Chapter 275

Where The First Prince shows what kind of man he is and Kyle gets an unexpected visitor.

This chapter is dedicated to Suya! Thank you for your support and kind words!

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Episode 275. About 6 Months (5)

"Okay. Let's go."

Posing as a Special Weapons Dealer, Leonard entered the Second Imperial Palace with the other merchants.

Kyle went straight to the training hall.

He was in the final stages of tracking the finances.

The village watchmen's wages were unusually high.

The mastermind was using both the carrot of high wages and the stick of hostage families to keep the men around.

Building and maintaining the village required a large amount of funding, which came from two sources. The largest amount for the initial construction and operating expenses for the retainers came from the pockets of multiple nobles. The other came from a borrowed-name account managed by the Imperial Palace Bank where huge funds had accumulated over a long period. Those funds went through several hands before ending up in the Black Crown village.

There was a high probability that the person who had organized the funds was the mastermind and Kyle was treading on the snake’s tail in his attempt to catch him.*

Other village maintenance costs were being paid by the local Lord.

The townsfolk were required to work in places set by the local Lord and were paid by the village manager instead.

Once the village manager had collected a certain amount of money, he would remit it monthly to an upper manager who came from the Capital.

There were three such managers in total.

They were all sons of aristocratic families and members of the Enlightened Young Lord Society.

Kyle had placed surveillance on the meeting venues and upper management. There was a high probability that the mastermind was either at locations they had all gone to or was a person they had all met.

Having arrived at the training grounds, Kyle examined the weapons laid out in front of the armory.

The weapon samples brought in by the arms dealers gleamed in the sunlight, showing off their finery.

"We've put extra care into these weapons, Your Highness, since they will be used in this live test," Leonard said in flattering tones.

Kyle asked dryly: "I heard that there were five arms dealers in the Empire, but are there more?"

He was asking if they had found more Black Crown villages, to which Leonard answered with a smirk, "There are only five in total. Within the Empire that is."

"Within the Empire?" asked Kyle, his voice slightly sharpened.

However those around him didn't notice the difference in tone.

Leonard had disguised himself as an arms dealer and entered the Second Prince's Palace today for this moment alone.

After swallowing hard, he laughed out loud like a merchant using every chance to show off.

"There's also one in the Principality of Ga'an, and that's where the most effort was put, Your Highness, hahaha."

Leonard's laugh was particularly loud.

"... There's one in the Principality of Ga'an. I see. All right. Where's your weapons foundry?"

Kyle quickly went back to his office after asking the other arms dealers the same questions he'd asked Leonard.

‘That means the Principality of Ga'an also boasts one of those horrible Black Crown villages. Damn it. We need to figure out its size. Then we must strike them all at once. Only then can we secure the evidence, witnesses and save the hostages.'

There was a high probability that if they only hit one of the villages, the others would be immediately wiped out. So they needed to check the one in the Principality of Ga'an and plan a strategy.

***

The First Prince's Palace.

Slap!

"Ugh!"

Laura's slender body immediately buckled and collapsed to the ground.

"This is all because of your father! My uncle is furious because your father betrayed me and House Toulouse! That's why I'm now stranded in this backwater countryside! Do you know how hard I tried to keep you by my side? Now look at me! What a mistake I've made letting the wrong woman in!"

Unable to let go of the bottle, Franz sat on his bed, shouting the same things at Laura yet again while she lay prostrate on the floor.

He’d been screaming his resentment for two months straight.

One day two months ago, Franz had woken up in the morning to find a bunch of knights surrounding his bedside, staring at him in horror.

His face still bleary from sleep, Franz went out in the yard. He couldn't stop trembling after identifying the ghastly corpses.

‘This pathetic First Prince is aiming for the throne.'

That was the thought that had crossed Laura's mind at the time.

That pathetic Prince had begun to torment Laura from that day on. She was the sole recipient of his anger since he couldn't take it out on the servants and knights of the Toulouse Family.

"Things will get better soon. When the Empress learns about this, she will surely come to the rescue. Who would dare to keep the First Prince of the Empire imprisoned like this?!"

Laura's tearful words worked for the first month, but by the start of the second, they fell on deaf ears, thanks to the Empress’s lack of reaction.

"Not again! My mother has abandoned me. She abandoned me! For whose sake did I spread those rumors? I did it for her and us! The Toulouse Family! But she used that as an excuse to scold me! And then my uncle changed suddenly! It was the first time he looked at me with such scary eyes. Hmpf... Heuk... Wah, wah!"

Flop.

Franz, still in bed, cried himself to sleep again, as he did every night.

[The First Prince isn't the only one who has the right to the throne. Our Family and the noble faction have decided to focus our efforts on the Prince who has a greater chance of becoming Emperor so, Your Highness, if you wish to stay alive and well, please abide by this difficult decision.]

