Albert could not fully comprehend even after hearing Artizea’s explanation.

“Aren’t you concerned that Prince Cadriol might not be able to act as Your Grace had envisioned? I’m sure you didn’t know at the time.”

“It is not that difficult to guess and guide the behavior of a rational person. The ploy I gave you is the same thing that moved the Iantz Association.”

“Even so, I think it’s too adventurous. Even if Prince Cadriol had decided to overthrow the regime, he could have failed, right?”

“It could be.”

Artizea responded that way. Albert made a confused face.

It was because Artizea didn’t seem to be imagining such a situation at all, unlike her words.

“…… Can I think about it and ask you again later?”

“Sure.”

Artizea accepted Albert’s two requests in return for sending the ploy to the Iantz Kingdom.

One was that he wanted to become Artizea’s close aide, and the other was that he wanted her to answer the question without being rude.

They both serve the same purpose. He wanted to know the secret behind the ploy.

It was last year that Albert was recruited to Artizea’s intelligence organization.

At that time, he was only at the end. He didn’t even know whose pocket the silver coins he was given were really coming from.

But he noticed that the South’s organization was growing in size incredibly quickly.

The price paid to the informants was always accurate. They seemed to already know the identity of the other person, his family, and what he wanted.

In which direction to expand and where to stop. The organization did not hesitate, nor did it fail.

There was no trial and error, as if doing something they had done once again.

It was very strange to find out. Because it was something that could not have been known from Albert’s position.

Albert was nervous. This is because it felt like the story behind the novel, which people already knew the plot, and was developed in a similar way, but in a different manner.

He dug into the organization.

In fact, there was a hole in Artizea’s organization. It grew up in a short time, so it was inevitable

However, like Albert, it was impossible for an individual to track the top of the organization while erasing his tracks for a long time.

It was this summer that he was brought before Artizea.

Artizea was wearing a veil, and the color of her hair was covered with a brown net. But Albert recognized her right away.

“Marquis Rosan.”

His breath was choked.

It was unknown why the name Marquis Rosan came to mind rather than Grand Duchess Evron.

And he recognized her.

But she couldn’t have been Marquis Rosan. Albert felt that way.

Artizea looked surprised. Albert gasped for his breath.

This was an opportunity. Not knowing exactly what the opportunity was, Albert knew he had a great opportunity worth risking his life.

“My family has been working at the Hussey Merchants since the days of our great-grandparents. My two cousins are bureaucrats. Among the commoners in the Iantz Kingdom, there are not many cases that are as reliable as ours.”

“Do you know who I am and why I called you?”

“You are the one who made the Emperor.”

Albert surprised himself as he spoke. He knew how dangerous and absurd it was.

However, Artizea looked at him with an observing gaze instead of scolding him and kicking him out.

She said,

“Go back. I will call you again.”

Albert returned to the boarding house that day in a frenzy. He knew he was on surveillance, but he couldn’t afford to care.

But he wasn’t wrong. He was sure.

While he was tracking the organization, he once had a dream.

He dreamed of throwing away the one chance that had been given to him, and returning to the Iantz Kingdom and living a boring life as his parents wanted him to.

His family was righteous. Parents believed that it was best for their sons to stay by their side and live together in harmony.

They considered it their life goal to be storekeepers at the Hussey Merchants. Parents were not jealous of the success of their cousins who became bureaucrats, but rejoiced as if their children had succeeded.

Albert was tired of such a family. He used to love them, but after decades of being together, struggling that his life will end like this has only grown stronger.

But the opportunity he once missed never comes back.

He couldn’t even get out of the life he had been complacent with.

And when he woke up from that dream, his youth and opportunity had suddenly returned to his eyes.

This time, he wanted to sharpen himself like a blue blade.

The second call was about a fortnight later. Artizea was not wearing a veil.

The face was the same as Albert remembered. Albert was convinced that his dream had meaning.

There’s no way someone like Albert would have seen Artizea before.

Unlike the royal family whose portraits were circulated and the nobility frequently published in newspapers, it was only at the wedding that the face of Grand Duchess Evron was portrayed in an illustration.

Still, Albert could see her face clearly.

Artizea made some offers to him.

“I can’t promise to protect your family. Your family must remain in the same place in the Iantz Kingdom to be meaningful as a spy.”

“I know. But I also know that after I achieve success, we will be rewarded more than that.”

Artizea looked at him with a subtle face.

For three reasons Artizea decided to keep him by her side.

The first was because of the possibility that he was a ‘returner’. Albert didn’t tell her his dream story, but Artizea was suspicious.

It was clear that his old memories were affecting him in some way. It would be safer to put him right next to her and observe it.

The second was because of the argument. Artizea originally intended to publish the ploy under a fake name.

In the Iantz Kingdom, they spared no effort in examining the trend of what the Empire thought of the Iantz.

