Chapter 19

Chapter 19 - Hidden Truth and Revealed Facts (4)

 

“Ha.”

With that exclamation, the shape of the ordinary face that could have belonged to anyone wavered and disappeared.

What appeared behind it was a face half-covered by long hair.

“I was perfectly concealed through an artifact…… How in the world did you notice?”

A thick fragrance that could not be hidden even by the shabby clothing of an attendant.

The well-polished honorific speech and the scar glimpsed through his hair were enough to let one guess his status.

“I sensed your presence.”

“Unfortunately, that does not explain it.”

The maids who had been carrying the food had, at some point, retreated backward until they were far enough away that they could not hear the conversation.

After turning his head to confirm this, the 4th Prince, Raiden del Carrot, continued speaking.

“I am asking because I am curious about how you perfectly saw through my identity.”

Unlike his gentle tone, the atmosphere had grown cold, and my eyes met the 4th Prince’s.

Within them was only an emptiness from which no emotion could be felt.

“A relaxed yet domineering gait. Steady breathing. And yet, the attitude of someone who remained a bystander from beginning to end.”

“…….”

“You will not say that explanation is insufficient, I trust.”

As the saying went, a position made the person, and people naturally showed conduct befitting their station.

However, the 4th Prince’s doubts were still not resolved.

“It would be one thing if you had merely found me suspicious, but are you saying you saw through my identity with only that? The identity of me, the 4th Prince, whom you were meeting for the first time and who does not even engage in public activities?”

His face, lit by the dim lighting, could not conceal his surprise.

It was only natural, but I had no intention of resolving his curiosity.

I sat down with an indifferent expression.

“I believe that is not particularly important in the present situation.”

“……I see. How discourteous of me.”

Was it an apology for having hidden himself? Or an apology for the rudeness of trying to extract information?

In any case, the prince approached with natural steps and sat beside Count Eshula.

Then the Count cleared his throat as though trying to change the atmosphere.

“I apologize, Your Highness the 1st Prince. We did not conceal his identity with any ill intent.”

“It does not matter. Now that it has been revealed, there is no need to apologize.”

I had known since the meeting, after all.

Rather, I had been looking forward to when he would reveal himself.

There had to be a reason the man who would one day become the Emperor of the Federal Empire had come to Esteban while hiding his identity.

And that reason was related to me.

“Count. May I speak here?”

“……Yes. Please do as you wish.”

The Count treated the man in attendant’s clothing with utmost courtesy.

As I watched that amusing sight, the 4th Prince’s question came immediately.

“Then I will speak frankly. Why did you specifically name the Galderd Plains, when you could have received something better?”

At those words, I let the corner of my mouth rise with a faint laugh.

“I believe I have already told you that as well.”

For a political purpose.

It was also the excuse I had given in the earlier meeting.

Of course, it was nothing but an excuse that no one would truly accept.

“From my perspective, I cannot help thinking there must be some other reason. For example…… yes. Perhaps you discovered something through the intelligence network that allowed you to grasp the full story of this rebellion…….”

“That seems like too great a leap.”

“Anyone can speak in inflated terms when making assumptions.”

It was an amusing situation.

The original purpose had gone elsewhere, and the one probing and the one hiding had switched places.

Even so, one fact remained unchanged: I was the one holding all the clues.

I leisurely picked up my tableware.

“And if that were truly the case?”

“…….”

“Would anything change?”

I looked at the half-covered face smiling with the same expression as before and smiled back.

The face hidden behind that mask would not be smiling.

In the end, the winner of this fight could not be the 4th Prince, who possessed no information at all.

“Since meeting like this is also a kind of fate, I will give you an interesting piece of information.”

“……An interesting piece of information?”

“Yes. Think of it as my return gift for the surprise you prepared.”

I lowered my head slightly and murmured in a low voice.

It had begun as a light conversation in a passing tone, but the content itself could not be taken lightly.

“The barbarians are aiming for the Empire’s lands.”

