252 – Counter-Trickery (3)
After returning to the Barony of Cologne, I immediately sent a secret letter to the 1st Princess faction.
His Royal Highness the Fourth Prince ordered me to pretend to betray him, so whether I like it or not, I must follow the order.
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Of course, my role as a spy, who has made great achievements so far, is taking risks.
“f*ck, no matter how much I joined the 4th Prince’s faction to get ahead… this kind of half-witness is so dangerous that if you move a single wrong finger, you’ll fall straight into the abyss.”
If I still do not follow orders, I will be purged no matter what.
Whether he really betrays her or just pretends to betray her and follows Otto’s orders and stabs the First Princess in the back, he must make a move.
“Baron Cologne, a priest has come to collect the offering.”
A few days ago, the person in charge of liaison between the First Princess and me said he would come pretending to be a ‘bride’…
It looks like he came disguised very well.
Otherwise, people who had no idea that a contact person was coming would have been suspicious and rejected the request to meet with them.
“Let them in. “I want to personally confess something to the priest, so you guys should step aside.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The butlers and soldiers who heard that might assume that I have done something bad and start spreading rumors…
Well, anyway, once you become a baron, even if you are just breathing, you will be criticized by the people of your territory with all kinds of groundless rumors.
Right now, just drinking at a bar, there’s a rumor going around that I touched the maid in our mansion.
Still, there won’t be any rumors going around that I’m going to betray Otto, so that’s a good thing.
After I was lost in thought for a moment, a man dressed in black bridal clothes came in and made the sign of the cross and greeted me.
“It is an honor to meet you, Baron Cologne. “I can’t believe you invited this old and unsightly bride to make an offering… May Deus bless you…”
For a moment, I thought it was a real priest and almost took out the money.
I quickly stopped trying to give the gold coin and instead handed a silver coin to the man dressed as a priest.
“Thank you, this lowly bastard will have plenty to eat for a few days.”
He’s this good at acting, so I think he can fool Karin at this level.
So, I chuckled when I saw the spy pretending to be a priest.
“There is only you and me here. “How about giving up acting at this point?”
The spy sighed and smiled softly.
“Is that so? So, here is a handwritten letter from Her Highness Maria, the First Princess, to Baron Cologne. Please read it first.”
[Maria von Rhine-Palatinate, the glorious first princess of the Rhine-Palatinate Empire, speaks. She said that Sir, a brave knight, would abandon Otto, the 4th prince with a rotten mental head, and take my side, and this would be a very desirable thing. First of all, I praise this.]
Perhaps because it was a letter written by Her Majesty the Princess herself, it seems to contain a lot of unnecessary language.
I will just briefly say that I am impressed by his extraordinary desire to betray the 4th Prince Otto.
[But as you know, the world is very chaotic right now. There are times when even those who pledged eternal loyalty to the princess turn into enemies, and even among those who betray those they served and say they will be loyal to me, there are times when they surrender falsely… Even if the princess believes in the Lord, others I don’t know if the vassals will truly accept the sutra.]
When you become a high-ranking person, you have to make the excuse that you are fine, but there is nothing you can do because the people below you are not good enough.
If there were no rules like that, there would be no need to talk around like that.
Ah, but I am also included among the high-ranking people…
“I read the letter sent by Her Highness the First Princess carefully. So what can I do?”
Scammers who borrow 10 million won or 100 million won and then run away and disappear into hiding also build enough trust with the other party while working.
A typical example would be, if you borrowed even 10,000 won, you would repay the 10,000 won on time, or repeat this 5 to 10 times and ask for a large loan.
So, when I say that I will abandon the 4th prince and stand on the princess’s side, I should first show actions that can earn her trust.
“Usually, when other people say they want to change jobs, they first tell a story like why they chose to change jobs, but it seems like the Baron is a little different.”
Well, the story of why I converted would be of little importance to the princess.
So, I’m just trying to take the other person’s perspective into account and avoid repeating unnecessary stories.
