Chapter 159
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The Last Dance Before Midnight
A masked dragon asks the lanternwright for one slow dance
Ferda answered.
“She is beautiful.”
A fact he could state calmly.
“Beautiful, indeed. It is not for nothing that she is called the flower of the Empire.”
Valdemar let out a dissatisfied breath.
“But if she had been nothing more than beautiful, that would have been wonderful… The problem is that she is not.”
“Is that so?”
“Don’t play dumb. Someone like you, who is neither swayed by appearances nor sentimental, must have noticed her true nature.”
“What is it you wish to discuss, Grand Duke Valdemar?”
“I would like to say that she is my destined partner.”
Ferda thought.
Has this old man lost his mind?
“You must think the same thing. That this old man is lusting after a young woman. That if he’s this old, he should just die peacefully.”
At least he seemed aware of what others thought.
“But no matter what anyone says, I am certain. Olivia will become my destined partner.”
Madness mingled with his calm tone.
The Emperor’s promise had been precisely to arrange for Olivia to become Valdemar’s partner.
“My partner is still wandering. And…”
His gaze turned cold as he glared at Ferda.
“It seems you are trying to become a stop along her wanderings.”
“…….”
Disgust welled up in Ferda.
Garnet had once told him about someone who had died after becoming entangled with Valdemar.
“As I understand it, Stella Arken is your destined partner?”
Stella, Princess Olivia’s older sister.
Her sister was said to have died in an accident when the balcony collapsed.
But in reality, it had been suicide, with Valdemar behind it.
Because of his obsession with possessing her.
“Ah. Stella… Yes… There was Stella, too.”
Tears fell from Valdemar’s eyes.
Valdemar mourned as he spoke her name.
“Poor thing. If that poor thing had not tried to defy her destiny, this never would have happened…”
That incongruous sight revealed his true feelings, and even Ferda felt a chill.
“Now that Stella has ended up that way… I will never let my destiny slip away again. I cannot lose the woman of my destiny twice.”
Once he wiped away the tears, his dry eyes appeared again.
He was a man already broken beyond repair.
Ferda stared into those eyes and answered him.
“Let me say this once again: I have no interest in the princess. Even if the princess holds favorable feelings toward me, they are not romantic, and even if they were, I have no need for them.”
“Is that so?”
The pressure in Valdemar’s presence eased somewhat at Ferda’s resolute demeanor.
Yet it soon made Ferda wonder if he had made a slip of the tongue.
Valdemar’s gaze had sunk even deeper.
“Then you may be able to help me.”
“What do you mean?”
He made his proposal.
“Make Olivia, that girl, acknowledge that she is my destiny.”
* * *
Ferda climbed into the carriage and left the imperial palace.
From the moment he left the reception room, Valdemar’s words had continued to circle in his mind.
-As I said, this Empire is already overflowing with people who have no patriotism. Even if you do not love this Empire, you will merely add one more unpatriotic citizen.
Ferda was only a drop of rain falling into a vast river.
This was how he described the compensation for the proposal.
-If you cooperate, I can establish the Far East’s position. In effect, I can grant it such strong autonomy that it would be no different from secession and independence.
Valdemar’s proposal was so audacious it would have been enough to call it a conspiracy against the throne.
Under the name of a single Empire, such a proposal was ordinarily unacceptable.
‘Is Olivia really worth that much?’
It was an obsession frightening in its intensity.
What response did Ferda give then?
Ferda could not answer immediately.
More precisely, while weighing his answer, he had postponed giving one.
That was why the proposal kept circling in his mind instead of him answering.
‘Olivia Arken.’
She had failed to become a saint, and had brought a country to its knees with her allure.
Even that had ended in failure.
‘Things are different now.’
She had remained in the Third Circle, but had now reached the Fourth and was beginning to step onto the path toward becoming a saint in earnest.
She had gained potential, along with the ability to match it.
Olivia was a skilled strategist and politician.
But even so, there were many variables.
To the nobles around her, Olivia’s value as a princess was immense.
To the young ladies, she was an excellent stepping stone, and to the young lords, she was the stuff of fairy-tale dreams and a source of inspiration,
while powerful old men like Valdemar were constantly eyeing her allure.
If she spread her wings to fly higher, they would seize those wings and tear them off.
She seemed to have everything firmly in hand, yet more dangers than one could imagine were lurking around her.
Valdemar, on the other hand, had everything firmly in hand.
He was a de facto power-holder, supported by both commoners and nobles.
If he supported Ferda, it would be tantamount to eliminating every danger the Far East would face in the future.
‘All it would take is selling one woman.’
