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Chapter 42
“…Huh?”
For a moment, I couldn’t believe my ears.
My pupils shook as though struck by an earthquake of magnitude 9.0.
The dissonance between that tiny pair of lips and the words that had just come from them left me utterly speechless.
My lips just opened and closed in silence, my dazed eyes trembling.
So, just now—
As… no, Aches—the very same Aches who had smiled so kindly yesterday, telling me I was free to wander as I wished—
‘That’s impossible…!’
Even the claim that the Emperor was sane would have been easier to believe.
Just as my overloaded brain was about to short-circuit and explode—
The child, unable to withstand the fever burning his body, slowly collapsed to the side.
“A-As?!”
Startled, I leapt to my feet and hurried over to check him.
Thankfully, it seemed Aas had only fainted—there didn’t appear to be anything seriously wrong.
“Ha…”
A sigh of relief slipped from my lips.
I lifted Aas and laid him properly down on the bed, then dampened a nearby towel with water and gently wiped the sweat from his pale face.
His breathing was shallow and quick, and his cheeks were now flushed an even deeper red than before.
I gave him the fever-reducing medicine that Camille, his attending physician, had left for emergencies, and then slowly sat down in the chair beside the bed.
My startled heart was still pounding wildly in my chest.
I pressed a hand firmly against my breast, trying to calm the erratic beating, when the now more even sound of Aas’s breathing brushed softly against my ears.
Slowly, I raised my head to look at him.
He looked far more stable now, sleeping peacefully with gentle breaths.
Staring at that angelic face, I unconsciously murmured:
“…Aas isn’t in his right mind right now.”
Those words he spoke—he must have just blurted them out without knowing what he was saying, overheated by the fever.
Yes. That explanation made far more sense.
With that conclusion, my mind finally felt at ease.
“Aas, sleep well.”
Sleep deeply and wake up recovered soon.
Murmuring a wish born of both selfishness and selflessness, I tugged the blanket a little higher over him.
“The Emperor is hosting a banquet to welcome back the Spirit Master.”
The Grand Duke Baharman spoke after giving the invitation in his hand only a cursory glance.
Perhaps thanks to having vented his rage in the office the other day—where he’d overturned everything in sight over a failed plan—today, the Grand Duke was unusually composed.
Dante, lowering his head in shame, listened as the Duke’s voice continued.
“Clinging to failure is the work of small men. We must act like great men and move on to the next alternative.”
Dante hesitated.
“Alternative… my lord?”
“Removing the Grand Duke of Serenia is impossible. Not even with one SS-rank and two S-ranks were we able to take down that brat inhabiting the Grand Duke’s body.”
The Duke ground his teeth.
“Now that the Spirit Master has returned to the capital, that Grand Duke who clung to her must have retreated to his estate as well. You think we can eliminate him while he’s buried under layer after layer of protection there? Nonsense.”
He let out a scoffing snort.
“That leaves us with only one option.”
To win over the Spirit Master.
And the Emperor’s banquet would be the perfect opportunity to approach her naturally.
The Duke, drumming his fingers against the table, suddenly scowled.
“If only that damned son of mine would behave more cooperatively, persuading the Spirit Master would be far smoother.”
“…”
Dante bowed his head in silence, as though in mourning.
The Grand Duke’s only child and heir, Lloyd de Baharman, had once again gone out to meet women today…
“The only thing he inherited from me is his face, and nothing else worth mentioning.”
The Duke clicked his tongue.
Standing before his master, who firmly believed that, Dante wisely swallowed the words: ‘To be frank, my lord, the young master resembles your younger brother far more than he does you.’
Unaware of Dante’s thoughts, the Duke muttered on.
“The merchants report that the Spirit Master and that brat Aches were on good terms until just before leaving the village. Surely she doesn’t know his true identity and has chosen to ally with him…? Hmph. If only we could plant a spy by her side…”
But no—that was impossible.
Trying to attach a spy to the Spirit Master would only destroy any chance of gaining her trust.
After all, every water spirit served as her eyes and ears.
Dante, who had been listening in silence, finally spoke up slowly.
“Then… what if we drew in the Belzesti Empire?”
“…The Belzesti Empire?”
The Duke’s expression twisted into one of distaste.
“But wouldn’t that bring more harm than good? The Belzesti Empire has no reason to ally with us. If we tried to involve them, the price they’d demand…”
“Does Your Grace recall that I once served at the Imperial Palace of Belzesti?”
The sudden question made the Duke furrow his brow.
“I do. Why bring that up now?”
“Back then, I heard a strange rumor about the late Emperor Bellarician. I believe it could be used to sway Belzesti’s nobles.”
“You could sway them? What rumor is this?”
The Duke leaned forward with interest.
“That the soul of the deposed Emperor Bellarician resides within the Elberk Empire.”
“Hah? Utter nonsense.”
The Duke’s pale pink eyes, which had briefly brightened with curiosity, dulled with disinterest again.
Even as the Duke turned his head away, Dante pressed on.
“I thought so at first as well. But since coming to Elberk, I’ve begun to suspect someone.”
“Suspect? Who?”
Curiosity drew the Duke’s eyes back to him.
Dante answered evenly.
“The sorcerer Harnen.”
The Duke frowned slightly.
“Harnen? That name sounds vaguely familiar… Judging by his lack of a surname, a commoner?”
“Yes. Moreover, he was a prodigy—graduated from the Atlanta Academy alongside the Spirit Master as the youngest in its history. Now, he serves under the Grand Duke of Serenia.”
“Tch, again that Serenia brat.”
The Duke clicked his tongue, annoyed.
“So you claim one of the sorcerers serving under the Serenia Grand Duke carries the soul of the deposed Emperor Bellarician?”
Dante nodded.
“That is correct. At first, I doubted it as well. But he knew things about the Belzesti Imperial Palace that only someone deeply familiar with it could know—despite never having set foot in Belzesti.”
Of course, it was a lie.
The only reason Dante knew Harnen was truly Bellarician’s reincarnation was because he had heard it directly from Belzesti nobles in his previous life.
Back then, Duke Servante, the leader of the Belzesti nobility, had approached Grand Duke Baharman right after his coup and suggested an alliance.
Naturally, the Duke had accepted.
…But soon after, their army, boldly marching on the palace, was completely annihilated by the Serenia Grand Duke. Belzesti, quick as ever, immediately severed ties and distanced themselves.
‘Normally, I’d never want to deal with those bat-like opportunists…’
But now, he had no choice.
If it meant survival, Dante was willing to do anything.
Truly—anything.
“If the sorcerer Harnen truly holds the late Emperor’s soul, then he will inevitably seek revenge against Belzesti’s nobles. Conversely, those nobles will feel compelled to eliminate him to remove that threat.”
“Bellarician… yes. I do recall hearing tales of the mad tyrant of Belzesti, twenty-six years ago, who committed a massacre in the Imperial Palace. And of how the nobles rose in revolt against him.”
The Duke’s tapping fingers stilled.
“But if this sorcerer Harnen was the Spirit Master’s classmate at the academy… wouldn’t we risk offending her if we involved him?”
To this concern, Dante shook his head.
“There is no need to worry. The Spirit Master despises the deposed Emperor Bellarician.”
Indeed, Einra had loathed him.
So much so that she hated even hearing his name mentioned.
During her time at the Academy, she had pulverized every classmate who dared to speak of the deposed Emperor, without exception.
The Duke’s lips curled into a satisfied smirk.
“If what you say is true, then with just one sorcerer we could drag Belzesti into this mess. They would have no choice but to cooperate with us.”
After all, the enemy of my enemy is my ally.
“Send word to Belzesti immediately.”
