“In my humble opinion, the Castle of Chester is pretty good land comparable to that of Duke Kling’s, although it’s the marquis’s land. His reputation in the social circles is in some ways even more well-known than Kling’s. In that respect, his determination to go through the trouble of being the duke’s son-in-law is pretty suspicious.”

“If he had coveted the position of the duke, he would have certainly incited the nobles or negotiated with me directly.”

“I agree. Look at this map. If you trace the pattern of territories that Marquis Chester occupied, Lennox was supposed to be a region that he was not interested in terms of location or region. He chose mainly mining towns with mines or trading cities as the major centers of transport. Why does he covet Lenox?”

Colin jumped up and stretched his hand as much as he could in order to draw a large triangle on the map.

Lennox, bordered by the Faisal Empire and located in the northernmost suburbs, was a military city in every aspect. As it was the capital of the ruined Lennox Empire, it was self-sufficient and very wealthy without outside help. But it was not a land that produced expensive minerals, nor was it a land where the roads in all directions were centered like Chester.

Nevertheless, Ober had some reason to own Lennox.

“Astolf Knights.”

They were absolutely needed for successful treason. Of the four major national knights across the empire, they were the only knights that could be equal to the Eluang Knights, the imperial knights, and they were an invincible army in terms of combat capabilities. Unlike the knights of the other three provinces, they felt it more honorable to fall as the swords and shields of their lord, their real master, compared with the nominal monarch.

“Astolf Knights are comprised of the knights of the ruined Lennox Empire as the main pillar, and they are very loyal to the lord of the Lennox Castle. In order to have them all without bleeding, it was necessary for anyone to be the successor to Duke Kling and inherit his legacy!”

Eckart pressed his temple with one hand as if he were experiencing migraines.

He let out a long sigh and said, “Your analysis is very correct!”

The fact that he was kept in the dark about the whole situation unfolding up until now made him feel ashamed and angry about himself. If Marianne’s argument was true, there couldn’t be any clearer circumstantial evidence than that.

“Aside from all other conditions, she is the only daughter of Duke Kling. You know what that means, right? There’s no better chess move for Ober to turn the tide in his favor.”

Looking up to the Emperor, Colin appealed.

Though it was discourteous, Eckart stared at the northern edge of the map instead of scolding Colin.

“Tell Jed to get all the information about Duke Kling and her daughter and report to me!”

***

It was shortly after lunch when Jed went to the Emperor’s study.

He skillfully picked the intelligence report by the information network in the northern area from among a bunch of the Treasury’s budget documents he brought on purpose. As it had all kinds of intelligence ranging from previously reported confidential secrets to non-reported general information, it was a huge amount of intelligence.

“I’ve collected and sorted out this huge intelligence in only three hours. I think you have a very competent friend in me!” Jed said.

“Are you begging for my praise when you’re bragging like that?”

“Please praise me if you know my intention.”

Jed’s grunting was his effort to break the ice.

Eckart smiled faintly at his old friend’s considerations. But as soon as he started to examine the intelligence, he made a cold expression again.

“I heard about her from Colin. Are you going to use her?”

“What?”

“That woman.”

Eckart handed him a piece of paper instead of answering. That woman, namely, Marianne’s name was found in each paragraph. It was not top-secret, but there was lots of trivial information that he didn’t notice before.

“We didn’t know this because Duke Kling didn’t allow her daughter to go out, but there’s a widespread rumor in the social circles of the northern areas that she’s going to be Marquis Chester’s wife.”

“It says so in this report.”

“That’s nonsense! Ober’s obviously lured the innocent girl to make her his lover. Do you know how dedicated Duke Kling is to his daughter? Damned Ober! Duke Kling is not the type of man who would propose such a deal through her daughter.”

“I know. She said she didn’t ask for his permission. ”

“That’s why she came all the way up to the capital to have a date with Ober!” said Jed angrily, tearing his hair out as if he felt frustrated.

“In Colin’s opinion, we should use her, even though she might have come here to meet her lover.”

“That’s why I’m asking you to think twice because she is Kling’s daughter.”

At that moment, Eckhart lifted his sharp eyes slowly.

“You know that you shouldn’t challenge Kling hastily, not to mention Chester and Hubble, right?

Where can you find the guarantee that he is going to be your ally? That woman’s ridiculous argument? I can verbally stab that damned old man with a knife five hundred times.”

“I’m glad to hear that. It would be better if you could show action instead of words and then be damned!”

“I beg your pardon?”

Jed lifted his eyes hastily and raised his voice.

Eckart laughed at his violent reaction.

“I was kidding, man.”

“Do not joke from now on. Let me crack a joke, not you.”

“Jed.”

“Why are you calling me?”

“Are you worried?”

“About what? Do you think I’m worried because I and Colin would be unemployed if you fell into Ober’s trap? Or because you are going to be jobless?”

“Nope. Because Duke Kling’s territories are my mother’s land.”

Jed suddenly stopped moving his hands which were trimming his disheveled hair at the moment.

“Well, I can’t deny that completely.”

Previously, Queen Blair was the last remaining queen of the ruined Lennox empire. Her parents’ family, the Romanov imperial family, was exterminated by the rebels, and the land they ruled was subjugated to Aslan that defeated the rebels. After that, Lennox was torn to pieces and distributed to the nobles in the form of a surrogate land.

Nominally, the land belonged to Queen Blair. The nobles who were handed the land were merely her representatives who could not directly rule them.

But the surrogate reign that lasted more than twenty years changed the real owners of those areas. All the grains in the fields and the fruits were donated to the imperial palace, but the residents in those areas relied more on their own lords. Accordingly, they were deeply loyal to their lords.

“I’m not going to give up that land that my mother used to own.”

Eckart always wanted to regain that land. And Jed knew it for a very long time.

“Maybe this is a good opportunity for you to get it much more easily,” Jed said.

That’s why Eckart was swayed by his remarks. He was different from Ober, who connected with countless nobles behind the scenes, ranging from those during his father’s time to Duke Hubble. As the young emperor, Eckart badly needed even one talented man and a box of gold. He had to think of easier and less costly ways more than anything else.

Jed asked hesitantly, “..How?”

“The duke’s daughter offered me a deal.”

Though he felt her deal was a bit suspicious, he decided to take it anyway.

Eckart slurred the end of his sentence but let out a little sigh.

After turning his eyes from Jed, he looked back at the troves of intelligence about Duke Kling and his daughter. Resting his chin on his arm, he turned to the next page and picked up the quill pen from the dark blue ink bottle.

Then he said, “Let me strike a deal with them.”

Tok, tok.

He lightly tapped the neck of the glass ink bottle with the nib of his pen.