Chapter 136
"Peaceful, isn't it?"
"That's not something I'd expect to hear from someone who nearly died recently."
When I muttered that while looking down at the city from the castle, Sebas immediately called me on it.
Several days had passed since we went to the hot springs.
In the end, I nearly drowned. It was the second time I'd nearly drowned in my life. Still, about seventy percent of it was my fault, so I couldn't complain. Some say there's no harm in being seen, but that's for the woman in question to decide.
The three of them had kept their distance since then, but they were gradually returning to normal. I was grateful for that.
Even better, perhaps out of consideration for me after I nearly drowned, no one had tried to drag me outside. Thanks to that, the past few days had been exceptionally peaceful.
"Well, I only lost consciousness in the water, after all. Considering I charged into a women's bath with a Hero in it, getting off with that much was pretty fortunate. Anyone else would have been cut down."
"That is a fair point."
"Besides, by peaceful, I don't mean peace for me personally."
With that, I narrowed my eyes as I looked down at the castle town.
Ever since Duke Kruger's rebellion, the Imperial Capital's liveliness had visibly declined, but it was gradually returning.
The trade network, which had been somewhat paralyzed, was also beginning to recover. Goods and people were starting to flow again.
"The Empire took a blow from one disturbance after another. Problems kept arising without giving us time to recover fully, and that affected the people's lives as well. I think it was a good thing that the struggle for the throne has been put on hold for now."
"But it is also true that the momentum we had has vanished."
I sighed at Sebas's words. He was right.
Leo had resolved the series of incidents. His fame had grown, and more people had begun following him. Then came the truce.
It had happened just when we were about to catch up with Elick, so the timing was unfortunate.
"Our momentum is certainly gone. But Elick isn't someone we can defeat simply by riding our momentum. The moment we launched an attack, Elick might claim that the struggle for the throne was putting pressure on the people's lives and that we'd deliberately created this situation. If that happened, we'd be the only ones painted as villains. We were always directly involved in every incident, after all."
"Prince Elick might well do so. He always watches from the sidelines and presents himself as putting the Empire first, but it is impossible to gauge his true intentions. It may be the composure of the strong, but he does not actively crush his rivals. One could even say that the struggle for the throne has intensified because of that."
If Elick, leader of the largest faction, had taken the initiative and moved to crush his rivals, the struggle for the throne would not have become so fierce. Both Gordon and Zandra had started as minor factions from Elick's perspective. Naturally, so had we.
Yet for some reason, Elick had never done anything to nip potential threats in the bud. He had maintained his advantage, and although he retaliated when attacked, he had almost never initiated an attack himself.
The strongest observer. That was my impression of Elick.
"I don't know his true intentions, but there is no doubt that he is a formidable opponent. If we clash with him, the struggle for the throne will intensify even further. Before that happens, having a period of recovery isn't a bad thing. Seeing the people driven into poverty would surely make Leo stop. We need to avoid that."
"Then we won't make any moves during this period?"
"Right. We won't be the ones to make the first move."
Father had forbidden us from making a move. Still, as long as we weren't caught, there were several things we could do. But if they caused public order to deteriorate, there would be no point.
We would put our covert operations on hold until the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Emperor's accession had passed safely and the struggle for the throne was reopened.
Still, that didn't mean we would do nothing.
"So? Just because I've been taking it easy doesn't mean you have, right? Do you have any useful information?"
"Yes, I have several pieces of information that may be of interest."
Gathering information was Sebas's job. Even during this truce, he had been working energetically to collect information.
In terms of faction size, we were inferior not only to Elick but even to Gordon. Now that our momentum had vanished, we had to gather information, anticipate what would happen, and act accordingly, or we might be caught off guard.
"Let's hear it."
"First, about Heilung, which you visited the other day. It was supposed to be reserved exclusively, but it seems there were guests in the annex."
"What? Even though the House of the Valiant Marquis had booked the whole place?"
That was quite a bold thing to do. The House of the Valiant Marquis had reserved the facility, and the people using it were Leo and me, members of the Imperial family; Fiene, Father's favorite; and Elna, the next head of the House of the Valiant Marquis. If that had become public knowledge, Heilung's reputation would have plummeted.
"Yes. The guests were Imperial Guards. More precisely, the Second Imperial Guard unit had been guarding the annex."
"The Second Imperial Guard?"
Among the Imperial Guard, the captains of the First through Third units possessed exceptional strength. As a result, the units under them were assigned important missions. With Elna currently absent, the importance of the remaining two had increased even further.
