“Is the fake prince act going well?”
Uttering the words I feared most, that wicked noble grinned a sickening smile wide enough to tear his mouth.
In an instant, my heart dropped with a thud and cold sweat trickled down my spine, but I desperately masked my expression.
If I showed any sign of panic or fear here, it was obvious I would be dragged around by that vile, hyena-like bastard.
Instead, I leisurely swirled my champagne glass, twisted the corners of my lips up as far as they would go, and looked down at him arrogantly.
“Long time no see, Count. Won’t you tell a prince who has left his homeland about the recent affairs of the Sterling Kingdom?”
At my calm response, Count Hodeki’s eyebrows twitched slightly, but he soon smiled broadly and began to spew disgusting boasts.
“Haha, yes. I happen to have happy news to impart. I am no longer a count of the Sterling Kingdom, but a count of the proud Grand Empire. When the imperial army marched on the kingdom, I rendered the greatest service within the kingdom, after all.”
“…What do you mean by great service?”
“When the imperial army crossed the border and advanced south, a messenger from Count Lancaster trying to inform the royal family of that fact entered my territory. I… gave him special treatment. I had intended to hold him until the end, but he slipped away like a rat at the last moment.”
“…”
“Well, I heard the messenger arrived first in the end, but I also heard his arrival time was not significantly different from that of the imperial army. Incompetent fool, haha… Thanks to that, the imperial army was able to enter the capital smoothly without shedding a drop of blood, and I was recognized for that service and became an imperial count.”
‘…Ah.’
Only then did the puzzle pieces fit together.
Now I finally understood why the messenger sent by Count Lancaster, who had sacrificed himself gloriously at the front lines trying to stop the empire’s invasion during the war, had arrived at the capital so terribly late.
The large wound in his side was probably not inflicted by the imperial army, but a mark of failure when this bastard’s private soldiers tried to kill the messenger who was attempting to escape.
Now I finally understood why the kingdom’s army had been unable to build a proper defensive line even once and had been forced to surrender the capital utterly defenseless.
It was all because of this treasonous bastard standing before my eyes.
Suppressing my surging murderous intent, I asked as if tossing out a formal greeting.
“Why, a dazzling feat worthy of a brave and peerless~ count. So, is your territory faring well?”
“Oh, my territory is doing just fine. It develops dazzlingly by the day. The Viscount Harper household next to it… regrettably, is falling into ruin, however.”
As if he had been waiting for this, Count Hodeki stretched his mouth even wider and let out a malicious laugh.
“Unfortunately, the entire baronial family has essentially abandoned managing the territory now.”
“…Abandoned?”
“Well, don’t they have two sons in that family? The first is Viscount Harper, and the second is a pretty-faced fool. But that second fool vanished without a trace one day. So Viscount Harper has been practically living in the capital trying to find that missing younger brother, squandering the family fortune, and the former Viscountess has apparently been bedridden, refusing all food and drink from the shock of losing her second son.”
“…!”
“That’s why I’m even taking charge of running Viscount Harper’s territory in their stead. If it weren’t for me, that territory would have disappeared long ago, haha!”
“…”
No matter how much my soul is that of a modern Korean from the Republic of Korea, my affection for my family in this world is real.
My mother and brother who cherish and love me, my precious family.
It pained my heart that those two were suffering because I had been dragged here.
Count Hodeki continued speaking as if he were enjoying the sight of my insides burning.
“But those territory residents of Viscount Harper’s land are incredibly lazy and insincere. They borrow money or grain from me and don’t know to pay it back on time. So what can be done? I have no choice but to register their names on the slave rolls according to law. I sell those useless worms who became slaves to the empire at dirt-cheap prices, wonderfully contributing to the labor force of the Grand Empire. The tidy profit is a bonus.”
“…!”
‘This son of a bitch.’
Count Hodeki was infamous for his vicious usury—imposing absurd, murderous interest rates to bury commoners under mountains of debt, then turning them into legal slaves and selling them off.
The territory residents our family had cherished and loved were being sold as slaves to that bastard.
