51 - The Crown I Will Take From You
Chapter 51
Both of them attended today's banquet.
It was to follow up on the new clue they had obtained not long ago through Shadeia's priestess on Asillom Street.
"I heard there's a book written by a sage in Baldina. It might tell us something about that Venus."
They had received an invitation to the banquet anyway, so it was the perfect opportunity to search the empty palace during the event.
After sending out their subordinates Alpha and Zeta, they sat in a tree outside the banquet hall, waiting for a signal.
Hiding their presence to avoid the eyes of ordinary people wasn't particularly difficult for the two of them.
"Where are you looking? At the Minister?"
From the tree they were in, they could observe both the banquet hall and the lounge in the corridor.
"Boss—"
"Wait."
The golden eyes still hadn't left Etienne.
The Minister, fuming, stormed into the lounge, grabbed a glass, and threw it.
Seemingly boiling with rage, he took out his frustration on a servant for a while.
"Why is he acting like that? Like he ate something bad?"
The servant, who had been rubbing his sore knee, bowed obsequiously and quickly left the room.
Even after the servant left, the Minister kept pouring down drinks, then began tearing at his own clothes.
As if smashing the surrounding objects wasn't enough to cool his anger, he paced around the room like a dog needing to relieve itself.
Suddenly, Cesare remembered the scene from earlier where the Minister had drunk from the glass the Princess had subtly set down during their conversation.
Hadn't she been holding it constantly since the banquet hall?
It seemed there was a reason she hadn't drunk from that glass containing the red wine.
"Keuk, kkeuk. Ahahaha."
When Cesare burst out laughing, Gallo made a bewildered face.
"Boss? Have you lost your mind?"
"Who was it that called the Princess of Baldina stupid?"
Cesare turned his head.
He could see the Princess, with an innocent face as if she had no idea what had happened, joining the crowd.
Where in the world could you find such a brazen fool?
Cesare's eyes curved involuntarily as he looked at her.
"Let's go back."
"Already? We haven't heard from Zeta yet.... No, Boss. Where are you...? You didn't mean go home, did you?"
Cesare lightly jumped down from the tree.
He had initially had no intention of going to the banquet hall, finding it bothersome to deal with the fools who would flock upon hearing the name Facade, but he changed his mind.
"What? Why is he doing this again?"
Gallo hurriedly followed Cesare, who was heading towards the banquet hall.
\ \ *
Banquet Hall.
Medeia, having finished her conversation with the Minister, returned to the banquet hall.
'It will take time for the drug to take effect.'
Having confirmed that the Minister had gulped down the glass she had subtly left behind earlier, her steps were light.
It was an unexpected card, but it seemed it would actually make the plan proceed more surely.
'Should I thank Birna?'
Her dress rippled smoothly.
"What are you all discussing so enjoyably?"
"Oh, Your Highness!"
Marquise Aspasia greeted Medeia happily.
Having confirmed Medeia's changed status at today's banquet, her reaction was different too.
She whispered intimately to Medeia.
"Do you see the man standing by the eastern Ice Stone over there? They say he is the head of Facade."
The head of Facade? Medeia turned her head. She saw a cheerful-looking young man with straw-like blond hair.
His friendly appearance was hard to believe for someone known as a notorious arms dealer.
His playful smile and innocent demeanor broke down people's barriers and made him seem easy to get along with.
"I heard Facade is very closed off, but it seems that's not the case."
"Don't let your guard down too much. Do you know who the person behind the head is?"
Someone abruptly spoke up, saying there was someone else more fitting of that notorious reputation.
"Achares."
He was the taller man standing beside the head.
His movements were so minimal he resembled an ancient tree, yet he drew people's attention.
"Seeing that iron mask, I can tell. That's the famous mercenary of Facade, right?"
"I heard he suffered burns as a child, and over half his face was scorched. It was so horrific that even his own mother abandoned him."
The sharp jawline and elegant lips visible below the half-mask created a stark contrast with the hideous scars presumed to lie beneath it.
Especially the women couldn't take their eyes off him.
"He's of lowly immigrant descent, right? I heard he doesn't even properly know who his father is."
"They say he handles all the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs for Facade. He treats ordinary human lives like dust floating in the air."
