Shhring—!
The chilling edge of the blade that Count Grey had drawn bit into Count Hodeki’s thick nape.
At the cold, sharp sensation that felt as though it would sever his carotid artery at any moment, Hodeki’s complexion—which had been gleaming with flattery and smug satisfaction just moments ago—turned a deathly, ashen pale like a corpse in an instant.
Cold sweat rained down along his throat, yet Hodeki dared not even swallow, holding his breath.
“……You.”
Count Grey’s voice was low and quiet, as always.
But the killing intent contained within was enough to freeze the air of the grand, splendid banquet hall in a single breath.
“The words you just let your tongue play with—you know full well what meaning they carry. From this moment onward, not only your own life, but the annihilation of the entire Hodeki clan hangs upon the tip of this blade.”
A drop of red blood formed at the tip of the sword Count Grey held and fell—tap—to the floor.
“If all of this is an ugly lie woven by you in an attempt to deceive and humiliate the Grand Empire’s Imperial Family, merely to advance into the central political sphere—I will not even return to the imperial capital. I will cut your throat right here, right now, and reduce this entire castle to ashes.”
Count Grey’s cold eyes stared at Hodeki as though piercing through his own.
“I ask you one last time. Those words of a fake prince—is it the truth, without even an inch of exaggeration?”
Before the chilling blade, though his entire body trembled like an aspen, Count Hodeki’s bloodshot eyes flashed like a madman’s as he desperately nodded.
Fearful that even a slightly larger movement would sever his neck, it was a very shallow and rapid nod.
“H-hick! N-not an inch of falsehood, Your Excellency! It is the truth! I swear upon my life, it is the truth!”
Hodeki’s voice cracked with terror and grievance.
“Would I be mad enough to wager my own life and my clan against Your Excellency, the Chief Advisor to the Grand Empire, on such a shallow gamble? If you cannot believe my words, then let us ride to Sterling Royal Palace this very instant and see with your own two eyes!”
“The Royal Palace?”
“Yes! Within the Royal Palace, inside a secret detached villa located deep within… the former Baroness Harper and the current Baron Harper are in hiding! Under the protection of the Sterling Royal Family, their family members who left for the deadly battlefield in their stead… they remain there, awaiting news of that fake prince Ian with desperate longing!”
Hodeki’s desperate yet confident cry echoed thunderously throughout the vast banquet hall.
Clink—
At that moment, strength drained powerlessly from Count Grey’s hand, and the finest crystal wine glass he held crashed onto the marble floor, shattering into pieces.
The Empire’s greatest strategist, the aged advisor who had served the Imperial Family without faltering through any crisis for decades.
For the first time, those iron-blooded old man’s pupils shook violently, unable to find their bearing.
‘A fake… a perfect fake who doesn’t even share a single drop of real blood.’
He had merely thought the mother’s station was low, that he was a bastard of common birth.
No, at worst, he had believed it to be a deception of slightly poor quality—bringing in some collateral relative who inherited the king’s bloodline to pull the wool over their eyes.
But the truth he had just heard was of the most vulgar and shocking magnitude among the countless schemes he had encountered in his lifetime.
The younger brother of some backwater baron had entered the very heart of the Grand Empire’s Imperial Palace.
And he had held a private audience with the Emperor, handled the core affairs of the Crown Prince’s office, and stolen the heart of the Second Imperial Princess Chloe, the most beloved in the Empire, attempting to ascend to the position of prince consort.
This was not a fraud that would end with a few curses.
It was an unprecedented high treason and tremendous insult that had trampled the dignity of the Grand Empire beneath its feet and made the entire Imperial Family out to be fools.
“…….”
Count Grey stared blankly at the crystal shards scattered on the floor, then soon looked down at Hodeki with eyes that had terrifyingly erased all emotion.
Sheathing his sword, a low and chilling command flowed from between his lips.
“……Lend me a communication mana crystal orb at once. Guide me to your most secure study.”
#
A short while later, inside Count Hodeki’s secret hidden study.
When Count Grey placed his hand upon the large mana crystal orb set in the center of the room, bluish mana vibrated and began to swirl.
