountess Müller gave a light shrug.
"Now that Barneo has fallen from power, not only those within the Church but even the hyenas outside it must be coveting the Saintess's value and salivating over her. I merely intend to show that my shadow exists over that girl's head, at least."
"……"
It was a warning: Do not dare touch the girl beneath my shadow.
The Court Count seemed to understand the underlying message immediately and gave a small nod.
'Of course, that doesn't mean this man won't ask any other questions.'
Viscountess Müller watched Corinth's lips as she prepared her next line of defense.
But then.
"I understand. Go ahead."
"……Pardon?"
At the dry answer, Viscountess Müller nearly dropped the teacup in her hand.
"Does that mean you have nothing else to ask?"
"Yes. I understand what you mean, and I more or less understand your intentions as well. So, Viscountess Müller, you may do as you wish."
"But surely there are still things you want to ask?"
For instance, conditions or restrictions.
At the words Müller swallowed, Corinth continued calmly,
"Cassian seems to trust you quite a bit, and he appears to be willingly following your wishes even in this complicated series of events unfolding around us. So……"
The Court Count's gaze turned toward Müller.
"I will have Cassian monitor the details directly."
Ah.
Viscountess Müller nearly burst out laughing.
Even on pain of death, he would never utter the saccharine words, 'I trust you completely, merchant guild leader, and will leave everything in your hands.'
However, the fact that the Court Count himself was saying, 'I will monitor you through my son, so control things properly on your end,'
was an exceptionally flexible and unconventional response, considering his temperament.
"My, you trust Cassian far more than I would have expected."
"I do not trust him."
Corinth slightly furrowed his brow.
"Watching his conduct since he came to the capital, I have sensed that his standards regarding goodness and righteousness are perfectly upright within him. I am only taking note of the fact that, at least, I did not raise him to make misguided judgments after becoming blinded by selfish interests."
"Hahaha!"
At the clumsy bragging about his son from the mouth of such a blunt father, Viscountess Müller burst into delighted laughter.
"Then what I am about to say is……"
She stopped laughing, crossed her legs, and spoke with a nasal lilt,
"a private matter for which I must seek permission from Cassian's father, rather than from the Court Count as head of the Intelligence Department."
"……"
For an instant, Corinth's dark brows crumpled sharply.
"I question whether I really need to hear it."
Viscountess Müller felt a strange sense of déjà vu at Corinth's reaction.
She felt she now knew exactly where the source of Cassian's languid, decadent charm lay.
'As I thought.'
She lightly adjusted the brim of her hat and thought to herself,
'A man who naturally says no and finds everything a hassle really is sexy, after all.'
* * *
The Imperial Princess's Palace, Iveline's private reception room.
Afternoon sunlight streamed softly through the splendid stained glass.
"……Is that so."
Iveline looked at the Court Count, who stood respectfully opposite her, while the fingertips of the hand holding her teacup trembled.
When Corinth had first requested an audience, she had felt her heart sink.
Had another national disaster broken out?
Could it be that the great being had taken offense somehow and sent word that it intended to turn the capital into a sea of fire?
Lately, her heart had not known a single peaceful day.
But fortunately, the words that came from Corinth's mouth were entirely unexpected.
'A banquet hosted by Viscountess Müller will be held soon, so how would Your Highness like to personally host the banquet together with the Saintess?'
At that proposal, Iveline inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
As always, Corinth continued his report in a flat, even voice.
"I am reporting this because I believe it will be of great political benefit to Your Highness."
"……"
"If Your Highness does not wish it, we will devise another alternative without having the Imperial Family participate too deeply. You may decide as you wish."
"……"
Iveline stared at Corinth as he stood there so straight and proper.
Did that scrupulously thorough head of the Intelligence Department realize that, because of you—
more precisely, because of his second son wearing a human shell—her insides churned and she trembled in fear every night?
'No, wait.'
Iveline's thoughts suddenly began veering in a chilling direction.
What if the great being had secretly stolen the body of the human Cassian del Farne without anyone knowing?
If so, wasn't the Court Count before her essentially no different from a father who had lost his own son to a transcendent being?
If this loyal subject learned the truth, he would surely fall into despair.
He might even come to resent the Imperial Family.
Why? Because they knew their loyal subject had lost his son, yet stood by instead of saving him.
Just as Iveline's mind was turning stark white with panic,
Corinth quietly waited for her answer.
Iveline swallowed dryly and cautiously opened her mouth.
"Court Count."
"Please speak, Your Highness."
"Could you tell me a little about your second son……?"
Corinth remained silent at the unexpected question.
The silence felt like an eternity to Iveline.
After a moment, Corinth spoke in a low voice.
"He is trustworthy."
"……Is that so."
Iveline tightly gripped the hem of her skirt and asked again,
"Then, has anything about Young Master Cassian seemed strangely different of late?"
She knew very well how sudden and strange this question must sound to the Court Count.
But she had to know.
Whether this loyal subject had something to do with the fact that his son was a dragon, or whether he was merely a tragic father being thoroughly deceived.
"You can trust him, but…… he is extremely peculiar."
"……Pardon?"
"He has been peculiar since birth."
Corinth answered with what sounded like a small sigh,
"That is why, immediately after arriving in the capital, he went around collecting nothing but nicknames like 'a wastrel who stains his family's reputation.'"
"……Y-yes, he was."
Iveline's pupils began trembling like mad.
Why was he saying this?
"It isn't that he has become strange only recently. He has always been impossible to predict."
Now she understood why.
"Since the moment he rolled over in his cradle and began crawling."
Ah.
Aaaah.
Iveline barely managed to keep her solemn expression from collapsing.
"If you ask whether he has changed, I honestly don't know. He is my son, but aside from possessing proper values deep within his heart and outstanding magical talent, I cannot begin to guess what goes on inside him."
'Peculiar since birth? Impossible to predict since he was crawling?'
Which meant……
The great being had not recently seized Cassian's body.
At least, that transcendent being had been Cassian del Farne 'from birth'!
'Could it be that a polymorph dragon killed the real Cassian as a newborn, took his place, and grew up in his stead?!'
Or else.
'……No way.'
Iveline's gaze shifted to the Court Count's overwhelming physique.
What if the Court Count himself was also a member of that great race wearing a human disguise?
Iveline did not have the courage to delve any deeper into that higher-dimensional secret.
If she continued developing her thoughts from here, she felt she would truly go insane.
She forcibly broke the chain of thought before her head could explode.
"……I understand."
She barely managed to part her lips with her face gone deathly pale.
"Then we will proceed with the banquet as Viscountess Müller requested."
"Yes. I will make the necessary arrangements and report the specific progress to Your Highness from time to time."
The Court Count bowed at the waist and offered a courteous greeting.
In Iveline's eyes, the gesture no longer looked like an act born of a subject's loyalty.
That deeply bowed angle and each restrained movement
felt more burdensome than anything else today.