Chapter 108: 060. Imperial Prince Saw Him -4 (Part Two)

“What’s the matter, Harman?”

“Sir… uhm, when you say Charlotte’s commands, what did you…”

“Ah, I see. Neither you nor his highness is aware of this yet, is that it? Very well. At the very least, you should know by now that she’s from the Heraiz family, yes?”

Harman broke out in cold sweat after hearing what Oscal said. “Ah, actually… the truth is…”

“She was granted the peerage of marquis by his majesty. And also…” Oscal leaned in closer and whispered into Harman’s ear, “As the head of the Heraiz household, she’s now the captain of the Order of the White Cross.”

“…!”

“It was his majesty’s will. Do you understand what that means, don’t you?”

“…”

“She’s now your superior in rank.”

The Order of the Golden Cross, the White Cross, Crimson Cross, Verdant Cross, Paladin Corps, and finally, the Heavenly Army.

That was the order of the hierarchy. In that sense, Charlotte Heraiz was sitting on a much higher leg of the command structure than Haman Daian.

“I’ll leave it to your discretion, Harman. Oh, and his majesty wishes to keep this matter as a secret for the time being, so don’t spill the beans to his highness just yet. Honestly, nothing good will come about by letting other nobles learn about this matter, anyway. Especially so when she lacks the sufficient strength to stop their machinations. This will be the same as strengthening the Imperial Family’s sphere of influence, and also presenting his highness with a surprising gift as well.”

“…Understood.”

Harman muttered as if he was talking to himself, his expression completely stupefied.

Oscal smiled in satisfaction. “Take care of Charlotte for me.”

The old man burst into a loud chuckle and walked down the corridor.

He now had things to do. He needed to set up a camp by Ruppel Olfolse’s residence and ensure that not a single person leaves that building.

**

(TL: In 1st person POV.)

Time flew past in the blink of an eye, and the celebratory banquet for the special envoy’s arrival finally went underway.

A simple military inspection ceremony was the first to take place, and the Paladin Corps members in charge of protecting Humite marched through the main street.

The crowd gathered to spectate was loudly cheering on as the well-armoured Paladins marched past them.

To heat up the excitement of the banquet even further, all sorts of competitive events had been organised and they all progressed one after the other. Both Charlotte and Heis participated in the proceedings. However, she was mainly there to ensure the safety of the nobles that were participating en masse.

As for me, I was with Ruppel and envoy Haima at the front yard of Ruppel’s private residence, spectating Humite’s festival.

“Oh, so you can also do something like that with magic, huh…”

While listening to the pleasant background music, I stared at the centre of the banquet hall where all sorts of rare and exquisite cuisine had been prepared.

My eyes were locked on the fountain located there, which had been manipulated by Magicians and Alchemists from the palace to somehow display the scenes from various parts of Humite in real time, almost like some kind of a hologram display.

Apparently, it was called the ‘image crystal’.

It operated by storing images and sending it to other ‘crystals’ that were positioned in fixed intervals within the vicinity.

Maybe because it was the first time this ‘product’ had been unveiled publicly, the visitors at the banquet hall were all greatly impressed by what they saw.

Envoy Haima was stunned by this display and shouted out. “Oh! Truly exceptional. To think that the magic technology of the Theocratic Empire has advanced to such a degree! If it’s fine with you, is it possible for us to also learn about this magic as well?”

Ruppel, who was standing in front of the envoy and drinking from a wine glass, smiled and replied to that request. “Of course. If it’s for the sake of building an amicable relationship between us and Aslan, we can certainly provide something like that. However, we had to spend a lot of funds during the research and development phase, so…”

“If that’s the case, allow us to provide financial support during the refinement process. Of course, for the sake of reconciliation with the Theocratic Empire, we should strive to aid one another. Hahaha!”

“Why, thank you very much. By the way…”

When Ruppel looked behind him, he found Oscal Baldur there, sticking very close to him.

“…Sir Oscal, do you mind creating a slightly more distance away from us?”

“My apologies, your highness. But guarding you is currently my top priority.”

Ruppel groaned at Oscal’s reply.

Special envoy Haima also seemed to have found the presence of Oscal a bit too uncomfortable, since he kept wiping away cold sweat from his face with a handkerchief.

I was standing on a first floor balcony, looking at Ruppel and the envoy from Aslan, Haima, down at the banquet hall’s ground floor.

My dear older brother was having a rather positive-sounding conversation with the special envoy. From the looks of things, one could be lulled into thinking that nothing was wrong here, but…

“…Man, that’s one hell of a stench.”