For the first time, a small crack appeared in the 4th Prince’s smiling face.

***

Using the excuse that he was a secret guest, the 4th Prince refused to attend the party. He looked out the window at the bustle of preparations for the party and sank into deep thought.

It was not because of the 1st Prince, who had completely dismantled his scheme and personally drawn him to a foreign land far away.

To be precise, the words the 1st Prince had given him at the end of breakfast could be called the starting point of all his worries.

-The barbarians are aiming for the Empire’s lands.

The 4th Prince’s eyes slowly closed as he recalled that memory.

-Are you saying they are targeting the Empire?

-The decisive battle will come this summer. They have already reached the Empire’s very throat.

Whether he could trust it or not, it was an absurd statement.

Looking back ten years…… no, even one hundred years, the barbarians had never coveted the Empire.

Moreover, it would be one thing if they were targeting Esteban, but there were no signs of that happening immediately.

Yet the 1st Prince had not forgotten to offer advice, as though his words were naturally correct.

-If you find it difficult to believe, track the barbarians’ route of movement. Of course, by then, it could already be too late.

-…….

-Preparing for it is Your Highness the 4th Prince’s responsibility, now that you have heard this information.

“……What a frivolous story.”

The 4th Prince leisurely took out a cigarette, placed it in his mouth, and drew the smoke deep into his lungs.

Then, as though shaking off the lingering attachment left in his chest, he exhaled at great length.

Hoo.

He had been uncharacteristically surprised that his identity had been discovered, but in the end, this too belonged to the realm of information.

If the 1st Prince had known in advance that he had disappeared from the Imperial Palace, then by comparing the list of attendants, it was a fact he could have discovered easily enough.

Now, not even the slightest interest in the 1st Prince remained.

……That was what he wanted to believe.

‘Then what was that confidence?’

Questions lingered in his mind and refused to leave.

How in the world had the 1st Prince been able to destroy his plan?

Why had he settled this incident in exchange for nothing more than a small piece of land?

And why had he only revealed such information at the very end?

‘……Does he truly possess an intelligence network the Empire has failed to grasp?’

In the end, Raiden del Carrot’s interest, as he recalled the events of the morning, had fixed itself on the 1st Prince.

It was an obsession he could not explain.

That was when it happened.

Rustle.

A shadow stirred behind the 4th Prince, and a man wearing a black mask appeared.

As though he had been there from the very beginning, the 4th Prince showed no sign of concern either.

“Your Highness Raiden. I have brought the information you requested through contact with the home country.”

“Yes. Let me hear it.”

The masked man approached and brought his mouth close to the prince’s ear.

“At present, there are no signs that war will break out.”

“…….”

“Nothing is known regarding their movements, but in preparation for the unlikely, we have dispatched intelligence agents. You will soon have the information you desire, Your Highness.”

“……I see.”

So it was as expected.

The 1st Prince had simply tried to shake him by bluffing.

Perhaps it had been to slip easily out of the situation in which Raiden had questioned him as though interrogating him…….

The moment he thought that, the masked man’s report continued.

“Separately from that, strange reports have recently been coming in from the northern borderlands.”

“Strange reports?”

“Yes. There are many suspicious points to dismiss them as mere phenomena…….”

“Tell me.”

“Yes. The thing is…….”

Thus, the 1st Prince’s sudden revelation began to flap its wings in an unfamiliar direction no one had predicted.

To be precise, it was in exactly the direction he desired.

***

Thud!

The dust piled atop the books scattered into the air and filled the office.

It was dust that must have been accumulating for at least ten years.

Although George frowned, he quickly opened the window and tried to ventilate the room.

“……What in the world is this?”

“These are the things you must put into your head from now on.”

What I had just brought out were books on strategy and tactics that had been sleeping in the royal library.

After wiping off the dust and checking the titles of the books, George’s face showed disbelief.

“Do aides these days learn strategy and tactics too?”

“I do not know that much. Probably not.”

