Ch.732The Seventh and Eighth

“He’s gone.”

Eleonora, who had been leaning against the mansion window watching Leopold’s carriage disappear into the distance, finally returned to the tea table with a deep sigh and sat down. She no longer had the strength to stand due to her profound disappointment and chilling fear.

“Haah…”

Eleonora picked up her teacup with trembling fingers and moistened her throat with the now-cold tea, soothing her burning stomach that felt as if it had been punctured.

Things had gone wrong. Terribly wrong.

“…What do we do now?”

Eleonora sighed once more in desperation and turned to look at the girl sitting beside her, asking in a completely different tone than before.

“How would I know? If I had known we’d be walking straight into danger, I would have refused until the end. Having agreed to it, there’s no use fretting now…”

The girl, Velnesia Valenstein, shot Eleonora a glare with her green triple-pupiled eyes.

Where had her polite demeanor shown before Leopold and Haschal gone? Her attitude was nothing but rude and fierce now.

“You know Leopold’s personality as well as I do, Valenstein. No matter what reason I gave for refusing, he would have immediately countered it and tried to persuade me again. Continuing to refuse would only have aroused suspicion.”

Eleonora glared back at Velnesia with irritation.

“That Haschal woman was already openly suspicious of both you and me. What would have happened if Leopold started doubting us too?”

Eleonora recalled Haschal’s blue eyes.

Eyes like those of a beast licking its prey’s nape. When she declared she would tear apart and kill anyone if the Ghost Blade were to be revived, Eleonora truly felt her heart drop.

As if she already knew everything and was just testing them.

“You should have acted better. You were trembling so much that even a blind person would have noticed your terror.”

Velnesia tapped her teacup, openly mocking her.

‘This person…!’

Eleonora’s brow furrowed with displeasure.

Though the two maintained a passable master-servant relationship in front of others, the relationship between Eleonora and Velnesia could hardly be described as good even as a polite fiction.

Eleonora was uncomfortable with Velnesia and despised her, while Velnesia openly looked down on Eleonora. Because they knew each other’s true identities.

They cooperated only because they shared the same backer; in reality, the two women were practically indirect enemies.

“Yes, how nice it must be to be such a good actor. To endure such words to your face so steadfastly. If only you could have shown such patience last year. Then you wouldn’t have ended up in that state.”

“…You couldn’t even stand straight in front of that woman, yet your mouth works just fine.”

Velnesia glared at Eleonora, grinding her teeth. Clear anger was etched on her deathly pale face.

“As if you’re any different? ‘I have no connection to this person’—what an amusing lie. Nowhere in this world could one find someone more deeply connected to the Ghost Blade than you.”

Eleonora raised the corner of her mouth, mocking her—or rather, him.

“Isn’t that right, Werner Esia Valenstein?”

Pointing out the meaning behind the alias he had adopted.

Werner Esia Valenstein.

Velnesia Valenstein.

Yes. This girl was none other than Werner Valenstein, who had died at Haschal’s hands, now resurrected by having his soul settled into a suitable body.

A masterpiece created by Feilandria after countless experiments at the pinnacle of soul manipulation—a homunculus capable of containing the power of Karma. That was Velnesia.

Feilandria had appointed Velnesia as the eighth apostle to fill the vacancy left by Ragnar Lokan’s death, and sent her to the seventh apostle, Eleonora.

To protect Eleonora, who lacked the power to defend herself… and also to monitor her.

In case Eleonora, having returned to her family, might weaken and abandon her duties as an apostle.

Of course, Eleonora had long since figured out that Velnesia was also acting as her monitor, which was why she disliked Velnesia’s presence. Though she would have disliked her regardless.

It was physiologically disturbing that a seventy-year-old man had taken the form of a young girl, and he had also been in league with Isabella the witch, Eleonora’s mortal enemy.

So, Eleonora simply could not like this person. Technically, he wasn’t even human anymore.