Extreme fury flooded to the top of my head, but I took a deep breath and looked at him with ice-cold eyes.
“…Indeed. Just as I have heard, you are truly performing works of great mercy, Count.”
“Mercy?”
“Thanks to the empire’s infinite glory, I’ve heard that life as an imperial slave is quite comfortable and pleasant, more so than one would think. I’ve heard the living standards are far better than those of territory residents living like dogs and pigs while being squeezed for taxes in your territory. To personally send pitiful territory residents to a better paradise—your mercy moves me to tears. Allow me to express my gratitude as a prince of Sterling.”
“…What did you say?”
Adding a light bow to my mockery, Count Hodeki’s face flushed bright red in an instant.
He glanced around, then soon huffed and slithered up to my ear like a snake, whispering threateningly.
“A baron’s brat dares to have a swollen liver? If I say but one word to the empire, you’ll be boiled alive!”
To his venom-laced threat, I did not back down an inch and retorted.
“Go ahead and try. Do you think I’ll be the only one to die? If that fact becomes known, the entire Sterling Kingdom will be trampled—do you think your territory will remain safe?”
“…!”
“If I die, you die too. Handle it as you see fit.”
Count Hodeki’s eyes wavered.
Removing my mouth from his ear, I shouted loudly, as if for those around us to hear.
“To think you would share the fate of our Sterling Kingdom and myself—truly, thank you, Count Hodeki! I shall long remember your loyalty!”
At my mockery, Count Hodeki’s lips trembled violently and he ground his teeth.
He seemed to want to say something else, but perhaps having nothing particular to say, he merely huffed, unable to find any words.
“…May you live ten thousand years, Your Highness the Prince.”
In the end, glaring at me with eyes brimming with murderous intent, he forced his head down and then left without looking back, as if fleeing.
I glared at his retreating figure, clutching my champagne glass so tightly it nearly cracked.
“….”
That was when.
“Someone you know?”
A cold voice sounded from behind.
Startled, I turned around to see First Princess Victoria standing there, having approached without my notice.
Wearing a red dress that didn’t suit her, she stood crookedly near where I had been standing until just moments ago, gazing in the direction Count Hodeki had disappeared.
‘Shit, did she hear?’
Could she have heard the secret conversation from just now?
No, I had lowered my voice as much as possible, so she probably hadn’t caught the content.
If she had, she would have interrogated me immediately, or at the very least her expression would have changed.
“He seemed to be someone from the same hometown as Ian, but for a conversation filled with pleasantries, the atmosphere was rather sharp. Is there something between you and him?”
‘…Seems she didn’t hear.’
Of course, it was clear she had picked up on the hostile atmosphere of the conversation.
I quickly relaxed my stiffened face and answered.
“Ah, yes. He is a high noble of the Sterling Kingdom… a presence with great influence who constantly threatened the royal authority, so he does not get along with the Sterling royal family. If I were to force a comparison to the empire, he would be like the Northern Grand Duke.”
“…Northern Grand Duke?”
Victoria’s eyes flashed sharply for an instant.
The meaning of the word ‘Northern Grand Duke’ within the empire was clear.
Uncontrollable military strength, a dangerous schemer who might snap his leash and charge at any moment, and a potential enemy who must be watched closely and crushed.
To her, who could be called an expert in war and slaughter, Count Hodeki would now look like nothing more than prey no matter what he did.
“By the way, he just said that he opened the path for the imperial army. Wasn’t it Your Highness Victoria who led the imperial army at the time?”
“That is true, but is he that noble? At the time, his title was… I believe he was called Count Hodeki.”
“Yes, that is him.”
“Hmm… I remember there was a collaborator called Count Hodeki at the time, but I cannot place his face. My apologies; I am not good at remembering people by their faces. Not unless I see them very frequently, or they leave an impression distinctive enough.”
‘She had prosopagnosia? And she’s not even Zhang Liao.’
Victoria stared for a long time at the dark end of the garden where Count Hodeki had walked, then smiled a cold smile and murmured softly.
“…At any rate, he is someone who does not get along with Ian. I shall remember that.”