NTWBR 12

Chapter 12

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“May this be the answer you wished fo

**[Justification.]**

That was all.

It was just a single word, but Irene could clearly understand what the temple was trying to say.

After reading the single-line letter once more, Irene quietly placed it inside her desk drawer.

“Should I take a reply back with me?”

Irene spoke politely even to the young priest who had come on an errand.

Every single action like this would be reported to the eyes and ears surrounding her.

The young priest, perhaps unaware of such intricacies, stared blankly at Irene.

“I was told to report back after confirming you had read it.”

“I have confirmed it, Priest.”

“Then I’ll take my leave.”

With those words, the young priest departed.

Irene sat back down and read the High Priest’s letter once more.

She even held it up to the candlelight, checking for any hidden messages written in invisible ink.

But there was nothing. The only thing there was that single line of text.

Deciding there was nothing more to examine, she was about to burn the letter in the candle flame when she paused and looked out the window.

Not long after, she heard the sound of the door opening.

“A priest just left.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“You’re not going to ask when I came in?”

“You are speaking to me now that you are here, are you not?”

“That is true, Your Highness. Did you receive your answer?”

Ernst’s interest seemed solely focused on this, his gaze turning towards the letter on the desk.

Irene pointed at the letter with her finger and offered a faint smile.

Her violet eyes were filled with joy, clearly indicating she was very pleased.

Irene brushed her shining silver hair back and held up the letter.

“I received it.”

“Did you?”

“Yes. I have finally obtained the answer I desired.”

Irene beamed brightly.

Ernst returned her smile.

They had received the answer they had been waiting for.

“You received the answer you wished for.”

“Regardless. The temple has sided with us, Sir.”

“Congratulations, Your Highness.”

“It’s still too early to say that, Sir.”

“Still, please accept my congratulations.”

“Since you insist, Sir, I will accept them, but please be more careful from now on.”

At Irene’s words, Ernst quietly bowed his head.

It was a gesture whose meaning was unclear.

But when he raised his head, his expression remained unchanged.

Irene, seeing his face, simply turned her gaze back to the letter.

‘It’s certain… that young priest is the High Priest. Otherwise, a reply couldn’t have come this quickly.’

When Irene had paid her respects to the elderly priest at the temple, she had felt a gaze watching her from somewhere.

After greeting the old priest, Irene had even heard the footsteps of a child, whom she suspected was the owner of that gaze.

For a long while after, she had felt the child’s presence.

The child had been hiding somewhere in the wall, watching Irene and the old priest, listening to their conversation.

Outwardly, he appeared to be nothing more than a young apprentice priest.

His attire was merely the coarse monastic robe that all priests wore.

He wore no symbol of the High Priest. However, there had been a small hint caught in Irene’s eyes.

It was the old priest’s behavior.

To Irene’s eyes, the old priest seemed particularly mindful of the young priest.

This meant the young priest’s status was high.

At the very least, he was a high-ranking priest.

And if the temple was sending someone on an errand, they would have sent a messenger, but instead, a priest had come.

Moreover, the horse pulling the carriage the child had arrived in was no ordinary horse.

It was that very child, the one who had met Irene’s gaze at the temple, who had arrived in a carriage pulled by such a horse.

All of this was sufficient evidence to deduce the young priest’s identity.

‘That child is definitely the High Priest. That old snake… is nothing but a puppet!’

“Your Highness.”

“Yes?”

“What are you thinking so deeply about?”

“It’s nothing.”

“…If you say it’s nothing, I won’t ask further.”

With Ernst’s final words, Irene fell back into thought.

It was now well past time for everyone in the imperial palace to know that the High Priest had come to her palace.

Naturally, the news would have reached her father, Emperor Fern the Fifth.

It didn’t matter what kind of answer had been brought.

The mere fact that a priest from the Grand Temple had visited Irene was what was important.

‘Now… is a chance finally going to come to me…?’

Meanwhile, at that time.

At the Welbrun Ducal residence, Duke Welbrun and Crown Prince Franz were in conversation.

“Yes, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“You must help me a little, Duke Welbrun.”

“Me… help you, Your Highness? I am merely a noble of Istana.”

“That is precisely why you can help me, Duke.”

“Most of what I do involves physical labor, so I’m not sure what Your Highness means.”

‘What a sly old fox!’

‘Let’s see you show your hand.’

Their gazes clashed in mid-air.

