Chapter 59
After Noah left, the emperor summoned his long-time confidant, the First Vizier.
The emperor has always been quick to implement or consult with him after asking Noah for his opinion.
Therefore, the First Vizier, who had been on standby, came to the emperor's study in less than five minutes.
"Congratulations!"
After bowing properly, the First Vizier said these words out of nowhere.
And as expected, the Emperor was curious.
"What's with the sudden congratulations?"
"I noticed that your countenance is better than ever. I assume that you are very happy."
"Fuu, it showed on my face, huh."
The Emperor smiled even more happily.
"Noah is becoming more and more of a great man."
"Well, I'd love to hear about that."
When the First Vizier showed interest, the Emperor had the look of a father who is extremely proud of his child, and told him about the exchange he had just had with Noah.
The First Vizier listened to the conversation until the end.
"I'm impressed. He is the only one of His Majesty's sons who can act solely on the principles of nobility."
"Umu."
"He's the perfect son of the Royal Family."
"That is correct. We will have Rice Cake for suppression. I feel bad for Henry, but I don't want to give him military authority right now."
"Yes, sir. I'll do it that way."
"... And…"
Emperor then stopped mid-sentence, plucked his chin, and thought.
The First Vizier secretly thought that this kind of pondering face was very similar to Noah's and that they were indeed father and son.
The emperor thought for a moment, then looked up.
" Gather all the young men who look promising and let them join the Rice Cake Subjugation Army."
"I understand, sir. But on what basis?"
The First Vizier asked again.
He thought it was important to understand that the people he would choose would depend on their purpose.
"Somebody with potential. Also, they must not be a member of anyone's household."
"Will do."
"Fuh, you have that look on your face that says, 'Why would you do that?"
"...?"
The First Vizier looked embarrassed, slightly blushing.
"In the meantime, I want to raise a young man who doesn't belong to anyone, but knows about troops and knows about actual warfare. No matter who the next emperor will be, I want them to be independent and useful."
"So that's it!"
The Prince who becomes the Emperor can rarely make use of the household members of other Princes.
Whether for ease of use or pure patronage.
For whatever reason, he will always use his own household members.
The Emperor holds the right to Military Power and will not let it go.
As a result, there are few opportunities for the Royal family members to learn about actual warfare.
For the next emperor, the Emperor would like to have someone in a neutral position that he can use.
This idea is very similar to Noah's.
And what would Noah have done? The First Vizier wondered.
"And one more matter. There's one more important thing."
"Yes"
"I will be A Retired Emperor."
"—!"
It was a bolt out of the blue.
The First Vizier was astonished to the point that it would be obvious to anyone who would see him.
"W-What do you mean?"
"No need to panic. It's just a continuation of the previous conversation. Good grandchildren will ensure the prosperity of the three generations. Nothing has changed."
"Yes, ...."
The First Vizier was a little relieved.
"But I am only human. I can still do it now, but my judgment will probably deteriorate as I age. It is better for the Empire if I hand over the throne while my judgment is still strong."
The emperor chuckled.
"I realized something the other day. It might not be a bad idea to retire and watch my son succeed as emperor."
"Is that so."
The First Vizier bowed his head in acknowledgment.
As he looked down, his face showed a look of surprise that even he could recognize.
(As expected of you, Noah-sama, you changed His Majesty's life as well. ...)
The First Vizier is not blunt at all.
In fact, the main job of the Vizier is to stand between the Emperor and his subordinate ministers and make adjustments.
Because of this, many of them are skilled in the subtleties of human emotions.
The First Prime Minister knew immediately.
At this moment, it was Noah who made the emperor think so.
The emperor is very fond of Noah.
Rather than wielding power as Emperor himself, he wanted to see what kind of reign Noah would have if he became Emperor.
Noah made the emperor decide to abdicate himself.
His talent is growing more and more.
The First Vizier secretly thought so.
At night, the Third Vizier, Jean-Brad Reydouk's residence.
Returning to the mansion from the royal palace, I received an invitation from Jean.
He said that he would be hosting a party this evening and that I should come.
It's not uncommon for Jean to throw a party, but the invitation was a bit more aggressive this time.
I was curious about it, so I came over just as the sun was setting.
When the carriage arrived at the front of the house, Jean himself came to greet me.
"Welcome, Your Highness."
"What is the occasion of this gathering?"
"Please, come in."
Jean didn't answer.
And I didn't force myself to ask.
Jean and his servants led the way into the house.
They led me to the hall of the mansion.
{Ohh! It's good to see you again, Your Highness the Thirteenth.}
I saw a familiar but unexpected face in the hall.
