‘…… Wow.’

Mercedes tried to maintain her composure, but couldn’t help but be amazed.

Even though it wasn’t a stage play, the actors’ voices changed freely and their expressions were so lively that she was drawn into the story.

Even those who were trembling earlier were immersed in their roles as if they had never trembled before.

‘Impressive.’

Artists are amazing. She thought so and paid close attention to the acting of the two men she had spotted.

One had the perfect appearance that she wanted.

But even though she didn’t know much about acting, something felt lacking.

Even in parts where he was supposed to be playful for his role, he seemed calm and lacked liveliness.

Mercedes wanted someone more mischievous who could persuade the count.

She really liked the other man’s acting.

However, that man was very short and not in good physical condition. Above all, his hooked nose seemed oddly ill-natured, making him look more like a back-alley con man than a knight.

Of course, he acted so well that even that impression faded, and he soon looked brave and trustworthy.

But since the first impression wasn’t good, she wondered if Count Cromwell would like him.

‘…… I guess it was too much to find someone in one go.’

She sighed after closely examining them. It seemed she would have to hold a few more of these readings.

“What, are they all not good?”

Carlos whispered when he saw Mercedes sighing.

“I’m not sure. For now, in terms of appearance, that person is the best.”

Mercedes also whispered back in reply. This was an answer about whether the appearance was suitable for the role of ‘knight’, but Carlos hesitated for a moment.

“Appearance?”

“Yes. He looks trustworthy, tall, and has a knightly feel. Very decent.”

The man Mercedes chose had a large build, though not as much as Carlos.

And he had white skin, brown hair, and eyes. His eyes turned downward, making him look very warm and gentle whenever he smiled.

The opposite of Carlos, who had a sharp and intense feel.

“Trustworthy…?”

To Carlos, he looked like a smiling fox.

Mercedes nodded.

“From what I see… yes.”

Mercedes looked closely at the man again, wondering if she was wrong. He still seemed fine.

She had recently gained quite a bit of confidence in expressing her opinions, so she spoke with a little emphasis.

“That’s right. I think he’s really good.”

And at that moment, Carlos heard it as Mercedes liking that man’s appearance. Even though he knew that wasn’t it.

“But his acting is quite disappointing. Are my eyes strange?”

“…… No. I also think his acting is lacking.”

Carlos unknowingly added that it was lacking. No, he wasn’t really that good of an actor, so he meant it.

“Right? He can’t be a lead actor. It would have been nice if he acted a bit better. It’s a shame I can’t sponsor him.”

Since Mrs. Fisher was beside her, she couldn’t openly talk about ‘Count Cromwell’. So Mercedes carefully changed the subject. Using the ‘sponsorship’ that Carlos had mentioned earlier like a secret code.

‘…… Right. So, she’s picking someone to send to the count, and his appearance is suitable for that role.’

He didn’t forget and knew it.

But strangely… it bothered him. A tiny spark rose in Carlos’s heart.

“But I think that person’s acting is better. If only he was a bit taller.”

Mercedes, not noticing Carlos’s mood, pointed to the other man she had chosen and spoke.

Mrs. Fisher, who was sitting next to them, couldn’t help but overhear some of their conversation even if she didn’t want to.

And she had to laugh inwardly.

‘Oh my, even if he ascends to the position of emperor, jealousy is unavoidable.’

It was the perspective of someone who had seen life through.

Thus, the gathering to choose an actor to send to the count under the guise of entertainment ended at a suitable time in the afternoon.

Mrs. Fisher smiled with a subtle expression and praised, “It was a very enjoyable time.” After analyzing a few of the actors, she left. And Mercedes and Carlos also had a brief conversation.

Carlos seemed oddly pensive, so she was a bit puzzled. Was her idea not good? She asked, but Carlos only replied that her idea was great.

He looked pensive, but not in a bad mood. So she thought that since the position of emperor has many hardships, he must be pondering over busy matters and let it go.

Even after that, Mercedes borrowed Nadia’s hand a few more times to see other actors.

Mrs. Fisher attended exactly three times. Mercedes, realizing that her and the lady’s eye for people didn’t differ much, didn’t ask anymore.

She felt sorry for taking up the lady’s time, and was also worried about accidentally revealing her situation.

However.

Carlos always attended.

It was clearly strange that he kept attending even though she had seen him grumbling several times when Leopold informed him of the situation in Sheim, and he clearly seemed pensive.

Carlos escaped Mercedes’s worried refusals like an eel each time and stayed by her side. She constantly felt a bit sorry… but she didn’t really mind being with him.

