A day has passed since Alice visited. There hasn’t been any news during that time.
The Emperor’s order to me hasn’t been lifted yet. It seems Alice hasn’t met with the Emperor either. Well, they said he was out of the office, after all.
The luggage Alice unpacked… hasn’t been packed again yet. For now, I’ve put everything she took out back where it originally belonged.
Since Alice has taken the effort to unpack, I decided to observe a little and then pack again.
No matter how much Alice pushes, I doubt she could easily persuade that stubborn Emperor. Even if he loves his daughter, the Emperor’s own goals come first.
He always acts like it’s for “the Empire,” but in reality, he’s just a man who is madly in love with politics. If he judged that his state affairs could be harmed, he would gladly sacrifice his own daughter.
The Riclant Autonomous State hasn’t appeared in the main game yet, but it exists in the lore. It’s just a tease that it might play an important role in a sequel…
They’ve probably already begun game development, but since I came to this world without seeing a trailer, I don’t even know what it’s about.
Among fans, speculation was that the protagonist, who had retreated to the unstable military factions of the Riclant Republic, would tidy them up and build trust to find a place to stay.
If I had completely dealt with the factions beforehand, that speculation would be pointless, but… I don’t think the Emperor would completely clear out all of them. He’ll leave just enough to torment the Autonomous State while still wanting to leverage the Empire.
If he really wanted to wipe out the military factions, he would simply send in the army.
Well, if he were to announce sending in the army, the Autonomous State would likely refuse.
Which sovereign nation would welcome foreign troops coming in to “resolve” criminals in their own country? No matter how you look at it, it’s a clear invasion of sovereignty. It’s too transparent.
“…Um, wait a minute.”
Could it be that the Emperor wanted to send me for that reason?
If he sent the Imperial Army, they would naturally oppose it from the Riclant Republic, but perhaps sending one assassin might not be as bothersome for them.
No, what if he didn’t even intend to send me as a soldier? He could mix me in with the diplomats or even send me as the Crown Princess herself.
…If that were the case, I could find a way to create an opening during the official itinerary and carry out my assassination mission.
Uh…
Doesn’t it seem like the Emperor is trusting me a bit too much?
Did Claire from the original work receive this much trust? I don’t think she was sent off on her own to carry out missions like this.
I placed my hand on my forehead, lost in thought.
If I had wandered into the Autonomous State and took down the military leaders without a second thought, the future could have been seriously altered.
Well, Millennium Inc. sometimes enjoys bashing people’s heads from behind, but they wouldn’t have written the story so easily for the users to guess it.
Should I refuse?
I seriously contemplated that.
If the Emperor truly trusts me and genuinely believes what I say, then there’s a way for me to go and come back without doing anything. Even if I lie, the Emperor would think, “Well, there must have been a reason.”
The problem is whether the Emperor really believes me 100%, without a shred of doubt.
And the conclusion to that dilemma is something I could easily reach without much thought.
The Emperor is definitely not the kind of person who trusts others 100%. What he believes in is nothing but his own convictions. Naturally, if I were to just return after completing the mission smoothly, he might suspect my words.
He might believe that there was “an unavoidable reason.” But he wouldn’t think that “unavoidable reason” would be a physical obstacle that prevented me from assassinating someone. He’d probably speculate politically instead.
And once that begins, the Emperor’s actions would stray too far from my predictions.
That would be a bad thing.
I’m moving to cancel choices that will inevitably cause a few deaths, and if the Emperor acts differently from what I expect, it would prevent me from using future vision again.
Not executing an assassination on the Emperor is to minimize variables and create a situation that’s advantageous to me. Just because something breaks doesn’t mean there aren’t new opportunities, but the more distant the chances, the harder it becomes to piece them together.
“…”
I sat in my chair, resting my chin in my hand in quiet contemplation, but as expected, no conclusion came.
If I use Alice as an excuse, it would just raise suspicion from the Emperor if I change my words after saying I would do it.
Hmm.
I guess there’s no answer.
Just then—
Bam! The door suddenly swung open.
“…”
It was something that had happened quite frequently over the past ten years, so I wasn’t too surprised. In fact, it was less surprising than Lucas barging in.
It was likely Alice again.
If she had met with the Emperor, she would have undoubtedly been turned down and opened the door looking quite gloomy.
So, she probably came to call me to go meet the Emperor instead of to show off some new news from him. Alice always had an air of confidence before facing the Emperor.
“Forget it!”
“What?”
But hearing Alice shout like that left me momentarily dazed.
What do you mean “forget it”?
Turning my head, I saw Alice grinning triumphantly. Her hair shimmered like gold in the light streaming through the window.
With her hands on her hips like a victorious general, Alice declared, “You don’t have to go to the Northern Region!”
“…”
I quietly stared at Alice and replied, “No matter how much of a next Emperor you think you are, you’re not above the commands of the current one.”
