episode_0167

Infiltrating the imperial palace… .

It was a question that no matter how much I did, I could not help but hesitate to answer.

It wasn’t a hasty decision.

It is said that the vigilance will be weakened due to the funeral, but even so, the imperial palace of the empire is not such an easy place.

Also, will Isabella, who will be away from her base for a while, move into her room unprepared?

There was a high possibility that some kind of trap had been laid in case of an unexpected intrusion.

Normally, I would have rejected such a dangerous proposal right away.

However, the advantage of being able to suppress the current political situation once and for all if successful lingered in my mind so persistently that it was not easy for me to say no.

If you fail, you are in hell, if you succeed, you are victorious.

It is an operation with too much risk and too much return.

Leopold Lee and Einfeld were like that too… .

Contrary to the atmosphere of always being cautious and thorough in everything, he surprisingly prefers things like gambling.

My temples are throbbing.

“What should I do?”

“No. Wait, wait. Let me think about it… .”

He waved his hand towards Leopold, urging him to answer.

This kid is making a fuss without notice. Can’t you see he’s worried?

Let’s take it slow and summarize it again.

First of all, proposal 1 is rejected.

This is a woman who kills Matthias in one day and puts the blame on Leopold two days later.

I don’t even know what I gained by sacrificing Mathias.

Giving a woman like that almost a month is too risky.

2 relief… Dismissed.

It may be that Ludwig has led the entire eastern force, but otherwise the Leopold faction’s power is not that strong.

I even lost two precious masters.

Isabella is more likely to have consumed the master, but those bug knights are not normal to begin with, so there is no telling how many they have hidden away.

Considering how they just threw away six or seven, there must have been at least ten.

There was a lack of justification in the first place.

Attacking the imperial palace… In some ways, it’s no different from a mutiny, so the morale of our troops won’t be high… .

After all, the odds of winning are too small.

So, in the end, we have no choice but to choose option 3… ?

No, no, no. Wait a minute, something’s strange.

Why am I worrying about these three operations?

Suddenly, a ray of realization passed through my mind.

I almost forgot.

Because Leopold put so much emphasis on the three operations, I was under the illusion that I too had to choose one of them.

If you think about it, there’s no need for me to get involved in such a dangerous matter.

Now that Mathias’ death has been confirmed, Lacey would have definitely requested a secret investigation team or something.

Shouldn’t we just leave it to those people?

These investigators are so good that Lacey vouched for them, so it would be better for me to leave it to them rather than try to infiltrate clumsily.

I have some experience with interrogations, but… Because undercover investigation is not my area of expertise.

Even if I’m really unlucky and get discovered, there won’t be any charges brought against me. There is almost no point of contact.

Okay, let’s go with this.

“… Let’s move on to the third part, but let’s change the content a bit.”

“Hmm? How can you say that you are looking after it?”

“It is inefficient for me to infiltrate the imperial palace. First of all, it is strange that His Highness Leopold attends the funeral and the escort does not follow him… You won’t be able to act as His Majesty’s bodyguard until the funeral. If Your Majesty were attacked during those ten days, that would be the end, right?”

Even if just one bug knight appears, he will go to see Mathias.

“That’s… I’m sure so. The princess is right.”

Leopold nodded.

Even Royal Guard Hector, who was supposed to be my confidant, acted as the Empress’s puppet, so there would be no other reliable bodyguard other than me.

“Secondly, I’m not particularly good at things like infiltration. Therefore, it would be better to use people with professional experience in this field as the personnel who will infiltrate the imperial palace on the day of the funeral.”

“It’s not wrong. However, if I had such talent, would I have asked the princess to do such a dangerous job?”

You don’t know that.

Who knows, is there really no talent like that, or is it just to cut me off like a lizard’s tail if things go wrong?

In the worst case scenario, they might accuse me of being Ka’har’s agent and accuse me of being a spy.

From Leopold’s point of view, it would be natural for him to choose to sacrifice himself, even if it means abandoning me, rather than becoming involved in my downfall and falling with me. maybe.

