Even if the knights didn't know, they couldn't fool Brentian's eyes.
Callius smiled as if he had no intention of deceiving him in the first place.
“You're bolder than I thought.”
A vein bulged on Brentian's forehead as he watched Callius laughing, oblivious to the other person's feelings.
"Do you know what she's up to and still help her? If it's discovered that the Empress's jewels came from Ronheim, she'll think we're behind the whole thing!"
Brentian was furious.
He couldn't understand why Callius was so indifferent, and why he was so willing to help Chloe, who was clearly a Kavala spy.
“That would give Arrental a pretext to completely destroy Ronheim!”
As he spoke his thoughts, he became more confident.
Chloe must have come here to give Kavala an excuse to completely destroy Ronheim.
'Couldn't the fire in the Empress's warehouse have been planned?'
Isn't that suspicious?
Chloe, who had been watching for a while, didn't seem that bold.
Rather, she seemed timid and passive.
Moreover, it seemed so fragile that it was difficult to even hold up her own body.
How could such a person sneak into the treasure house of Kavala in the palace with so many eyes watching her?
How did she have the nerve to set fire to the warehouse and sneak out with so many treasures?
Brentian raised such doubts with Callius.
"It's absurd, Prince, that she would do something like that alone! Just think about it. Can you imagine?"
It was full of questions.
It was also suspicious that she had recently ordered Mainz to collect and sell Vermis mushrooms.
Who could have leaked that information to Chloe?
How on earth did she know something that even the merchants of Arrental didn't know?
"How could someone who was so surprised by the snowfall, not even knowing how much it snowed in the North, know about things like vermis mushrooms, something even Northerners don't know about? Something seems fishy."
It was also questionable why the money earned that way would be used for welfare funds.
She has no obligation to return her personal property to the people.
Besides, she hasn't even officially met the people of the territory yet, so isn't this being overly kind to the point of being questionable?
'The Prince showed his affection for the people of the territory, so the Princess may have known about it and been pursuing them.'
To completely captivate Callius.
He couldn't shake the feeling that it was all in cabalistic hands.
Then Callius looked at Brentian, who was stamping his feet beside him, and spoke heavily.
“I guess in your eyes I look like a pathetic person who is crazy about women and can’t tell right from wrong.”
“...”
Brentian closed his mouth in a stinging manner.
Honestly, he wanted to ask back if that was true.
But instead, Brentian appealed earnestly to Callius as both a subject and a friend.
"If this continues, we could all die. Those jewels will eventually be tracked down. No matter how much trickery we use, it's only a matter of time."
“It’s just a matter of time. I guess.”
Callius nodded absentmindedly.
“If you knew, why...!”
"That'll do. Chloe's goal is to buy time. While Kavala is distracted by tracking down those gems, we'll figure out a way to stop her."
“How do you say that?”
Callius pointed to a spot on the map of Ronheim spread out on the desk.
“Isn’t this where the gold mine is?”
Brentian looked at Callius with a confused expression.
“I’m going to create a moving magic circle here.”
Callius told Brentian the story he had shared with Chloe.
Brentian was even more shocked when he heard that story.
"How can you believe that story? A great wizard from the Magic Tower? There's no way such a person could exist."
Callius said bluntly.
"We'll find out whether that's true or not when the wizard actually appears. There's no need to assume it's a lie already, right?"
"Why on earth would a Princess want to revive Ronheim? Don't you find it strange that the closest heir to the throne would turn her back on Arrental and focus solely on raising Ronheim?"
Callius stared intently into Brentian's anxious eyes.
Brentian waited for Callius to speak, his excitement subsiding at the sight of his calm gaze.
Callius slowly opened his mouth.
“So wouldn’t she want to stop Kavala more than we do?”
"Yes?"
Brentian's eyes shook.
"What was the position of the closest heir to the throne? You must have felt it clearly when you went to Arrental. How did Chloe's influence seem there?"
“...”
"She was forced to grow up under the care of the Empress after losing her mother at the age of seven. Rumors swirled around her as she grew up. People were quick to laugh at her."
“...”
“Does Chloe look to you like the madwoman the nobles of Arrental were talking about?”
Brentian couldn't agree or disagree, as he hadn't observed Chloe long enough to be able to make a definitive statement.
Looking at him who stubbornly kept his mouth shut, Callius continued the story calmly without pressing him.
“What would Prince Andrea have felt like when Chloe was being treated like a madman, unable to establish any position?”
“...”
“Didn’t you see clearly? Prince Andrea was acting so arrogantly as if he had already ascended the throne.”
“...”
