episode_0138

Prince Argantir was a young man with neatly cut platinum hair, slender eyes, slightly curved eye lines, and a faintly upturned mouth.

He was probably around twenty-two years old?

Even when he remained expressionless, his face seemed to smile gently, appearing weak and harmless to others.

Of course, it felt entirely different to me. Rather the opposite.

In the world I had lived in, characters who smiled with their eyes closed were all villains, traitors, or serial killers.

The Argantir reflected in my eyes seemed like someone who could casually draw a sword and effortlessly smile while cutting someone into pieces.

With a girl standing beside me who actually carried out such actions in reality, I didn’t feel particularly scared or threatened by the closed-eye villain even when seeing him in person.

◆◆

Was he trying to assert dominance?

Upon seeing us, Argantir accurately pinpointed my and Friede’s identities.

Not only did he recognize my hidden identity that I had managed to keep somewhat under wraps, but he also identified Friede’s identity, which I thought only a few people outside of the military party would know.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t surprised. Honestly, I was quite taken aback.

It felt like being questioned about what I had for breakfast by a sudden visit from a National Intelligence Service agent.

It seems the information network of the Black Kite Shadow far exceeded my expectations.

…Surely, they wouldn’t know what we did this morning as well?

“Despite the impolite invitation, I appreciate Your Highness Argantir’s gracious reception.”

Following the etiquette I had read in books, I placed one hand on my chest and politely greeted Argantir before sitting down on the chair in front of him.

“Ah. Uh… Th-thank you, Your Highness!”

Friede awkwardly expressed her gratitude, then quickly approached and sat next to me.

There was no need for introductions. The other party already knew the identities we intended to reveal.

“I’m glad you know it was impolite.”

“……”

Argantir hit the nail on the head with me. It was undeniable, and I couldn’t refute it.

In hindsight, what I did was a veiled threat to a prince, suggesting that if he didn’t want his private life exposed, he should come here.

And I hadn’t mentioned anything about my own identity.

…Looking back, it was truly insane. Without prior knowledge, it was a reckless plan I wouldn’t have even considered.

But I was confident. If Argantir’s personality and beliefs matched those of the original novel, he wouldn’t be able to ignore the message I had sent.

Well… I guess I should apologize first.

I bowed slightly and apologized sincerely.

By directly poking at that point, perhaps he wanted me to feel satisfied after hearing my apology.

“…It was unavoidable on my part, but still, it was undoubtedly my mistake to be impolite. I sincerely apologize for that part-”

“No need.”

…Huh, what?

Argantir cut me off firmly. It was a tone telling me not to waste his time with such nonsense.

“Do not waste my time. Are you here to make insincere apologies or to receive them?”

Insincere? How could he say that? Even a child who blew their parents’ retirement savings on coins would look more remorseful than I did right now.

“…I apologize.”

Although the forced expression was appropriate.

“If you are aware of your rudeness, instead of empty words, you should offer an apology that can rectify it. So speak. Did you not audaciously fail to mention my brother’s safety?”

Argantir, who ordered to tell a quick story about Heid instead of talking nonsense. As expected, he seemed genuinely interested in his brother’s well-being.

Just as Heid had a lot of interest in his younger brother’s well-being.

Of course, the interest on both sides was not entirely positive.

The first prince who had his right to the throne taken away from his younger brother and the second prince who gained the right to the throne from his brother. It was a perfect situation for discord to arise, no matter how you looked at it.

Although outwardly they were known to get along well, it was all just a facade; the reality was quite the opposite.

The shadow of the Black Eagle, originally created to support my brother from the shadows, was now being used for an entirely different purpose.

“Yes, I will tell you.”

I nodded.

Originally, I intended to negotiate conditions first before starting the conversation… but seeing the way this person spoke, I felt like they might dismiss the conversation altogether as distasteful.

Would it be too surprising if they drew a sword and threatened to hear the story slowly from the underground prison of the organization?

So, it seemed better to extract information first and then demand compensation afterwards.

If Argantir decides to wash his hands of the information after hearing it, the problem might become serious… but since there is a difference in position and status, I would be the only one at a loss.

Well, if Argantir’s personality remains true to the original, there shouldn’t be any issues.

The original Argantir was a ruthless individual who raised orphans as assassins out of gratitude, but surprisingly, he had a strict sense of justice when it came to punishing the guilty.

As long as you don’t look unpleasant, he wasn’t a bad person to deal with as a trading partner. As long as you don’t look unpleasant.

So…

“A few days ago, a priest from the Abyss contacted me. He believed the accusations against me were true and tried to recruit me as an ally.”

Believing that Argantir’s personality remained true to the original, I decided to bring up the story he would want to hear before the conditions.

“Accusations? That’s quite an interesting perspective.”

“…Mostly accusations.”

I claimed that the crimes imposed on me were false while avoiding the prince’s gaze with a clear conscience.

Although there were some truths mixed in with the things I had done, just because 20% of the accusations were true doesn’t make the entire accusation true, right?

So, I was honest.

“Hmm… let’s move on for now.”

“Yes. That man was not even an ordinary Abyss priest. A finger of the Kuma Yekcheon Society… in other words, he was a high-ranking Abyss priest.”

With a slight smirk, Argantir cast a sharp glance.

Seems like he’s getting a bit interested. If he’s capable of ruling the underworld of Herbor, he must have heard of the Kuma Yekcheon Society.

“The name he revealed himself was Ord Zenbel. You may know, but he was once known as the Nightmare of Bizengberg—”

“That monster?”

“…Yes, the monster Ord.”

I agreed with a trembling voice.

The title of “monster,” it was a widely used moniker beyond my expectations. Just hearing his name made me immediately think of that title.

I understand why the impostor Ord got so agitated upon hearing that word.

If the whole world remembers him as a monster, even someone like me would feel tainted like a dirty rag.

He was a pitiful guy in his own way. I can’t sympathize, though.

“Ord demonstrated his ability to handle monsters and then proposed a plan to me. It was a plan to assassinate the hero of this country, and he asked for my cooperation.”

I explained in detail the proposal the monster made to me, their plans, and all the actions I took.

Including the fact that the real Ord was not actually Ord but a doppelganger.

It seemed more interesting than expected, as Argantir listened intently, nodding his head continuously with his chin resting on his hand.

“That’s how it turned out.”

After that, as I finished the story, I expressed my satisfaction with a light applause.

“Excellent. Very excellent. It was a very interesting story. If you turn a blind eye to the problem of lack of evidence.”

Is he picking up on that part? As he pointed out, there was indeed no evidence to support my story.

Even if Ordo had not been a doppelganger, he could have used his neck as evidence, but unfortunately, since he was a doppelganger who had melted away long ago.

“There is no evidence… But, I swear to the goddess that it is the truth. The thought of deceiving Your Highness with a plausible lie or any such thing—”

“No need to swear. We will handle verifying the credibility of the information.”

Fortunately, Argantir expressed his willingness to find evidence himself, saying it didn’t matter. He mentioned that it was the role of the Information Guild.

But why did he bother to pinpoint and mention that part if he was going to do that anyway? I don’t understand the reason.

I wonder if he just wanted to point fingers at me?

This Argantir guy. Just like before, even now, he kept ticking me off strangely, despite not being hostile towards me.

It was as if he had gone through some ordeal because of me.

Honestly, I felt like asking him from the beginning, ‘Why are you doing this?’ If he had any complaints against me, I was almost tempted to confront him properly instead of sarcastically ticking me off.

Of course, if I had done that, instead of an answer, an execution order might have been issued, so I held back.