It was an unexpected visit. He came so suddenly without any notice.
“I’ve invited His Highness to the first reception room, but what should we do?”
“I’ll go now.”
Agatha put down her spoon. Likewise, Enoch, who had finished his meal moderately, stood up from his seat.
As she headed to the reception room with him, Agatha couldn't hide her wonder.
'Your Highness is not a very diligent person.'
They were usually on friendly terms, no matter what happened, they would just exchange letters.
"Ah."
“What is it, Agatha?”
“I guess they came to get Henry Insidio’s body.”
As soon as Agatha received the urgent letter from the royal family, she replied that she would carry out the imperial command and also reported that she had found and collected the bodies of the exiled criminals.
She didn't know that the Crown Prince himself would come to visit.
Anyway, it was definitely something related to that.
Enoch brushed his lips with a thoughtful expression.
“Well, I think that alone is not enough to justify His Highness the Crown Prince’s actions.”
I guess I should have just kept on going and checked the capital's movements.
Agatha arrived at the first reception room with some regret. The familiar knights of the Crown Prince's Imperial Order were standing guard in front of the reception room door.
“Your Highness. I have heard of the Marquis Aratus and his wife.”
“Come in.”
Crown Prince Anthony Roxiba, who was sitting at the head of the table, seemed to be deeply thinking about something.
Agatha, who had briefly glanced at the untouched snack, bowed politely.
“Meet the little sun of the empire.”
“Long time no see, Marquis, Marchioness. Sit down.”
Anthony was accompanied by his confidant and aide, Sir Sarahbryn.
As Agatha sat down next to Enoch on the sofa across from him, refreshments were soon brought out.
Agatha spoke first.
“Your Highness, what a sudden visit. What brings you here?”
“I have something to confirm.”
Only then did Anthony reach for his teacup and ask.
“You recovered the body of an exiled criminal?”
“Yes. He ran away and hid in the camp of the allied forces of Marquis Cresente and Baron Elibeth. I heard that my husband found him betrayed by his own vassal and was dying, but it was already too late.”
Enoch, who received Anthony's gaze, agreed.
“My wife is right.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.”
Agatha's eyes blinked in puzzlement at the unexpected sound.
"Your Highness?"
“Marchioness, wasn’t there any friction with the Crown Prince at the first hunting festival this fall?”
At those words, Agatha unconsciously frowned.
During the first hunting festival of autumn.
The grandson once came to her out of the blue and made an absurd demand that she repay a debt.
What did he say when I refused him then?
"Marchioness, you will one day regret treating me so poorly."
Anthony smiled mischievously, burying himself deep in the sofa and resting his chin on his hand.
“I guess you have a guess.”
It happened at the Imperial Hunting Grounds. He don't know exactly what was discussed in the barracks, but he heard that there was friction.
Agatha shrugged slightly.
“I think you already know. The 2nd Prince's son came to me at the first hunting festival of the fall. He asked me to grant him a title, a manor, or a mansion, and a grant so that he could settle in the Roxbard Empire.”
“What’s the answer?”
“Of course, I declined. I was warned that I would regret it.”
“Well, I guess so.”
Anthony was quietly rubbing the rim of his teacup.
Now that Agatha thinks about it, she doesn't think she told Enoch about what happened with the grandson.
Agatha felt a subtle sense of unease at the fact that suddenly occurred to her.
Enoch wouldn't be angry, but what can I say?
‘...Feeling like he hasn’t done what he absolutely had to do?’
Enoch just sipped his tea in silence.
Then Anthony rested his chin on his hand and spoke indifferently.
“Anyway, it seems the grandson holds a grudge against you because of that.”
For a moment, the calm man reacted sensitively.
“Are you saying that out of spite?”
“Yes. It seems that he sent his own knight to Baron Insidio. He incited the Baron to believe that Agatha was behind the exile, and I heard that he also ran errands for him.”
It was a speechless sound.
She's thought about who might be behind this, but she never imagined it would be on Mainukor's side.
For a moment, Agatha remembered the portrait of the messenger she had received from Baron Elibeth.
The impression of looking sharp due to growing a mustache.
As she began to become conscious, the appearance of the knight she had briefly seen on the hunting grounds came to mind clearly.
There was no mustache back then.
