Chapter 49 - Schemes And Conspiracies

"Hey, Uncle Bel!"

[Good morning Prince, also my name is Belphegor not 'Bel'.]

"Don't sweat the small stuff, it's not important."

[It is very important Prince, also why did you call this early in the morning.]

"Oh yeah! I wanted to ask you about something urgent."

[Urgent?]

"Yeah, do you happen to have any dirt on Marquis Pearce, substantial stuff that can cause him to lose his title of Marquis?"

Hearing the question Arthur asked, Layla and Nicole had their eyes widen in surprise. Layla ran up to him and snatched the phone from his hands.

"Huh? Why?"

"Don't 'why?' me! What the hell are you asking the Grand Duke?"

"A question?"

Layla wanted nothing more than to punch Arthur in the face, but she had to first of all, make sure Belphegor did not take Arthur's words seriously.

"Good morning Grand Duke."

[Hmm...Lady Layla, Morning to you.]

"Please do not take Prince Arthur's words seriously, it's just one of his whims."

"It's clearly not a whim, I'm tryna help you out here, isn't that why you came here in the first place?"

"We need help with Zach not the Marquis house as a whole!"

[Are you perhaps talking about the recent situation with the Count of Harper and the Marquis of Pearce? It had caught the King's attention as he had an interest in one of the businesses that the Count was involved in.]

"Huh? Grandpa knows already? Such small stuff shouldn't bother him right?"

Arthur and Layla were surprised that Diablo knew of this, although Count Harper was a war hero, he was just one of many, and also one of the thousands of Counts the Devildom had.

The issue with Marquis Pearce might be serious for him but in the eyes of Diablo who oversaw an entire universe, it was ultimately a trivial issue not worth his attention.

[The Count was partaking in one of Lady Inglis' experiments, he was in charge of supplying the necessary materials required, and that is why the King took notice of it.]

Grand Duchess Inglis, the leader of the Leviathan Devil tribe and one of Diablo's wives, was currently not in the Hell universe at the moment, she was away on official business in another one of the nearby universes ruled by the Devil race.

That was why she was not aware of the situation, if not, the Marquis of Pearce would have known the wrath of the Leviathan Leader.

Diablo just ordered the Marquis to stop pressuring the Count's business, the particular one that was responsible for transporting Inglis' required materials.

Other than that, he took no action, it was a trivial matter between noble houses, one not worth his attention and it would have remained that way, at least until he discovered that there was someone behind the Marquis who was making Zach take the actions he did.

"Someone the Marquis would take orders from?"

"That's why I came to meet you, I had it investigated and the result was shocking. They covered their tracks well but I was able to find one thing, there's most likely at least Ducal house working with the Marquis, they are probably targeting the Count for other reasons."

"And getting Zach engaged to her is just a means to an end huh?"

[It seems Lady Layla is already clear about the situation.]

Belphegor's voice rang out again, breaking the sudden silence that was enveloping the duo. Arthur clicked his tongue and asked.

"You know who it is yet?"

[Not yet, we are getting close however.]

"Tch...Fine. I'd look into it too, make sure to get that dirt still, it could come in handy."

[Very well.]

Arthur cut the call after Belphegor's reply, he realized the reason Layla came to meet him. If she, the Daughter of a Grand Duke interfered with the actions of a Ducal house, it could spark conflict between the two houses.

However, Arthur was a prince, he was higher in rank than the both of them, he was perfect to mediate in the matter and the Duke wont dare go against him.

This was not only due to his rank as Prince but due to the 'Strongest Leviathan' and 'Arch Devil of Destruction', his mother, Cattleya.

She had wiped out a noble house before for a petty reason, even if they were a duke and she may not do the same to them, they could not risk angering her either.

Arthur sent a text to one of his contacts, the High drifter who was in charge of all the drifters in the hell universe, after promising to attend an underground auction in his place, the High drifter agreed to mobilize his information gathering personnel to look into it.

