Herscherik decided to ignore what sounded like Kuro holding back laughter. Grim already had no other choice but to agree to his terms. Any defiance against Herscherik would spell death for him and his family.
As a chilly wind brushed against his cheeks with the scent of winter’s arrival, Herscherik smiled at the people that had come out to see him off.
“All right, Meria,” Herscherik said. “I’m looking forward to your letters. And if anyone has any trouble here, please let me know.”
The people nodded in acknowledgment. They had all heard how Herscherik miraculously survived the fire. As far as they knew, a gang of thugs had robbed the annex and attacked the royal guards, setting the building on fire on their way out. The entire gang of thugs were found dead in the woods nearby—killed by some mysterious person for mysterious reasons. In any case, the people had put the incident behind them.
“Please take care, Prince Herscherik... Thank you. For everything.” Meria’s wide, downturned eyes were overflowing with tears.
Herscherik smiled back at her. Her cousin, the one who had instigated Herscherik’s kidnapping, was thanking him so profusely that Herscherik was starting to get concerned. But, there was a good reason why the people were so grateful to Herscherik.
The day after the fire, Grim had announced to his people that he would be reimbursing the amount he had overtaxed them as well as loaning out funds from his private account to those who expected a difficult winter. The “loan” was essentially a grant, though, as he would not be requiring anyone to pay him back.
Just as Herscherik and his party exited the manor to leave for the capital, the townsfolk were waiting for them. Without divulging much detail, Herscherik had reassured the people and told them to contact him if there were any problems.
“Prince Herscherik... I am so glad that I could serve you.”
“I’m glad you were my nanny, too, Meria. I’m sure Father, and Mother in the Garden Above, would both agree.”
With one last hug, Herscherik parted with Meria and climbed into the carriage. He didn’t stop waving his hand at her through the carriage window until he could no longer make her out in the distance. Then, Herscherik slumped down on his seat and took as deep a breath as he could. At that point, he finally realized how tense he had been.
“I can only imagine how trying all this was, Your Highness.”
“Indubitably, Schwarz. But have I not articulated enough how unnecessary the formalities are when we’re alone?”
They shared a laugh. In fact, the previous night had been a long and taxing one for both of them.
“You sure about Count Grim?” Kuro asked, in his usual tone.
“I think... This is for the best.”
It would have been easy for him to publicize Grim’s crimes and strip away his land. But he couldn’t be sure if the next lord would act in his people’s best interest either. So, Herscherik figured that the best course of action was to simply keep Grim under this thumb. He had demanded three conditions from Grim in exchange for sparing him his life and keeping the truth of this incident from getting out. First, he had to rule his land justly, putting the good of his people before his own. Second, he had to cease any and all acts of treason, and cut off any deals he had made with foreign parties. Third, he had to provide any information he had about the minister’s gang to Herscherik.
Herscherik was insistent on making Grim follow through on the first and second condition more than the third. Those were the only reasons he could justify keeping Grim alive. If anything went amiss now, he would hear from the townsfolk. If the scheduled communication from them ceased, Herscherik would know that something was afoot. In addition, Herscherik added one more layer of blackmail to Grim on top of the attempted assassination and corruption.
“You used that kidnapping well to your advantage,” Kuro remarked.
“I mean, they do live on his land. I wasn’t even lying.” Herscherik had threatened to pin Grim for the kidnapping, too. “Father would believe me if I told him that Grim threatened me to keep quiet. It won’t even be a question if we present it with the evidence of him smuggling weapons to the Empire.” Herscherik’s innocent smile contrasted with his scheming.
But Kuro had implied something else by his question. “What about Count Ruseria?” He rephrased the question in a more direct manner.
Grim was responsible for Ruseria’s death, in some capacity. The route that Herscherik took, the one that he had said was “for the best,” wouldn’t clear Ruseria’s name. Kuro wondered how his master, who he thought had greatly respected Ruseria, felt about that.
Herscherik contemplated Kuro’s questions in silence before finally answering. “I think Count Ruseria would be happy with the situation... for now. He always put our country, and its people, before his own reputation or status.” Otherwise, Ruseria would not have done what he had two years prior. The man who held his head high as a true noble among nobles would agree with him—that’s what Herscherik believed.
“To tell you the truth... I did want to bring what Count Grim did to light, and bring him to judgment. I wanted to tell everyone that Count Ruseria did nothing wrong... But that would ultimately just be selfish.” Herscherik understood that that was the easiest and most cathartic solution. But Grim was on the bottom of Barbosse’s pyramid. If anything happened to Grim that would threaten the minister’s faction as a whole, Grim would become a scapegoat in the blink of an eye. That wouldn’t be a long-term solution. “I will clear Count Ruseria’s name, but now is not the right time,” Herscherik declared with determination. He tightened his grip on the pocket watch. It went pretty well for my first time, though. Herscherik sighed in relief. Even after the unexpected assassination attempt, things had turned out quite well for him.
No plan, no matter how intricate, ever went perfectly—especially in real life. Still, all the books and games Ryoko had experienced served as a good background. Ryoko had always tried to read ahead. At work, she anticipated the unexpected and prepared to finish her work without issue even when things went wrong. She had almost always guessed the mystery when reading or watching whodunits. She’d been killer at strategy games, too, by calculating her moves far in advance. She had even dipped her toes into chess, shogi, and go.
Herscherik was beginning to realize that Ryoko’s geek brain, as well as her experience as an office worker, could definitely work to his advantage. On top of comics and light novels, Ryoko often read weightier and more complex works—anything that had piqued her interest. She was a bibliophile at heart. Books reflected the author’s mind like a mirror. In a way, reading books was a way of peeking into the mind of others. The vast knowledge Ryoko had gained from reading countless books gave Herscherik an exceptionally wide point of view and flexible thought process. Things like observational skills, attention to detail, and critical thinking, skills Ryoko had acquired, had subconsciously shaped Herscherik’s style of intrigue.