Cassar read the letter sent by Lucas and smiled coldly.

“Look at this, Anash. Lucas says he’s going to visit Kanta to hold a grand festival for the people of Kanta who are struggling after losing their country.”

Anash furrowed his brow.

“It seems the news of Grand Duke Ratean coming here has already reached the Crown Prince’s ears.”

“Hmm. I wonder how it leaked to make him want to do such a troublesome thing.”

Cassar waved the letter paper back and forth as he pondered. Then, brushing back his brilliant golden hair, he said:

“Don’t you think there must be someone playing with the information in between? Unless Grand Duke Ratean gave Lucas a hint about this meeting, there’s no way this story could have reached Lucas’s ears so quickly.”

Cassar and Floyd had sent letters to people who might participate in Kanta’s monster byproduct auction, but there was no way that information could have leaked. People who want to participate in the auction to obtain monster byproducts wouldn’t want the number of competitors to increase.

“So Grand Duke Ratean is coming, and Lucas is coming too. And there will be errand boys of people sitting in key positions in each country, as well as nobles from Gania following Lucas.”

“What is Grand Duke Ratean trying to do? I’m worried that it might harm my lord, so I’m not sure if we should just stand by and watch like this.”

“Grand Duke Ratean is brutal, but if you look at his actions, he hasn’t been particularly cruel unless someone wrongs him. Even when the Kingdom of Enilta lied about the extent of monster damage last time, he only took a few things in return. There are no old grudges between Grand Duke Ratean and me, so I don’t think he’ll harm me.”

“But Grand Duke Ratean will hate the entire Pelur royal family.”

“Well, that may be so. If that’s the case, there’s nothing we can do about it. Pelur did something to Ratean.”

“My lord. You should make preparations.”

“What if making preparations ends up provoking the Grand Duke’s temper?”

Cassar thought of Kirshan, who always accompanies Floyd.

“Not just the Grand Duke, but his guard Kirshan is not someone to be ignored. If we make preparations on our side, he’ll notice right away. I don’t want to show hostility to the Grand Duke.”

Cassar crumpled up the letter he was holding and threw it accurately into the trash can.

“Let’s just play the role of lending the place, pretending we don’t know anything.”

+++

Imperial Year 1578, November.

The first anniversary of Floyd rescuing Roxiana from the box.

Many people gathered in the capital city of Tepus in Kanta, which had been shrouded in darkness. And as always, the commoners, unaware of the schemes hidden inside the nobles, watched the splendid carriages entering the capital city of Tepus.

And in a small village in the forest a little away from the capital, people with sinister eyes were gathered. Under their rough clothes made of hemp worn by commoners, they wore armor engraved with the ‘rice and sun’ emblem of the Franche royal family.

“Killing Lucas Pelur won’t bring Kanta back. It would be better to stick to the original plan of starting from the provinces and conquering one by one.”

A man sitting next to the woman with a husky voice agreed.

“Lucas is a coward, so he travels with many guards. I’m worried we might expose ourselves without getting a chance to approach him.”

“Even so, we can’t ignore the knights of Gania. Our side isn’t made up of all elite knights, so we were even beaten by the knights Cassar brought.”

They were rebels composed of people who couldn’t accept Kanta’s downfall. A rebel group consisting of a few surviving knights and mostly commoners.

The commoners who had never received formal training fought for their country at the risk of their lives, but they couldn’t defeat the well-equipped and properly trained knights.

The man sitting in the middle, listening to their conversation, opened his mouth.

“There are no survivors from the Franche royal family.”

He spoke in a strangely cracked and hoarse voice. A wheezing sound came between his words.

“We probably can’t reclaim the Kingdom of Kanta. But at least we can avenge the one who killed our monarch. If I can just plunge a knife into the heart of the one who betrayed my little lord, that’s enough for me.”

The man’s eyes reddened.

He recalled the last time he saw his little lord. He clearly remembered the green eyes tinged with fear under the brilliant platinum blonde hair.

It is a knight’s duty to protect their lord from being terrified, but because they were beaten by those bastards, they ended up pushing their little lord into even greater terror. No, it would have been fortunate if it had only been terror.

Everyone died, and no one was protected. Yet he survived.

