Chapter 63: Contract Part 1

Although Father said he would come up to the capital, I need to do what I can before convincing him.

Even though the roads were somewhat developed now, distance was still distance.

From Damus County, a remote frontier territory that even the Emperor might forget exists, to the capital even at the fastest pace, it would take at least three days.

Normally, it takes about a week.

Unless you change horses in every town, I’m estimating about five days at best.

So what? Should I just wait idly during that time?

No, I needed to think of a plan of my own too.

“Johan, hey! You skipped class again today, using that ‘I’m sick’ excuse, huh?”

“Yuna, perfect timing. I actually needed you.”

“Uh, u-uhm…?”

I grabbed Yuna who had started to instinctively step back.

Don’t do this. If you don’t help me, I’m seriously screwed.

“Wh-What’s going on?”

“This might sound like total nonsense, but I need you to take it seriously.”

“Okay.”

“Ariel proposed to me.”

“What kind of nonsense—?”

Yuna who was about to wave it off with a giggle like usual furrowed her brow.

She must’ve realized I wasn’t joking.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah.”

“Can’t you just say no?”

“It’s a political marriage between noble families. And she already sent the bridal gifts.”

“Wow…”

Looks like she finally understood how serious this was.

Yuna began to think it over with a rare serious expression on her face.

“So things were quiet for a while, and now you really went and messed up, huh?”

She clicked her tongue in disbelief. Her face was cold, and the way she sympathized with me so well….anyone watching might have thought Yuna herself was the one who was angry.

“What are you planning to do?”

“I need to figure that out now. I was hoping you could gather some information on the Ether Duchy for me.”

“Ugh… If you mess that up, you could die, you know.”

Tronius Ether was an Archmage and a monster specialized in combat, no less.

Purely in terms of fighting power, he was even stronger than the Archsage Faust. With people like that camped out under the Emperor, it’s no wonder all the powerful factions tread carefully around him.

What’s more, he was someone who had fought and bled on the battlefield. He’d be ridiculously sharp at detecting the presence of assassins.

“I’m not asking you to dig directly into the duchy. Just rumors and stuff like that. See what you can find out.”

“Well, that’s fine, but Johan? Don’t you think you’re getting a bit too comfortable bossing me around?”

“After all the times I’ve helped you…!”

“Haven’t I helped you even more?”

“Then help me a bit more while you’re at it.”

“Your conscience has finally kicked the bucket, huh. Hmm… well, fine. I’d like to stick with you for the long haul anyway.”

“Right? Right? I’ve got no one but you. You’re the best.”

“…Ahem.”

They say even whales will dance if you praise them.

And I could clearly see Yuna’s mood improve drastically after hearing my flattery.

“R-Right? Puhihi.”

“Of course.”

At this rate, I really was going to die.

There were things more dangerous than being watched by heavyweights like Kult, Tillis, and Faust.

Those guys were at least straightforward. You could tell what you needed to be careful about with them.

However, getting involved romantically with Ariel was a completely different story.

She was practically a living provocation totem, having crushed the heads of countless terrorists both inside and outside the Cradle.

If I got engaged to someone like her, I would become her weakness.

Everyone who had ever targeted her would immediately come after me.

Being exposed to an indefinite number of enemies was far more dangerous than facing a clear, identifiable one.

“Honestly, the best way to deal with something like this would be if the person involved just mysteriously died without a trace. But unfortunately, that’s not an option either in terms of justification or ability.”

“Spoken like a true assassin. What a terrifying thing to say.”

“Really? Even if it wasn’t me, I think that’s the kind of idea anyone would come up with first in this situation.”

“……”

To be honest, I had thought of that too.

But it was such a trashy thought that I’d made a point to erase it from my mind as quickly as possible.

It wasn’t like we had a grudge against each other or anything.

“Alright, I’ll help you for now. But in return, you’ve got to do me a favor later, deal?”

“……”

“Has your conscience really died?”

“Of course it has. But let’s hear the favor first and decide after.”

Now that we’d shared such an important secret, we were talking without any hesitation.

It actually made her feel a lot more familiar to me.

“So, Johan, what are you going to do?”

“I’m…”

Of course, it wasn’t like I was going to sit around doing nothing while Yuna worked.

That grave called “marriage” was getting closer by the second.

Rather than waiting around nervously, it was better to get moving.

“I’m going to go see Her Highness Lobelia.”

“Woah…”

Yuna tapped me on the shoulder as if she was impressed.

“Hang in there.”

It was a phrase full of meaning.

***

Had I ever gone to see Lobelia on my own before?

Probably not.

She wasn’t someone I could just summon at will.

But in the end, this was how it turned out.

I stood before Lobelia like livestock being dragged to the slaughterhouse.

“Johan, I didn’t even call for you, so do you really think it makes sense to show up with that expression when you’re the one who called me?”

“This is just how my face looks.”

“I see.”

I couldn’t control my expression.

And no wonder. Lobelia, who had readily accepted my request for an audience, was smirking like she’d seen this coming all along.

In fact, she had even warned me, so it wasn’t entirely wrong.

Still, that expression of hers felt like she’d been expecting me to fail, and it pissed me off.

“So, what is it? Isn’t this the first time you’ve ever called for me?”

“……”

“I’ll give you five minutes.”

She had helped push things to this point, and now she was giving me a time limit?

Seriously, this was just too much.

“Please stop Lady Ariel.”

“Stop her? That’s a little too vague of a request, isn’t it? Is Ariel trying to kill you or something?”

Lobelia pretended not to know anything, even though she clearly knew the whole situation.

I honestly didn’t know how someone could be so petty.