But, as expected from a knight, his face looked trustworthy.
The thought of putting a fake mustache on there instantly changed the impression she had.
Agatha blinked slowly.
'I found it.'
It was like finding the mastermind in an unexpected place.
Agatha really didn't think that a descendant of the Mainukor Empire would do something like this.
“I see. Then isn’t this something serious?”
“That’s right. Not long ago, Prince Ferdinand, the leader of the Mainukor delegation, was summoned to the Hall of the Sun for plotting a civil war.”
“What are the results?”
“Confirmed guilty of treason.”
Agatha blinked her eyes in wonder.
If it had been acknowledged that a civil war had been planned, it would have naturally led to war or enormous compensation.
Even Enoch looked up from his teacup and looked at the Crown Prince.
The answer came from Sir Sarahbryn, Anthony's confidant.
“There is only one testimony. There is also a lack of conclusive evidence.”
Agatha's eyebrows furrowed.
A court meeting was called when there was only one testimony?
There was only one such case.
If caught at the scene or if the testimony is from someone whose identity cannot be ignored.
Anthony, who had been swirling his teacup, smiled brightly.
“That’s right. I heard it on the spot. Thanks to whom, I was given the role of the second Prince’s close friend by my father, but when the second Prince found out about the grandson’s misdeeds, he scolded him so much that the hallway reverberated.”
"Ah..."
Anthony smiled wickedly, revealing his white teeth.
Should I say that Anthony who overheard that was amazing, or should I say that my ex-husband who got so angry that the sound echoed down the hallway was amazing?
This time, Agatha was truly speechless.
“...That’s really amazing.”
Even Enoch had a strange look on his face.
“Well, isn’t that fortunate for us? We knew that there was a traitor among the nobles, and we also found out that he dared to start a civil war before the delegation left.”
Yes.
The problem was the evidence. No matter how much the Crown Prince heard about what Mainukor had done at the scene, additional evidence or testimony was needed to compile a detailed report.
Otherwise, they will cling to the lack of information on this side and try to minimize the crime on your side.
“What did His Highness the Second Prince say?”
“Well, he’s desperately denying it. Using the excuse that he’s a newly-grown-up grandson.”
That is, the Emperor needed the evidence called Henry to thoroughly crush even Ferdinand's last rebellion.
It was certain that Baron Henry Insidio had made contact with the grandson's people.
But Henry died.
It was unknown whether the five families that participated in the Civil War knew anything.
Even if he knew something, he could have kept his mouth shut for fear of being accused of treason.
It was visibly disappointing to see how disappointed the Emperor and other nobles must have been when they finally reached the conclusion that they would only receive an unofficial apology and appropriate compensation.
Agatha wonders if her second ex-husband is sighing in relief by now.
Anthony slumped against the back of the sofa with a dissatisfied look on his face.
“Anyway, it’s a shame. If Baron Insidio had testified, things would have been resolved more easily.”
Agatha blinked slowly.
From early fall of this year until now.
Everything she had been through came to mind.
The second Prince's tricks, the grandson's absurd complaints, suggestions, curses, kidnapping, and the second battle of the fiefdoms.
'It ends like this?'
That wouldn't do. She thought that even if she received a reasonable compensation, Agatha would need to receive a great amount of compensation, not just a reasonable amount, to make up for the hardships her husband, and she had endured.
Even in her hands, she had the crucial evidence to make those five families open their mouths.
Agatha, whose thoughts had reached that point, stood up from her seat.
“I will go to the office for a moment, Your Highness.”
"Suddenly?"
“I have something to show you. I’ll be back, Enoch.”
“Don’t worry, Madam. I will take good care of His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Agatha, having paid homage to Anthony, left the drawing room immediately.
Enoch saw her off with a smile and looked down at his nearly empty teacup in silence.
The smile had disappeared from the man's face, which had been soft and gentle until then.
Anthony clicked his tongue inwardly.
'I knew this would happen.'
Aren't you the kind of person who acts like a docile lamb only in front of your wife?
The man put down his teacup and asked absentmindedly.
"Your Highness."
“Speak, Marquis.”
“What kind of compensation will Mainokur offer?”
"...Well."
Anthony, who had been killing time by releasing the hand that had been supporting his chin, recalled what had happened at the emergency court meeting a while ago.
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