Chapter: 99
100. Omen, The Calm Before the Storm
“…The report is strange.”
In the Imperial Palace, Balzac made this declaration in the office of the Third Princess.
The golden-haired girl frowned and clutched her forehead as a pounding headache began to throb.
‘Why can’t anything go right these days?’
It wasn’t that she had developed a habit of blindly trusting her instincts. Her intuition had proven accurate more often than not.
It should have been working just fine.
But lately, it felt like her intuition had completely gone off the rails.
“Are you sure you conducted a thorough investigation? You didn’t just brush it off and miss something important, did you?”
The Third Princess asked. But all she got back was a flawless report.
To make her doubts look foolish, it turned out that Rubia was just an ordinary businesswoman.
The secrecy wasn’t due to some earth-shattering secret; the people involved in potion business just feared getting in trouble.
Rubia had no connection whatsoever with the Black Fangs.
As Balzac explained this again, he started to leave.
“Wait a moment.”
Something about his demeanor bothered her, causing her to stop him.
“…No, forget it. Just carry on.”
She let Balzac go.
Even if she tended to act impulsively rather than planning ahead, there was still a limit.
His face, his tone, his actions—all ordinary—but she felt an unshakeable sense that something was off.
These days, she really didn’t feel well.
While lost in this thought, the Third Princess sank back into her plush chair and sighed.
“Was I mistaken after all…?”
By nature, she followed her instincts rather than logic. She didn’t lack the capacity for rational thought entirely, though.
Thinking it over, investigating Rubia was a meaningless choice from the start.
The Second Prince.
That bastard brother of hers refused to share information with her. Yet, he was still blissfully unaware of her lackeys.
She had received reports regarding the Black Fangs’ commander.
That guy hadn’t left his hideout for a whole 30 days. Even the executives rarely ventured outside.
The Black Fangs were a surprisingly thorough organization.
They weren’t running rampant across the Empire. Instead, they were meticulously hiding and plotting to overthrow it.
But how could a group like that be involved in the potion business?
They would risk getting caught up by the Empire just to sell potions a bit cheaper?
Ridiculous!
Yes, the Black Fangs did engage in charitable activities often. But charity meant nothing if it wasn’t done openly.
Doing good deeds while hiding your identity wouldn’t attract any supporters.
There was no reason for the Black Fangs to engage in such meaningless acts.
In other words, it was fair to conclude that whatever Rubia was doing had nothing to do with them.
In fact, she had been somewhat aware of that before…
“How can I stop worrying about this…”
Ultimately, she couldn’t resist poking at it.
And it led to the worst outcome.
That bastard of a blood relative.
The Second Prince, who was riding high these days.
For some reason, the bigwigs in the Empire’s intelligence agency supported him in the succession struggle, making him more powerful than before.
He had been gunning for her ever since.
And then, voila! A justification appeared right in front of him.
– “The one who gave you command was father. Surely, you wouldn’t prioritize your private investigation over father’s will?”
Those were his own words.
If that ever got out, her brother would undoubtedly be thrilled to try to bury her.
Why not just hide it?
If she just kept Balzac’s mouth shut, it would be over.
– Knock knock!
She truly wondered how unfortunate her brother was.
“…Come in.”
As soon as she finished that line, a guy with shining golden hair and blue eyes appeared.
Her blood relative.
Not the hulking gorilla type who always chewed on cigars, but rather a more slender, parasite-like version.
In other words, her eldest brother.
The First Prince had come to visit her office.
“You haven’t forgotten our promise, have you?”
His first words upon entering made her frown.
It was inevitable.
She was already his target.
The fact that Balzac had been manipulated by her, and that if this was discovered, the Second Prince would tear her apart.
That bastard had caught on to those facts somehow.
He probably used some magic or other.
Who knows how he reached that level, but the man in front of her was undeniably an Archmage.
“I know; so stop pestering me. When have you ever seen me break a promise?”
With that, she pulled out a necklace.
An artifact made with her father’s power, awarded for her previous accomplishments.
A precious item that allowed her to control a corpse made from the recycled remains of an outdated Hero’s companion.
“But what’s this for?”
Since it was only a temporary lending as hush money, it seemed like a reasonable deal.
She handed the necklace to the First Prince and asked.
Actually, she didn’t expect much of an answer. She figured he’d mumble something vague.
But for some reason—
“I need the power. I’ll be facing a formidable opponent, so I must prepare, no matter what.”
