"…Is it related to the empire?"
He narrowed his eyes and immediately saw the heart of the problem. They were operating on the basis that the mysterious patron was someone inside the Alzar or Zino Kingdoms. If the patron was from the empire instead, that did complicate things a little, but he felt he was still missing the point. The Whispering Shadow was effectively destroyed and any remaining power that they had was slowly being assimilated by other, smaller groups. Any influence that the empire could exert on them would be vanishingly small, if not nonexistent, at this point. The exception was that they burrowed themselves elsewhere, critical to the kingdom's security and wellbeing. In that case, the kingdom would have to use any means necessary to rip the weeds by the roots. It could turn into a huge mess very quickly!
"That's right," Prince Ranir confirmed his worst fears. "Do you remember our talk about a traitor in the kingdom?"
"You're talking about the one that snuck Elizabeth out of the castle, informed the empire about her existence, and leaked information about Lord Korogin's strategies? Yes, I remember them fondly." He had a dark and dangerous expression on his face. "Originally, we had eleven suspects, and narrowed it down to five, but our investigations ultimately stalled due to the lack of evidence. If we assume that the Whispering Shadow's patron is the same as our traitor, then we need undeniable evidence of their crimes to act. I won't be able to mobilize our forces nor justify my actions otherwise."
"Take a look at this and tell me what you think." Prince Ranir pointed to several documents.
Prince Dannark took another look at what his brother pointed out. It was random assortment of information from different people, places, and times. He could not make heads or tails out of it, so he furrowed his brow in confusion. He knew his brother was not the type of person to joke around or make claims without due reason. He must have realized something! Trusting his brother's judgement, he lost himself in a brewery of theories and connections, trying to decipher a hidden meaning, if one existed at all. Idea after idea popped up before being systematically eliminated in his head. Possibilities were ruled out one by one as he combed through the information repeatedly. Prince Ranir kept his silence to see if his brother would reach the same conclusion as he did. Time moved slowly in the room until Prince Dannark eventually made a noise.
"Is this report accurate?"
"To the best of my ability," Prince Ranir said wryly. He could not confirm things in person and people were unreliable, especially with their memories. Therefore, the accuracy was questionable to say the least.
Prince Dannark drummed his fingers on the armrest in contemplation. "I understand the situation. Using this information, we can narrow it down to suspect two and seven. The problem is…"
"Suspect two is on the Royal Assembly."
They fell silent. The Royal Assembly was just below the Royal Family in terms of authoritative power, and their influence far exceeded that of the Grand Nobility Households! Any time they moved, the kingdom would quake in their wake. They were equal to the Xingyuu Empire's Imperial Council or the Zino Kingdom's Three Sages! A traitor on the Royal Assembly went beyond a problem. It was above catastrophe! It meant that the empire had thoroughly penetrated the highest level of their government! The scale of damage would be unimaginable should they do anything rash. The entire kingdom might descend into civil war, which would make their war with the empire turn from bad to worse. The empire might even make a counterattack and invade them instead!
And yet, they could not let this problem fester. Look at what happened in Elizabeth's case. She was snuck out of the castle and smuggled to Port Silic where she was captured. This was the heir apparent they were talking about! Or what about the tragedy that befell on Lord Korogin? Any plans or strategies that he could concoct were pointless if the people around him were traitors. It drove him to such desperation that he personally led the attack on the empire only to fall in the emperor's hands. And it was likely that their most recent plans with the Second Great Kingdom War would have been leaked too had Prince Dannark not taken countermeasures against it. However, that was only a temporary solution. Unless they culled the problem at the roots, the empire would forever remain one step ahead in this game!
"I assume you have more evidence. Without it, this is only our conjecture based on unreliable sources, nothing more. It isn't enough to move against them."
Both of their time was precious, and he would rather not waste his afternoon coming up with baseless accusations. He had more important things to deal with, such as the aftermath of the Battle of Liguang. However, he understood that his brother would not waste his time like this. It must be something substantial to move against the Royal Assembly!
As he expected, Prince Ranir said, "Assuming that you were our suspect, how would you get in contact with the Whispering Shadow or the Xingyuu Empire? What would be your preferred method of communication?"