“Then did I actually come here as a staff officer?”

“There is no way that would be true.”

Perhaps even he found it absurd after saying it himself, because he shook his head.

I understood to some extent.

“I have never studied such things in my life.”

“Then you can start now.”

“…….”

Wipe that expression off your face.

When I stared at him with an emotionless expression, only then did he begin sluggishly cleaning up the dust piled on the books.

I sat in my chair and lifted my teacup without the slightest disturbance.

“They are absolutely necessary for the plans to come. Memorize every sentence, down to the last line, within a month at the latest.”

“Then what about the party this evening?”

“I will let you go. If you memorize all of it within a few hours, that is.”

George’s expression became tearful, as though he was about to die.

For now, I did not expect any outstanding use of strategy and tactics from him.

However, there was a clear difference between waiting for the coming war while ignorant of strategy and tactics, and observing the situation with sufficient knowledge.

“I will not ask you to take on the role of a staff officer immediately. However, you must at least reach a level where you can offer simple advice.”

The future of his becoming an aide had already been decided.

George let out a deep sigh and compromised with the fate approaching him.

That did not mean his expression brightened.

“No matter how I look at it, memorizing this much within a month is impossible…….”

“You can handle that part yourself.”

“Yes, yes.”

He opened a book with an expression that seemed to say he no longer cared.

Soon, as he saw the dense parade of words engraved across the first page, he let out a short groan like a dying cry.

I smiled faintly at the sight and looked over the invitation to the party.

At that moment, George’s puzzled voice reached me.

“Your Highness the 1st Prince. There is something I am curious about.”

“Mm.”

“Do we really have to prepare for war at a time like this?”

He was turning the pages with an expression that said he could not understand.

Soon, noticing my gaze, George tilted his head and continued speaking.

“According to what Your Highness said, the bastards from the Federal Empire will not have any spare strength because they will be busy fighting the barbarians anyway.”

“That is true.”

“Then are Your Highness’s preparations meant for a situation where they do not go to war?”

Certainty that war would inevitably happen.

His words meant that if I was so certain of that, there was no need to prepare for war from this very moment.

Especially not with such urgency that I gave him a tight deadline of one month.

It was a natural question for George, but one could say that the future was already decided.

“What we are preparing for is not to clash with the Federal Empire.”

The information I had given the 4th Prince.

He was probably poking around in every direction to verify the facts.

And by now, he must have begun to realize the war clouds hanging over the Empire.

‘More precisely, I made him think that.’

Leaving George, whose questions had yet to be resolved, behind me, I approached the full continental map.

To begin with, did the barbarians have enough potential to covet the Empire?

No, they did not.

That was why, even before my regression, they had crawled into Esteban after passing over several countries bordering the lands of the barbarians.

The reason I had confidently said, amid such circumstances, that they were targeting the Empire,

was the terrible famine that had occurred in the lands of the barbarians.

That year, the lands of the barbarians had been especially cold.

The raging, knife-like winds froze the living creatures there to death, and cannibalism caused by severe famine occurred frequently.

The barbarians gradually moved south in search of food to survive, and this inevitably led to clashes with nearby countries.

And the place struck directly by this was the Federal Empire, the largest grain-producing region on the continent and a place well known for its abundance of food.

When the situation became severe, battles on the scale of local wars had even broken out.

The only difference from the past was that I had informed them of this fact.

I leisurely returned to my seat and tapped the desk with my finger.

‘Then how will they respond now?’

Cleverly hiding a handful of lies amid the truths to come.

By now, the fact that food resources were rapidly flowing out into the lands of the barbarians would already be known.

And they would also have realized that clashes with the barbarians moving south had become frequent lately.

In the midst of that, the information I had handed them would come to them as certainty that war would inevitably break out.

“……Just what in the world are you plotting this time?”

At George’s question as he scratched his head, I raised the corner of my mouth and said,

“Nothing.”

I only had to move as I had until now.

The plan had already begun.