Chapter 161

“Dang it! Didn’t I tell you repeatedly that when you appear before me, you have to make me know you are around?”

“I’m sorry. I knew both of you were together, but you told me the other day that I didn’t need to be on alert when you were with Lady Marianne…” Curtis fumbled.

Instead of blaming him further, Eckart looked at him as he walked away.

“That’s enough. If I give you advice on this, get used to it as soon as possible from now on.”

“… Yes, Your Majesty. Let me keep it in mind.” Curtis looked down for a moment before bringing up the reason he was there. “I’ve got a message from the mole you dispatched to Roshan.”

“How about Ober’s minion?”

“I hear those who were supposed to be witnesses were led away, but I don’t think they originally lived there. They are most likely pretending to be Chester’s moles.”

“Chester’s moles….”

Eckart gently touched his straight jawline with his fingers. Pondering over something for a moment, he glanced at Curtis’s back and asked in a low voice, “What about the situation in Lennox?”

“I conveyed the revised list Lord Feyegrino. As there was no particular protest from Marquis of Balua and Earl Essenbach, I don’t think there is any problem with your plan.”

***

“Giyom.”

Ober called his minion. Giyom, who was standing behind Ober, walked to the other side.

Duke Hubble gladly let him go. There was a strange atmosphere arising like a haze.

“Now that you cleared up your misunderstanding of me, I will leave for now, if you don’t have anything else to say.”

“Please do.”

Duke Hubble reopened the book that he had been resting on his lap.

Crunch.

Hearing the noise of him twisting his neck, Ober rose from his seat and said goodbye, “Have a good rest.”

Inside the wagon heading back to his mansion, Ober murmured, buried deep in his fluffy seat,

“It’s time to get rid of that old dotard.”

When he stretched his legs across the sofa, Giyom sensed his mood and filled a wine glass.

“How many moles are left in Duke Hubble’s mansion?”

“According to Miss Arnette yesterday, there were a total of fourteen, except for the two who we lost contact with. Fifteen, all told, including Erez.”

“You don’t have to assign them to the duke anymore. Leave only one behind just in case, and have the rest of them keep an eye on his son, Elius.”

“Will do, sir.”

“What about the moles being dispatched to Roshan?”

“I had them prepare horses to take them there. By now, they are already on the way.

As for the latest intelligence on the investigation, I updated the report and gave it to you two days ago.”

“The investigation is enough. Don’t receive any more intelligence because there are many watchful eyes around. As for our moles, bring them back alive to the capital. They should never be lost until we find them useless.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.” Giyom bowed politely.

Ober lifted and turned the glass of red wine in the air. The liquid, the color of blood, climbed up and slid down the clear glass wall when he moved it.

It was obvious why Duke Hubble took pains to invite him to witness the tragic end of Erez, one of the moles Ober planted in his mansion.

It was nothing unusual that Ober planted his moles in Duke Hubble’s mansion.

Duke Hubble also must have known that there were other moles of Ober hiding in his mansion, but these days he began to get rid of them one by one for obvious reasons.

Clearly Duke Hubble wanted to send a clear warning to Ober that he wouldn’t approve of this kind of spying activity by Ober.

Ober, who played cards and chess games with Duke Hubble several times, knew how he acted when he was at war. It would take some time for him to determine the value of any specific card, but once he was done judging its gains and losses, he never hesitated to take action.

He was never afraid of anything once he decided on his winning card.

“And one more thing.”

But people who were fearless in their use of power were supposed to be arrogant, and the haughty would eventually lower their guard.

“Let me convene with Kiara.”

Ober extended his right arm and tilted the glass slowly. The wine inside fell to the bottom of his wagon in a long red stream through the air. Drops broke away from the stream and sprang up like drops of blood. The closed wagon was soon filled with a dark fragrance. The polished wood floor turned dark red, as if it was stained with blood.

“At Duke Hubbles’ house tomorrow evening.”

Recalling his mother’s warning with respect to Marianne one day, he took a long and deep breath. The aroma of the wine filled the wagon, but he strangely smelled blood. It was a smell of death that resembled the scent of blood.

* * *

On June 13th, everybody at the Lucio Imperial Palace was busy as usual. The rainy season was about to start in Milan soon, and half the year had passed on the calendar.

Coincidentally, the engagement reception was around the corner, so many officials in each internal affairs department of the palace were snowed under with work.

Ober left the office of the foreign ministry in the late afternoon holding a thick folder of files. Typically, he would have headed for his house or a social club, but today, he turned to the main palace for some reason.

He was one of those officials who, like Duke Hubble, did not report directly to the emperor unless the issue was very serious or important.

Moreover, today there were no internal agendas that needed the emperor’s urgent approval, nor urgent reports from outside. So, some officials who bumped into him near the main palace shook their heads and whispered among themselves.

Finally, Ober stopped in front of the emperor’s study. Harriet, who was on guard, standing like a stone statue of a temple, greeted him, “Welcome, sir. Have you come to see His Majesty? ”

“Right. I’d like to see him urgently, so hurry up!”

Harriet frowned a bit. In fact, he was expecting some kind of sarcastic response from Ober such as, ‘Well, who do you think I’ve come to meet?’, ‘You guys are really stupid! Never flexible when it comes to handling things’, ‘Is the emperor not in again?’, or ‘Is he coming back soon? Of course, he will come back in an hour, which means ‘pretty soon’ by your standards here at the palace, right?’

But this time Ober didn’t sneer at him and got down to the point.

Harriet stepped into the main office where Eckart was working, while looking at Ober who seemed to be in good spirits. It wasn’t long before he returned and said, “You can come in now.”

As Harriet was watching him with a suspicious eye, Ober entered the study.

Passing by the huge bookshelves that he saw many times, Ober could never take a liking to them. He soon entered Eckart’s office. He knelt before the emperor and politely said, “May the glory of the great god Ailrius be bestowed on you! I, Ober, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Marquis of Chester, am honored to see you. ”

“Get up,” Eckart replied.

Ober raised his knees and looked straight.

On the large executive desk, there were piles of reports sent by each department as well as his edicts to be published soon. Perhaps because he felt uncomfortable, Deputy Chamberlain Kloud was serving him, collecting the documents and dictating some edicts on his behalf.

“I know you’re busy, but as I have some urgent issues that I can’t delay reporting to you, I’ve come here to meet you without any advance notice. I seek your understanding.”

While checking the report submitted by Colin, which Kloud opened wide for easy reading, Eckart looked at him.

Eckart was sensitive to people’s moods. He immediately noticed that the Ober standing before him now was very different from the usual Ober who came to see him.

At the same time, Eckart identified the reason for Ober’s change.

“It looks like you’ve come to keep faith with me.”

“Since you have rewarded me with an undeserved reward, how can I betray your expectation?”

Ober smiled slyly. Skillfully, Eckart looked at his conceited attitude for a moment, and soon turned his eyes back to the files on his desk.

“I hope you will not disappoint me as you promised.”

“I also hope you will be satisfied with my answer.”

Ober presented him with the document he was holding. Kloud received it and spread it in front of Eckart.

“To sum up the conclusion briefly, the accident in Roshan is presumed to be Duke Hubble’s conspiracy to harm Your Majesty and Lady Marianne.”