Of course, if things turn out that way, the relationship between the empire and Ka’har will naturally worsen… That’s for later.

Did you say that if we don’t have the same intentions, we shouldn’t work together?

Well, there is nothing wrong with what the old people said.

Such is the relationship between me and Leopold.

We only cooperate because of common interests, but since our motivations and goals are different, there can be no complete trust.

I am acting to prevent the empire from falling into chaos and collapsing, and Leopold is trying to destroy Isabella to preserve his life and avenge his mother.

“Don’t worry. Among my acquaintances, there are people who specialize in this kind of work.”

“No, that can’t be true. The whole world knows that the princess’s friendships are as narrow as a doghouse. Even if you count them as acquaintances, aren’t there less than ten people?”

… Should I dethrone this bastard?

“… It’s hard to tell in detail because it’s confidential, but let’s just say he’s an acquaintance of an acquaintance of mine. They are more skilled at these things than I am, and even if they fail, Your Highness will not be a suspect. What do you want to do?”

“Delegating such an important role to an untrustworthy outsider is something that should be avoided as much as possible… I guess I can’t help it. I understand. I’ll leave it to the princess’s judgment. Please take care of me.”

Are you saying that you can trust me?

I don’t know if he believes in my abilities, in myself, or if it’s just empty words.

“I understand. In that case, I will give them the details and then take charge of Your Majesty’s escort starting around tomorrow. Is there anything you want to say about your work as an escort driver?”

“Hmm… For a man to hire a woman as his escort, it would be scandalous in many ways… I have no choice but to apologize to the princess in advance for that.”

Leopold bowed his head politely.

“Rumors?”

“It’s not that there are no noble men who use female knights as bodyguards… In most cases, the bodyguard is only in name, and in many cases, it is no different from the concubine of the nobleman. If the princess were to be my escort, similar rumors would spread secretly. In fact, it is no different from blocking the path to marriage. Fortunately, the princess said she has no intention of marrying anyone, so the burden is a little less.”

Ah, in short, there will be sarcasm saying that I am Leopold’s favorite concubine.

Like the beautiful female secretary that the CEO of a company or a big-time politician likes.

Shit.

“Supervision… I guess I should. for now. If you feel sorry for me, I would appreciate it if you would later punish those who spread the rumor.”

If you don’t tell me what to do, I’ll find it myself.

“I will do so if possible. In addition, another knight will also be in charge of my escort duties. After all, wouldn’t it be embarrassing to ask the princess to escort you even to the bathroom or bedroom? In that case, instead of escorting me closely, the princess will just keep an eye on the escort knight I brought to make sure he doesn’t do anything foolish.”

“Of course.”

Actually, it’s not particularly embarrassing for me, but if I were to closely escort her to the bathroom or bedroom, the rumor that she was my mistress would spread like crazy.

It’s a terrible thing to even imagine. Friede would roll around in bed and laugh.

“Finally, as for armor, it is okay to wear Kahar-style scale armor, but I would ask that the inner garment be properly dressed as a knight’s uniform. Since the position is a position, if you wear it as usual, it may cause controversy.”

I glanced down and looked at my chest.

Wearing only a short piece of cloth over bandage-like underwear.

Actually, I was just wearing two layers of underwear.

Sure, it might seem rude to follow the prince around like this.

“If it’s a knight’s uniform, I already have one, so let’s do that. I wonder if my armor and that uniform will go well together… I don’t know.”

If you think about it, I think it might be a little funny.

“You don’t have to worry about that. Most of the Palelun knights do that, so everyone has been used to it for a long time.”

Well, Friede also wore a fur coat over her school uniform.

Like I said back then, there isn’t much difference between a fur coat and a fur shawl, so it’ll be fine.

“Okay. Well then, let’s visit again tomorrow.”

“Please take care of me. If the princess is a bodyguard, she will never have to live somewhere, so I can save myself a lot of trouble.”

Leopold laughed lightly.

I laugh a lot. I’m already having a headache just thinking about the rumors that will spread about this.