So she ended up welcoming his visits, pretending not to.

The problem was elsewhere.

The quality of the actors was gradually decreasing.

They lacked courage and their acting was ambiguous.

If choosing based on appearance, the man from the first time who couldn’t act well but had a knightly feel was better.

“What to do.”

But no matter how much she thought about it, the person that came to Mercedes’s mind was the hook-nosed man among the actors she saw the first time.

That man who was short and looked more like a con artist than a knight.

Mercedes, who had been pondering, finally concluded that it would be best to investigate both men.

Only by examining their backgrounds could she know who would be easier to win over and who would be more helpful.

She asked Carlos for help during their dinner time.

“Your Majesty. I think I need to do a background check. Could you help me?”

“Oh. It seems you’ve finally decided on an actor to send. Who do you want?”

“Among the men we saw on the first day, the person who looked like a respectable knight−.”

Before she could finish speaking, Carlos’s hand that was cutting the lamb stopped for a moment, then slowly moved again.

“−You really seem to like that man. The respectable one.”

“That’s right. It’s such a shame. If he acted well, I would have chosen him right away.”

Carlos suddenly put force into the knife he was holding. It seemed like a sound of the plate slightly cracking could be heard, but Mercedes didn’t hear it as she was continuing to speak.

“Anyway, that man and… I also liked the man with the hooked nose who seemed like a con artist. So I want to investigate them both. To think about who would be a better joker card.”

“…… Ah. I see. Joker card. Right. You want to investigate them both.”

Only then did Carlos meet Mercedes’s eyes and smile kindly.

“Yes. That’s good. Right. The second candidate’s acting left a strong impression on me too. Don’t worry about the background check. My informants are excellent.”

“I’m sorry, everyone must be busy.”

“My, my, I get to hear an apology after a long time. Mercedes. You don’t need to apologize. Your revenge is the same as my revenge.”

To take a life, I should at least do this much. Carlos swallowed the rest of his words.

Ever since the day he saw the respectable man, and as he felt the day he had to kill her was somehow drawing near, he kept feeling like something was caught in his throat.

It must be the pangs of conscience he felt about killing this weak woman.

Carlos inwardly mocked himself.

It was surprising that he still had something like a conscience left.

* * *

Cromwell trembled his legs. Although the date for the battle for the territory hadn’t been set, the first secret letter from the king arrived since he was ordered to be disciplined.

[The recent domestic situation is chaotic. The nobles are fighting, putting forward the succession candidates I’m pushing, and the newspapers are spreading all sorts of gossip. At a time like this, what would happen if I, the king, don’t step up and straighten things out.

So to straighten things out, you must complete the task I gave you. Maintain your private soldiers− your knights well and have them stay quiet.]

Maintain the knights!

Of course, he had already spent money on the knights as much as he could, so their equipment was sturdy. But they were just private soldiers that Count Cromwell had inflated to protect himself.

Just in case. It shouldn’t happen, but just in case he was in danger, it meant they were human shields to escape with in an emergency.

He had found and trained some decent knights, but he knew. It was difficult for the Cromwell family, which wasn’t a knight family, to properly raise private soldiers. Their morale and discipline were a mess. When there was no need to use them, he bragged about them quite a bit in social circles, but they were close to being nominal.

That’s why he asked the emperor for a knight.

Suppressing his desire to also request soldiers, he first asked only for a very capable knight who could make the count’s private soldiers function properly. That was his courtesy, and the debt he had to collect from his stupid daughter!

Rome, which had fought countless wars, would be overflowing with talented knights. So it was a trivial request he made while swallowing his pride!

There had been no response from his daughter, Mercedes, since that day.

‘This is the kind of wench she was! Always just taking from me and not repaying favors, a stupid and lowly wench!’

Mercedes was always like that. Even after being raised to the position of crown princess, she couldn’t even curry favor to win the crown prince’s heart, and even after being brought to a noble house and raised, she didn’t even act cute to her own family.

She was a wench with a strange sense of pride. Fortunately, he thought he had suppressed her with beatings, but it seemed she had become arrogant again being beside the emperor.

‘Damn wench.’

Just wait and see. That wench may be able to flatter the emperor, but there was no way she could maintain his favor without his advice. She was that stiff and dull.

‘Know your place!’

In the end, she would be abandoned, but even when he said he would help her somehow… She was indeed a stupid and unlucky wench. Cromwell impatiently kept tapping on the desk.