Chapter 133 A smile that gives a somewhat sorrowful feeling
Chapter 133 A smile that gives a somewhat sorrowful feeling
From noble mtl dot com
The Duke of Montersen was spending the afternoon in his office.
He was sitting on a chair in his office, and a book and lukewarm tea were placed in front of his desk.
“Hmmm… ….”
He let out a moan mixed with the sound of boiling phlegm. It was a physiological phenomenon that could not be helped because of his age.
Montresen then covered his wrinkled forehead with his hand. Then he washed his face dry, sweeping it slowly down.
Currently, he was feeling disturbed in many ways.
The reason was the meeting of nobles this morning.
Cecilia announced at the noble meeting that all preliminary discussions for pilot trade with the Kingdom of Sergel had been completed and that the heads of each department had been dispatched to various regions to prepare trade items.
In Montersen’s opinion, it was a one-sided notification.
‘If it’s the name of the noble council, shouldn’t we at least listen to the opinions of our noble faction?’
He thought Cecilia’s attitude was very arrogant.
Horland, her father and former emperor, at least seemed willing to listen to the opinions of the aristocrats. Although the Duke of Hundrey, the head of the noble faction at the time, tried to plot a rebellion and failed, it was no longer seen like that.
Perhaps Cecilia has a grudge against this incident.
Maybe she’s deeper than she thinks.
But that was only a good thing for Montersen.
He also participated in the treason of the aristocratic faction at the time, but he did not play a key role. And now, in his own way, he cooperates well with the imperial family.
Then, wouldn’t it make sense for Cecilia, who became emperor, to treat her noble faction the same way?
‘She’s just a b*tch full of stubbornness…….’
Montersen hit the armrest of the chair.
These days, I’ve been feeling more and more dissatisfied with Cecilia’s behavior. Of course, the same was true for her arrogant secretary who was steadily assisting her.
“No. “How long can I be swayed by her emotions?”
He lifted his upper body off the back of the chair with a sigh.
If Cecilia successfully completes her trial trade like this, there will be no room for the noble faction to step forward. In short, it means that her imperial authority will become stronger than it is now.
The noble faction existed to prevent the imperial authority from becoming too powerful, but it was natural for its power to weaken when that happened.
‘We must make sure that this pilot trade does not succeed at all costs.’
It had already failed to prevent her from exchanging letters with the Kingdom of Sergel or quickly dispatching her envoys.
The further failure here was to lose the face of the noble faction.
“I guess I’ll have to talk to that Marlboro guy first.”
Montersen took out a piece of paper from a drawer. Afterwards, he wrote a note telling Marlborough to come to the Duke’s residence immediately and sent it to Jeonseo-gu.
About two hours after sending the call,
“Duke Montersen. “I rushed over immediately after receiving the call.”
The Marquis of Marlborough came to his office.
“Please take a seat for now.”
Montersen sat on the sofa in front of the reception table. Marlboro sat down across from him.
“Duke. “What did you call me this time?”
“There is something I really want you to do.”
The moment he heard Monte Lessen’s serious tone, Marlboro also straightened his shoulders.
“You also attended the noble meeting today, so you should be aware of this. Trade items announced by the Empress.”
“Yes. I remember it clearly.”
“… ….”
Montersen looked into Marlboro’s eyes for a moment.
Monte Lessen, who saw the intense look in his eyes as if he would complete whatever he was told to do, nodded his head once.
But he needed to check just in case.
“Look at the list of trade items the Empress mentioned.”
Marlboro named all ten of his items accurately without even a second thought.
“If the pilot trade is successfully completed like this, it is obvious that her power will become even stronger.”
“Yes. I was worried about that too.”
Then the story will be fast.
Monte Lessen smoothed his beard and then opened his mouth again.
“If one or two of the ten items are changed, there is a possibility that the pilot trade will fail. “Isn’t that what you think?”
“!”
Marlboro opened her eyes wide, looking like a believer who had realized a new truth.
Monte Lesen slightly raised one corner of her mouth and smiled bitterly.
‘What should I change?’
He turned his gaze to the desk, and the teacup in front of him came into view. There was about half of the lukewarm black tea left in the teacup.
The moment he realized this, he was able to think of items that could be replaced.
“Malboro. Aim for the black tea leaves.”
“Black tea leaves certainly seem to be the best item to replace.”
“You send someone with good physical skills to Lowell.”
Lowell was a region famous for producing the highest quality black tea leaves in the Eckhart Empire.
“Yes. “I’ll put a few bridges over you just in case.”
“Okay. Tail cutting is important.”
Monte Lessen nodded his head with a satisfied expression.
“You said you left three days ago, so if you follow along diligently, you should be able to catch up.”
“Yes, I will move right now.”
After saying hello to Montersen, Marlboro left the office.
* * *
As soon as Marquis returned to his post, Marlboro instructed his subordinates to go to the dark guild.
The dark guild was suited to this task because they were accustomed to dirty work and were often agile.
