The Earl’s lord seems incredibly naive.

Lucius chuckled silently as he looked at the Earl of Regency, who was sipping his wine without responding.

It was to provoke him by giving him the feeling of being ignored. As intended, the corner of the Earl of Regency’s mouth slightly twitched.

From the subtle clenching of his fist, Lucius judged that the Earl of Regency was not emotionally dull.

He also realized that the safety of the princess was not important to him.

“Do you think the Lord of Basker will maintain a friendly relationship with Solti once the promised period has passed?”

“Well, yes. Isn’t it the same as building a trust relationship for three years?”

“Ha…”

Lucius let out a hollow laugh.

“Speak honestly. Do you think an alliance between Basker and Solti is possible?”

The Earl of Regency nodded with an uncertain expression.

“…Of course.”

“Venistan or Raina might perhaps succeed in forming an alliance with Basker. But I see it as impossible for Solti.”

“What grounds do you have to make such a claim?”

The Earl of Regency revealed a slight discomfort, and Lucius immediately caught it.

“You’d know better than I would, wouldn’t you?”

Lucius stared intently at the Earl of Regency with a significant expression.

The Earl of Regency briefly avoided his gaze, then responded with a forced laugh.

“I really have no idea what His Highness is talking about.”

“You seem to underestimate the intelligence capabilities of Paradium.”

“No, never! How could I dare underestimate the great Paradium Empire? That would be ridiculous.”

The Earl of Regency strongly refuted with a sweeping gesture of his hand.

“Let alone Paradium, you also seem to have underestimated the Lord of Basker?”

The throat of the Earl of Regency visibly trembled. The usually composed man raised his voice slightly.

“What are your grounds for saying that?”

“A substitute. Or should I say, a fake? I’m talking about the princess currently in Basker.”

“……!”

The Earl of Regency froze.

It had been a guess, but Lucius confirmed it with the Earl of Regency’s reaction just now: a fake princess had been sent to Basker from Solti.

“So such absurd rumors are circulating. Commoners’ rumors are unreliable.”

Lucius looked at the Earl of Regency, who promptly denied it, with warm eyes.

“You may not know, but my loyal subordinate has pulled some strings in Solti. He sometimes sends me letters.”

“……”

“He often appears in the royal palace as well.”

Lucius closed his mouth at that point. The Earl of Regency’s face hardened.

“Ah, yes, so.”

“Apparently, there’s a tower deep within the royal palace? He has seen meals being delivered there.”

Lucius rose from his seat and approached the Earl of Regency with slow steps.

“Those meals seemed quite luxurious.”

Lucius whispered softly into the Earl of Regency’s lowered ear.

“I propose a close alliance between Paradium and Solti. Of course, it will be a secret from Basker.”

“Your Highness! Will you give me some time? This matter is not something I can decide alone…”

“Of course. Time should be given. After all, ‘the current’ Earl of Regency doesn’t have the power to control Solti.”

As he was about to nod, the Earl of Regency froze and lifted his gaze.

“Do we really need the current king’s opinion for an alliance between Paradium and Solti?”

“What do you mean…!”

Lucius gently tapped the stiff shoulders of the Earl of Regency with a faint smile.

Returning by carriage, the Earl of Regency wiped the sweat from his tense forehead.

“Depart.”

The Earl of Regency shouted to the coachman, then sighed deeply, mulling over the situation.

‘I was so careful, yet…’
Instead of the princess, a decoy was sent to Bashuker, and for several months, much attention was paid to intelligence operations.

Because of this, Princess Adria was imprisoned in a gloomy tower where not a single ray of sunlight entered, like a prison inmate.

It would have been better to have gone to Bashuker openly.

Not only to Bashuker but the king also knew that a fake princess had been sent to Paradium.

‘Indeed, the empire is different in some way.’

Earl Regency decided to find the foreign spies hiding in the palace as soon as he returned to Solti.

To ensure that internal information from Solti no longer leaked out.

And above all, countermeasures had to be taken.

Why Emperor Bashuker knew the truth but didn’t hold Solti accountable was unknown.

Earl Regency organized his thoughts on what to do when he returned to Solti.

Then he mulled over the words said by Paradium’s third prince.

‘Do you really need the current king’s opinion on the alliance between Paradium and Solti?’

It was subject to interpretation, but it could also imply treason. It resonated as if the third prince would make Earl Regency the king of Solti once he became the emperor.

“Sigh…”

Earl Regency sighed and swept his face.

The likelihood of the third prince inheriting the throne was extremely low as long as the first and second princes were in good health.

Therefore, it was foolish to fully believe the third prince’s words.