“Try your best. As promised earlier, if you succeed, I’ll permit you to go out for a day.”

Naturally, I was determined to persuade Rinel Gideon Edipa. Not just for the sake of going out, but to prevent a disaster.

“Sir, I came here because there is something I must inform you about.”

“Something I must know?”

“Do you know Bali Zae Tahigon?”

“I know. Isn’t he the husband of Princess Veronia? Because of him, Princess Veronia was excluded from the succession. If not for that wizard, the princess would have become the queen of this country. If that were the case, the deceased king would not have ruined the country’s politics, and there would be no current king.”

His words were the same as saying that if there was no current king, Sicar Blake could not have become king. After saying that, Rinel Gideon Edipa lifted his teacup and looked at Sicar as if he wanted Sicar to hear it.

“Isn’t that so, your grace?”

‘It’s exactly the same as what Rinel Gideon Edipa said to Sicar in the original work?’

In the original work, Sicar would have pretended to make a mistake and pulled out a jackknife, injuring Rinel Gideon Edipa’s face.

He wouldn’t really do that, would he? He wouldn’t mess things up like that, would he?

I looked at Sicar with anxious eyes, but fortunately, Sicar was just looking with an emotionless face.

“That would be the case.”

It was a relief. I don’t know how much I was on edge for a while. I let out a sigh of relief and continued the conversation in a composed manner.

“Do you know that the princess has a son?”

Obviously, he wouldn’t know. It was a question knowing that he didn’t know.

At that moment, Rinel Gideon Edipa’s eyes flashed brightly. His friendly gaze towards me suddenly changed to one of caution.

“What do you mean?”

“The princess has a sevenyearold son. He would be the nephew of His Majesty the King.”

Rinel Gideon Edipa gave a hollow laugh as if he was hearing such a bizarre story for the first time.

“Do you think I came to find out if I knew about the princess’s son or was hiding it? If so, you’ve come to the wrong place. I know nothing about such a thing.”

Ah. I see how he could misunderstand.

“No, sir. It’s the opposite.”

“Do you realize, Madame, that the more you talk, the less sense you make? What do you mean, ‘the opposite?'”

I had to throw a bombshell like a time bomb, so my mouth didn’t easily open. Revealing Kian’s existence made my heart pound.

I glanced at Sicar to confirm that I was ready. Sicar nodded at me as if to hurry up.

“We have adopted the son of Princess Veronia.”

“What do you mean…”

Rinel Gideon Edipa looked utterly shocked. He looked at me with vacant eyes as if he couldn’t believe such a thing could happen, then turned his gaze to Sicar.

“Why are you telling me this? Is it not enough for you to treat the king as a puppet, and now you want to seat the king’s son on the throne and become the father of the king?”

So, this is how he took it.

“No, that’s not it. Long ago, the king imprisoned Princess Veronia somewhere and has been looking for the prince. In that process, the wizard Bali Zae met his death.”

“But, Madame, how do you know all these facts in such detail?”

“We discovered the prince and heard directly from him.”

Rinel Gideon Edipa had a look of disbelief on his face.

“I heard that you recently adopted a child with blonde hair and blue eyes. I heard a rumor that he was your own son, but I thought it was strange. I remember Frieda having black hair and black eyes. Why, did you adopt the prince as your son?”

“The prince still doesn’t know that he is the prince of this country. But the king is looking for him. So we adopted the prince as our son to protect him.”

A brief moment of anger crossed the face of the polite Rinel Gideon Edipa. It was like saying he wouldn’t be fooled by our trick, as the Sicar he knew wasn’t the kind of person who would take risks for the prince.

“So, it’s even stranger. Why did you adopt the prince, who the king is looking for!”

“That’s because the current king might walk the same path as the deposed king.”

Rinel Gideon Edipa’s face twisted more than before.

“So, are you saying that you are foreseeing something that hasn’t happened yet? Or, are you a fortuneteller, Duchess? It’s not like His Majesty is currently following the same path as the late king, nor is he going to, right?”

Rinel Gideon Edipa, standing up from his seat, indicated that it wasn’t worth discussing any further.

“I don’t know what your intentions are or why you sought me out, but I will say this. I will never side with the duke. And, I will not allow this kingdom to fall into the hands of the duke. Goodbye.”

Just as Rinel Gideon Edipa was about to turn around without looking back, a jackknife sprung out and stuck into the door he was about to exit through.

I quickly turned my head to look at Sicar. Sicar was looking at Rinel Gideon Edipa with a peaceful and indifferent face as if nothing had happened.

“The conversation isn’t over. Sit down.”

“Duke, you really do as you please.”