“Lady Ariel proposed to me. No, she just forced a political marriage between our families out of nowhere. And now it’s nearly impossible to say no.”

“That’s great news. Frankly speaking, compared to you, isn’t Ariel the one who’s out of your league? I really don’t understand why you’re so repulsed by the idea. Where does that confidence even come from?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. If this keeps up, I’m going to die!”

“Oh, come now…how am I supposed to know what you haven’t told me? Sir Johan, you have a tendency to overestimate me.”

Anyone who could crush a human skull with their bare hands deserved to be overestimated.

“That award you said you’d give me last time but then canceled….isn’t it because of this?”

“Hoo?”

At this point, even I understood. The situation had aligned in more ways than one.

Considering Lobelia’s personality, it was extremely rare for her to cancel something she had promised.

Back then, I had just felt a bit disappointed, but I should’ve thought more deeply about why she had canceled.

“You probably canceled it out of consideration for Lady Ariel, right? If that’s the case, I can more or less guess what kind of reward Your Highness was planning to give me.”

“I’ll give you three more minutes. Go on.”

“There’s not much more to say. It was probably a letter of recommendation for an imperial official position, right? Whether or not that even qualifies as a reward is another story…”

It was easy to forget, but Lobelia was trying to pull me to her side.

Up until now, we’d only had a passing acquaintance at best, but she saw me as an Oracle…or something on par with one.

And unfortunately, I was something on par with that. It was officially certified by Kult. Damn it.

“Having someone connected to the Duchy receive an imperial official recommendation might look like giving them too much power.”

The House of Ether held overwhelming influence, enough to pierce the heavens.

In fact, under normal circumstances, the emperor would have wanted to get rid of them.

But because the Ether family acted obediently and kept a low profile, they had stayed out of trouble.

By avoiding aggressive moves and staying quiet, Emperor Abraham continued to respect Tronius.

If Tronius had ever shown ambition, the imperial family would’ve done whatever it took to crush the Duke’s house.

And now, here comes someone like me….an upstart recommended by the Third Princess Lobelia.

That alone would’ve been enough to attract all sorts of criminals trying to take me down, and Lobelia probably planned to use that as a way to keep me under her thumb.

Exactly. It was like she helped me only to demand something bigger in return. Lobelia’s conscience was practically nonexistent.

Anyway, what if someone who had received such a recommendation ended up tied to the Ether Duchy through a political marriage?

The emperor wouldn’t take it well.

He’d find it deeply irritating. If things went wrong, not only I but the entire Ether Duchy could be swept away.

That was why Lobelia gave up on awarding me the recommendation.

“Excellent deduction; most of it is correct. But so what? Knowing all that, what can you actually do, Johan? Or are you planning to say something admirable, like you’ll willingly enter the imperial court?”

“……”

She was right. Lobelia probably hoped I’d choose to become an imperial official of my own accord.

The more twisted part was that even if I tried to make that choice, she’d likely reject it.

Not for any specific reason…just because she cared more about Ariel than she did about me.

And anyway, Ariel was her ally. If I were to marry Ariel, Lobelia would inevitably start seeing me as a package deal with her.

I wouldn’t be able to avoid that.

So, that path was out of the question.

“Isn’t the reason Your Highness needs me because of the information in my head?”

“You mean information about Kult? Yes, that information was quite useful. Thanks to increased surveillance, terrorist activity from Eden has dropped sharply lately.”

That was only because I told Kult to stop messing around looking for the relic and just sit tight and wait.

Of course, Lobelia wouldn’t know that, so I might as well let her think whatever she wants.

It would only help raise my value in her eyes anyway.

“If you help me with this matter, I’ll cooperate with Your Highness.”

“Hoo…?”

Lobelia looked at me with her eyes wide in surprise.

It was an understandable reaction. After all, just a few months ago, I couldn’t stand being involved with her in any way.

But the situation had changed a little.

The Prophet Kult.

The Great Sage Faust.

The Judge Tillis.

The three most dangerous figures already knew who I was and were keeping a close eye on me.

Of course, that didn’t mean I plan to attract the attention of other groups as well…

But at this point, the level of risk felt manageable.

Maybe it was because my nerves had hardened or maybe my life’s just gone to hell.

Either way, if I only act as an advisor while keeping my identity hidden, there’s no real downside for Lobelia.

She wanted to use me, not destroy me.

And it was probably more convenient for her if my existence stayed behind the curtain. That’s something I’ll have to be extra careful about.

“What do you think?”

“A bold proposal.”

Lobelia nodded.

She looked pleased. But then her expression turned serious again as she continued.

“But why should I bother, when it’ll all fall into place on its own?”

“Just because I’m engaged to Lady Ariel doesn’t mean I’ll willingly share everything I know with Your Highness.”

“You will…if you want to stay alive.”

“……”

“Well, I’m joking. I’m not that cruel of a person.”

Right?

I actually just wondered if this woman was really the original main character.

At this point, it wasn’t that she lacked a conscience; she was basically a villain.

“Let’s see… Johan, even I can’t just blindly interfere with a duke’s family event. You understand that, right?”

“I do. But can’t you persuade Lady Ariel?”

“Convincing a girl blinded by love isn’t exactly easy.”

Lobelia shrugged, then gestured toward Stan who had been standing silently behind her like a folding screen.

Stan was clearly displeased about something and briefly frowned before handing me a document.

And as soon as I looked at it, I couldn’t help but frown just like he had.

“Sign it. If you do, I promise I’ll steer this matter toward a result that satisfies everyone.”

It was a contract.

My hand started trembling on its own.