And I,
while lightly sipping my wine, suddenly felt that this situation was very strange.
Because I could feel that I stood at a turning point completely different from my previous life.
&
It had definitely changed.
Completely different from the previous life.
At this point,
Eileen's rebellion would no longer occur.
Eileen and Seraphinlie.
If it were these two, they would somehow manage to stop the Old Dynasty in the end.
No,
Prince Baron was there too.
With that much, there shouldn't be any major problems, right?
Since they were all incredible people.
Then what about me?
Was there really any need for me to be here?
What help could I be?
The moment that thought brushed past my mind,
my head sank deeply.
It was then.
"...on?"
At the sound of Eileen's voice reaching my ears, I began to slowly come to my senses.
"Reion?"
When I, now conscious, turned my gaze, Eileen was looking at me with worried eyes.
"Are you alright? I called out to you several times."
Seraphinlie was also looking at me with the same expression.
And then, looking at Eileen again, I voiced the deep thought I had just been having.
"I think we need to move quickly."
"Huh?"
"Hm?"
Eileen and Seraphinlie made puzzled expressions.
"I think it would be best to inform Prince Baron of the Old Dynasty's movements as quickly as possible, even if only slightly sooner."
At the sudden words, Eileen's face turned flustered for a moment.
"Is it... because of time?"
I lightly nodded.
"Looking at the Old Dynasty's movements, they are extremely meticulous. They don't just cause one incident and end it. At some point, they create situations everywhere simultaneously."
As my words continued, Eileen's gaze changed.
She was no longer the person tilting her wine glass just moments ago,
and had changed in an instant into someone with the eyes of a thinker.
Seraphinlie too had already set down her glass,
and was looking straight at me.
"If you think about the places where territory wars occurred, at first there were one or two places. But in an instant, including my territory, four or five erupted in succession. If it hadn't been for my case, it would have spread even larger afterwards like a chain reaction."
I paused briefly before adding,
"Most of them weren't battles of such great houses. The battles themselves didn't involve enormous damage either. However, if this continues, it will reach Deharmont, Belmardian, Luchevalt, or other Marquis houses. Because territory wars will gradually take root naturally. Then the scale of the battles will grow as well."
Eileen's pupils widened instantly.
"...It becomes natural. That's right. They're really moving like that. I too had gradually reached the point of thinking that since territory wars could happen, I should prepare. Then troops will naturally increase, and the scale of battles will naturally grow."
I nodded as if in agreement.
But the next words were the crux.
"If."
I continued, looking at Seraphinlie.
"If the Old Dynasty is involved in this matter as well."
Seraphinlie furrowed her brows.
"What are they aiming for right now?"
This was it.
The end of my deep thought.
Eileen and Seraphinlie also realized what I wanted to say, and their eyes widened simultaneously.
"Come to think of it, the traces of the Old Dynasty I saw were like that too. Circumstances that initially seemed separate connected like dominoes, and at some point, they all exploded at once."
Looking at Seraphinlie with a serious expression, Eileen added,
"And as a result, one house disappeared. The Renfer house."
The Renfer house.
I too hadn't known that things appearing to be entirely different threads would connect here.
Seraphinlie opened her mouth, her brows furrowed.
"Then,"
she said very coldly.
"does that mean our house is the beginning?"
Eileen and I fell silent for a moment.
Then Seraphinlie shrugged her shoulders instead.
"Fine. If that's correct, we need to think about what they're aiming for."
Eileen and I looked at each other,
and opened our mouths simultaneously.
"Funds."
"Distribution."
Hearing that, Seraphinlie said.
"It's the flow."
Her gaze sank.
I had simply thought of money,
Eileen had spoken of funding lines in a slightly broader sense.
And Seraphinlie had grasped the core even more precisely.
"They're trying to steal the flow entering the royal family."
As expected.
In this field, Seraphinlie definitely had a different perspective.
"Very well."
Eileen immediately continued.
"Then how do you plan to meet Prince Baron? He isn't someone who will meet you just because you ask. Even my father hasn't been able to meet him continuously until now."
Seraphinlie agreed as well.
"It won't be easy. Prince Baron is an unpredictable man. And such a man happens to hold the position of a prince. The most difficult and dangerous person is precisely Prince Baron."
Valterk Belmardian.
Even he couldn't meet Baron easily.
It wasn't simply because he was a prince.
It was because the man named Baron Bel Elstragard was that kind of person.
The pressure from the two houses of Belmardian and Deharmont was something even the royal family could not ignore.
It was a weight that even the king had to be mindful of.
Though there was no Ducal house now,
if one reckoned by the era when there had been dukes, these two houses plus Luchevalt could be considered at the Ducal level of the present day.
And yet, Baron paid it no heed.
Not because he was a prince,
but because he was Baron.
"I might be able to do it."
When I spoke up confidently despite all that, the two couldn't help but be surprised.
"You, Reion?"
"You? How?"
Fortunately, neither of the two showed any sign of taking offense.
If someone who wasn't even the head of their own house claimed they could do what the family head could not,
nobles were bound to feel slighted.
Rather, the two had eyes filled with nothing but surprise and anticipation.
Looking at those two, I smiled.
To move Baron,
a simple sense of crisis wouldn't do.