With those threatening words uttered in a soft voice, The Duke of Toulouse had left the room.

Unknown knights had brought Franz and Laura back to the Capital residence filled with House of Toulouse's vassals.

After checking that the grumbling Prince was sound asleep, Laura slowly made her way to the cabinet situated near the headboard and dragged it.

It was heavy, but she was able to move it. Then she carefully pushed the wall.

***

Second Prince's Office.

"A messenger from Internal Affairs awaits you, Your Highness."

Bering, a fifth-year Internal Affairs messenger who had been cross-checked by Chief Investigator Harrison Shawn had been given unchecked direct access to the Second Prince's Palace.

"Let him in."

It was already the messenger's fourth visit to bring Shawn Harrison's reports.

Any other courier would have left a note for Kyle's lieutenants, but the Internal Affairs Department messenger was expected to come straight to the Office and report directly to Kyle.

Upon entering the office, the courier immediately bowed to Second Prince Kyle, handed over the report and waited while Kyle read it.

The report simply outlined the status of the Internal Affairs investigation and additional requests. Kyle's eyes sharpened instantly, and Walter, who was waiting with the messenger by the desk tensed in response.

"Walter, I want you to speak to Allen at the Central Palace right now and find out what the Emperor's personal schedule is for next week."

"Yes, Your Highness."

As Walter left, Kyle immediately wrote a letter for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and ordered the courier.

"Tell them to carry it out as soon as they see it. And if they find him, bring him to the palace immediately!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

An hour or so after the messenger had left, Nick knocked on the door and came in. Kyle was still working through the paperwork that had been accumulating during his business trip.

"Mrs. Laura Paliport wishes to see you.”

Nick's announcement made Kyle look up from his papers for a moment.

In social circles, she was known as the First Prince's Queen of the Night, or the forsaken lover.

The reason was that the First Prince, Franz, had taken her into his service, but never given her an official position.

It was soon taken to mean that she was a lover meant to be abandoned when he ascended the throne.

So Laura Paliport was simply called Madame, without a title.

However, Franz had publicly proclaimed that he loved her more than anyone else. It was said that she was the reason why he forgave the Paliports for their sins against House Toulouse.

In addition, he had said that even when he became Crown Prince, the Paliports would be granted mercy, making it difficult for her to leave him.

Kyle had seen her a few times at banquets in the palace, but had never spoken to her. However she’d come to visit him and not the Empress.

Kyle had a vague idea of the reason for her visit and ordered her to be escorted to his office.

"Your Highness, the Second Prince."

Kyle's brow furrowed slightly as he looked up from his papers at the sound of her polite voice.

Thinner than when he last had seen her, Laura Paliport had a nasty bruise on one side of her face. She wore no coat over her indoor clothes, just a blanket belonging to the Second Palace. Probably the work of the butler or a maid.

"Bring me some hot tea."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Nick, who had brought the tea himself, waited at the door.

Lady Laura Paliport looked around nervously, rubbing her arms, then slowly sat on the edge of the sofa as if to flee at a moment's notice.

"... Would you like to see a physician first?"

"No, thank you for your concern."

"What can I do for you?"

Laura's eyes fluttered as she raised her head.

"How do you know my intentions...?"

"The Baron would have told you to come to me if you were in trouble. I have not forgotten the help I received from him."

"I understand you've already helped him a lot... Thank you, I really appreciate it."

"What do you want?"

As Kyle pressed for business, Laura looked anxiously at Nick standing by the door.

"It's all right."

With that, the Second Prince gave no further explanation.

It was customary for nobles to dismiss their servants if others felt uncomfortable in their presence, but Kyle was not one to follow such conventions.

Furthermore, Kyle had an intense aversion to being alone with noblewomen, unless they were there for business.

The memories of the many noblewomen who had swooned over Kyle's status and appearance during his early days in the palace made him naturally reluctant to do so.

Perhaps that's why Tara, who didn't care about either his status or appearance, made her even more special to Kyle.

‘Perhaps she does care a little for my appearance...'

Unaware of this, Laura was nervous and didn't speak up, but Kyle didn't do anything to ease her anxiety. Instead, he just reminded her of her situation.

"We are wasting time. You've decided to trust me, but not the subordinate I chose?"

Kyle's cold words stunned Laura. She hastily lowered her head upon realizing her mistake.

Editor's Note -

*This comes from an idiom which means that secrets kept for a long time are bound to be discovered eventually and also they could lead to a bigger conspiracy. More here.

Personal Note: I hope you are all spending a great summer! I live in France so you can guess it's really hectice here with the Olympics... Our release schedule should be faster paced now that I through with my holidays. Stay tuned for more realeases to come!

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