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It’s too bad for him and for Barbara. The whole point of not having an open fight and letting Mia’s group in was to make this situation happen. If there was a fight, one of her employees might end up killing Lorenz. That would be pointless. Even if Mia put an already-dead Lorenz out of his suffering, that wouldn’t be enough. He had to be healthy in mind and body and have decades of life left to live, but Mia’s hand cut it all short. That was the point.

Lorenz didn’t show any sign of giving up.

“Good grief, we’re getting pretty angry, aren’t we, milord? I guess I have to try and calm you down a bit. Let’s get some of that heat out of your blood.”

She lifted her sword and slashed at him.

“Father!” Citrina screamed as the dangerous weapon fell on his shoulder. But it failed to reach its target.

“What?!” Barbara’s eyes got big as she looked from her blade, which was now frozen in the air, to the face of an old man who had suddenly appeared next to her. His black butler’s outfit looked good with his neatly trimmed mustache.

“Now, now, Barbara. That’s not the way a maid should act toward her boss.”

“You… I thought you were already gone for good, Bisset. What have you been doing?” she asked the guy who was holding her arm back with a snide smile.

Sion’s eyebrows moved when he heard the name.

“Did she say Bisset?” he asked in a low voice. “I’m not sure why that name sounds so familiar.”

At the same time, Empress Magistratus’s spirit Mia, who was ready to give a masterwork of percussion justice, slowly put down her hammer and disappeared. Mia was a girl who could tell what was going on in a room. And the room was now different.

“Interrupting milord when he is talking is the most rude thing you can do. Barbara, if anyone should keep quiet, it’s you.”

He pulled the blade out of Barbara’s hand and bowed his head toward Lorenz.

“Please forgive me for being late, sir. It took longer than I thought to get rid of the pests,” he said, giving each of the Serpents a look that told them not to dare touch his master.

This turn of events made Barbara sigh. “Hmph… So it goes. There’s not much to be gained by fighting here. Milord, go ahead. I don’t think you have anything important to say, but you’re welcome to defend yourself.”

She took a step back and made a the stage is yours sign without saying anything.

Lorenz also sighed, but his was a sign of relief.

“Ah, mm, all right. So, if I may say what I think, Your Highness…”

He looked at Mia, who, thinking that the talk would go on without her, was on the verge of jumping when her name was suddenly brought up. But she was used to being surprised by now, so she quickly gathered herself and got her mind ready for anything that could happen.

“Yes, Duke Yellowmoon? Please, feel free to talk.”

Lorenz looked at her for a long time, as if he were studying her, and then he said something shocking.

“Everything Barbara said is completely false. Neither I, nor my daughter Citrina, have ever killed another person.”

“…Huh?”

All of the people in the courtyard were speechless after hearing this shocking news. Barbara got up first, and her mocking laugh broke the silence.

“And here I thought you’d at least try to make your case look good. What is this crazy talk, milord? Have you lost your mind? Do you really think someone will believe such a crazy claim?” Barbara gave a snort.

Mia told the truth about what she thought.

Okay, enough already. That’s a stretch, for sure…

But just as she was about to say this, she noticed something important: Ludwig, her faithful servant, was keeping quiet. Ludwig, who in the previous timeline had never missed a chance to correct her in an exasperated way whenever she said something even slightly wrong, was totally quiet. More than that, he didn’t look like he had the slightest question. With his arms crossed, he seemed perfectly happy to let the duke talk.

Now…that’s interesting…

Mia swallowed her words again and shut her mouth. She crossed her arms like Ludwig did and took a similar “wait and see” approach, keeping her eyes and ears open for any sign of incoming momentum waves she could ride.

Lorenz took one more look at her, took a short breath, and then went on.

“As you all know, since the beginning of the Tearmoon Empire, we Yellowmoons have made it our mission to kill in secret anyone who stands in the way of our progress as an imperial country. We did this because we swore to do so to the first ruler. But, the last few decades have been surprisingly stable. Aside from that, His Imperial Majesty is a kind person. We have never been told to kill anyone.”

“Hm…”

Mia nodded because what Lorenz said was in line with what she thought she knew.

I’m not sure if I’d call his personality “gentle,” but I know that my dad doesn’t care about anything that doesn’t have my name on it. All that matters to him is that I like him. Also, as far as I know, there haven’t been any wars in the empire lately.

Even though lords were always fighting with each other over politics, no threat had ever been so big that one of the Four Houses had to take action to get rid of it.

“Hah, are you even listening to yourself?” Barbara asked in a mocking way. “That makes things even worse. With so much free time, you’ve had plenty of time to do what the Chaos Serpents want.”

She gave him a smug, proud grin.

“I’m aware of what you did. You killed many wise people and people who stood up to the Serpents because you wanted to bring down the kingdom and curse this land with constant trouble. If you had killed those people as the empire’s invisible sword, you might have been forgiven for your sins. But you didn’t. You did something to help the Serpents—”

“I’m a coward, Barbara.” Lorenz cut in, “Unlike Her Highness. I don’t have as much guts as she does. Assassination? Why, that’s a terrible idea. I’m scared just to think about it. I could never do something like that. That’s why… I lied to you.”

“Such drivel. Is your argument only made up of lies and fantasies? What do you get out of telling such clear lies?” She said this while shaking her head and looking disappointed. “Yes, you are a coward, milord. I won’t say otherwise. And that is exactly why you would never betray the Serpents. If you are in a similar position, with people who are against the Serpents, you might still be able to go against our will. But the present state of affairs is entirely the work of the great sage. You couldn’t have let your victims live if you thought that the princess would cause this exact problem many, many years later. That makes no sense.”

“It’s not often that you don’t make sense, Barbara. It makes a lot of sense. You only need to think about it briefly. The Serpents have always told me to kill people who are dangerous to them,” Lorenz said in a strong voice. “This means that they are people who could help fight against the Serpents. If I ever tried to fight against the Serpents, they would probably help me. I think that’s a good enough reason to let them live.”

Barbara laughed at his point of view.

“It’s a funny theory, but it’s just a theory. All of the people who work for you are ruled by us. Even the Wind Crows. In particular, the White Crows, who have been closely working with the Yellowmoons. They did what Jem told them to do. We couldn’t help but notice everything you did. How do you think you could have pulled off this incredible lie by yourself? With so many people watching? You faked the deaths of your victims and then took them away to a safe place? You, with all your arrogant stupidity?”

The only response to Barbara’s increasingly cruel jokes was a weak shrug.

“You’re telling the truth,” Lorenz said. “It hurts to say that I’m weak and useless. I don’t have the strength to fight against your people or even to protect my own daughter from sadness. Every day, it breaks my heart…”

He took a deep breath. As he looked at Barbara, his face became more calm.

He pointed at Bisset and said, “But he…isn’t.”

“And he is the most important thing you forgot.” At that point, Ludwig decided to join the chat and talk as if he had just remembered something interesting. “On that note, Prince Sion, I completely forgot to tell you the answer to the question you asked.”

“Hm? What was the question again?”

“In fact, Her Highness was the one who told me about your question. Jason, Lucas, Max, Thanasis, and Bisset.”

Sion’s eyes got bigger as Ludwig went down the list.

“No way… You mean…”

Monica didn’t share his surprise, so she nodded to say yes. “Yes. The man there who goes by Bisset used to be called Wind Crow. The legendary architect who set up Sunkland’s spy network in Tearmoon.”

Bisset shook his head slightly to show that he didn’t like what she said. “Now, now. Exagerating things doesn’t help anyone. All of that is old stuff now.”