Chapter 88
Duke Agnus’s mansion, inside one of the mansion’s private rooms...
This room, delicately fragrant with flowers, was Duchess Vanessa's room. Entry was strictly restricted to all men except for one. The only exception was Duke Agnus, but the man who was currently in the room, was someone else.
“Are you troubled?” Chiffon asked with a bitter grimace as he gazed at the Duchess of Vanessa, whose beauty had vanished. Even her bones could now be seen.
“The Imperial Court has summoned Babel! How can I not be troubled or worried?”
Duchess Vanessa’s reaction made Chiffon laugh wryly.
“They lost face.”
“Even so, the imperial family abruptly summoned Babel was totally unexpected! I can’t even get a good night’s sleep. It’s all because of that brat who doesn’t know his place!”
“...”
Chiffon rose up after a meaningless minute of staring at Duchess Vanessa, who was tremendously worried.
Chiffon walked carefully and knelt before Duchess Vanessa, who was sitting on the bed.
“I’m going to Arcadia.”
“What?”
With a silent rustle, Duchess Vanessa’s trembling came to a halt.
“Are you going to act on your own without his consent?”
“If this continues along with the Duchess’ worries, our long-term plans will get hindered. I will also struggle to survive under Duke Agnus.”
“...”
“Isn’t it better to get beaten half to death rather than wait for death?”
Chiffon smiled softly.
Duchess Vanessa stared at Chiffon with an indescribable look before muttering, “The Imperial Palace is a dangerous place. Even if it’s you, your neck could fly off there.”
“Does the Duchess know that I used to be a member of the Imperial Knights Order?”
“...”
Chiffon lifted Duchess Vanessa’s hand and kissed the back of her hand.
“Don't be concerned. The Duchess does not need to be concerned about me.”
“...”
“Even if have to lay down my life, I would gladly do it for you.”
“Safely…”
Chiffon heard Duchess Vanessa's voice above him, and he lifted his head.
“Please return safely.”
At that, Chiffon's smile widened.
“I will.”
***
Joshua was in the mansion located on the outskirts of Arcadia.
He flopped onto the bed and blankly muttered. “I knew it. Count Sten is a lunatic.”
‘I will never be able to forget the feeling of having those snake-like eyes darting across my body.’
Joshua quivered when he recalled, so he decided to stop thinking about it.
“More importantly…”
Joshua held his chin and recalled Duke Agnus' last words.
'He wants me to rise up to the 3rd Battalion, at the very least?'
An imperial knight’s rank increased the more talented they were, and they would be able to reap the benefits that came with their rank.
In particular, the strongest battalions, the 1st to 3rd Battalion, would receive a special reward from the emperor himself.
‘A title.’?Joshua muttered to himself while staring at the ceiling.
Ordinary knights had the same privilege available to a baron. However, they weren’t really nobles in the strictest sense.
Because the emperor bestows the title of "noble" on those who have made significant contributions to the country, earning a title, particularly in the Avalon Empire, was as difficult as plucking a star in the sky.
The emperor only bestowed noble titles upon those who had made significant contributions to the empire, so earning a title in the Avalon Empire was as difficult as plucking a star in the sky.
This was especially true in times of calm. After all, there were no wars where one could significantly contribute to the empire.
'Is he telling me to abandon the family? Perhaps…'
In general, a prestigious family's son acquiring a new title, rather than inheriting the original family's name, only meant one thing.
He would have to leave the succession competition, and he would have to create a new name and house on his own.
However, inheriting the title of one’s family was not impossible, even if one had been bestowed upon a new title.
‘All I have to do is relinquish the title and take the name Agnus.’
Joshua's eyes were closed in thought when a faint light passed by his face.
“How long are you planning to stay up there?”
Joshua opened his mouth and spoke to the empty ceiling, “Isn’t this the first time that you showed up out of the blue?”
At that, a dark figure fell from the ceiling.
“It seems I wasn’t wrong,” said Joshua.
The figure was Zero, the manager of Moon Gate's Arcadia branch. He was a man who gave the impression that he would never look back even if he bumped into Joshua on the street.
“Even knights with a decent sixth sense would struggle to detect my presence if they didn't have a rudimentary understanding of stealth…”
Zero hesitated for a second before meeting Joshua's gaze and continuing. “The more I learn about you, Young Master, the more I realize that I don’t know you.”
“Don’t try to learn more about me, you could get hurt.”
At that, the expressionless Zero gasped and burst out laughing. “I'd like to do that as well, but you know my job is to gather intelligence, right? There's not much I can do.”
“So you snuck in here without prior notice for the sake of your job?”
“Well…” Zero shrugged as if he was about to say something depressing. “What I said about my job is true, but I didn't come here to scavenge vital data.”
“That means?”
