Chapter 12
The card was a VIP client pass for Hecate’s Tavern, the capital’s premier intelligence organization.
The badge was the symbol of a regular knight, an item that would guarantee at least a spot in the second division of the Duke of Castline’s elite knight order.
The silver ring… looked like silver on the surface, but was actually a rare metal primarily used by apothecaries. It was incredibly useful for discerning poisons and medicines.
The client pass itself was brand new, with glossy paper and shimmering gold foil, but the badge and ring showed clear signs of having been used and carried by their owner for a long time.
The meaning was clear. It meant the owners of these items would soon be sent to me. When I flipped the card over, a thin slip of paper tucked beneath it fluttered out.
「I shall be watching.」
“…….”
Only after seeing those words did I freeze, my skin crawling like a frog cornered by a snake.
I knew Raymon’s handwriting well enough. This was different from Raymon’s script. It was a grave, seasoned cursive.
It was Duke Ortho’s own handwriting!
Beside me as I stared down at the items, Lisianthus grumbled.
“I have no idea what my father is thinking.”
“…It’s probably better that you don’t.”
“What?”
“Is this all? Tell me exactly when they’ll arrive, if there’s a signal I should recognize, and confirm whether the commission fee for this VIP pass is included in the card.”
I cast aside the playful tone I’d maintained until now and asked coldly.
Whether the question was entirely unexpected or not, Lisianthus hesitated. However, having likely been briefed beforehand, he opened his mouth before long.
“…Ahem. I didn’t think you’d actually ask that…. He said it would be settled within a week. They’ll contact you first, so it doesn’t matter if you can recognize them or not. And yes, the fee for a one-time commission is included in the card.”
The compensation was more generous than expected. In particular, the pass for Hecate’s Tavern was almost too much to be considered a mere service.
Of course, since I had handed over the Insignia of Gloriana and nothing less, I could have demanded even more without issue.
But in truth, the Insignia of Gloriana was a sour grape I couldn’t have tasted anyway.
Everyone knew the relationship between my biological mother and me was poor. For instance, the iron mines the Imperial Family granted in exchange for selling my mother out to her natal family?
Even if I knew about them, I couldn’t touch them, nor did I have any use for them.
Especially within the Imperial Family, an artifact possessing the Power of Light was a true white elephant.
The Imperial Family was now trying to bury the very concept of divine power, dismissing it as a legacy of the past and mere legend.
But what if an Imperial family member suddenly appeared who strongly manifested the power held by the First Emperor?
That would be a war of a different kind.
In a sense, they would possess a legitimacy that surpassed even the current Emperor.
My reason for handing the insignia to the Duchy of Castline was for them to take it and use it as an offering to reinforce the Northern Barrier later.
Theoretically, an Imperial family member could use the power of any god if they only realized it.
But how on earth was Titania supposed to use something like the Insignia of Gloriana and wield the Power of Light now?
It was an absurd thought.
However, to the Duchy of Castline, my current actions must seem strange.
It was only natural that they were trying to judge how I intended to use this Hecate’s Tavern pass and what my objective was.
Hiding my emotions, I lowered my eyes and spoke.
“Tell him thank you.”
At my calm response, Lisianthus made a peculiar face.
It was the kind of expression one wears when seeing something that shouldn’t exist. A face that looked frustrated, but couldn’t explain exactly where the frustration was coming from.
Even if a monster had suddenly jumped out of a stuffed rabbit left at the head of a bed, he wouldn’t have made such a strange look.
After staring at me for a long time as if looking at something incomprehensible, a question suddenly burst out. His voice was heavily subdued.
“…Are you really Titania?”
“You must deliver this personally.”
When Lisianthus Agni el Castline heard that command from his respected father, he frowned. The only reason a rebuttal didn’t immediately follow was because the person speaking was his father.
“…What about hyung?”
“I have given your brother a separate task.”
Lisianthus stared at the items placed before him with a suspicious look.
They weren’t even sealed, as if he were being told to check them and take them himself. A card, a silver ring, and a badge. Even a note where the ink hadn’t quite dried, as if it had just been written.
As a member of the Castline family, for whom the power of the sword, medicine, and pen were vital, there was no way he didn’t know what they meant.
‘I have to bring these precious things to that damn woman?’
