Light from the setting sun came pouring in through the second-floor window of a large mansion on the west side of the royal palace, shining over half of a white table sitting in the middle of the room, while a man and woman of clearly different statuses were facing each other across the table.
“And after that, your adopted son said, ‘The Weinders are small, but we’re not so cheap that we can be traded for a mere viscount.’ A truly splendid statement, don’t you agree?” The lady in a red dress said as she fanned herself elegantly.
“Th-That’s... Forgive his insolence...”
The one sitting across from her was a man who seemed like he wandered in while lost on the streets. He was somewhere in his late thirties, and wore a simple shirt and trousers befitting a merchant. This was his only good suit, one that he’d had tailored twenty years ago.
He hurriedly wiped his handkerchief across his brow right below his dark brown hair. You could say that his body was at its very limit from apologizing to the one who represented the king in the west, the lady who held tremendous influence over all business in the region.
“Hahaha, worry not. In any case, he was responsible for squeezing the western region out of a crisis. Even now, my niece is under his care.” The lady took a glance at the man, confirming his handkerchief was still dry. “However, there is one thing that I must ask. What was your motive for adopting such an abnormal boy? From what I’ve heard, he was nothing more than a child who suddenly appeared in the village. You had no relation to him whatsoever, right? Even if you had no wife or child at the time, was it not quite the bold move?”
The archduchess cut to the chase, still fanning herself as she spoke. The man put away his handkerchief. He looked out the window to the west, then quietly replied to the one sitting before him, whose difference in status compared to his could be likened to the difference between heaven and earth.
“I suppose you could say, such a thing is trivial with regards to my life?”
“Hmm...”
The archduchess’s hand stopped.
“Twenty years ago, I was but an 18-year-old boy. I was evaluated as fairly talented among my peers, you see, so I was entrusted with Nordgram’s branch office in a small city in the northwestern region. I had just gotten married to the main family’s youngest daughter as well. So at that time, I had quite a bright future ahead of me.”
He spoke with an aloof attitude, and a certain sense of self-deprecation could be seen in his expression.
“The Nordgrams were purveyors to the Felbachs, weren’t they...?” the Archduchess asked with a stiff voice.
The Felbach Rebellion occurred twenty years ago. Two archdukes and three dukes made up the Kingdom’s greatest nobles. Among them, Duke Felbach possessed independent power in the Kingdom’s western region due to the family’s history and geographical location. When he was no longer able to endure the restraints placed upon him by the preceding king, he incited a rebellion.
The mid-western Kingdom fell into chaos, changing the fate of many, including those in the archduchess’s surroundings.
“I was on a business trip to the capital at the time, and I was restrained for being related to the Nordgrams. By the time I finally returned to my new home, all that was left there was burnt ruins.”
The man spoke of his past in a detached tone, and the Archduchess of the West placed her fan atop the table and listened in silence.
“So, with such experience, it isn’t all that big a deal for a merchant to adopt someone who looked to be of great use, is it? That is to say nothing of... Well, let’s put the past behind us. The important matter now is the present. I’d like to refrain from getting involved in a quarrel between our esteemed grand nobles, let alone any quarrels involving the crown.”
The man, Paul Weinder, looked towards the opposite side of the royal palace, at the eastern mansion.
The one sitting across the table from him, the Archduchess of the West, Euphylia, was the central figure in the third prince’s faction. And the leader of the second prince’s faction, the Archduke of the East, stood in opposition to her. This was the topic that had the capital kicking up a fuss lately.
“I see. However, you seem to be misunderstanding something here.” Euphylia accepted that his answer ignored over half of her question and moved on.
“Misunderstanding, you say?”
“Mm. Truthfully speaking, the third prince’s faction does not actually exist. As you know, our nation adheres to hierarchy. If the eldest son, the crown prince, were to withdraw due to sickness, the second son, Prince Delnicius, would succeed him. The prince belongs to the prime minister’s office and is in the middle of training to be a civil official, but that in itself is not a problem.”
Euphylia paused for a moment, and stood the fan she placed on the table straight up.
“Of course, I have no intention of dividing the nation. Doing so would surely lead to chaos far greater than what occurred twenty years ago.”
“I see...”
“However, that sturdy hierarchy has been shaken ever so slightly by the recent disaster; by the hand your adopted son played, to be specific. Naturally, we had no choice but to have Prince Craig step up in that situation. However, it’s a surety that they were agitated by this. Those who are dissatisfied with or estranged by the Archduke of the East, Zangritch Kurtheight, or by Prince Delnicius, were excited by the potential rise of Prince Craig. And so, they placed at its center...”
“The Archduchess of the West. So they put all their hopes in you, Your Grace?”
“That’s how it goes. However, that’s not all there is to it. Think of those in your vicinity as well. The representative of the Caravan Guild, who oversees all traffic across the Kingdom, is Giverny. He has direct support from the prime minister, Duke Grinicius. Then there are the artisan guilds, which oversee metalworking, timber and other manufactured goods. Not to mention the Carriage Guild, which supplies all carriages in the nation. The regions with the resources to produce their goods all lie in Archduke Kurtheight’s territory. Their representatives were all appointed by his recommendation.”
Euphylia shrugged her shoulders. In short, the second prince’s faction possessed far more influence.
“And now the seat of the representative of the Culinary Guild, who was just barely keeping the balance, is empty. How troublesome.”
“The Dreyfan Company was fundamentally neutral. They took the east, west, and center into consideration. Well, it’s only obvious, considering their first priority was to conveniently have someone to protect their position regardless of where they were.”
“That’s how it is. The reason they got into contact with the knights was to gain information about the next king before anyone else could, and also to recover regulations within the guild, apparently.”
“On the other hand, the most likely candidate for the next representative of the Culinary Guild, the Carlests, have their foundations set in Kurtheight.”
“Having the Culinary Guild largely based in the east is somewhat of a headache to the one responsible for the west, you see.”
“To think the issue of the Culinary Guild’s representative would turn into such chaos... That will be quite troublesome for our Ricardo as well.”
Paul once more pulled out his handkerchief, and wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Let’s stop with the idle chatter and get back to the topic at hand. No matter how much we speak of it, I don’t quite have a grasp on the all-important point of the segregation of ownership. My retainer in charge of financial affairs also told me, ‘Do not invest the assets of the duchy into such an insolent contract that has no precedent whatsoever.’ So, how about handing over your stocks for about this much gold each? At such a price, even my retainers will agree to it.”
“Oh no, that price will leave our company with nothing but our name. Each stock needs to at least be around this much...”
Thus, the talks between the two continued on, even as the light shining through the windows passed over the fan on the table.