"But for all the whispering, you all seem to know quite a lot about him, don't you?"
When someone pointed this out abruptly, the women looked at each other awkwardly.
One mischievous lady boasted playfully.
"True. Look, his face might be hideous, but his body is just like a sculpture. I've never seen a man who looks so good in a uniform. If he looks like that at a banquet, how mesmerizing must he be outside?"
"Goodness, Madame. Have you forgotten Her Highness the Princess is also here?"
Seeing the women with flushed cheeks, Medeia also glanced at him surreptitiously.
The stiff uniform clung stylishly to the thick neck visible below the mask and his impressive chest.
It looked as if anything would slide right off, just like the epaulets precariously perched on his broad, sharply set shoulders.
"Don't even dream about it, do you know how cruel and vicious he is? When a deal with the clans in the Achel region failed, he killed them all—have you already forgotten that story?"
Another noblewoman shook her head as if horrified.
The noblewoman seemed to hope her words would instill fear, but instead, blushes rose to the young ladies' faces.
The combination of revulsion and envy, positioned on an incompatible line, with an added layer of secret danger, made the masked man all the more attractive.
The noblewoman slapped her chest in frustration.
"They say he burned down the entire tribe that received the weapons but didn't pay the remaining balance. The ashes scattered over the fields for over a week, apparently looking just like a snowfield had spread."
"My goodness……."
"Ah, it was that very man who gave the order to burn everyone, women and all. Since then, no one has broken a contract with Facade."
The noblewoman slapped her chest in frustration.
People shuddered.
"Hmph, no matter how vicious he is, can he compare to Kazen's First Prince? He poisoned all the ministers who opposed him before he even reached adulthood."
"That's right. He was only fifteen at the time, wasn't he? I was so shocked when I heard the news."
"Was his name Cesare?"
"Yes. Cesare de Weissler Kazen."
Someone puckered their lips. Upon hearing the muttered name, people froze.
"Haven't heard that name in a long time."
"Of course, if it were three years ago, we couldn't have calmly brought up the topic of that black devil like we do now."
"Ansee! Can't you be quiet! Calling the Imperial bloodline a devil!"
When a young lady added her comment, a noblewoman who appeared to be her mother, startled, tried to cover her daughter's mouth.
"Hmph, it's not like I said anything wrong. Everyone on the continent knows. That he burned all the small countries he conquered to be recognized as successor by the Emperor."
"Enough! Ansee, I told you to stop reading those strange things! This child, you see. She's still immature, she reads the Empire's third-rate gossip papers and believes they're true."
"It is true! It's real."
"Ansee! You really!"
The noblewoman hastily covered her daughter's mouth, offered an embarrassed excuse, and then, as if it was hopeless, quickly left the spot with the girl.
"Ah, that's right. We haven't seen him for years, I'd forgotten. Is the First Prince still alive? I heard he was severely injured in the borderlands……."
"They say it's a poison never heard of or seen before, so there's no hope. I heard he's just waiting for the day he dies."
"That's why, I heard it's not the First Prince, but the Fourth Princess who is coming to our Baldina with the envoy this time. I don't know if it's unfortunate or fortunate……."
It's fortunate to avoid the First Prince who terrorized the continent.
But I've heard Kazen's Fourth Princess is also formidably wicked.
"The aid from this envoy is desperately needed for our country……."
"The Empire must know that too. I wonder how much the Fourth Princess will throw her weight around? It's worrying already."
Just as everyone was ostensibly uniting their voices in concern for state affairs, Birna, the Regent Duke's daughter, leisurely picked up some refreshments.
'The drug should be taking effect by now.'
What epithet will be attached to Medeia this time?
'Madwoman? Insane Princess? No. "Baldina's crazy bitch" would be perfect!'
Birna stole glances at Medeia, who was moving through the banquet hall, with eyes full of jealousy.
She even thought it would be nice if the Princess, startled by hallucinations, rushed towards where Facade was.
So that the startled mercenary might accidentally snap the Princess's neck.
But…… Huh? What are those giants doing now?
A stir ran through the group of ladies.
The head of Facade was walking towards Medeia, accompanied by the mercenary, with heavy, deliberate steps.