“There has been an issue, so I came to let you know, as well as bring you new information based on your request.”
“...”
After a moment of silence, Joshua asked, “What exactly is the issue?”
Zero immediately answered, “It appears that I will have to leave Arcadia for the time being. In the meantime, hiccups in the supply of information Young Master needs are unavoidable. After all, I’m the only person even in this huge Arcadia who can handle information about the person Young Master wanted to know about.”
Joshua chuckled. “Is your destination the Principality of Thran?”
Zero flinched and tilted his head. He was dumbfounded.
“Really, to be able to come to conclusion that much from only a few sentences…”
“War is money for an intelligence organization like you.”
“I'm afraid I can’t refute that..”
Zero's response elicited a shrug from Joshua. “I’m a little disappointed, Moon Gate is damaging its reputation among its old customers for the sake of profit.”
“That’s such a hurtful thing to say…” Zero seemed really?sad as he said, “We are taking a huge risk by betting on Young Master’s potential without any guarantees. Meanwhile, the conflict between Swallow and Thran will last for a long time, and the value of the information about the people related to the war is soaring as we speak.”
At that, Joshua asked, seemingly surprised. “Isn’t our deal basically over? Since the value of information skyrocketed, you actually came here to compare information from those places with the deal we made. At this point, Moon Gate is basically bullying me.”
“Haah, really…” Zero sighed. “I’m not falling for it, Young Master is the bully here.”
“I’m taking that as a compliment.”
“Is there anything else you want?”
Joshua seemingly pondered Zero’s question for a moment, but he quickly reached an answer as he said, “I believe I still have a debt to repay Moon Gate, but for the meantime…”
“...?”
Joshua wryly smiled at the doubtful-looking Zero and continued. “I wish you could extend the deadline for the red coin a bit. I know I said I will find it in three years, but since I will be on the move for quite a bit, I have no choice but to ask you to be patient.”
Zero’s expression stiffened when the red coin was mentioned. He then stood up and asked, “Are you saying you’ll leave the academy even though you just enrolled?”
“Well, yes. It’s because His Majesty ordered me to join the Imperial Knights.”
“…!”
Zero couldn’t hide his surprise as his eyes widened.
After a while, Zero blinked and spoke, “It seems like we need to work hard.”
Joshua laughed. “You’re not even surprised. I thought you’ll ask questions.”
“Compared to the Young Master, I already said that—”
Zero was infuriated. He attempted to make excuses, but he suddenly sighed.
‘I had no doubts about it, but it seems that this boy really knows how to draw me in without my knowledge, even though we’re just chatting. Perhaps a polymorph magic of a legendary dragon is at play?’
Zero wrestled with his pointless thoughts, but he eventually shook his head and said, “It should be okay. You’ve already given us a timeline for when you will complete the red coin assignment. We also won't have time to worry about it for the time being because the entire organization is trying its best to gather more information in Thran.”
“I appreciate it.”
Joshua revealed a satisfied grin.
“Isn’t it about time you update me with the new information?”
Zero's concerned expression disappeared. However, he started speaking in a voice tinged with humor.
“I'm looking forward to seeing Young Master's expression when you hear this.”
“I'm looking forward to that as well. Just what in the world is it?”
Zero brought up a major issue with a wicked grin.
“The War God Draxia bel Grace. He has some sort of relationship with the Avalon Empire's imperial family, according to intelligence.”
“...”
Zero looked doubtfully at the silent Joshua.
“You're not surprised?”
“I already knew that.”
“Really?”
Zero momentarily blanked out.
“Really? So you know he has some connections with Emperor Marcus?”
“What?”
At that, Joshua's eyes narrowed.
Draxia bel Grace had some sort of connection with the current Emperor Marcus ben Britten and not the Fourth Prince Kaiser ben Britten?
“No way...”
Something unexpectedly flashed through Joshua's mind.
The current issue between the Swallow Empire and the Principality of Thran.
The messy family ties of the Imperial Family of the Swallow Empire…
Joshua was aware of future events.
'So that was the case…’
Light flashed across Joshua’s eyes.
It was only a guess on his side, but it was a pretty good guess.
However, he still had to double-check
“I only have one question.”
Joshua's voice echoed and shattered the silence.
At that, Zero raised his head. “Yes?”
“Do you really trust the rumors making rounds at Moon Gate?”
“...”
There was a brief pause, but Zero eventually said, “To be honest, I believe the data is fairly trustworthy.”
“The rumors have something to do with the connection between the war god’s father and the Swallow Empire’s imperial family, am I right?”
Zero’s eyes glowed as he nodded slightly. “So you also know about that…”
“Like your father, Duke Agnus, his father is also one of the continent’s Nine Stars…” Zero trailed off, but he eventually continued. “We won’t be able to discuss this fully without him—without Demero bel Grace.”
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