“Even your alias overflows with self-assertion. I was told that since it’s a completely disguised identity, it doesn’t matter what name you use, but to think you’d just mix in your real name. Why not just wear a nameplate on your forehead that says ‘Ghost Blade Resurrected’?”

“Are you finished?”

“Would you like me to continue?”

The murderous intent in their glaring eyes seemed to spark flames.

Of course, all they could do was glare at each other with murderous intent; actually harming the other was impossible.

Velnesia couldn’t attack another apostle due to the restrictions placed by Feilandria, and Eleonora lacked the ability to kill Velnesia, who had finally crossed that threshold.

—-

“Haah… what am I doing? This isn’t the time.”

After several dozen seconds of verbal sparring that would have torn each other apart had their words carried physical force, Eleonora was the first to withdraw her hostility.

She had no choice. Whether she liked it or not, she had to rely on Velnesia to survive if the worst were to happen.

“…Let’s think about countermeasures first.”

“Hmph.”

Velnesia snorted with a face that said she knew Eleonora would back down. The expression suited her appearance so well that the corners of Eleonora’s mouth twisted grotesquely as she watched.

‘Has she completely become a girl in behavior too? Has she truly gone senile?’

These words rose to Eleonora’s throat, but she barely managed to hold them back and continued with a more productive conversation. Saying such things would only lead to another battle of wills.

“The Kingdom of Median-Landenburg… I don’t know whether the capital will be in Landenburg or Median territory, but we can’t avoid being sent there. The place will be full of that woman’s close associates, and considering how suspiciously she looked at us, she might have us secretly monitored.”

It would probably be difficult to even contact Feilandria secretly.

Unlike in this mansion where they didn’t need to worry about others’ eyes, in Haschal’s residence, just one wrong word leaking out could bring Haschal’s blade flying at their necks that very day.

It literally meant their hands and feet would be completely tied.

“Even if she assigns some rabble to watch us, we could easily eliminate them.”

“No, we can’t touch them. Think about it. If someone monitoring us dies, wouldn’t they naturally assume it was our doing? That would only confirm their suspicions.”

Moreover, even if they were being monitored, there was no good way to prevent it.

Killing the monitor would be tantamount to a confession, and trying to disguise it as an accident wouldn’t work because Haschal wouldn’t assign someone careless enough to die in an accident as a monitor. There was no way out.

“Then… what about eliminating Leopold? Setting up an independent kingdom and assigning you there is Leopold’s idea; that woman Haschal doesn’t seem too keen on it. If we assassinate Leopold while that woman is away, wouldn’t the plan naturally be scrapped?”

“That’s… problematic. At least for now.”

Though more realistic than the suggestion to deal with the monitors, Eleonora shook her head again.

“Why? He has many enemies, so even if he were assassinated, we wouldn’t be suspected.”

“Leopold hasn’t produced an heir. He fears that the moment a crown prince with Duke Wien’s blood is born, the Duke would assassinate him and manipulate his own grandson on the throne.”

Right now, with the empire’s fate itself in turmoil, the Duke was pouring in support instead of plotting assassination to stabilize the situation…

But once the empire entered a period of stability and Leopold’s successor was born, Leopold’s existence would only be an obstacle to Duke Wien.

“However, if someone other than Duke Wien were to assassinate Leopold… an empire without an heir would inevitably fall into great chaos.”

An emperor who died without an heir. A precarious national fate and tense international situation. Nobles who had grown too powerful.

It wasn’t just a matter of great chaos—the country might be torn to pieces.

“That’s why Leopold has prepared a will in advance in case of assassination. A will that even the empress doesn’t know about. Only I and Percival of the Royal Guard know of its existence.”

“What does this will contain?”

Velnesia tilted her head and asked.

“A letter of recommendation. In place of his yet unborn child or Karl and Leonore who have renounced their succession rights, it specifies the most suitable person to be recommended as the next emperor. Can you guess who that might be?”

“Surely not…?”

Velnesia’s eyebrows twitched. Leopold, who prioritized Eleonora’s safety above all, wouldn’t try to put her on the throne.

Then, the remaining successor would be…