97 – Episode 96
“Is His Highness here?”
I say this while looking at Alexander, who is smiling slyly.
“How have you been?”
This is the first time I see Alexander since I woke up.
Seeing as they haven’t come until now, it looks like they’ve prepared a secret trick of their own.
You should be a little nervous.
“hehehe… You have no idea how angry His Highness Ioanes was when he found out that there was someone in his country who was trying to assassinate His Highness the Archduke and His Majesty the Emperor.”
He must have been angry.
I was caught because I made a clumsy plan. It’s strange if you don’t get angry.
“First of all, we are catching a traitor in our kingdom. “Maybe I’ll be able to tell you some good news soon.”
I answer while looking at Alexander with a gentle smile.
“I’m looking forward to it since you said that. But if I see something you haven’t caught yet, I’ll have to help.”
Alexander’s expression, who was smiling at my words, changes slightly.
“If you say help… What do you mean?”
I smile as leisurely as I can at those words.
“Our Grand Duchy has been releasing spies in Nicaea since the time of Valorant. “I think you all know why.”
It is true that Valorant has planted spies in Nicaea, which poses a threat to him, for a long time.
On the other hand, once I finish training as an intelligence agent, I plan to build a large-scale intelligence network not only in Nicaea, Epirus, and Egypt, but also in all the great nobles and rival countries…
There is no need to say this.
“Since Valorant is dead, their work is focused on collecting information, and they are in high positions. “It was difficult for us to easily order him to return, so we just left him alone.”
Alexander flinched slightly at my words, but then frowned and spoke.
“If that’s the case, I think you should have asked for our understanding first?”
-Pisik.
“In this assassination attempt, all of the assassins entered the imperial palace after His Majesty Ioanes came to Rome. Coincidentally, that is.”
“That is excessive speculation.”
I nod my head at those words.
“Yes. This may be speculation, but this is what I think. “The assassins believe that it was the actions of a traitor who was close to His Highness Ioannis.”
I push harder as I see Alexander, whose eyes are slightly trembling at my words, calculating whether to confirm or deny my words.
“If that’s not the case, isn’t that what His Highness Ioannes did? “I’m sure you don’t, but is there a reason you’re certain?”
Now… Either confess to assassinating the emperor, or say you don’t know.
Alexander will have to choose one of the two.
And of course…
I would choose the latter.
“There is no reason, but what makes you think that way?”
But Alexander does not answer as I expected.
It’s not easy either. This old man.
“The point of what I am saying is that I have a very clear suspicion that someone quite influential in the Kingdom of Nicaea attempted to assassinate His Majesty the Emperor and me.”
Alexander responds to my words with his snort.
“Is there any evidence?”
I say that with a smile.
“There is evidence, but it is difficult to disclose it to outsiders.”
Alexander looked at me as if I was saying something nonsense.
“Then it’s hard for us to believe it.”
“It is difficult to disclose the evidence, but I can tell you the source.”
As she said that, she looked at Alexander intently.
“Are you saying that the source was a spy?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
He shouts as if his words are absurd.
“Isn’t that spy mistaken? In the first place, if you trust too much in spies who work darkly in the shadows, something can happen.”
I say that with a straight face.
“These are people who risked their lives for ten years for our Grand Duchy. “I trust them and I trust the evidence they presented.”
“This is outrageous. What on earth is that evidence that makes you say that?”
There is no evidence.
In the first place, the spies we dispatched were not very high-ranking.
It seems that infiltrating high-ranking officials was not as easy as expected, but most of the time, all they did was hear and pass on information from government officials or back alleys.
No… Maybe they are just stealing money in the name of funding their activities.
“It is difficult to provide evidence. “Our information source may be exposed.”
When I spoke brightly, Alexander pressed his temple and spoke with a troubled expression.
“Isn’t it possible that their words or evidence were wrong?”
I answer those words leisurely.
“The evidence is so clear that I believe their testimony.”
“Then who is the traitor? I see you are saying this. It seems like you want us to punish the traitor ourselves. “Can you tell me your name?”
I waited for those words.
But to put it bluntly, since it is sewage, I pause for a moment with a faint smile.
Three, two, one.
Open your mouth, slowly counting to 3 seconds in your head.
“He is Count Savinelli.”
Alexander’s eyebrows twitch.
“Such…”
Eyes filled with confusion.
I speak slowly, enjoying his reaction as he didn’t expect me to bring up that name.
“He is in deep communication with His Highness Ioanes. “I don’t think he would do something so evil.”
He gazes at Alexander with utmost confidence.