Although there were drifters looking into the matter for Diablo, none of them were High drifters. The high drifters only moved at the command of their leader and Arthur just struck a deal with that leader.

They were faster and more efficient than the normal drifters when it came to information gathering, Arthur would most likely find out the culprit in a few days time, not more than a week.

Diablo was also investigating this for the sake of merely satisfying his curiosity so he didn't mobilize too many personnel to look into it.

Seeing the text that he just sent, Layla gave Arthur a shocked look and asked.

"Why go so far to help?"

"You put up with all my bullshit for years, so i might as well help you out. Plus you're keeping my secret for me."

He then walked up to Nicole and patted her head then continued.

"Also she's cute enough to make me want to protect her."

He flashed a teasing smile at Layla, seeing that she realized,

'He knows!'

Arthur was no fool, he had long realized that the one Nicole had feelings for, was none other than himself.

Although he had no intention of accepting her feelings, it did not mean he would let her get engaged to a scumbag who was also the puppet of someone else.

◇　◇　◇

The High drifter looked at his phone while smiling, putting it down he waved his hands in the air. The presences that could be sensed in the room reduced by more than half.

Some of the other high drifters around him had already moved to find out the one manipulating things behind the scenes.

"Good...I got him to attend the auction, if he meets the Lord there and shows a reaction it'd confirm my suspicions."

"Is the Lord really coming here?"

Another high drifter asked skeptically, he was unsure if the one called 'Lord' was really going to come to the Hell Universe.

"Yep, in secret though. Although that Diablo may still notice, those pure blooded devils are quite sensitive. He said he wanted to confirm if 'that' was really in this universe."

"I see..."

Laughing lightly, he stood up from his chair and turned to the other high drifters before speaking,

"A year would pass in the blink of an eye, we'd better start preparing for his arrival from now."

The others nodded and disappeared from their seats, they had gone to begin preparing for the arrival of the one the drifters called 'Lord'.

◇　◇　◇

Meanwhile on a random broken planet in a desolate realm, one devoid of any natural life, a young devil appeared on a small rock. He sat down on it and waited for someone else.

He had blonde hair and an angry look on his face. He was none other than Marquis Pearce's third son. Zach Pearce.

Moments later another figure appeared, the one who appeared had a mask on his face, he also wore a hood to conceal his hair.

He was dressed in all black, he even wore black gloves, leaving no avenues for even his skin color to be seen. He looked at Zach and asked with a slightly coarse voice, most likely the result of a voice changer.

[Have you gotten it yet?]

"The foolish girl didn't accept and her father also seems to be buying time for something. I haven't had a chance to get close yet."

[What's stopping a Marquis's son like you from having your way with a Mere Count's daughter?]

"That mere Count happens to be running errands for a Grand Duchess you know? The king noticed it and gave my father a warning, we gotta lay low for now or he might figure out what we're planning."

[Tsk...]

The masked, black clothed figure clicked his tongue in anger, he was silent for a moment before speaking up again.

[Hurry up and get it already, you wanted power and the girl and I wanted what her family had. We made a deal, now keep your end of the deal, or neither you nor the marquis would get what you both want.]

"I know okay? I'm trying, but she seems close with Grand Duke Eryrth's daughter, worst of all Prince Arthur seems to have found out about it."

[The useless prince should know his place...he can't even use the most common magic and he's sticking his nose where he doesn't belong. Ignore him and go ahead with your plan, he won't be able to do anything.]

"But his mother?"

[She's not in Hell, she's away with the grand duchess. She'd never know what's happening.]

"Tch... fine."

Zach clicked his tongue and agreed, he then brought out a teleportation artifact and left the area. The masked figure also did the same.

◇　◇　◇

After the two left, a high drifter appeared and looked at where the two just were before speaking.

"That aura, he may try to conceal it but it's clear as day to me, it seems the one you're looking for is closer to you than you imagine Prince Arthur."

He then followed the traces of the teleportation magic activated by the artifacts they both used, upon singling out the traces of the black clothed figure, he grinned mischievously.

The next moment, he was gone.