Even if only twenty copies were printed through Belmond magazine and placed at the salon, a copy would immediately enter the hands of the Iantz Kingdom.

However, it was better to go in secret through the Iantz Kingdom than to increase the number of readers by doing so through the magazine.

She knew the high risk of being suspected, of course. However, the plan was thought to be safer than creating variables within the Empire.

And finally, because Albert was a really useful person.

In the past, Albert had stepped on the end of Artizea’s intelligence organization. Artizea called Albert himself to meet him and even tried to recruit him.

He wanted power rather than money, and he was a person who wanted to know the secrets that moved the world rather than power. His head was also on the smart side.

Such a person is difficult to deal with, but once he is loyal, he is very capable and self-sufficient.

However, he turned down Artizea’s offer and returned to his hometown. This is because Artizea proposed a position for the West Organization. If he goes there, the day he will return to the South becomes far away.

And as far as Artizea knew, he kept the secret until the end and never opened his mouth.

‘It was more fortunate for him to go south.’

Had he accepted the offer, he would have been a target for Lawrence.

Now it doesn’t matter. No matter how many more charges were added to or removed from Artizea, the outcome would have been the same.

Of course, she had no intention of sharing a really important secret right now.

If Albert wanted to get to the heart of the Empire, he would have to answer the exact question Artizea had to answer with his own reasoning.

Duchy of Riagan

Prince Cadriol’s second letter departed on the day the Eimmel Palace was overturned and reached the Imperial Capital in two weeks.

The first letter arrived only more than a month after several ports were captured and the Duchy of Riagan was besieged.

Considering the speed of this time’s arrival, it was clear that the letter was sent strategically late the first time.

However, the Emperor did not say a single word about the arrival date of the letter.

It’s not that he didn’t know that Cadriol had made a sleight of hand. It was because he was so angry that it wasn’t a problem.

“Tell Sir Boyden to clear out the Duchy of Riagan immediately! Relatives, friends, guardians, and everything, take them away!”

“Please calm down, Your Majesty. It is harmful to the body.”

The chief attendant went down on his knees, but the Emperor, far from quelling his anger, threw the papers at him.

Slap!

A fairly thick bundle of documents fell from one forehead to the next and scattered on the floor.

Some of the priests who were present shrank their heads.

Only Chancellor Lin asked with a calm attitude.

“What about the fact-finding team?”

“What about what? Call them right now!”

Cadriol did not write the name of Grand Duke Roygar in the letter.

However, the evidence of the coarse salt business was also attached to the national letter.

Having this amount of data, there is no reason not to have used it as a negotiating material.

Sending it meant that there was no consensus in the South.

In other words, Grand Duke Roygar is also playing a part in this.

“Haa.”

The Emperor felt his backbone tingle and leaned over and laid his head on the backrest.

He had already guessed that the Duchy of Riagan would siphon off the salt. He thought that he would tolerate it.

But isn’t he supposed to do his best?

When the Emperor closes his eyes, it means to keep an eye on it on their end, and secretly do it little by little.

In a way that does not mean to attract foreign countries to do business internationally.*

“It’s surprising. To do business with Queen Eimmel, not in textiles or sericulture, nor in grain, but in salt.”

So did Grand Duke Roygar.

When the Emperor sent him by appointing him as the Emperor’s envoy, he admitted that a significant part would be moved for Grand Duke Roygar’s own personal gain.

The huge bribes to be received in the South, the increase in influence on the merchants of the South, and the commercial gains to be reaped by using that authority to negotiate trade deals with the southern kingdoms as the Emperor’s envoys.

He also knew that the Duke had taken a bribe from the Duchy of Riagan. It was easy to guess that salt was included among them.

But, wasn’t he trying to acquire the whole coarse salt business, not just to obtain and sell the finished product?

“You dare to touch the salt and interfere with the succession of the Eimmel throne?”

That was then.

Bellon, a treasury official, crouched behind Chancellor Lin and said cautiously,

“It is devastating to come up with these stories at a time like this, Your Majesty…….”

“What else? Do you intend to disturb me at a time like this with little things?”

“How dare I think like that? But…… I was going to say it anyway, because it’s about Duke Riagan…….”

Bellon said while muttering.

“The amount of money he was paying was correct, but he actually made adjustments to the books…… Please spare me!”

The Emperor jumped to his feet.

Not only the servants but also the priests knelt all at once.

The teacup on the desk spilled out. The letter was soaked with tea.

Chapter breakdown from Somnium~ :

The Emperor understands that some corruption is inevitable. He doesn’t mind if Riagan illegally trades salt just a little. The extent of the trades is too large, that’s why he is angry. HOWEVER, even at this volume, it is not an entirely unforgivable crime. Unfortunately, the Duchy went over the line by involving a foreign entity. The salt that belongs to the Empire, now enriches another Kingdom. And of course, Roygar who finds out about this and decides to go a step further by involving Iantz Kingdom is pretty done.