A brutally simple thing to do.
Selling an unstable possibility to obtain a stable ally.
It was a subtle situation, both distasteful and alluring at once.
‘He must have sent me away without hearing my answer for this very reason.’
He was a master strategist.
The deeper one thought, the more cautious one became, but at the same time, it made one afraid.
After making one afraid, it led one to choose a stable option over an adventure.
“Regent, we have arrived.”
The carriage stopped in front of the luxury inn where Ferda was staying.
The knights guarding the entrance recognized Ferda and opened the door with a salute.
But instead of stepping through the door, Ferda turned aside.
“I’ll take a short walk.”
“Then we will accompany—”
“I’ll go alone.”
Ferda answered curtly, as though his thoughts were tangled, and tried to ignore their escort.
The knights could not simply refrain from following because a noble had said he did not need them.
They followed Ferda from a discreet distance.
But when Ferda slipped into an alley, their mission came to nothing.
He had vanished without a trace.
“Huh?”
“Did you see where he went?”
“No, I didn’t. He really disappeared without leaving even a trace…”
Thinking he might have run somewhere incredibly fast, the knights picked up their pace, but even after rubbing their eyes, they could not find any trace of Ferda.
“Spread out and search! If we lose him, our heads are on the line!”
Contrary to the escort knights’ belief that he had already fled far away, Ferda had turned into the alley and not moved a single step.
It was a spell he had learned from the shadow arts of the Great Demon, Barbatos.
Shadow Inside.
Within the shadows, it was a concealment spell that hid his form and made it possible to hide both his presence and sound.
It did not even register on detection magic, making it superior to other spells of the same tier, but it had a fatal flaw.
‘If light enters, I’ll be discovered immediately.’
If they had been holding even a small lantern, Ferda would certainly have been discovered.
But this was the imperial capital.
Except for the main roads, it was like a labyrinth, with more places without light than with it.
Thus slipping beyond the eyes of surveillance, Ferda moved on.
He headed away from the fragrant food and floral scents toward a back alley reeking of sewage.
When he entered it, a slum spread out before him, where sewage and all the trash were gathered in one place.
Beggars lay with the filth-soaked ground as their beds, begging for alms.
Ferda moved past them.
His feet carried him toward a definite destination.
“Sir… Please, spare just one coin…”
Waiting there was an old beggar woman pleading in a hoarse voice.
She knelt and prostrated herself, holding out a wooden bowl.
At the same time, he spotted a tattoo on the beggar’s wrist.
Ferda took out a coin and placed it in the beggar’s bowl.
The old woman once again touched her forehead to the ground in gratitude.
“I greet the Regent.”
The hoarse voice was gone, replaced by a young woman’s voice.
It was Garnet’s voice.
“Are we moving somewhere else?”
“There is no need. I have this entire area under my control. There are no gaps through which anything can leak.”
Ferda discreetly extended his shadow and searched the surroundings.
Just as she had said, people watching and guarding this place were hidden throughout the area.
Reassured, Ferda began to speak.
“How did the hearing go?”
“To be honest, it defied my expectations once again.”
“Did I make a mistake in my actions?”
“No. The response was extremely positive.”
She had listened to Ferda’s entire speech and even checked the surrounding reactions.
They were above the level she had expected.
“Because the response was so positive, the likelihood that our opponents will play a strong card has increased even further.”
A variable arising because it had worked so well…
Ferda knew what that strong card was.
“As it happens, Grand Duke Golt played the Yurei card.”
Garnet, who had kept her head bowed, raised it.
“In person?”
“Yes.”
“If he is willing to speak so openly… that means he is prepared to make sure there is no escape.”
Around the end of the Spring Festival, Ferda had kidnapped Duke Yurei’s son.
It was because he had openly insulted the dragon at the banquet.
He had intended to torture him and make him suffer more than death.
But he had not actually been able to do so.
The man had taken his own life before that.
Ferda was both the person involved and a suspect, so he knew what had happened.
But what about a third party?
Valdrova was a grand duke, and a grand duke was obligated to follow Imperial law.
If they whipped up the atmosphere like that, the story would naturally veer in another direction.
‘Black magic.’
That it was black magic, not physical force, that had killed Duke Yurei’s son.
They would have to examine in detail where that black magic had come from and how it had manifested.
It was obvious who would handle this matter.
‘Erdes.’
She must have been waiting for this moment.
The foremost authority on magic on the continent of Cerdès, and someone who simultaneously loathed black magic.
Even if she knew the magic Ferda had manifested was not his, she might deliberately choose not to reveal it.