"The captain of the Second Imperial Guard wasn't there to enjoy himself, and they probably weren't guarding us, either."
"Correct. They were undoubtedly guarding the annex."
"Then there was someone important enough to warrant the use of the Second Imperial Guard. That's suspicious."
Whether it was an important person from our own country or from another country, if they had spent the night there, their destination was probably the Imperial Capital or its vicinity. We should assume that someone had come to meet Father with an escort.
The total information blackout made it clear that someone had been visiting incognito—someone important enough that their presence could not be known.
"I intend to gather more information about that."
"Yes, do that. Anything else?"
"There's another troublesome piece of information. Do you know about the \"Gull Pact\"?"
"No, but if it's called the Gull Pact, it's related to Fiene, right?"
"Yes. The Gull Pact is a gentleman's agreement and nonaggression pact among the Empire's male nobles. In short, no one may make a move on Fiene-sama ahead of the others."
"They actually made a pact like that...? What a bunch of bored men."
"If you consider what would happen if all those bored men started proposing to Fiene-sama at once, you can't exactly call them fools."
"I suppose that's true."
If they'd all descended on Fiene as soon as she came to the Imperial Capital, she might have fled back to her own territory out of fear. In that sense, it could be said that they had made a good pact.
"Thanks to this pact, no one has directly proposed marriage to Fiene-sama or repeatedly sought an arranged meeting with her. However, that pact is on the verge of breaking down."
"Why?"
"You're the reason. Your reputation has recently started to improve, and that has backfired. Losing Fiene-sama to Leonart-sama would be one thing, but there is a chance that you might take her away, Arnold-sama. Most nobles can resign themselves to the former, but their pride will not tolerate the latter."
"How absurd..."
I muttered that from the bottom of my heart. The fact that they could resign themselves to Leo but not me was truly absurd.
If they genuinely cared about Fiene, they wouldn't be able to give up even if Leo were the one standing against them.
Most of them must be after the added value of the Azure Gull Princess: the Emperor's favorite, an unparalleled beauty, and the daughter of Duke Kleinert. That's why they couldn't accept her choosing me.
They couldn't stand someone they'd looked down on suddenly marrying into wealth and status. If Leo married Fiene, his position would not change, but mine would certainly rise. That was what they couldn't tolerate; raising a fuss only now was pathetic.
"Until now, they probably never gave Arnold-sama a second thought. But considering recent events, an engagement between Arnold-sama and Fiene-sama is not out of the question. Of course, most people still see Leonart-sama as the clear favorite."
"So they can't just sit still? They can accept losing her to Leo, but having her taken by the Dull Prince is too much for them to stomach? What a ridiculous story."
"Quite so. I wish we could make them drink the dirt from Duke Rheinfeldt's fingernails."
"Exactly. They should learn from a man who refuses to give up."
I muttered that, somewhat irritated.
I might have supported men who truly cared for Fiene and were absolutely determined not to give up. But I couldn't support men who joined such a foolish pact, then quit it for an even more foolish reason.
"Then who is leading the charge?"
"One noble has already announced his withdrawal from the pact. His name is Marquis Laurenz von Weitling."
"Marquis Weitling...?"
I couldn't hide my surprise at hearing the name of someone who was not entirely unrelated to me.
I had never imagined that he was part of such a pact.
"Now that he has withdrawn, he will approach Fiene-sama before long. He will probably appeal directly to His Majesty as well."
"Of course he will. He's the current head of House Weitling, after all."
Marquis Weitling was currently a twenty-year-old court noble.
He had inherited House Weitling, one of the most illustrious families of all, and his handsome features made him the center of attention in high society.
But being head of House Weitling was not the only reason he attracted attention. His two older sisters were also involved.
"Marquis Weitling has two older sisters. His eldest sister married into the Imperial family, while his second sister is the current Commander of the Imperial Guard and captain of the First Imperial Guard unit. Their influence is extraordinary."
The problem was his eldest sister.
The Imperial family member she had married was the late Crown Prince.
In other words, the woman who had been my eldest brother's wife was his eldest sister. That made her my sister-in-law, too.
"This could become troublesome..."
"Since at first glance it appears unrelated to the struggle for the throne, His Majesty will not be able to stop it."
"The way you put that makes it sound as though the struggle for the throne is involved."
"Rainer-sama of House Holzwart was also part of the pact. I hear he and Marquis Weitling are close."
"I see... Gied's younger brother. Unlike his elder brother, he knows how to play the game."
It probably wasn't Elick's instruction.
It must have been the will of House Holzwart.
Peace in the Empire looks set to continue, but my peaceful days look set to end.