It was the messenger of the Rushi Tsar, the man I had met in the audience hall.
It was a bit unexpected, but I understood immediately.
Jean was good at making connections, and he was always working on them.
He must have found out that the empire's policy of "using" the Rushi Tsar was about to be decided, and he was trying to entertain and win him over.
I smiled at Jean and spoke to the man via Leviathan and the others.
"I still haven't heard your name, have I"
"Apologies for that. My name is Ivan. Honored to make your acquaintance."
"Ivan, huh. Nice to meet you."
"Yes, it's very nice to meet you."
"Well, as expected of His Highness. It surprises me to learn that you are also fluent in Rushian. Now, please come this way, both of you."
Jean entered the conversation at the right moment.
There was a large table in the hall, and he invited us to join him.
I sat at the upper seat, Ivan was next, and Jean sat at the lower seat.
Once we were seated, the food started to arrive.
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Unlike the previous party, the amount of food was small because it was just Ivan and me. Instead, the food was extremely elegant, and a lot of money and effort had gone into it.
I was not surprised by this, but Ivan exaggerated his delight every time he took a bite of the food.
I could tell that he was happy from the bottom of his heart.
As a bonus, I could read his emotions because I was linked to Leviathan and the others and was translating through them.
But it's not that I can read his thoughts, just the general dynamics of his emotions.
Ivan was as delighted as his words and expressions indicated, and Jean was relieved that the reception was going well, though he was still smiling.
Suddenly, Ivan looked at one of the maids serving him.
The feeling that came through was pink – sexual desire.
If that's the case, I thought, giving Jean a look.
Jean, who was used to hospitality, understood everything with that.
"I will send them to the Emissary's sleeping quarters later. Could you inform him that?"
{The Third Vizier says…}
{Ehh? No, Haha, this is embarrassing."
Ivan laughs, scratching his head with his hand.
His words and emotions match again, and he looks very happy.
And for Jean, he was happy too, although he didn't show it on his face.
From the side of the host, there was nothing easier than being able to entertain a man who was happy to have a woman in his bed.
Feed, drink and embrace.
It's the golden pattern of entertainment, and it's always been the same, and I have a feeling that it will never change in the future.
Suddenly, one of the maids caught my attention.
On the surface, she looked normal, but she was extremely frightened and nervous for some reason.
The maid brought a bottle of sake and poured it into Ivan's glass.
Her nervousness and fright became stronger and stronger.
What's going on?
{Wait, don't drink!}
The words came out of my mouth reflexively, and Ivan freaked out.
I got up, said, "Excuse me," and took the glass from Ivan.
And then sniffed it.
"It's ... poison."
"Eh?"
Jean was astonished.
I stared at the glass some more.
A feeling that still lingered even though it was inorganic, not a person.
The strong murderous intent was in the drink.
It had the same essence as the dagger that the assassins who had tried to kill me had once carried.
Both Jean and Ivan were puzzled, unable to understand the situation.
Jean came to me, who was waiting for me in a different room from the hall.
He had a complicated and apologetic look on his face.
"How did it go?"
"The maid confessed to everything. She was paid to mix it with the Emissary's wine."
"Quite a daring thing to do."
"She said it was a slow-acting poison, that it would take effect after one night."
"I see. So she thought she'd never be suspected."
"That's what she said. ... Well, I can only understand now, Your Highness, how amazing you are."
"What do you mean?"
"I've heard about the Almeria rebellion. The maids couldn't betray you and made accusations against you."
Ahh, he's talking about Zoe.
The rebels tried to bribe Zoe, but she couldn't betray me, so she just let me know.
"I had some confidence in the loyalty of my subordinates, but they were no match for ... Your Highness."
"Rather than that, let's get the person who plotted the assassination."
"Haah, the maid said, 'I don't really know what kind of person he is with the hood and robe on.' ..."
"That's not a problem."
I picked up the glass I had left at a distance.
After that, I kept the poisoned glass in my hand.
Holding it, I linked up with Leviathan.
A "String of Water" extended from the bracelet and traveled through the air.
"W-What's this?"
"It's a guide. If you have heard the whole story, then you must have known that I remotely bombarded the mastermind, right?"
"Yes."
"That was technically a mistake. This time, I'm going to apply it so that this string of water will move slowly and shoot the ringleader in the leg. If we follow it, we can catch him."
"W-Wow! I didn't know you were thinking that far ahead."
"I'll leave you to it. Gather your people and follow this."
"Yes!"
Jean lowered his head and ran to call others.
With my and Leviathan's follow-up, Jean successfully captured the mastermind of Ivan's assassination alive.