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Chapter 452

“It’s not Esmeralda’s fault, but it’s hard to read this right now because she’s always around…”

She quickly turned the page to the part about Sion’s death and read it line by line. Details had changed, as was to be expected.

“Hm… Well, that’s not surprising,” she said at the end of the first line. “The question is what happened.”

She had been able to keep Sion from getting into a fight with the bandits. Had that really fixed the problem? Or would Sion die in another way? She inhaled deeply and kept reading.

Soon, the words everyone feared came. The Chronicles say that Sion’s new fate was to be killed by poison.

“That does show that the first bandit attack was probably meant for him. I mean, I guess it’s still possible that it’s just a chance, but…”

She stopped muttering when she got to a very important line. This time, the book told her who did it, which made her very happy.

“Yes! This is great, oh my! It’s almost as good as over!”

After a moment of happiness, she realized what this meant and went back to thinking. The guilty person’s name was Echard Sol Sunkland, which means…

“Sunkland’s second prince, Echard. That’s the little brother of Sion. Why him, of all the people…?”

It made no sense at all. As she thought about it more, her head hurt more and more. Mia had, for the most part, made an effort to get to know all the important people in nearby countries who were politically important to Tearmoon. This included royal families and peers. Echard, on the other hand, was only a name to her. She had no idea why he might have killed his brother.

“This…just became a lot harder. If it were some random knight, that would be fine, but it’s the second prince of Sunkland…”

Until just now, Mia thought that if things got really bad, she could always use her last option, which was to use Dion on the bad guy. She didn’t want to do it, but knowing that she could was very reassuring. But it wasn’t anymore.

“I mean, I never really planned to get that violent, so I guess it’s not that bad… But there is a bright side to this. On the day of the murder, Esmeralda is going to the ball at the royal house. I can still try to stop it by being there in person and going with what feels right. It won’t be easy, but it won’t be impossible. But it will be close… Hnnngh…”

She crossed her arms and thought so hard that, if the room were cold enough, steam would be coming out of her head. She fell face-first onto the bed after a period of hard thinking.

“Nope! No, no, and no! No idea at all! What do I need to do? I wish I had something sweet right now. All done! Yes, I can’t think without sweets!”

She left her room to get something to think about. Something much better than fuel was walking down the hallway toward her at the same time. It was a thought engine.

“What was I thinking? This is exactly why I brought Ludwig along!”

She quickly did what she was best at, which was delegating tasks to a large number of people. She had, after all, arrived ready. She had Ludwig, who was smart, Dion, who was strong, and Citrina, who was poisonous. It would be silly not to use her many tools. She didn’t wait any longer before she called Ludwig into her room.

—

“Prince Echard, you say?” asked Ludwig, who didn’t understand.

Mia asked him the question as soon as he walked into the room.

“Yes. Echard, Prince. He is Sion’s younger brother. Do you know anything about him?”

Ludwig crossed his arms and looked serious. He shook his head after being quiet for a while.

“I am sorry. I don’t know of anything in particular that should be talked about. If it’s necessary, I can look into the situation.”

“Hmm… Then, please do so.”

Unfortunately, they wouldn’t have time to do that, because not even a second after she asked…

“Mia-sama! Oh, Mia-sama…!

The door flew open, and a startled Esmeralda ran in.

“Moons, Esmeralda, what’s wrong with you? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost!”

“I’d be more likely to believe in a ghost!” she stuttered. “I saw the person I’m supposed to marry, and it’s…it’s…”

Mia waited a second, and when she saw that Esmeralda’s mouth was open but she wasn’t saying anything, she sighed and pushed her.

“Well? I’m waiting. Who is it?”

“It’s… It’s… Ooooooh…”

“Calm down, sweet moons. Moon’s sake, your name is Esmeralda Greenmoon. The Duke’s daughter. There should be nothing in the world that would make you lose your mind like this.”

“P-Prince Echard! I’m supposed to be marrying Prince Echard!”

“…Huh?”

Mia just looked at her with her mouth wide open. It was a very rude thing to do in front of Ludwig, but shock was more important than proper behavior. But if she had thought to look, she would have seen three open mouths in the room.

—

Ludwig was so shocked by the news that he didn’t even notice Mia’s shock. Now was the first time that everything made sense in his head, and it hit him like a boulder. He finally got what Mia had been trying to do all along.

Echard Sol Sunkland, the second prince of his country, was to marry Esmeralda Greenmoon, the daughter of one of Tearmoon’s Four Dukes. Count Lampron, who is known for his strict views, was the one who helped make the deal happen… How would the political power map change if the marriage went through?

It would make the House of Greenmoon and Prince Echard the leaders of a powerful group that would work against the alliance between Her Majesty and Prince Sion.

Mia and the Four Houses had already formed a united front, but the Greenmoons would tear it apart. Then, people who didn’t like the empress could gather around the split house. Even worse, Duke Greenmoon had a son. If Mia’s bid for the throne fails, he would be next in line. Then the effects in Sunkland came into play. Sion’s cautious approach to expansionism would face a strong new enemy in the form of an alliance of conservatives that would be led by his brother.

So it makes sense that Her Highness asked me to find out about Prince Echard… Now everything makes sense!

Ludwig chewed on his lip. His important discovery came too late.

If only I had thought about it a little more… If I had just looked at Sunkland’s power map and internal situation one more time… With hindsight, the timing and the players make it so clear. Why else would a noble from Etoiline and a noble from Sunkland talk about getting married now?

Ludwig hung his head in shame over his own mistake.

“Please forgive me, Your Highness. I should have expected this. This is a horrible mistake on my part.”

“A mistake? I’m not sure I get what you’re saying, but…”

Mia looked at him with a raised lip, almost as if she didn’t know what he was talking about. He took a bite, feeling both regret and thanks.

She plays the fool instead of criticizing me for my lack of skill…

“I’m depending on you, Ludwig, so don’t let me down.”

When he saw her smile, he couldn’t help but put his head down again.