Before Marlboro sent his subordinates, he gave them instructions in advance to provide the details of the request and the client under an assumed name.
It was most desirable to succeed in replacing the black tea leaves, but this was to prepare for the unlikely event of failure.
“Go quickly and place a request.”
“Yes, Marquis.”
His subordinate went to the dark guild and submitted a request, and Hook, one of the guild members, received the request.
“Can we just go to Lowell right now?”
“Yes.”
Hook took several magic tools from within the guild. Among them, there were magic tool boots to quickly move to Lowell.
As soon as he left the guild, he ran to Lowell.
Thanks to his boots, he could move as fast as most horses can gallop.
After arriving in Lowell, Hook wandered around to find the carriage sent by the imperial palace. It wasn’t until the sun went down that he could find a carriage in the imperial palace loaded with Lowell black tea leaves.
‘Now I just need to play a little with the tea leaves in that carriage.’
Hook looked around the wagon, but the escorting knight was nowhere to be seen.
Easy prey indeed.
‘Sounds fun.’
A playful smile appeared on his lips.
A carriage with lights on began to move along the road. Hook began to follow him, keeping some distance from the carriage.
By the time he leaves the village, he enters a quiet road.
Hook was planning to aim for that time.
Change all the black tea leaves from Lowell into low-quality ones and bring them back to the dark guild.
‘They give 10 gold for something that doesn’t matter. ‘What on earth are you doing?’
In addition, he even offered to give an additional 10 gold if it was completely successful. So he couldn’t help but be happy about this situation.
The carriage has now entered a quiet road.
Hook took one last look around and quickly approached the carriage. There was a cover over the carriage’s luggage compartment, but getting inside was no problem.
The moment Hook reached the carriage and tried to get on, holding onto the luggage compartment of the carriage,
“A billion!”
He fell down on the street with a single scream.
‘What is it?’
Hook felt confused by the sudden situation.
He just felt certain. That someone kicked him in the stomach.
But that was nonsense. Because there was no one around the carriage except the driver.
Hook first pulled out his dagger.
Fortunately, he was confident that he could see at night.
“I let my guard down earlier, but not this time.”
“Really?”
A woman’s voice suddenly came from Hook’s ears. Hook was so startled by the wind that he tried to scream.
However, her nose and mouth were sealed by the woman’s hand.
“I need to investigate in detail what purpose you were trying to break into the carriage.”
“Ears, ghosts… ….”
“You treat people like ghosts. “It’s too much.”
After hearing that voice, Hook lost consciousness.
It was because Lucia hit him hard on the back of the head with the hilt of the sword.
“Why do flies get caught in it?”
Lucia was escorting a wagon. This was because there were instructions from Cecilia that Luna members should escort the carriages dispatched to each region.
‘I guess that means it’s something His Majesty considers important.’
Anyway, Lucia felt slightly proud because she had completed her escort duties properly.
Now all that’s left is to capture this limp fly and take it to the secret base.
‘I have to go and dig up whatever information I can.’
She thought that she should first trap this fly in a secret base and then report it to Her Majesty.
* * *
I have been spending time in my room with Cecilia since 9pm.
It was because Cecilia had called me into her room to discuss how to welcome the top of her kingdom.
“I would like to refer to your opinion on what to choose for lunch when the caravan arrives.”
“Um… …. I think… ….”
As I was sitting at her desk and continuing to discuss this and that, I suddenly heard Lucia’s voice coming from somewhere.
“Meet Her Majesty Empress Cecilia, Mother of the Empire.”
Lucia knelt on one side of her and bowed her head towards her. Cecilia sat in her chair and turned her body towards her.
“What brings you here?”
“There was a suspicious person who attempted to raid a wagon that went to Lowell a while ago, and I captured him alive.”
“You were trying to attack a cart?”
“Yes.”
“… ….”
Isn’t the liver usually big?
No matter how much it is a wagon, it belongs to the imperial palace…….
Cecilia didn’t make a sound for a while. He seemed shocked in his own way.
Even without looking at her expression, I could guess what she was feeling.
“Where is that suspicious person?”
Breaking the silence for a while, Cecilia opened her mouth. Then she received a reply from Lucia, saying that she had locked her in her secret base.
Did they also have a secret base?
The more you dig, the more surprising Luna becomes…….
“If you find out any information, report it to me right away.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
After Lucia bowed her head once more, she immediately disappeared.
Immediately after that, Cecilia let out a deep sigh.
“Your Majesty. Are you okay?”
“… ….”
Cecilia shook her head. Then she kicked off the chair and stood up.
“Luke.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You don’t have to worry about me too much. “Because this is something I have to deal with.”
She turned towards this direction.
There was a solemn determination in his blood-red eyes.
“Your Majesty… ….”
“But seeing that you are sincerely concerned, I think I chose a good secretary.”
She smiled, raising the corners of her mouth slightly. But in my eyes, that smile gave off a somewhat sad feeling.