Turning Chapter 1019

Chapter 1019

‘The information was clearly well controlled. No one knew about my use of people except those present here. They were all bound by double and even triple oaths, so there was no possibility of it leaking out by mistake.’

It was a very difficult task to use an oath while avoiding the eyes of the temple. Using it in double and triple layers was even more challenging, as it was different from simply making someone write an oath on scrolls two or three times. Even with the wealth and power of the Duke of Diarca, it was not easy. It was a 'warning' he had taken great care to use generously, yet the Emperor had escaped his 'warning' unscathed, so easily that it seemed impossible unless the information had been leaked in advance.

'Before the incident, the informants I had scattered in the imperial palace didn't bring any unusual news. That remains true even now.'

Although it was impossible for the Duke of Diarca to invade the second palace where the Emperor was holed up like a final fortress, all other spaces were in the Duke's grasp. The eyes and ears of the countless people who followed him were watching the Emperor and Empress at this very moment, conveying even the slightest changes around them.

There was no mistake in that. That was, until the Emperor appeared, spreading the nonsensical rumor that he had encountered a miracle and recovered.

Clearly, the sturdy traps set by Duke Diarca remained unchanged.

Yet, he could not detect any 'change' in the Emperor and Empress.

That was the problem.

'Where did the problem start? I need to retrace my steps...'

"Your Grace... Please have mercy on us, at least until we can clearly ascertain the situation of the captured one and report to you...!"

"Silence."

The Duke of Diarca silenced the noisy person, who was still insisting that 'there would be nothing for Your Grace to worry about' while bowing his head, with a single sigh. He then gestured to the chief attendant beside him.

"I want to think alone, so send them out. I don't acknowledge such people."

"Understood, Your Grace."

"Please wait a moment, Duke. Didn't you trust us based on the trust we had shown you before and contacted us again? The matter is not yet finished... Duke. Du...! Ugh!"

As the chief attendant took out an oath scroll from his bosom and muttered something, the person who had been desperately shouting and was about to rush forward clutched his throat and collapsed. He was soon dragged out by the large soldiers who entered from outside.

In the quieted room, the Duke closed his eyes, inhaling the smoke that made his mind hazy.

"Finally, some peace and quiet."

Regardless of what happened to those who failed, it was none of the Duke of Diarca's concern. Even if they failed, there was no chance of the Diarca family and the Duke being implicated. There were countless people beside him, like sand, who would take the blame on his behalf.

He just had to 'feign ignorance'.

'The Emperor probably tried to capture the culprit alive to find out who was behind the assassination attempt. He would have intended to forcibly extract the name of Diarca... but why doesn't he realize it won't go as he wishes, even after experiencing it several times?'

It wasn't as if all the numerous 'warnings' Duke Diarca had sent to the Emperor had succeeded. The young Emperor's teeth were quite sharp, even sharper than his father's, and there were a few times when they had made the Duke's head ache considerably. However, in the end, it was always the Duke who won. He always walked away unscathed and with his head held high.

Therefore, the Duke was not too worried about the failure of this 'warning'.

'Even if everyone witnesses what happened before their eyes, if the one who holds power and fear pretends not to know, it eventually becomes something unknown.'

His only concern was that he could not grasp this incomprehensible situation. It wasn't that his crime might be exposed and he might be attacked.

The Emperor's few hands, who pretended to be righteous and law-abiding, could be easily neutralized with just a slight attack on their weaknesses. However, the Duke of Diarca, who had been cultivating power from the beginning without caring about such things and solely focused on dominating, could ignore it even if they were attacked in the same way. Who would dare to arrest them and bring them to court? The judges who would pass judgment were also the Diarcas' puppets, and there were plenty of people who would jump into the fire on their behalf.

The Duke of Diarca's private soldiers were stronger and more numerous than the Emperor's guards, and the overflowing wealth and power throughout the empire also flowed first to the Diarca main house, not the imperial family.

A family that would seize the next generation of the imperial family even if they remained still.

They were already the victors.

'Clearly, we have already won. All that was needed was a little patience.'

The smoke that flowed from the Duke of Diarca's lips lingered in the air. He stared at the smoke, lost in thought.

'Is this unknown variable born from... the Cavalry?'

The power to stop the Emperor's assassination attempt and conceal the incident itself without even the Duke of Diarca's knowledge. No matter how much he thought about it, Emperor Keilusa originally did not have such power, so the only thing that came to mind was that.

'But I haven't heard any information about the Cavalry entering the palace. This is a new gap. What on earth is happening inside the Sun Palace?'

The realization that he might not know everything, despite thinking he did, stimulated a very unpleasant sensation. The Duke of Diarca frowned and nervously chewed on the end of his pipe.

'If that lowly bastard who called himself a sage had brought even one piece of proper information, I might not have felt this frustrated now. But because of him, not only was nothing properly handled, but the Crown Prince almost became even more useless...'

Thinking of the Crown Prince made his head throb even more. Since returning from the south after threatening Kiolle, the Crown Prince had started causing trouble again, seemingly unaware of the magnitude of his own misdeeds. His misbehavior had intensified to the point where several servants had already been killed or replaced due to injuries.

'It's time to go and give him a final warning in person.'

As the Duke of Diarca was thinking that, someone knocked on the door a little urgently. The chief attendant, who had quietly slipped out so as not to disturb the Duke lost in thought, exchanged a few words with the visitor outside the door.

After a while, the chief attendant returned and cautiously opened his mouth.

"Your Grace. I apologize, but... there is news that just arrived late from the south."

"What is it?"

"Well, it is said that the new Duchess succession ceremony of the Herne family has already taken place."

The Duke of Diarca's eyebrows twitched.

"They held it among themselves without informing the capital? They are indeed befitting of the ominous southern bloodline. But it's not surprising. And?"

"However... just before the succession ceremony took place, an unknown natural disaster occurred once again in the south. It is said that the Cavalry and the Imperial Knights helped deal with it, allowing the succession ceremony to be held safely."

This news definitely surprised the Duke of Diarca.

"...A natural disaster?"

The old Duke, who had not shown any change in emotion until now, for the first time removed the pipe from his mouth and set it down completely, straightening his back. A cold sweat formed on the forehead of the chief attendant who met his direct gaze.

"When did this happen? Why has this news not reached us until now? And the Imperial Knights? When did they learn of this and dispatch?"

"We have not yet ascertained that. I can't understand why such an omission occurred..."

Again. Duke Diarca was once more gripped by the unpleasant sensation that his seemingly perfect network of eyes and ears was in fact blocked and severed.

'While I was preoccupied with the nonsensical news of the Emperor's recovery, what is this?'

How could an event, no matter how trivial it seemed, be reported so late?

'...No. It's not that. I'm sure I've heard similar words somewhere before...'

At that moment, what Duke Diarca recalled was the face of his youngest son, who, though frightened, did not shy away but stood firm and spoke up not long ago.

"...Kiolle."

"Yes?"

"Go and find out what Kiolle is up to and bring him here. Where is he now?"