"To minimize the risk involved, the frequency must be rare. It would be dangerous if it were too common. At the same time, I would not risk doing anything personally. I would use a proxy or a trusted subordinate who could relay the messages for me. This subordinate should be unaware that they are betraying the kingdom to prevent any mishaps from being captured or interrogated. That would explain everything we know about the traitor so far."
"And who do you think this subordinate will be more loyal to? Our traitor or the kingdom?"
"That's hard to say. We can't be certain where their allegiances lie. It might also be possible that they're a person from the empire working alongside our traitor." Prince Dannark shook his head. There were a million different possibilities, and without anything to support them, it was mere conjecture.
"I don't think so. If the empire has too many people infiltrating our side, then we would learn of it. They must be discreet in number and action," Prince Ranir swiftly denied. "The most likely possibility is that there are a small handful of people and maybe only one person that knows the truth. But you are right that this subordinate might be loyal to the empire instead."
"I'm struggling to see your point. We can continue to theorize all day long, but it doesn't matter. Get to the point." Prince Dannark was starting to get annoyed.
Prince Ranir chuckled. "Sorry about that. Let me get to the point. What if we captured someone? I heard reports about a strange guest that the First Shadow regularly had when I gathered information. Since the First Shadow was killed, we should have lost our lead, but what if we lured them out?"
"Impossible." Prince Dannark shook his head. "Why would they come out after the Whispering Shadow was destroyed? The kingdom officially announced its destruction."
"Not exactly. They wouldn't know that they're working together with the Whispering Shadow. Remember that the Whispering Shadow's leaders have public and private identities. For example, there was Lord Wenmord Lannisail, the patriarch of the Lannisail Household, who was the Second Shadow. The same went for the First Shadow. Likely, our traitor told their subordinate to get in touch with the First Shadow's public identity. This way, it wouldn't be suspicious."
"I see," his brother instantly deduced. "Since we destroyed the Whispering Shadow, the First Shadow's public and private identities were exposed. Since they didn't know that the First Shadow was related to the Whispering Shadow, that would mean that they committed a grave crime. If you lure them out based on that premise… then it is plausible. And our traitor wouldn't know either, because their subordinate wouldn't want the report this big of a mistake. They would try to resolve it by themselves."
"Exactly. Using that logic, we laid the bait out and… we captured someone last week," Prince Ranir smiled ominously.
"What?" Prince Dannark almost jumped from his seat in shock. He had his guesses about what his brother wanted to say, but this far exceeded his expectations. This was a huge move! "Are you sure it's the right person?"
"Yes, I've confirmed it. We have the right person. We captured him a week ago, and it took some time to transport him, but he's here now. I haven't interrogated him yet because…" Prince Ranir spread his hands helplessly because he was publicly a wastrel of a prince. It would be strange if he were involved here. He needed to keep his appearances in mind.
"I can handle that part," Prince Dannark replied, regaining his calm again.
He stood in the light, while his brother stayed in the dark. He needed to make a move himself at this point, but all the groundwork had already been laid down by his brother. With the reports in hand, he could forge a solid case against their detainee. In the best-case scenario, they would confess and completely expose everything. He could then move against the traitor boldly with due cause. But even in the worst-case scenario where they clam up and refuse to say anything, that was also fine. He had evidence that they had connections with the Whispering Shadow and could use that to attack the traitor. That was why he had to admire his brother's thought process. It might be underhanded, but it was nothing short of brilliant. It might even be a fatal move!
"I'll leave it to you then," Prince Ranir waved offhandedly.
Prince Dannark stared at him. "Both your past and present contributions have been tremendous, but no one will ever know. Are you okay with this? If mother knew…"
"She won't change her attitude because of this," he smiled bitterly. "It's fine because I'm used to it. Besides, I like doing whatever I want. It's nice to enjoy my freedom."
Is that so? Prince Dannark thought as he saw through the lies.
"If that's all, then I'll take my leave here. I have a lot of work ahead of me."
"I look forward to the good news. I'll inform you the usual way if I learn anything new."