Chapter 14

“Thanks for your compliments, but I envy your position all the more. Since you serve the emperor at hand, you always see everybody respecting him, right? As I hear, you’re close to His Excellency more than any other minister. It looks like His Excellency values your talents very much.”

“Well, the Emperor is a benevolent person. Though my talents are limited, he says he needs my help, so I am trying to help him as best I can.”

As he answered her questions out of courtesy, Colin smiled at her softly.

‘Was he trying to sound me out?’

She instantly felt that way, but she didn’t care because it was true he was one of the emperor’s closest ministers.

“By the way, I would like to see the Emperor up close.”

She should not have said so because Colin was surprised by her unexpected remarks.

“Pardon?”

“Well, I want to see His Excellency up close.”

“In that case, you can submit a request for your audience with the Emperor and wait between three and seven days.”

Colin suddenly shut up while saying so. He felt she, as the daughter of the duke, must know the basic process of having an audience with the Emperor.

“Are you saying that you want to see the Emperor at my recommendation?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“And I guess the reason you want to see the Emperor at my recommendation is because you can’t afford to wait for his approval or you don’t want your audience with the Emperor to be known outside, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. You’re pretty good at understanding my intention.”

Marianne responded gladly, clapping her hands, as if she was praising a puppy that brought a ball she threw away. He grinned brightly before he knew when she praised him, but quickly changed his expression. When his eyes met Iric’s, who was standing behind the couch, he even cleared his throat and said, “I don’t know why you want to see His Excellency, but I don’t take anybody’s private request.”

“Oh, I respect your integrity, of course. As an empire official, you should be wary of any corruption. Furthermore, you should work for the public good as a loyal bureaucrat of His Majesty.”

Blinking his big eyes, Colin asked, “Yes, you’re right. Why are you asking for such a favor when you know that?”

“Sir Colin, did I put you in a difficult position when I told you I would like to see the Emperor up close?”

When he heard her brazen question, he felt something ominous from her remarks.

“I’m here to report to the Emperor about treason.”

It took only three seconds for her ominous warning to be heard by the Emperor.

“Treason?” Eckhart asked as if he was dumbfounded. He nervously closed the book he was holding.

“Yes, that’s true. Although it was a blasphemous expression, I’ve been asked to convey to you what she said exactly,” Colin said, looking around the corridor on his study again and again.

“Do you have any specific evidence?”

“I asked her about it three times because I thought it was important, but I don’t think she has found any solid material evidence.”

Eckhart frowned further at his reply. Colin, who was just innocent, was restless.

“Was the information network in the northern area broken? I never heard Duke Kling’s daughter going crazy or anything.”

“Well, there’s some evidence on the premise that you fully trust her.”

“Colin, to the best of my recollection, I read something in last month’s intelligence report that Ober often visited Lennox.”

“Yes, that is correct. It was an intelligence report that it was necessary to pay attention to him because he seemed to be meeting Duke Kling. The duke’s daughter told me Marquis Chester was trying his best to curry favor with Duke Kling and herself.”

“Despite that, are you forcing me to trust her words?” Eckhart refuted in an annoying tone.

If they picked the most influential family among the famous families of the empire, they could name the three dukes: Hubble, Lamont, and Kling.

Among them, Hubble was dissatisfied with the imperial family, though he was a long-time relative of the family. Lamont continued to remain neutral and didn’t try to stand out, befitting his family that produced the most judges. Duke Kling was a close friend of the Emperor’s father, Cassius.

But Eckart didn’t believe that Kling would fully support him as his father’s ally. Kling was his father’s man, through and through. It was fortunate that Eckart was not on Hubble’s side in terms of his power. Anyway, he was inadequate to be considered as his dependable ally.

“I’m not saying you should believe her at all! I still have some doubt. Perhaps she might be a spy of the anti-imperial family force, as you are worried.”

Clarifying his position, Colin pushed his round glasses with his fingertips.

“But the head of the treason that the duke’s daughter pointed out was Marquis Chester.”

Eckart, who was looking down at Colin without hiding the unpleasant expression, asked, with his shoulders hardened.

“Who did she say?”

“Ober von Chester, Marquis Chester, the Foreign Minister.”

Colin’s confirmation was a final blow to him. Colin began to offer lots of surprising tips to Eckart, who instantly freaked out in great confusion.

“According to her, Marquis Chester was approaching her in order to take away the duke’s territories and knighthood. His goal was to usurp the royal throne, and he would kill Duke Kling and her when he didn’t find any further use for them. She said she regretted it when she trusted his favor.”

Eckart turned aside after a moment of silence. His golden hem fluttered between the bookshelves more than twice the height of any adult male. Colin followed him quickly.

“Is there any possibility that she was part of Ober’s treason plan?”

“I can’t deny that completely. But chances are not that high because the terms and conditions she put forward as a deal were so weird.”

“Terms of a deal? Did she propose a deal?”

While slowly walking, Eckart stopped and stared fiercely at his shoulder. Colin also stopped as he was following him like a chick chasing their mother hen.

“Yes, she did. She was rude and ridiculous. Anyway, she wanted me to meet you and convey her message to you by all means. And if you are willing to punish the traitors, she would assist you by using all means and ways.”

“Using all means and ways?”

“Yes! She even told me that she was willing to collect information about Ober by pretending to cooperate with him. She also said you could use her for that purpose as much as you liked.”

“What does she want in return?”

“She said she would not ask for any honor or wealth as long as you could guarantee the safety of her and her father.”

Obviously, her condition was weird. Eckart started walking again, only looking ahead.

“I’m all the more suspicious of her condition. Couldn’t her condition be double-edged? She could survive even if both parties go to ruins. Who knows? Ober may have ordered her to put forward this condition.”

“That makes perfect sense, but….”

“Do you disagree with me?”

“If Marquis Chester succeeded in controlling Duke Kling, would he need this kind of gambling? In that case, he wouldn’t want to give us the wealth and talented people too valuable for him.”

“Hmmmm… ”

“Besides, Duke Kling, though not our ally, is most convinced of your legitimacy, who is the previous emperor’s only son. If he had known about Ober’s dirty trick, he would not have cooperated with Ober. And if he had not known, that’s proof that his daughter’s argument is true.” Colin repeatedly emphasized the point while glaring with his red eyes.

As long as Duke Kling was alive, Ober would not be able to control Lennox. If that’s the case, her mention of Ober’s threat to her and her father was a plausible assumption.

“And even if she were a double spy for Marquis Chester, couldn’t she be our double spy, too if you took the initiative on this deal? After all, what matters is to make sure that she is a spy who is loyal to Marquis Chester.”

What Colin said was that she was a double-edged sword, after all.

In other words, as it’s a sharp weapon, though dangerous, it would be good to wield it well. Eckart thought Colin’s words made sense.

Nevertheless, he didn’t make the decision readily.

It wasn’t because he was naive enough to deny the situation, or because he didn’t think Ober’s group was not that bad. Personally, he would have them kneel down before him and punish all of them harshly. He thought that’s why he needed more specific motivation and evidence.

He also needed a strong power and cause. His hasty decision motivated by anger would ruin him, not Ober.

As if he had Eckart’s number, Colin led him to the map on the second floor. When he pulled the red string, twisted with silk, there unfolded the continental map showing the huge land of Aslan.