Judging by the way Kay spoke, Carthaeus really must have been nearby.
I have to meet him first.
If Carthaeus met the Crown Prince first, there was no telling what might happen.
“I have to go.”
“You’re going to meet him yourself?”
I nodded.
“Kay, keep an eye on things here. If any uninvited guests come to the detached palace, hold them here.”
I was worried that someone targeting Elhardt might try to harm him while I was away.
Of course, physically speaking, that was practically impossible…
But they could at least threaten him.
“Yes, understood. Don’t worry and go.”
“Okay.”
Having Kay here puts my mind at ease.
At least I wouldn’t have to worry about Elhardt’s safety while I was away from the detached palace.
Let’s stop by the Central Palace first.
The Foreign Affairs Department was there, so I thought I might be able to get some information if I went there.
Perhaps because of the Pope’s visit, the atmosphere in the Central Palace was different from usual.
The floors were polished until they gleamed, and the servants moved quietly through the halls in neat, orderly attire.
Not exactly an atmosphere where I can pry for information.
Maybe it would be better to find out for myself.
If Carthaeus was already inside the Imperial Palace, there was a way to confirm it.
“You.”
As I was walking toward the Central Palace stairs, a woman’s voice came from behind me.
“Ser Brynn.”
I was in too much of a hurry and was about to pretend I hadn’t heard her, but she’d called my name exactly.
When I turned around, I saw a woman wearing an extravagant dress.
“Were you calling me?”
“Yes.”
After taking a closer look at her face, I realized who she was.
The person who had briefly stayed at the banquet before disappearing.
Princess Bellonia.
I didn’t recognize the light-brown-haired man standing behind her.
Judging by his somewhat revealing attire, was he the princess’s lover?
Or perhaps someone in an even lower position.
I’d heard the princess had some rather nasty tastes.
“What is a maid from the detached palace doing in the Central Palace?”
“There is someone I need to meet.”
“It isn’t my brother, is it?”
The princess asked with a frown.
“Pardon?”
I stared at her in confusion.
“If not, then never mind. If it isn’t anything urgent, follow me.”
“I’m sorry, but it is urgent…”
But the princess had already turned around and started walking.
She seemed to assume, naturally, that I would follow her.
Maybe I’ll see where she’s going.
I was planning to leave the Central Palace anyway, so I decided to follow her for now.
Who knows? Maybe she’s on her way to meet the Pope too.
But that woman knows my name and face perfectly.
Our only point of contact had been the banquet.
But the princess had only stayed there briefly before leaving, hardly enough time to memorize my face.
Then she must have deliberately had someone look into me.
What could her motive have been?
Because of Elhardt?
[Things are quite fortuitous. Perhaps I can avoid becoming the princess’s plaything after all.]
I remembered what he’d said when we’d first met.
According to what I’d heard from the Imperial Palace servants, the princess enjoyed taking beautiful men from the royal families or high-ranking nobles of defeated nations as her slaves.
Bardia hadn’t been defeated yet, so she couldn’t turn Elhardt into a slave.
But if she really took a liking to him, she could demand a marriage instead.
Hmm… I’m suddenly getting angry.
No one had the right to look at Elhardt that way.
No one should be able to disregard his wishes and force a choice upon him.
Who does she think she is?
She looked like a carbon copy of that greedy-faced Emperor, too.
I glared at the back of the arrogant princess’s head.
I felt an urge to deal with her right then and there.
Conveniently, we’re heading down a secluded path.
Come to think of it, I had a good idea where the princess was headed.
We’re about to enter the Imperial Garden.
If I was going to deal with her, it would be better to do it before then.
Perhaps I should find out what the princess was really up to.
She might even be planning to use me to lure Elhardt into a trap.
I shifted my gaze from the princess to the man behind her.
I can investigate him.
The Crown Prince might have taken precautions to protect his sister out of concern for her, so the man was the safer target.
We were passing beneath the dark shade of the trees, even though it was still daytime.
Read all the desires this man possesses.
The demon responded to my command and silently moved from my shadow into the man’s.
For some reason, the man’s mental defenses had completely collapsed, and the Servant of Greed conveyed his innermost thoughts with ease.
—I want to die. I want to die. I want to die. I want to die.
—Soon, that woman will suffer this humiliation and disgrace as well. We’ll both fall into the same hell. We’ll wail together, crawl along the ground together, and beg for mercy.
—If only I could kill the princess. If only I could escape this cursed slave mark, even for a single moment.
…So he really was the princess’s slave.
The desires of someone being driven insane by unbearable pain were horrifying.
He was a pitiful man forced to serve the Cradion Imperial Family—the very people who had destroyed his country and taken the lives of his family—as his masters.
Bound by the slave mark and forced to obey the princess absolutely, all he could wish for was death.
How does a slave mark actually work?
Three hundred years ago, slavery like this hadn’t existed, so I’d never seen anything that imposed such restrictions…
Wait.
What if it worked like a contract with magical effects?
In a way, the relationship between the demons and me was similar to that.
I’d essentially become their master.
When our expedition had been trying to figure out how to deal with demons that resurrected in their castles no matter how many times we killed them, we’d discovered one method.
We had to change the master of the castle.
I’d taken on that role as a precaution.
It had only been possible because I couldn’t be corrupted and had to be strong enough to subdue them through physical strength alone.
If they were killed over and over again the moment they resurrected, even demons would eventually lose their will to fight.
The demons willingly accepted the contracts, and our expedition conquered every castle that way.
Remembering that, I became certain.
…There must be no way around it without destroying the contract.
The contract could be in the princess’s possession, or the Emperor himself might be managing it.
I also needed to find out what would happen to the slaves belonging to the princess if I killed her.
In the worst case, they might share their master’s fate.
Hmm… So I can’t deal with her right away after all.
For today, it would be better to stop at teaching her a lesson.
I’d simply make sure she suffered exactly what she’d intended to do to me.
With that decision made, I was just about to follow the princess into the Imperial Garden when—
“Ser!”
Oh no.
Had I been caught?
Trying not to let my expression betray me, I slowly turned around.
The Crown Prince was striding toward me with a frightening expression.
“What are you doing right now?”
Seeing him grit his teeth and glare at me with Mikhail’s face sent an involuntary chill down my spine.
And no wonder.
Mikhail had almost never gotten angry with me.
There had been exactly one time, and back then, he had been so frightening that I’d wanted nothing more than to run away…
But this man wasn’t Mikhail, so it was fine.
Probably…?
“Hello, Your Highness.”
I greeted him calmly.
“You only ever had words of refusal for me, yet now you’re following anyone without question.”
“Well, that’s…”
I glanced at the princess’s expression.
“B-Brother… How…”
Judging by how terrified she looked, it seemed she’d been planning something behind the Crown Prince’s back.
“The princess ordered me to follow her.”
“Then I suppose I should have simply ordered you instead of asking. Would you have done everything I told you then?”
I stared blankly at the Crown Prince.
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Of course…”
The Crown Prince gave a hollow laugh.
“Because I wanted to get along with you, Ser.”
“Then I suppose Her Highness doesn’t feel the same way.”
I shrugged.
“Even after I told her I had something urgent to take care of, she simply ordered me to follow her.”
The Crown Prince’s gaze slowly shifted toward the princess.
After confirming the icy temperature of his gaze, I added,
“I’m only a maid. How could I possibly refuse?”
“……”
If it sounded like I was tattling on her, then yes.
That was exactly what I was doing.
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