The reception room of the Imperial Palace.
Pascal Schlitz sat on the sofa opposite the small coffee table, looking around awkwardly.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Pascal.”
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Philly appeared shortly after he arrived. Her escort knight, Robert, was also with her.
“It's an honor to meet Your Majesty here.”
Pascal greeted Philly with a bright smile, still unaware of why he had been summoned. Philly also smiled back and sat down opposite Pascal. Robert took his place on the right.
“How is work these days? It's not easy to juggle both Imperial Knight and Constel instructor duties, is it?”
“Thanks to Your Majesty's boundless generosity, I'm managing well.”
What did I do?
Philly hid her urge to say that and lifted her teacup.
Philly, ever so relaxed. After watching her drink her tea for a moment, Pascal asked.
“……Um, so the reason you called me……?”
“I just thought I'd do things a little differently today.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want to hear the investigation report directly.”
Pascal blinked at those words.
Soon, as if he understood, he let out an "Ah" and his voice lowered slightly.
“Is that alright? If anyone hears…….”
“It's fine. I've already taken care of that.”
Pascal's other task, the investigation report on Frondier.
This wasn't originally an assigned task, but he was chosen because he was the most suitable person for the job given the circumstances.
There was no one better suited to investigate Frondier than Pascal, who went back and forth between the Imperial Palace and Constel.
‘……Is there something you're not happy with?’
Pascal was inwardly nervous.
Even though he had received the investigation task, he had never directly reported to Philly before.
“……Then first, I'll report on the recent situation at Constel.”
Pascal began his report.
The first thing he conveyed was how public opinion on Frondier was at Constel.
“……I see. Surprisingly, public opinion isn't bad at Constel…….”
“Yes. In the past, Constel tended to underestimate Frondier, and they were greatly embarrassed by it. I think that wariness has been triggered.”
Frondier was the most talked-about person at Constel.
This time, the frequency of those talks was actually helping people view Frondier objectively.
“And next, I'll report on a student named Cain.”
“Cain? Are you talking about Heldre's granddaughter?”
“Yes, that's right.”
Pascal was impressed even as he answered. She knew who it was just by hearing the name.
And at the same time, cold sweat ran down his back.
The first reason was the awe he felt after seeing Philly's abilities, and the other was that it was burdensome to directly convey this information to Philly.
“So what is the relationship between Cain and Frondier?”
“……Cain made a dangerous statement.”
“A dangerous statement?”
“Frondier predicted that the Emperor would change and the class society would collapse, and he told this to Cain. He thought it would happen after the war, but since it didn't actually happen, Cain was angry with Frondier. Saying he didn't keep his promise.”
“…….”
Philly blinked at those words.
Robert, who was next to her, grimaced instead.
“……Frondier was plotting a coup?”
“No, that's not what I meant.”
“Even if his words were different, isn't that his intention?”
Robert's momentum rose. Philly reached out and stopped him.
“Calm down, Robert. I understand what you're saying.”
“Your Majesty.”
“I'm actually a little impressed.”
Philly thought.
The Emperor changing and the class society collapsing.
It was chillingly consistent with the future Philly had predicted.
If Bartello's weakness hadn't been cured, he would have actually passed the throne to Sale.
And Sale, whose desires were mostly faint, would have noticed the abnormalities and unfairness in the class society more than the desire for power or wealth.
‘Cain was a member of Indus, the commoner group, and the fact that Frondier specifically told her that suggests he wanted something from her.’
However, Philly didn't think Frondier would do it himself.
First of all, it was too unrealistic for an individual to attempt it, and above all, wasn't Frondier the one who contributed to Bartello's recovery? He was the one who gave Philly the Dragon Heart and stopped the war.
However, the timing was bad.
Frondier's current public opinion was already confused. If Cain's story spread, in the worst-case scenario, all those who had hailed him as a hero might turn their backs on him.
“Pascal, you haven't told anyone else about this, have you?”
“Of course not.”
Pascal answered immediately. Naturally, he wouldn't.
Philly stared at him for a moment.
Pascal was one of those people whose thoughts were not easily read.
With his small stature, youthful face, and even his behavior, Pascal had a somewhat childlike side. Some called him "The Mischevious".
Because he seemed to evoke the impulsiveness of a child who could do anything.
However, Philly saw him differently.
In fact, he was quite similar to Philly. Or rather, they were the same type of person. They concealed their intentions with their expressions and actions, reassuring the other person while trying to uncover their true feelings.
‘Pascal was aiming for the position of escort knight.’
Philly didn't actually know what Pascal's motive was for wanting to become her escort.
Whether it was power or money, there was nothing wrong with becoming an escort knight. However, in Pascal's case, he seemed to be jealous of Robert, which worried her.
But if that jealousy was working against them now, of course, there would be no leniency.
“Pascal, you know the recent rumors surrounding Frondier, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“They're quite plausible for rumors. Many of them are based on actual evidence.”
“Yes. I was surprised too.”
Philly's smile deepened at that.
“How many people do you think could do something like that? Someone who knows about Frondier's recent situation in general.”
“…….”
Pascal blinked.
He asked.
“Your Majesty, are you suspecting me?”
“You don't seem to know me well, Pascal.”
Philly closed her left eye, one of her red eyes, and said.
“I suspect everything.”
“……That's right.”
Pascal bowed his head at that face.
“I'm not the one spreading the rumors. I have no way to prove it, though.”
“Then what do you think of the rumors, Pascal?”
“I don't have the talent to discern the truth from baseless rumors.”
“Baseless, huh.”
Philly put down her teacup.
“Then one thing. What about the devil?”
“……!”
“That Frondier is a devil and not originally from the Roach family. That the reason he stopped Belphegor was─”
Philly's words were the most dangerous of the rumors currently circulating about Frondier.
“─To devour the Empire himself.”
Saying those words, Philly looked at Pascal.
As if she wouldn't miss a single thing this time, his breath, the trembling of his body, his gaze, anything.
Meeting Philly's eyes, Pascal replied after a perfectly ordinary pause.
“I think it's possible.”