“What do you think will happen?”
“First, Duke Yurei’s faction plans to expose everything in front of the inn where you are staying, Regent. The agents they have planted throughout the capital will spread the rumors, and by the time you head to the Golden Council, every citizen will know.”
“I see. Is there any other variable besides that?”
“There is one more.”
“What is it?”
“One of Crown Prince Alexander’s aides attempted to make contact in Hestia Village.”
“With whom?”
“William, the captain of the guard.”
He had been a knight cadet under Duke Yurei.
“And?”
“Apparently he set aside his duties as captain of the guard and teleported here with him. It is clear that they intend to use him as a witness.”
“…….”
William had taken up his sword for the sake of the common people.
But what if he learned that Ferda was actually a black magician and had killed Duke Yurei’s son?
On top of that, Ferda had driven a dagger into his own hand simply because he was angry.
He had tried to take away a knight’s hand, his very livelihood.
It would not be strange if he made the major decision to expose everything.
“We have identified his current residence.”
“I see.”
“It may be worth considering eliminating a source of anxiety.”
Assassination…
Erdes hated Ferda, and the Alte Church’s principle was zero tolerance for black magic.
Even if not today, he would have two more enemies tomorrow.
In this situation, the best course was not to create another enemy, and if he could make an ally, it would be nothing short of a miracle.
“It is time to consider Valdemar’s demand…”
“What did the Grand Duke demand?”
“He asked me to help him make Olivia Arken his. In exchange, he said he would leave the Far East alone.”
“…The princess.”
Garnet let out a quiet breath at the awkward implication.
Garnet now knew that the Imperial ally within the Empire was the princess.
“What will you do?”
“I don’t know. He could get what he wants and change his mind later, couldn’t he?”
“I don’t think he will.”
Garnet answered Ferda’s doubts.
“You think he’ll keep his promise?”
“His obsession with Olivia Arken is that great. In fact, just before he was about to obtain Stella Arken, he had already designated a successor and was planning a complete retirement. Once he obtains that woman, the Empire’s circumstances will become an afterthought to him.”
Human greed had no end.
Under normal circumstances, Ferda would not have believed her, but he had already seen a similar case.
‘Henri Dandolo.’
He had driven his own father to his death and even handed his trading company over to Ferda.
Solely to possess the eldest daughter of the Pascal Trading Company.
“What would you like me to do?”
“We can trust the princess, but we cannot be certain of progress on the plan. In terms of influence, however, Valdemar would be the quick and reliable solution. If only we could trust him.”
The advantages and disadvantages were clear.
And most people would have leaned toward Valdemar; Ferda, too, was gradually leaning in Valdemar’s direction.
“For now…”
Ferda gave Garnet an order.
“Proceed according to plan.”
“……Regent, do you really believe they will be mixed in among them?”
“They definitely are.”
Ferda uttered the loathsome name.
“Those damned bastards.”
Duke Yurei’s son had said this before he died.
Welcome to the cruel world.
It might have been set merely as a trigger phrase, but Ferda thought differently.
‘It was a message.’
The demons had wanted this situation to arise.
Even their choice of the Imperial capital, rather than the Far East, for that siege.
It had been pressure intended to choke off the Far East.
As their respective positions meshed, matters proceeded in a fashion both vicious and simple.
It was like standing at the edge of a cliff: all it took was a slight push from behind for the situation to spiral out of control.
“We will do our utmost to find them, but investigating an unspecified target may be meaningless.”
“What do you mean, meaningless?”
“I mean it may already be too late by the time we find them.”
This postwar conference was a matter of life and death for the Far East.
Burdened by such a heavy load, he had no idea what he should do.
What was he supposed to do…?
“Perhaps asking the person in question directly would be a good option as well.”
“The person in question…?”
Garnet glanced toward the alley.
Footsteps approached from there.
Garnet’s voice gradually changed into a sound like a fingernail scraping a blackboard, then changed back into the old beggar woman’s voice.
“I shall take my leave now.”
Limping away, she disappeared, and all the beggars who had been keeping watch alongside her disappeared as well.
At the same time, a group appeared in the alley.
They were all wearing robes pulled over their heads.
The broad shoulders of those wearing dark gray robes stood out.
The person in the middle, wearing a white robe trimmed with gold thread, was small and slight.
Should one say it was only to be expected?
Even though she wore a thick robe, the beauty hidden beneath it could not be concealed.
He knew at a glance that what lay hidden beneath it was the flower of the Empire.
“Oh?”
Olivia Arken.
She let out the exclamation in a feigned, delicate voice.
“Isn’t that the Regent?”