This mysterious but horrid stench was wafting in from somewhere around the vicinity of the residence. It was a pretty heavy stench too, as if the undead had been there for a long, long time.

Was Ruppel even aware of this fact?

Just what would you have to do for demonic energy to thickly permeate like this? Or, could it be…?

Ruppel finished chatting briefly with the envoy before glancing in my direction. He then walked up to where I was.

He asked. “How do you find the banquet?”

“…It’s enjoyable enough.”

Honestly speaking? It was boring.

I knew no one here, and besides, no one here would chat to me anyways. Not to forget, the current situation at hand didn’t really allow me to enjoy a banquet in the first place.

Just to be sure, I personally checked every single noble entering the banquet hall. I also used the members of the Golden Cross to search the vicinity of the residence.

The stench was so strong that I could only think about the possibility of Necromancers commanding a horde of undeads hiding somewhere close by.

Ruppel continued on. “Envoy Haima expressed his wish to speak to you.”

“I’m not interested.”

I waved my hand away. My gesture was similar to how you’d chase away an annoying bug.

Ruppel spoke again, obviously trying to change my mind. “It’s for the sake of our nation.”

“Tell him that he should be satisfied with the fact I’m even attending the banquet in the first place.”

Ruppel stared back at me with a dissatisfied expression on his face. After saying silent for a brief moment, he then continued on. “Remember the way to discern if someone was a Vampire or not, the one you told me about earlier?”

“…?”

“I’ve been trying hard ever since that day, but it doesn’t seem to be effective. Does it even work in the first place?”

I could only inwardly tut at that. This guy, he was still persisting with that nonsense?

Besides all that, there didn’t seem to be any form of divine retribution aimed at Ruppel. As I thought, this whole thing about blasphemy was just some window dressing.

I asked him. “Were you really trying earnestly?”

“Of course I was. But, well… No matter how many times I did it, I’m still not sure if it works at all. Maybe there’s another, better way?”

…I was only half-joking, you know? However, Ruppel’s expression was considerably serious.

Before I could ask him for his thoughts on the whole discerning the Vampire thing, he beat me to the punch. “Allen, I was wondering…”

Ruppel then pointed towards a certain corner of the banquet hall with his finger. That was where his mother, Rose Darina, was currently sitting on a chair. Next to her was a black-haired, black-eyed woman who looked to be a maidservant performing her duties.

“…What do you think about that woman?”

“Pardon me?”

“It’s exactly as I asked.”

Ruppel maintained a serious expression while asking me. And judging from the droplets of cold sweat caking his forehead, he must be feeling rather anxious as well.

I shifted my gaze away from him and stared at the maid standing next to Rose.

[Name: Sharin.

Age: 25

Attributes: Honey trap, bewitching techniques, underhanded disposition, treacherous, blackmailing, currently addicted to narcotics.

+ I shall definitely give birth to his highness the Imperial Prince. I’m destined to become a member of the Imperial Family!]

“…Are you sure she’s really a maidservant?”

For a maid’s attributes, those were some rather unique ones, I have to say.

If she was a noblewoman, then she might have sold her own country down the river by now. The rest of her attributes suggested that for the purpose of moving up the social ladder, she’d use and discard men like toilet paper.

Ruppel’s face hardened. He even urgently grabbed my shoulders. “Is she a Vampire?”

“No, she’s human.”

“I-in that case, maybe she’s a Necromancer?”

Why was he acting like this?

I shook my head. “Also no. She’s simply a maidservant, except that she doesn’t seem to be a good person.”

“Not a good person?”

“Yes. It’s a bit difficult to put it in words, but…” I kept shaking my head while stating the rest of my observation. “…She’s the type to sell her own country for herself.”

Ruppel flinched in surprise and hurriedly clamped his mouth shut.

“She’s the type of woman who’d use blackmail to get what she wants.”

Ruppel’s shoulders quivered.

Meanwhile, I continued on, “Is it okay for you to have such a woman around your mother?”

“…O-of course. Allen, I’ll definitely repay all of my debts in the future.”

What Ruppel said sounded rather odd. Could it be that she discovered his weakness or something? Even if that was true, an Imperial Prince like him couldn’t be sweating bullets because of a mere maid, right?

Could it be that there was some other reason?

It was then, the special envoy from Aslan, Haima, walked up to us. He leaned closer to Ruppel and whispered, “Looks like it’s time, your highness.”

At the same time, the voice of ‘that existence’ came out of nowhere.

-I welcome you to the banquet hall, oh humans!

The voice belonging to the undead Lich, Nasus, reverberated throughout the banquet hall.

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