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“I have solid evidence. “But I’m just frustrated because I can’t make this public.”
“Ha… Archduke. “You’re joking too much.”
-Pisik.
“Is it me who is joking too much? Or maybe it’s Representative Alexander, who doesn’t believe me until the end. “If you are trying to protect Count Savinelli… I have no choice but to doubt the intentions of the Kingdom of Nicaea.”
It doesn’t matter whether Sabinelli tried to harm me or Theodora or not.
I think removing him, who is currently at the top of Ioanes and has a reputation for being very capable, could be quite damaging.
It doesn’t matter that I have a lot of good talent, but it bothers me that my future enemy has a lot of good talent.
“Grand Duke!”
Alexander pretends to be angry in front of me.
He is a very rational person.
I feel like I was pretending to be angry without actually being angry.
“Let me summarize our position again. We are convinced that Count Savinelli is behind the assassination attempt on the Emperor and me. If you try to protect him, you cannot trust the Kingdom of Nicaea.”
Would you like to offer Savinelli? Or do you want to break the alliance?
In that way, I am forced to choose between the two.
***
Long negotiations.
Alexander said he would convey my thoughts to Ioanes and went back first.
Because Ioanes has to choose anyway.
Since then, I have been working at the Ministry of Education.
Data on tax revenue collected last year and tax revenue collected by region are not easily visible.
Originally, we would have to check and process it right away, but…
Maybe I’m too sleepy today, but my eyes are blurry…
Should I sleep a little?
Let’s sleep for ten minutes.
I’m so tired.
I lean back against the desk and close my eyes.
I lost consciousness.
How long did you sleep?
-Cock… Kock!
Something long is stroking my head.
“Honey, if you want to sleep, come to your room and sleep.”
“Umm…”
When I woke up, rubbing my sleepy eyes, Theodora, dressed comfortably, stroked my cheek with a worried look on her face.
“If you sleep like that, you will get sick.”
Is it true that that worried expression is acting?
Red eyes and frowning face.
All of that makes men excited.
Come to your senses… Her very presence weakens a man’s spirit.
Like a nine-tailed fox.
When you sleep later, won’t you see that you have 9 tails? I say this while thinking a trivial thought.
“Haaam… There’s still a lot to see.”
Although it is less common in the North, there are many reports that heavy snow is falling in the North and that support is needed.
Currently, we are sending aid to the north using Pieta Company funds, but we are not sure if it will arrive in time with the poor means of transportation here.
And another thing I’m worried about.
It snowed quite a bit in Roman last night, so we have to take a look at the lives of low-income people.
“No, there’s still a lot to see. “Because it is winter, it will be difficult for imperial citizens in poor circumstances to buy firewood, so we need to prepare an emergency budget for the winter.”
Because that is the duty of those in power.
I rub my sleepy eyes and try to somehow overcome sleep.
“Then something really big happens.”
I speak while gently holding Theodora’s hand that is caressing my cheek.
“I’m going to take a short walk to wake up. Do you want to walk too?”
Theodora says, nodding her head weakly at my words.
“Well… Then I’ll bring my coat. “Wait here.”
Theodora leaves the room and soon returns.
“Did you wait long?”
He speaks while looking at Theodora, who is wearing a long white mink coat.
“No, I didn’t wait long.”
So, she leaves the imperial palace and takes her walk.
Walking with Theodora in a world covered in snow everywhere.
“It’s not as cold as I thought, right?”
“So?”
It is winter with a cold wind blowing, but at this moment, the wind is not strong.
At that time.
-Tuk!
Something tapped me on the back and I looked back…
Theodora with a mischievous face holding a snowball in her hand…
“Yay!”
-Tuk!
The snowball hit me squarely in the face.
“What… What are you doing?!”
-Tuk!
He hurriedly wiped away the snow with his hands and gathered the snow in the snowfield to make a snowball.
“This!”
When my snowball was thrown at her Theodora, she easily dodged it.
Soon, she smiles like a mischievous child.
“Puhup… They said they didn’t guess right, they said they didn’t guess right.”
Looking at her provoking me, I put three of her pieces together and tried to throw them at her.
“aaah!”
Theodora runs away screaming.
She grabbed her wrist and threw her snowball at the back of her head…
“aaah! What’s this! You have to throw it from a distance. “This is foul!”
“What is a foul and who started first?”
The face with an expression of unfairness soon turns into a wide smile.
“Me. And today I will beat you.”
While saying that and watching her ball up her snowballs, I also ball up her snowballs and throw them at each other.