Lisianthus’s red eyes were full of confusion.
Personally, he loathed Titania. No, he had no choice but to.
He hated the Imperial Family and its members. He hated anything that stood in the way of the Castline family even more.
His refined older brother, his respected father, and his cute youngest sibling. Aside from the people of the territory he had to protect, everyone else was merely a nuisance to him.
The nobles? They were either idiots who badmouthed the Castline family based on rumors or parasites trying to cling on and get a scrap of something.
He felt pity for the state of a family that was forced to play the role of the hunting dog, slaying demon beasts and protecting the Empire in the midst of all that.
“She’s technically hyung’s fiancée, but is there really a need for me to show my face in person? It was obviously a fake illness….”
“Your brother seemed quite shaken after facing Imperial Princess Titania, who returned from the brink of death.”
At those calm words, Lisianthus’s eyes hardened.
Lisianthus knew his own limits well.
He hated complicated things. He hated secret maneuvers and deals between people. His much more brilliant brother would inherit this family. So he only needed to trust and follow his brother.
He was fairly good with a sword and liked swordsmanship, but he had always thought himself inferior to his brother.
In many ways, he was the lesser younger brother. Yet he wasn’t bitter.
If anything, he respected and liked him all the more.
That was why he hated the fact that such a woman, who didn’t know her place, was his brother’s fiancée.
‘Should I just take his place?’
Yes, what was a single dance worth? When Raymon had danced with another woman to successfully obtain the Wrath of Flamberge while deceiving the eyes of others.
Hearing the news that Titania had thrown such a fit that she fainted, Lisianthus was sincerely annoyed. So he had made a suggestion to Raymon.
‘To be honest, that old snake of an Emperor probably doesn’t really intend to tie hyung to that idiot Princess forever either. The youngest is out of the question, so fine. I’ll sacrifice myself.’
‘Lisianthus.’
‘Che, I wasn’t planning on getting married anyway. I don’t care if my reputation is ruined. But, hyung….’
You’re already sacrificing too much. Lisianthus suppressed those words.
At the sight of his reckless younger brother’s expression, which seemed genuinely worried about his brother’s future, a complex emotion flickered in Raymon’s eyes.
‘…Even so, she is the person I must take responsibility for until the engagement is broken.’
Was it just his imagination? The look in Raymon’s eyes as he said that to Lisianthus was a shade too heavy to be seen as mere guilt.
‘In the first place, even if it’s someone I don’t love……. I shouldn’t have asked for the engagement if I didn’t love her.’
It’s not like hyung loves that woman though.
The reason he couldn’t say those words was entirely because Lisianthus knew Raymon’s complicated heart.
Yes. What was that arrogant woman anyway? Raymon felt a faint sense of guilt over the mere fact that the woman sincerely liked him. Though Imperial Princess Titania herself probably didn’t know it.
Still, he believed in his brother.
He was the heir to this large and powerful family. He would blow away even a speck of guilt or pity like dandelion seeds. He would make the right choice.
And yet, for that magnificent brother to actually be troubled by someone like her!
Lisianthus was angry. That was why he had sought out Titania and poured out harsh words. Under the pretext that his brother was busy and he had come ‘instead,’ he had stood before Titania as she waited for Raymon, mocking and insulting her.
Even when she flew into a rage, cursed, and tried to raise her hand in fury, Lisianthus never let her strike him.
Watching her rush toward him only to sidestep at the last moment, then seeing her fall pathetically to the floor and grind her teeth—it had been quite enjoyable.
How satisfying it had been to see the Princess, who was so desperate to maintain her ‘noble’ image, gnash her teeth and explode in anger.
Someone like that, thinking she could become hyung’s partner? Since no one else would give her a reality check, he felt he had to step up.
If she gave up on her own, how much easier would it be for hyung?
That was what he had thought.
“So you should go and judge for yourself.”
But a woman like that changed just because she came back from the dead? And hyung was shaken?
“…Well, fine. I understand.”
She must be pretending. It was surely a hollow trick that would fall apart with just a little provocation.
“Don’t worry, Father. I’ll go and give her a thorough! piece of my mind.”
With that, Lisianthus had confidently declared his intent, taken the items, and headed for the Imperial Palace.
Carrying with him the singular conviction that Titania couldn’t possibly have changed.