The First Prince answered her question plainly.
That smile on his lips. The Third Princess could sense that this guy was oddly excited.
“Did you eat something funny? Usually, you’re all nitpicky over trivial information, but today you seem different.”
“…If you just kept your mouth shut, you would have had a way better outcome. It’s unfortunate that your blessed intuition gets ruined by your careless personality.”
That was a blatant backhand, practically saying, ‘For the love of god, at least have some decorum when you speak, you uncouth brat.’
If it had been their usual back-and-forth, she would’ve exploded, but for some odd reason, his comments stuck with her.
That bit about “blessed intuition” struck her as strange. It felt too weird for the guy who usually mocked her intuition to all of a sudden take it seriously.
As her face froze for a moment, it quickly turned to shock.
The only logical possibility was that—
He had caught a hint from her offhand comment.
And adding that he was preparing to face a formidable opponent brought her to a conclusion.
“…You found it, didn’t you?”
He had found it.
The Black Fangs.
A way to capture them.
The First Prince grinned with an annoyingly smug expression, seemingly affirming her guess.
“Whatever I’m doing has nothing to do with you. Just observe quietly.”
With that condescending tone, he spoke, and naturally, it made her teeth grind.
But… bizarrely enough, she had nothing to refute.
What exactly had she guessed correctly? What was he planning based on that clue?
Finding out that wouldn’t change anything for her. Things were already dangerous due to Balzac’s affair.
There was no way she could take any more unilateral actions.
The First Prince nonchalantly left, his face filled with assurance of his victory.
The Third Princess gritted her teeth in irritation until he closed the door behind him…and then she froze.
An odd, very strange intuition washed over her.
Her brother’s plan seemed likely to succeed. But that very success felt dangerously like poison, a deeply illogical feeling.
She had no intention of revealing this to him, and she didn’t care much about it anyway.
Still, she started to fret over it.
‘What the heck kind of organization is the Black Fangs?’
She couldn’t grasp their identity at all. No matter how much she chased them, she couldn’t catch up. Imagining them losing was beyond her.
Her intuition didn’t always hit the mark, but she couldn’t shake off her unease.
…The commander of the Black Fangs.
What kind of scheme was that monstrous guy plotting right now? The Third Princess started to genuinely feel afraid.
*
I honestly began to fear the girl in front of me.
The once-ruined mansion now stood in shambles.
As I lay on a makeshift bed, Siel approached me.
Without uttering a word, she slipped naturally under the covers.
I looked at her in bewilderment at this bizarre and socially unacceptable behavior.
“Are you worried?” she asked.
Choosing between two paths both leading to doom was a hell of a conundrum.
If I said I was concerned, I’d be labeled a creepy pervert, but if I said I wasn’t, I’d probably have to spend the whole night in this situation.
It couldn’t get any worse.
In my mind, that’s what I thought.
“…Why are you all here again?”
It wasn’t like that, though.
The girl with blue hair and the girl with white hair appeared before my eyes.
“Since the stronghold is destroyed, we’re exposed to danger from all sides. It’s better to wait nearby for security reasons,” Lucy declared matter-of-factly.
“Y-yeah. I came with a similar thought,” Lien added, trying to sneak onto the bed.
“Good to hear. Please take care of the blind spots, Miss Lien.”
The dazed-looking girl was caught by Lucy. The Lien who was trying to invade the bed was reluctantly recruited by Lucy to act as a lookout.
To add to this ridiculous scene, the last one to arrive was—
Lady Rubia, who looked like a ripe tomato.
Unlike the others, she seemed aware that she was doing something embarrassing.
‘…Did they come because they were scared?’
Well, I could understand that. A ruined mansion at midnight could be quite frightful. After going through recent events, it made sense that if everybody suddenly disappeared, it would be terrifying.
I certainly understood that sentiment.
But as the only reasonable one in this place, I had to say what needed to be said.
“What are you all doing here? You need to get proper rest. Four people shouldn’t be lying in a single bed.”
But….
I should have realized.
There was no way common sense would apply to the people gathered here.
“Don’t worry.”
A voice came from beside me.
And at that moment, Siel climbed on top of me.
Completely overlapping bodies.
After pulling off such a bizarre stunt, Siel proudly announced her surprisingly innovative discovery to the world.
“If we do it like this, we can all sleep in one bed!”
…At that point, I decided to stop thinking altogether.
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