“Now then, Mister Bill! Be honest and confess everything you’ve done so far! Otherwise, we’ll charge you with treason before Myzahn can act!” Torre’s booming voice filled the room. He was exaggerating a little, but his threat seemed to have an immediate effect: Bill opened his mouth, trembling all the while.
“I-I’ve done nothing wrong! At first, I was just approached with an ordinary business proposal! I had no idea things would turn out like this!”
“What he just said seems to be the truth,” Kelly quietly said as she watched Bill’s confession.
I turned to Kelly.
“Is that so? Then how did things develop to lead to a marriage interview with Kelly?”
“Answer Lady Agnes’s question!” Torre coerced Bill; his words had a lot of impact.
“P-Please forgive me! I was only having ordinary business talks with Myzahn. But during discussions, they suggested that I become family with a handmaiden or servant of your estate in order to learn the House of Florescruz’s weakness. They told me that if I could forge a connection with the House of Florescruz, they would sell me goods on favorable terms, so I just...”
“So you set your sights on Kelly’s family?”
“There were many other candidates I contacted, but that handmaiden’s family was the easiest to get close to. They seemed more than willing to give me their daughter in exchange for money. That’s why I decided on them; that’s all there is to it.”
Bill was right. Kelly’s family only ever thought about using her for their convenience.
“Hmm, so Myzahn is meddling in Desnim, huh? I see,” Lord Nazel muttered in a disquieting tone. “After helping Robin break out, they tried to lay hands on our handmaiden and picked a fight with us. Myzahn has a lot of nerve.”
“Lord Nazel, if Myzahn is trying to get a hold of Sutrena’s weakness...”
“Yes. Depending on the circumstances, they might be planning on heading north to Desnim after conquering Polpystan. Or they might want to avoid our involvement in their fight against Polpystan—like they’re telling us not to interfere. It might very well be both.”
Bill was caught in Torre’s full nelson and looked like he might pass out at any moment.
“In any case,” Lord Nazel continued, “I will contact His Majesty about this information. It concerns the entirety of Desnim, after all. And regarding your proposal to our handmaiden...”
While Lord Nazel was still mid-sentence, Kelly suddenly walked toward Bill and bowed.
“I will have to decline the marriage proposal you brought to my family. I intend to continue working under my lord and lady.”
As Bill listened to her, still pinned down by Torre, he looked up with a start.
“Huh? Don’t tell me y-you are the handmaiden?!”
“Yes, I am Kelly, head handmaiden of the House of Florescruz.”
Kelly’s words were like the coup de grâce for Bill, causing him to collapse face down in exhaustion.
Thus, the exchange between the Shipish Company’s Bill and Myzahn came to light, King Bertrand was informed of everything, and Bill was temporarily detained. I felt sorry for him since he had a company to run, but his massive success had originally been built upon Myzahn’s support. He’d probably been so terrified because he was aware that he was betraying Desnim.
Evening came and Lord Nazel and I headed to our audience with King Bertrand. During yesterday’s party, he’d asked us if he could have a bit of our time.
I’m glad we could come back just like we scheduled.
King Bertrand was waiting for us in the audience chamber, looking even more tired than yesterday.
As expected, he must have been terribly busy. A king’s job looks difficult.
Queen Latriche was also by his side. The princes were apparently under their wet nurse’s care, so they weren’t present.
“I apologize for making you wait until evening, Nazelbart, Lady Agnes. Thank you for making yourselves available,” King Bertrand said.
“Please, you have nothing to apologize for,” Lord Nazel replied. “You look tired, Your Majesty.”
“Regarding your earlier report, I never expected the Shipish Company to be colluding with Myzahn. I already have a lot on my plate, and it’s gotten even worse now.”
“There might be other parties similarly connected to Myzahn.”
“Yes, the palace’s people are questioning the arrested Bill to see if he has any accomplices. It would be great if I could have looked into the Shipish Company’s activity in advance, but I’ve been so busy with government affairs lately that I haven’t even been able to walk around the city in disguise. My subordinates are also busy filling the gaps left by the former queen’s faction... I regret that we were caught unawares.”
“It’s the same everywhere. There’s a lack of skilled manpower.”
It looked like the royal palace was facing the same problem as Sutrena. We had also been short-staffed after the former queen’s supporters who were hostile to Lord Nazel had been wiped out—no, even before that. The people who’d gotten fired had never worked properly to begin with and had only pushed their work onto others. If new work was added on top of that, things would inevitably end up chaotic.
“Right, Sutrena also has a labor shortage. I’m so busy on my end I’d even welcome Davier’s help. Although he was part of the former queen’s faction, he’s brilliant and lacks ambition.”
Lord Davier had been the head of the ducal House of Addamsgomes, major supporters of the former queen. He was a very talented individual and was said to be the only person who could rival Lord Nazel. In the past, he’d been pressured by those around him and schemed to turn Princess Mia and Master Robin’s son into the new king, but he’d been exiled to Peppel Island when the plan failed. However, he apparently hadn’t harbored any ambitions himself and had only stepped up as the faction’s leader out of a sense of responsibility.
The forces that had surrounded Lord Davier were now being arrested one after the other, losing their influence and decreasing in number by the day. It was a waste for such a talented person to remain imprisoned on an island, all the more if he’d never had any desire to rebel himself. It was understandable for King Bertrand to think that.
“But Davier would hate leaving the island. According to our reports, he seems to be enjoying his life there like he’s in a resort. He also apparently gets along well with the islanders.”
Lord Nazel nodded.
“I see. I believe Davier could escape the island with his magic, but he hasn’t shown any signs of trying to leave... But that’s fine since we don’t need to keep a close eye on him.”
We were at odds with Lord Davier. He’d once kidnapped me for the sake of his objective, but that had only been because of the position he’d been in. He was actually a kind, gentlemanly person. His wyvern Charite was also fond of him, so he probably wasn’t a bad person.
“Couldn’t you just sneak him out? Ah, but the former queen and Princess Mia are also on the island, so that would be difficult...” Lord Nazel made a random comment. “Incidentally, Your Majesty, this isn’t the only thing you wanted to talk about, is it?”
As King Bertrand nodded, Lord Nazel’s eyes shone sharply.
“Urk...you’re right. You didn’t see Prince Valen during yesterday’s party, did you?”
“Yes, I’ve been wondering about that. Did some urgent business come up?”
I’d also thought it was strange that I hadn’t caught sight of him.
“There was an emergency in Polpystan, so he gave us his present and headed straight back home. It seems that their neighbor, Myzahn, has invaded.”
“Myzahn made its move? They’ve been acting suspiciously for a while, like with the whole incident with Robin.”
“I’d like our country to remain neutral, but— Ouch!” King Bertrand suddenly shouted. When I checked to see why, I saw Queen Latriche gripping his arm tightly. She was a fighter, so she had high grip strength.