Glaring at each other as if ready to kill, they could only offer cold smiles.

“Crown Prince Franz.”

“Speak, Duke.”

“I went to propose to Princess Irene this morning.”

Franz spoke as if mentioning the morning menu.

Duke Welbrun, in turn, maintained a nonchalant demeanor.

“You were rejected, I see.”

“How did you know?”

“If you hadn’t been rejected, you wouldn’t have come to see me, would you?”

“…I suppose so.”

Duke Welbrun spoke as if stating the obvious, and Franz conceded.

‘That sly fox. How do I get to his true intentions?’

‘This brat… what is he really thinking?’

“Having been rejected by the Princess and then coming to me, why don’t you speak your mind? I’ll listen.”

“Hahaha! To think I’d be airing my grievances to Duke Welbrun like this. I am deeply moved.”

“I only said I would listen, don’t read too much into it.”

“Having you listen is already a great thing.”

“Right, so what did you say to the Princess to get rejected?”

At the Duke’s direct question, Crown Prince Franz smiled bitterly.

Seeing Franz’s smile, Duke Welbrun’s brow furrowed.

It was a smile unbecoming of a crown prince of a nation.

However, that was merely Duke Welbrun’s opinion.

“I told her I could be of help to her, Duke.”

“And how exactly did you say you could help?”

“Well… of course—”

“You didn’t specify, did you.”

“There are internal matters in my home country too, Duke.”

Franz said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Duke Welbrun’s gaze, as he watched Franz, was not favorable.

He too had ears.

“Those internal matters concern Your Highness Franz’s own affairs, I assume?”

“Duke… knows of it?”

“Would this old man be able to know if he wished to know?”

“…It would be better to speak plainly.”

“Didn’t I say I would listen?”

Crown Prince Franz brushed back his fallen bangs.

He looked straight into Duke Welbrun’s golden eyes.

A firm resolve swirled in the black eyes of Crown Prince Franz as he met the Duke’s gaze.

“I… I don’t know when I might be dethroned as Crown Prince in my homeland right now.”

“…Because of the rumors?”

“Let’s say it is. Anyway, my younger brothers are making their moves. And behind them, each has their own backers.”

There were three princes in the Mestian Imperial Family.

And Franz was the eldest. However, Franz’s birth mother had died long ago.

Furthermore, his maternal family was not a powerful noble house.

Thus, Franz’s political base was weak.

“Did you need to tell me even such stories?”

“I found it difficult to tell Irene this part.”

“You seem to forget that this old man is a foreigner.”

“You are the youngest Sword Master on the continent, so it should be fine to say this much, right?”

This meant that since he likely already knew, there was no point in hiding it.

At this, Duke Welbrun remained expressionless.

Franz, in turn, felt a growing unease inside.

It was a situation where an order to leave wouldn’t have been out of place.

“Hahaha!”

Duke Welbrun suddenly laughed.

Franz became even more unsettled by the Duke’s reaction.

“So?”

“My younger brothers, backed by their respective mentors, are threatening me.”

“When a nation has more than one prince, that is only natural. However, if one’s foundation is solid, threats like that won’t even matter.”

“…”

“And also, those ‘rumors’ likely play a part as well. Don’t they?”

Duke Welbrun mentioned the ‘rumors.’

He had thought last night that the true nature of the ‘rumors’ Irene mentioned wasn’t important.

What mattered was that those rumors were a weakness for Crown Prince Franz.

“‘Rumors’ are just rumors, Crown Prince. If so, there’s no reason to be shaken by them, is there?”

“My support base is only the fact that I am the legitimate eldest son and that my mentor is the empire’s greatest scholar. That’s all, Duke.”

“Isn’t that enough?”

The foundation Franz revealed was more than sufficient as a support base.

His status as the legitimate eldest son and the support of the empire’s scholars.

In Duke Welbrun’s judgment, this alone was a more stable support base than Irene’s.

“I need a stronger foundation. As you know, my birth mother and maternal family are lower nobility. So I need something more powerful.”

“A stronger foundation…?”

“Something like marriage to a princess of another country.”

“Is that why?”

The Duke’s reaction suggested he now understood why Franz had suddenly proposed to Irene.

Franz smiled faintly and continued.

“Would it be just that, Duke? I also have something to offer Irene.”

“…”

“Her becoming the Crown Princess of a nation, and later Empress, sitting beside the Emperor. Isn’t that enough?”