With practiced movements, he quickly entered the confidential communication code accessible only to the highest positions of the Imperial Family.
After a buzzing signal tone, a voice—both flustered and furious—flowed from beyond the orb.
[Who is this? This number is a top-class confidential line known only to the highest ranks of the Imperial Family—how dare some bastard communicate from an unregistered orb…!]
[It’s me. Chief Advisor to the Imperial Family, Count Grey.]
[……Huk! Y-Your Excellency?!]
Beyond the orb, the Southern Governor, stationed in the southern Tur Kingdom and commanding the army, let out a shriek-like gasp.
His hair had been disheveled as though woken from sleep by the sudden midnight communication, but the moment he confirmed Count Grey’s icy face on the screen, he turned deathly pale and prostrated himself on the floor.
[A-ah, no… I had heard that you departed for a long-term vacation to a southern resort, but how could you possibly contact me via confidential line at such an hour of the night?!]
[There is no time for explanations, Southern Governor. Carry out my orders immediately, without the slightest error.]
Count Grey’s command was more decisive and ruthless than ever before.
[Right now, extract two hundred and fifty elite cavalry with the greatest mobility and strongest martial prowess from the Imperial Army under your command. Fully arm them and dispatch them urgently to Sterling Royal Palace. Also, make preparations so that you can move to the capital swiftly within three days. Prepare three cage wagons and rations as well.]
[Yes? D-did you say the Sterling Kingdom? It is already a vassal state that has surrendered; why suddenly dispatch cavalry there…? Has a rebellion broken out? If it is truly a rebellion, you will need far more troops than that, Your Excellency!]
[I believe I told you not to ask the reason. Move secretly, without catching anyone’s eye, but more swiftly than any other unit.]
The Southern Governor nodded hurriedly, cold sweat trickling down.
[At dawn, two days from now. I will personally receive those two hundred and fifty elites before the main gate of Sterling Kingdom’s Royal Palace. If even one thing goes wrong—if you are late or the operation leaks—you will have to forfeit your head. Do you understand clearly?]
[I-I shall execute it at once! I will awaken the troops and deploy them immediately, Your Excellency!]
The communication cut off abruptly, and the orb that had been emitting a blue light returned to its original transparent glow.
A suffocating silence descended upon the secret study once more.
Count Grey quietly gazed at the darkness outside the window, then slowly turned to look at Count Hodeki, who was standing by the doorway suppressing his breath and wiping away the cold sweat running down his spine.
“Count Hodeki.”
“Y-yes! Your Excellency!”
“I shall need to borrow you and those private soldiers you keep in your territory. How many can you mobilize?”
“P-private soldiers, Your Excellency? Under my command, there are roughly twelve knights and two thousand private soldiers; what can be mobilized immediately is… about a quarter of them. If you grant me three days, nearly all of them could be—”
Count Hodeki blinked and cowered.
Count Grey shook his head.
“That will be sufficient. Truthfully, I do not believe a real battle will occur, but the Sterling Kingdom bastards might attempt meaningless resistance like cornered rats the moment the truth is revealed. I need troops to form an encirclement before the cavalry joins. And more than anything else……”
Count Grey’s eyes blazed fiercely.
“As the original accuser, you must stand at my side and serve as a witness before that impertinent fake prince’s family. From now on, you shall accompany me to the Imperial Capital.”
Upon hearing Count Grey’s command, Count Hodeki’s complexion brightened not with fear, but with bizarre ecstasy.
Because the overwhelming conviction that he was finally riding in the same boat as the center of imperial power, and would make the impertinent Sterling Royal Family kneel at his feet, had flooded him.
“How could I refuse, Your Excellency! I, Hodeki, and the soldiers of my territory are already no different from Your Excellency’s faithful blades. I shall muster the troops and prepare to depart for the Royal Palace at once!”
Hodeki smiled so widely his face seemed about to burst, bending his waist ninety degrees as though his upper body would touch the floor.
Amidst the mixture of Hodeki’s vile, greed-filled smile and Count Grey’s chilling fury to restore the Empire’s dignity, a great storm of blood—one that would dye the quiet Sterling Kingdom entirely in crimson—began to stir terrifyingly, piercing through the cold winter night of the south.