A knight who survived without protecting was miserable. He wanted to somehow escape the shame of this terrible life that kept going on.

And so the man, Robert, had to kill Lucas Pelur. Even if killing him wouldn’t bring back the dead, he had to put an end to this horrible life somehow.

“We’ll carry out the plan on the day of the party at the palace. I’ve already arranged a way to get in, and I will use this spare life to kill Lucas Pelur there.”

The knights present understood the shame of surviving alone without protecting their lord, so they couldn’t stop Robert anymore. The woman with the husky voice, Esther Evanstone, said:

“I understand. But even if things go wrong and you get caught, we won’t step in. We have the responsibility to continue leading this rebel group afterwards.”

+++

Lucas knew Floyd was supposed to arrive in November, but in fact, Floyd entered Tepus City much earlier than planned. Floyd’s group was dressed like ordinary travelers, so no one knew they were the rumored Grand Duke.

Floyd first secretly ordered his knights to search all the wells around the palace to find the Franche family, then headed to Ider Palace to meet Cassar.

The Ider Palace, visited after a long time, was almost the same as when he had stayed there as a child, and Floyd was briefly lost in nostalgia.

‘If I walk down this path, that place will appear.’

That path where he received the umbrella from Roxiana. The pretty girl who looked up at him with innocent eyes.

That girl who told the cursed boy not to be sick probably never imagined that a miserable end awaited her country and family. The girl who smiled brightly with her brothers probably never thought she would never meet them again.

Sparks of anger flew. The grass, which had turned brown in the chilly weather, flared up when hit by the sparks. Kirshan quickly stamped out the flames with his foot and said:

“My lord. I understand how you feel, but it would be better to restrain yourself a bit.”

“Yes, I should.”

Floyd clenched his fist and took a deep breath, trying to break away from the nostalgic scene. From now on is important. It’s not just about pulling the Franche royal family out of the well.

He couldn’t ruin the stage that Roxiana had carefully laid out because he couldn’t control his temper.

Finally, as the hot feeling subsided, Floyd quickly walked into the building.

Since he had already sent a message to Cassar, his chief attendant greeted Floyd and guided him to the reception room. As Floyd followed behind the chief attendant, he asked:

“Don’t you use the audience chamber?”

“No, the Count has never entered the audience chamber.”

Kirshan whispered to Floyd:

“Cassar is a clever one. He must have predicted that if he carelessly uses the king’s quarters at this time, it would intensify the opposition from the people of Kanta. He might even guess why we’re visiting here.”

“It doesn’t matter. If he interferes, I’ll just burn him, that’s all.”

Kirshan believed that his lord wasn’t that reckless, so he didn’t point it out anymore and quietly followed behind him.

Cassar was already waiting for them in the reception room. From his attire in formal dress as if welcoming an honored guest, one could guess that he was trying to express with his whole body that he had no hostility towards Floyd.

“I didn’t expect Grand Duke Ratean to come see me in person. And even Sir Kirshan Lepe, the Red Mist! Welcome, welcome!”

Cassar welcomed them with open arms. Floyd grinned.

“You’re still as friendly as ever.”

“I didn’t know the Grand Duke would remember my personality. Ah, please sit down first. You must be tired from hurrying on a long journey.”

At Cassar’s gesture, a servant quickly went out and prepared refreshments. Fragrant tea was poured into each cup, but no one touched it. Cassar smiled and picked up his own cup.

“Don’t worry. There’s no poison in it.”

“I don’t think you’re that stupid. So, how is it being the regent of Kanta?”

“Oh my, how could it be good? Every day there are rebellions breaking out here and there, so requests for support keep coming in. I can’t even remember the last time I slept with both legs stretched out.”

“Then why don’t you step down from the regent position comfortably?”

“I’d like to, but it’s the king’s order. You know, our father is a scary person.”

Floyd twisted up the corners of his mouth.

“Yeah, I know. But isn’t it annoying? Managing Kanta during this difficult time, only to have to hand it over intact when Lucas takes the throne later.”

“As family, as a brother, and as a subject, I just accept it as something I naturally have to do. Isn’t it the life of a younger brother to support his elder brother?”

From the sarcastic voice, Floyd read the dissatisfaction Cassar harbored. He also realized that Cassar had deliberately shown that dissatisfaction.