"Now, think about it. Do you think Chloe would want to be Kavala's puppet, or does she harbor a vengeance against her?"
Brentian cast his wavering gaze downwards.
Callius drove the wedge in.
"Think about how you would act if you were in my shoes. If you still have something to say, let's talk again then."
"... Yes."
Brentian's voice was lukewarm as he answered.
'If you're stupid and incompetent, you might choose the former, but if you're a little bit clever, you might choose the latter.'
Although he thought so inwardly, Brentian wisely chose to keep his mouth shut, fearing that saying so would degenerate into a childish argument.
He can't just keep complaining and making claims without any basis.
That's just empty talk.
It was already frustrating that Callius seemed to trust Chloe more than he did, and Brentian knew that complaining would only completely destroy his trust in him.
'Shit.'
Unable to refute Callius's words with any solid evidence, Brentian backed down.
But still, deep down, he thought that Chloe couldn't have stolen the treasure on her own.
"I need to find evidence. Something that discredits her, or something that convinces her. I need to find something solid."
After Brentian left the office, Callius was thinking deeply about what Brentian had said.
"It's absurd, Prince, that you would do something like that alone! Just think about it. Can you imagine?"
Callius felt frustrated as he watched Brentian's expression, who seemed to be holding back the words "come to your senses" that were on the tip of his tongue.
'That makes sense.'
It wasn't that Brentian didn't understand.
Because he didn't see the secret passage in the palace.
'If only I had seen it, I would have known how Chloe could do it.'
Callius was clearly aware that there was a secret passage in the palace.
Because he himself had saved his life thanks to that very passage.
"Shh, you mustn't tell anyone that something like this exists here. Yes? It's just you and me, it's a secret."
It was an old memory, but the voice of a girl whispering to him in a secret passage in the palace still came back vividly.
When he was young, Callius had once fearlessly gone into hiding in the Arrental Palace, determined to avenge his mother.
It was a time when he was blinded by revenge and couldn't see anything.
An angel appeared before him.
"Hide here. Hide and come out when it's quiet outside. Got it?"
“Let go! I have work to do! What do you know?”
“I know! Me too... My mother passed away, too!”
"...What?"
“I know that feeling too!”
Callius sat in his chair, closed his eyes, and chuckled as he recalled the incident.
It was over a dozen years ago, but the memories of that time were still vivid.
Callius smiled as if he had no intention of deceiving him in the first place.
“You're bolder than I thought.”
A vein bulged on Brentian's forehead as he watched Callius laughing, oblivious to the other person's feelings.
"Do you know what she's up to and still help her? If it's discovered that the Empress's jewels came from Ronheim, she'll think we're behind the whole thing!"
Brentian was furious.
He couldn't understand why Callius was so indifferent, and why he was so willing to help Chloe, who was clearly a Kavala spy.
“That would give Arrental a pretext to completely destroy Ronheim!”
As he spoke his thoughts, he became more confident.
Chloe must have come here to give Kavala an excuse to completely destroy Ronheim.
'Couldn't the fire in the Empress's warehouse have been planned?'
Isn't that suspicious?
Chloe, who had been watching for a while, didn't seem that bold.
Rather, she seemed timid and passive.
Moreover, it seemed so fragile that it was difficult to even hold up her own body.
How could such a person sneak into the treasure house of Kavala in the palace with so many eyes watching her?
How did she have the nerve to set fire to the warehouse and sneak out with so many treasures?
Brentian raised such doubts with Callius.
"It's absurd, Prince, that she would do something like that alone! Just think about it. Can you imagine?"
It was full of questions.
It was also suspicious that she had recently ordered Mainz to collect and sell Vermis mushrooms.
Who could have leaked that information to Chloe?
How on earth did she know something that even the merchants of Arrental didn't know?
"How could someone who was so surprised by the snowfall, not even knowing how much it snowed in the North, know about things like vermis mushrooms, something even Northerners don't know about? Something seems fishy."
It was also questionable why the money earned that way would be used for welfare funds.
She has no obligation to return her personal property to the people.
Besides, she hasn't even officially met the people of the territory yet, so isn't this being overly kind to the point of being questionable?
'The Prince showed his affection for the people of the territory, so the Princess may have known about it and been pursuing them.'
To completely captivate Callius.
He couldn't shake the feeling that it was all in cabalistic hands.
Then Callius looked at Brentian, who was stamping his feet beside him, and spoke heavily.
“I guess in your eyes I look like a pathetic person who is crazy about women and can’t tell right from wrong.”
“...”
Brentian closed his mouth in a stinging manner.
Honestly, he wanted to ask back if that was true.