Franz’s words about making Irene, who aimed to become Emperor herself, into Empress prompted Duke Welbrun to sink deeper into the sofa.

“She is a princess who has declared she will become Emperor herself.”

“What nonsense is a woman who isn’t even married talking about becoming Emperor.”

Crown Prince Franz’s words were laced with mockery.

Outwardly, Franz maintained a dignified demeanor, but his words were not.

His voice was tinged with tension and anxiety.

“Even if she becomes Emperor, she would need to marry to secure the succession.”

“That’s right.”

Since it was a thought most nobles would have, Duke Welbrun agreed with Franz.

Encouraged by the Duke’s reaction, Franz continued excitedly.

“That’s why I told her I could be of help, but, as you saw…”

“…”

“I was rejected. I can’t accept it, but I showed her my true feelings.”

“Did you really show her your true feelings?”

“I did. I told her that just by becoming the fiancée of a crown prince, her political standing in Istana would rise.”

“Is that so?”

“And besides, I even apologized to her, but she still rejected me.”

‘Apology? There’s something there.’

Duke Welbrun’s golden eyes gleamed. After a momentary flash, he leaned towards Crown Prince Franz.

“Did you step on her foot while dancing?”

“It’s not something like that, Duke.”

‘He’s hiding something. There’s something.’

“You are hiding something from me.”

“…”

‘What a sly bastard. Do I have to tell him everything?’

At the Duke’s words, caution arose in Crown Prince Franz’s black eyes.

Given his status as a crown prince, it was awkward for him to spill everything.

Moreover, from Irene, to whom he had already revealed much, he had only heard a cold rejection.

“…”

“I don’t know what you are hiding from me, but if it is something important… I’m afraid I cannot listen to you any further, Crown Prince Franz.”

It was a polite dismissal.

If he had nothing more to say, he should leave now. At Duke Welbrun’s gentle but firm dismissal, Franz’s face darkened.

“The truth is… Duke, you must absolutely not laugh.”

“Whether I laugh or not depends on what I hear, doesn’t it?”

“I… I…”

Just as Crown Prince Franz was about to speak, the door to the reception room opened and a servant cautiously entered.

Crown Prince Franz glared at the servant who had interrupted him with an irritated look.

However, the servant entered without hesitation, undeterred by Franz’s glare.

“Your Grace the Duke, Madame Pailyn has arrived.”

“Madame Pailyn?”

“Duke?”

“Show Madame Pailyn in.”

“I’m already here, Duke. Oh my? Crown Prince Franz is here as well.”

Honestly, she was surprised. She hadn’t expected Crown Prince Franz to be there.

Irene feigned obvious surprise and sat down in an empty seat.

As soon as Irene sat down, Crown Prince Franz stared at her intently.

“Why are you looking at me like that, Crown Prince Franz?”

“What brings you here…?”

“Is there a problem with a niece visiting her uncle?”

“Nie…ce? …Ah! That’s right, yes…”

Only then did Crown Prince Franz, remembering the relationship between Irene and Duke Welbrun, offer a smile.

Irene had no intention of reading any meaning into Franz’s smile and was about to let it pass.

“Did you forget?”

“I simply forgot for a moment, Duke. And Princess.”

“Why is Crown Prince Franz here?”

“I just had something to say to your uncle, Princess.”

“Is that so?”

“O-o-of course!”

Crown Prince Franz stammered at Irene’s question.

Irene, watching him, quietly turned her gaze to Duke Welbrun.

“Duke.”

“Speak, Madame.”

“Judging by the atmosphere, it seems I should come back another time.”

“Ah, no, Irene!”

“That’s not necessary, Madame.”

Crown Prince Franz grabbed Irene’s hand as she was about to rise.

Irene, finding it absurd that her hand was being grabbed for the second time, stared at Franz.

Flustered, Crown Prince Franz briefly averted his gaze and then gently released her hand.

“Should I step out for a moment?”

“Duke?”

“Ah, no, Irene!”

At the two flustered replies, Duke Welbrun smiled and sat back down.

Then, immediately wiping the smile from his face, he looked at Irene.

“It seems the nature of our conversation will depend on why Madame has come, wouldn’t you say?”

“It seems the matter I have to discuss might be a bit uncomfortable with Crown Prince Franz present.”

“…Should I leave?”

“There’s no need to go that far. If anyone should leave, it should be me, Crown Prince Franz?”

“…That’s not necessary. I came here to tell my story and ask for help.”