To my calm voice, Alice scoffed, “I know that! Even if I look like this, I’m really a princess. If you don’t believe me, take a look at this.”
As she said that, Alice raised the hand she had placed on her right hip.
Now that I look closely, she was holding an imperial order.
[ I, Arthur III, Emperor of the Empire of Aetherna, hereby revoke the mission to dispatch Sylvia Fanggriffon to the Northern Region. ]
It wasn’t an official document. Just a hasty scribble on any random piece of paper with a fountain pen, a document one would be embarrassed to call an order.
But the handwriting on it was very familiar.
Moreover, it had the Emperor’s seal.
“…Forgery of an official document or impersonation is a serious crime. If that’s impersonating his majesty—”
“No, it’s not!”
Alice shouted my words away.
“Check for yourself if you’re suspicious! No matter what, I wouldn’t lie about something like this!”
“…”
If Alice insists that much…
…Could it really be true?
If it is, how did she manage that?
I barely maintained my expressionless demeanor, but sensing the dazed atmosphere, Alice boldly faced me and exclaimed, “Okay? Now we’re going to the academy together! Well, I’ll still pack my things later!”
This time, she added, “I’ll definitely beat you in academics!” Her expression was endlessly bright.
Uh…
Wait, seriously? I don’t understand at all.
How in the world?
Amidst this confusion, a part of my mind was pumping its fist in celebration.
*
A few minutes earlier—
Crash!
The sound of something breaking is a rare occurrence in the Emperor’s audience chamber. All the court ladies who work in the palace are noblewomen who have received high-quality education and, of course, would never accidentally break something valuable in the royal space.
And no one would intentionally break anything either. It’s rare to hold dishes while dining in the audience chamber.
But this time it was different.
That sound was from a small glass bottle shattering on the floor. And as the shards of glass shattered, a transparent liquid splattered everywhere. It was such a small amount that it didn’t even reach the Emperor’s clothes.
“…What is the meaning of this?”
The Emperor himself asked as he witnessed his daughter committing such a ridiculous act right in front of him.
Lucas, who was right beside him, looked equally incredulous, but Alice brushed his expression aside effortlessly.
Normally, she would have cowered in front of the Emperor, her father. Especially given the tense atmosphere.
But Alice was furious from head to toe.
And when a Fanggriffon gets angry, they usually become blind to everything else.
Alice was a Fanggriffon too.
It was the first time she was this angry at her father. Although she wanted to beat Sylvia, she didn’t wish for Sylvia to be at a disadvantage right from the start line.
“This is morphine. It came from Sylvia’s room.”
“Hmm?”
At those words, the Emperor’s expression instantly shifted. From displeasure to intrigue.
“Sylvia has morphine?”
It’s not surprising that he reacted like that. The Emperor is the one who has made the most use of Sylvia’s abilities. While there had been one assassination, her talent for gathering various information was unmatched.
It’s hard to imagine that Sylvia would need morphine. After all, she had never been hit by a bullet or a sword.
It seemed that Lucas was equally surprised. His usual smug grin had vanished, replaced with wide-open eyes. Even in this scenario, Alice found that aspect slightly amusing.
“It’s for emergencies. If a problem arises and I have to fight without a moment to heal a wound, I’ll use it.”
“…Oh.”
If it’s coming from her, it’s not something to be taken lightly. If Sylvia is saying she could be “injured” and have to fight without time to heal.
What sort of danger are we talking about?
“…Your Majesty.”
Normally, she would address him as ‘father,’ but now, she was speaking as a princess. The next words would not just come from a daughter but from an aspiring next Emperor… No, a candidate for it.
“Sylvia told me that I am the one who will become the next Emperor.”
“…”
The Emperor listened intently.
“If she becomes a candidate, she promised she would do anything to take that position away from me.”
“Hmph.”
The Emperor was looking at the princess with keen interest.
“So, Your Majesty, Sylvia is my person. Not yours.”
Saying that, Alice smiled at him.
It was less of a genuine smile and more of a showy one; it was a smile contorted from tension and maybe some trembling.
But a Fanggriffon doesn’t back down.
Because she was a Fanggriffon.
“Sylvia could very well be a Gryphon. But the first Emperor, Fanggriffon, was not merely a Gryphon. A Fanggriffon isn’t just a Gryphon; they are the master and rider of Gryphons, leading their flock. It’s not always about being physically stronger than a Gryphon.”
That’s right. Not a Gryphon, a Fanggriffon. Meaning being the leader of the Gryphons.
Leading a flock doesn’t always rely solely on force, especially if it concerns a group of humans.
“So, I will take charge of Sylvia. Of course, if you need her, I can lend her to you. But at least not for this time.”
Sylvia, that Sylvia is supporting the “real princess” as the next Emperor.
And the meaning of that realization was understood by the Princess.
Understanding it, she was communicating that fact to the current Emperor.
And the Emperor, upon hearing that declaration, laughed.
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