But instead, Brentian appealed earnestly to Callius as both a subject and a friend.
"If this continues, we could all die. Those jewels will eventually be tracked down. No matter how much trickery we use, it's only a matter of time."
“It’s just a matter of time. I guess.”
Callius nodded absentmindedly.
“If you knew, why...!”
"That'll do. Chloe's goal is to buy time. While Kavala is distracted by tracking down those gems, we'll figure out a way to stop her."
“How do you say that?”
Callius pointed to a spot on the map of Ronheim spread out on the desk.
“Isn’t this where the gold mine is?”
Brentian looked at Callius with a confused expression.
“I’m going to create a moving magic circle here.”
Callius told Brentian the story he had shared with Chloe.
Brentian was even more shocked when he heard that story.
"How can you believe that story? A great wizard from the Magic Tower? There's no way such a person could exist."
Callius said bluntly.
"We'll find out whether that's true or not when the wizard actually appears. There's no need to assume it's a lie already, right?"
"Why on earth would a Princess want to revive Ronheim? Don't you find it strange that the closest heir to the throne would turn her back on Arrental and focus solely on raising Ronheim?"
Callius stared intently into Brentian's anxious eyes.
Brentian waited for Callius to speak, his excitement subsiding at the sight of his calm gaze.
Callius slowly opened his mouth.
“So wouldn’t she want to stop Kavala more than we do?”
"Yes?"
Brentian's eyes shook.
"What was the position of the closest heir to the throne? You must have felt it clearly when you went to Arrental. How did Chloe's influence seem there?"
“...”
"She was forced to grow up under the care of the Empress after losing her mother at the age of seven. Rumors swirled around her as she grew up. People were quick to laugh at her."
“...”
“Does Chloe look to you like the madwoman the nobles of Arrental were talking about?”
Brentian couldn't agree or disagree, as he hadn't observed Chloe long enough to be able to make a definitive statement.
Looking at him who stubbornly kept his mouth shut, Callius continued the story calmly without pressing him.
“What would Prince Andrea have felt like when Chloe was being treated like a madman, unable to establish any position?”
“...”
“Didn’t you see clearly? Prince Andrea was acting so arrogantly as if he had already ascended the throne.”
“...”
"Now, think about it. Do you think Chloe would want to be Kavala's puppet, or does she harbor a vengeance against her?"
Brentian cast his wavering gaze downwards.
Callius drove the wedge in.
"Think about how you would act if you were in my shoes. If you still have something to say, let's talk again then."
"... Yes."
Brentian's voice was lukewarm as he answered.
'If you're stupid and incompetent, you might choose the former, but if you're a little bit clever, you might choose the latter.'
Although he thought so inwardly, Brentian wisely chose to keep his mouth shut, fearing that saying so would degenerate into a childish argument.
He can't just keep complaining and making claims without any basis.
That's just empty talk.
It was already frustrating that Callius seemed to trust Chloe more than he did, and Brentian knew that complaining would only completely destroy his trust in him.
'Shit.'
Unable to refute Callius's words with any solid evidence, Brentian backed down.
But still, deep down, he thought that Chloe couldn't have stolen the treasure on her own.
"I need to find evidence. Something that discredits her, or something that convinces her. I need to find something solid."
***
After Brentian left the office, Callius was thinking deeply about what Brentian had said.
"It's absurd, Prince, that you would do something like that alone! Just think about it. Can you imagine?"
Callius felt frustrated as he watched Brentian's expression, who seemed to be holding back the words "come to your senses" that were on the tip of his tongue.
'That makes sense.'
It wasn't that Brentian didn't understand.
Because he didn't see the secret passage in the palace.
'If only I had seen it, I would have known how Chloe could do it.'
Callius was clearly aware that there was a secret passage in the palace.
Because he himself had saved his life thanks to that very passage.
"Shh, you mustn't tell anyone that something like this exists here. Yes? It's just you and me, it's a secret."
It was an old memory, but the voice of a girl whispering to him in a secret passage in the palace still came back vividly.
When he was young, Callius had once fearlessly gone into hiding in the Arrental Palace, determined to avenge his mother.
It was a time when he was blinded by revenge and couldn't see anything.
An angel appeared before him.
"Hide here. Hide and come out when it's quiet outside. Got it?"
“Let go! I have work to do! What do you know?”
“I know! Me too... My mother passed away, too!”
"...What?"
“I know that feeling too!”
Callius sat in his chair, closed his eyes, and chuckled as he recalled the incident.
It was over a dozen years ago, but the memories of that time were still vivid.
Comments
Post a Comment