There was a possibility he wouldn't agree to meet even if the Old Dynasty was mentioned.
Interest.
Very strong interest had to be drawn out.
For that, it couldn't be something like a gold mine.
Something even bigger had to be offered.
Only then could we pull the timeline to our side.
That's right.
What I could do.
The past of my previous life,
and the future of my present one.
With that information, it was possible.
***
Baron Tailbrand Cromde couldn't wipe the smile from his lips.
"Ehehe, ahaha. Good. This is it. This is it."
In his hand was a bundle of contracts.
Very precious papers that would bring in an enormous amount of money from now on.
"If I had known it would be like this, I would have joined hands from the start! What a waste, such a waste!"
Inside the carriage returning to his mansion, he repeatedly unfolded and folded the contracts.
"Still, it's fine. From now on, I'll rise through the ranks too. I'll reach the rank of Count. The moment I become a Count..."
He grinned like a man already drunk.
"Those bastards who looked down on me, just imagine how they'll look at me now. Kehehe. Ah, I feel good already."
Shortly after,
the carriage stopped in front of the mansion.
A small, shabby mansion.
Moreover, he was a baron without his own territory.
Every time he came, he had been mortified by the sight of this mansion of his, but now he was grinning.
Before long, he would have his own territory rather than just a mansion,
and he would obtain an enormous mansion as well.
He almost jumped down from the carriage and headed to his office.
"Hmm hmm~"
He walked through the lobby, even humming a tune.
"M-master, welcome back."
"Mmm~ Yes~"
The maids greeted him with strangely tense faces,
but he didn't pay them much mind.
Because he was in too good a mood right now.
The moment he opened the door and entered his office like that.
"What? Who dares sit in my seat!"
He saw someone sitting with their back turned in his chair.
He assumed it was a butler or maid sitting there without a shred of fear.
"Since I'm in a good mood. Today I'll forgive—"
But the person who slowly turned around
said while putting their legs up on the desk.
"You're here?"
"... Huh? Huh? Hm?"
Tailbrand rubbed his eyes.
Once.
Twice.
But the face he saw didn't change.
"Um... Oh... Is it? *Hiss.*"
"Yes."
"Oh. It answered. So it's not an illusion."
The next moment, he dropped to his knees as if crashing into the floor.
"I-I greet Prince Barooooon!!!"
He pressed his head to the floor just like that.
Baron slowly rose from his seat and approached.
"Hand it over."
"Huh? W-what..."
"If you make me say it one more time."
Baron's eyes looked down at him.
"You won't ever be using that mouth again."
Baron Bel Elstragard.
Prince of the kingdom.
And the most likely candidate for the next throne.
There was a rumor circulating among the nobles.
That if you talked to him wrongly, you could die.
It was not an exaggeration.
"H-here it is!"
Tailbrand extended the contracts with trembling hands.
Baron unfolded them and briefly scanned them.
Then he smirked.
"I don't give a damn if you bleed the bastards around you dry."
Tailbrand could only tremble.
"This will eventually flood into the capital, won't it?"
"B-but this is clearly legal..."
*Thud! Crack!*
"*Cough!*"
Baron grabbed his hair and slammed him into the floor.
Blood burst from his mouth and nose.
"Is this legal? This?"
He lifted Tailbrand's head again.
His face was covered in blood and trembling.
"Ah~ should I ask the commoners who signed this contract?"
"..."
"Ask them if this is legal or not?"
"U-uugh..."
"They'll all say it's legal, won't they?"
Baron grinned.
But those eyes weren't smiling.
Cold,
and icy.
"Then let me ask something too."
He grabbed Tailbrand's hair even tighter.
"Me beating you right now. Is it legal or not?"
"I-it's... legal..."
"Right?"
Only then did Baron let go.
And he threw the contracts back at him.
"Yeah. Clean this up properly."
"*Huff, huff...*"
"And don't make me come here again."
He stood up, dusting off his hands as if they were dirty.
"It's annoying."
"..."
"Next time I see you, I'll just cut your head off without asking why. Got it?"
"T-thank you! For showing me such mercy!"
Baron left the office after saying that.
A knight who had been waiting outside the door approached immediately, as if he had appeared out of nowhere.
"Shall I deal with him?"
"Leave him."
"He'll do something stupid again when time passes. Those kinds of guys."
"That's why."
Baron smirked.
"We leave him."
When the knight tilted his head in confusion, Baron added.
"Those kinds of scum hold onto the commoners' resentment so it never reaches us."
The knight nodded as if he finally understood.
And he immediately made the next report.
"There is someone who has requested an audience."
"Oh. There are rumors that even Valterk was rejected. Who is it?"
There were almost no nobles who requested an audience with Baron.
Because even most Marquis houses found him disagreeable,
and feared him.
"But it's an insignificant name, so I think you may ignore it."
"What."
Baron laughed.
"If they're insignificant, that makes it even more interesting."
"A man named Reion Signal."
At those words, Baron's steps stopped.
And the corners of his mouth rose.
"See. I said it was interesting."
He laughed in a good mood.
"What reason did he give?"
"He says he can tell you a story that should be enjoyable."
"Hahaha!"
Baron laughed loudly.
"Let's go at once. If it's that guy, he's definitely prepared an interesting story!"