“I started out as a low-level mercenary and worked my way up to this point. Even low-level mercenaries have their own life story, and everything has its own circumstances. “But what does that matter from my point of view as the one who commands them?”
“Yes.”
“So, I think it is more important to gain Her Highness’s trust by making special achievements rather than having to tell her my situation and have an annoying argument.”
My situation would be as obvious as fire to the princess.
Although he was the Baron of Cologne and had accomplished numerous feats, Prince Otto was prejudiced against my humble origins and was jealous of his outstanding abilities.
And since they are blatantly pushing me out of all kinds of political meetings, I feel like I can’t possibly continue like this, so I surrender.
How obvious and childish is this story?
If you use this as a game story, you will be criticized.
The spy nodded as if he agreed with what I said.
“You are right. So what will you do to prove your loyalty?”
“First of all, it is difficult to do something big right now. “I will reveal a small secret first.”
The spy heard me and perked up his ears.
“The 4th prince, Otto, was so greedy for a beautiful woman that he did not even hold a wedding ceremony for her, and forcibly laid his hands on the daughter of Estelle’s cousin.”
“Is that so?”
“So Margrave Estelle quickly took his cousin’s daughter and made her the Baron’s adopted daughter and made her his concubine.”
Not every single rumor has tremendous power.
However, when this rumor spreads among our 4th prince’s faction, the vassals begin to suspect that that lecherous madman might one day lay his hands on my daughter…
Then, the solidarity of the factions is bound to gradually weaken.
No matter how much nobles like arranged marriages, what father in this world would want to serve a scum monarch who forcibly rapes his precious daughter who hasn’t even gotten married?
Well, the humans who have already joined the faction will have no more options, so they will offer the same loyalty to Otto as before.
“Are you sure?”
“This is a fact that can be known if you research it. Other than that… There isn’t much meaningful news. “You can’t prove your loyalty with something like this.”
The spy also nodded.
“If the information guild had come with this kind of information, they would have thought they had done quite a big job. “I think this will be difficult.”
“Then I will risk my life.”
Hearing those words, the spy looked at me with an expression asking what I was talking about.
“I will go to see Her Majesty the Princess in person in a month. “On my own, without any guards.”
Anyway, if I go directly to where the princess is, even if I have a thousand guards, if she tries to kill me, I will die.
Moreover, if she does not gain this woman’s trust, she will not be able to carry out Prince Otto’s orders, so she will be purged.
So wouldn’t it be best to gain trust by making a show of going to the audience alone?
“Once I gain the trust of Her Majesty the Princess, I can do whatever I want to do. So please tell me well.”
The spy asked, looking embarrassed.
“Do you really mind if I tell you that?”
Honestly, there is nothing else I can do right now.
“Please tell me that.”
If you hear that I would risk my life to gain your trust if you were a monarch, you will think a lot more.
Her Highness Maria, the 1st Princess.
**
“A letter has arrived from Baron Cologne.”
Maria held out her hand without saying a word.
[I want to prove my loyalty, but there is no way to prove my loyalty right now. So, to confirm my sincerity, I will go alone to the castle where Her Highness is and personally see her.]
“That’s fun.”
She will not be unaware that if she does not take her guards with her, she could kill Maria anytime, anywhere according to her own whim.
There is no way such an ignorant guy could achieve such great achievements.
So, I decided that this letter was really urgent.
“If I continue like this, I will definitely die, so am I willing to give up my life with an all-or-nothing mentality?”
She said that if she picked him up, Baron Cologne would be able to escape the crisis, but if not…
“If I were not careful, my head would just fly off, right? At the same time, you will also be dishonored as a traitor.”
Martin’s gamble with her life was quite interesting to Maria.
Until now, those who say they will stand by their side only put forth things like justification and honor…
Baron Cologne is acting with the mindset that all he has to do is gain his trust.
“I should be willing to accept it, right?”
And a week later, Martin received an order to come to Endwarp Castle where the princess was staying.