“In all my twenty-nine years, I’ve never had to flee into the night before!” Emile complained inside the carriage. Even so, he looked like he was enjoying this state of affairs.
“I was on the edge of my seat. If that petty official had gotten overzealous and injured you, Sir Emile, your father would’ve killed me.” A middle-aged knight, who was accompanying him as both his guard and conversation partner, let out his inner discontentment. “I find Stoga unbelievable too. He invited you without keeping the situation under control and put you in danger. This incompetence is beyond the pale. If I had my way, I’d like him to take responsibility and be mercilessly executed.”
“You’ve hated that man since the beginning.”
“What’s there to like?” he asked. “He was born into such a privileged life, but he hasn’t worked hard or cultivated his potential at all! Everything is everyone else’s fault. Every achievement is thanks to him. A fool like him managed to live so long indulging in every luxury in the book with his parents’ money. It makes you question Catalan’s meritocracy.” The middle-aged knight was a man who had been born into a poor family and earned his current position through blood, sweat, and tears, so Stoga’s spoiled nature made him want to vomit.
“Well, it’s true that Stoga is a man with plenty of shortcomings, but in a sense, that might have been unavoidable. The reason he turned out that way can all be explained with one sentence.”
“Which is?” The middle-aged knight was very curious about Emile’s analysis, as he had a reputation for being particularly knowledgeable, resourceful, and possessing excellent political strength even among the many other young noblemen in Baron.
With a calm expression, Emile said, “Anyone who isn’t born a noble is no more than a monkey.” His tone of voice conveyed that this wasn’t a joke nor was it sarcasm. He was serious.
For an instant, the middle-aged knight refrained from trembling. “I see. It’s exactly as you say.” Since he was old and wise, he managed to smile and look like he actually agreed. Although he couldn’t help but feel like his sharp-witted employer saw right through him. He got the impression he was only forgiven because Emile thought that only fellow monkeys could get angry at what a monkey did.
Regardless, Emile slumped his shoulders in an exaggerated fashion and continued his complaints. “His Majesty the King truly just ordered me to become the monkey trainer this time. It was so tedious to train Stoga and get the plan running smoothly.”
“B-But in the end, that monkey’s incompetence got you exposed by that petty official. I can’t believe Stoga kept your letters just like that! Whatever he was planning behind our backs, it was foolish.”
“Oh, that’s not particularly a problem. I had a maid write those letters under my direction, so the handwriting is completely different. Even the imperial seal on the sealing wax is a shoddy imitation. I’m sure someone who was trying to frame me for a crime was just impersonating me and made contact with Stoga.” Even if Zen raised objections through the embassy later, there was no physical evidence that could be tied back to Emile.
Stoga hadn’t doubted those letters were the real deal, never bothered to look into them, and in the end, had been keeping them for blackmailing purposes. He was simply ignorant and uneducated.
“Stoga planned to guide our troops and rise in revolt himself, but I didn’t care whether it succeeded or even if it was discovered. I planned it like that.”
“Even if it was discovered?!” the knight exclaimed.
“This fool, who bought his position from the current foolish emperor, was planning to instigate foreign aggression. That’s a terrible scandal, isn’t it? I’m sure the empire has many good, honest bureaucrats, so I’m sure they intend to slowly continue their political battle against the emperor and prime minister to drag them out of power in the next decade or so. But what will happen if the scandal that just happened gets out? What will the empire’s loyal bureaucrats think?”
“They’ll think they need to get the foolish emperor out of power right away or else the empire will be in trouble?”
“Precisely! They won’t be able to take their time anymore. They’ll up the aggression of their political battles. I’m certain the foolish emperor and prime minister will put up a more intense resistance, and Catalan’s imperial court will become a mess.” Emile looked like he was truly enjoying himself. One side of his mouth twisted up. Every single one of this young man’s pretty smiles were fake. His true smiles made him look like a demon. The knight knew that very well after being in his employ for so long.
“So my success was decided from the very start, and I thought I had quite the boring role, but...there was one unexpected thing that came from all this.”
“Which was?” The middle-aged knight asked while Emile kept his twisted smile, his delight laid bare.
“Zen Leadon,” said the demon.
The knight didn’t know who he was talking about. His employer didn’t elaborate either.
Gazing out the window, Emile began to muse aloud. “There are plenty of rumors circulating the imperial capital about the three Leadon siblings and how the fourth one is just some tea dregs, but...there actually is a fourth sibling—an amusing one. It has piqued my interest in Catalan a little. The older three are stuck in the imperial capital, so they just won’t entertain me. But the youngest brother is in Nazalf. He’s just right for a toy.”
The knight kept silent. His employer had completely slipped into his own world. After knowing him for many years, the knight knew very well that he wouldn’t be back for a while.