Somewhere deep within the imperial palace.
At the end of a corridor so long its end was not visible.
Two middle-aged men were calmly killing time in front of a gigantic door.
Duke Luke de Lucid, the head of the Lucid family.
And Duke Aziz de Herizeus, the head of the Herizeus family.
Two of the empire’s eight pillars.
Who would dare make these two wait?
The answer was simple. The ruler of the Annwood Empire, and the only sun of the continent.
Leon de Reinhardt the 13th.
Yes, they were currently awaiting an audience with the emperor.
Standing erect with his eyes closed, Duke Luke.
Looking at him, Duke Aziz was lost in thought.
‘The Lucid family… a troublesome family indeed.’
In factional fights, in the position of the pillars, and…
‘On the path to becoming the emperor.’
Yes, Duke Aziz aspired to the throne.
And in pursuing that dream, the biggest obstacle was, without a doubt, the Lucid family.
The family of Duke Luke right before his eyes.
‘To offer blind loyalty to the emperor to such a strange extent.’
Even if offered a fortune, even if offered half of the empire, even if the position of the emperor himself was offered.
No matter how much they tried to persuade him, Duke Luke would not blink an eye before drawing his sword against him.
Even if it meant sacrificing his life.
‘It was fine dealing with the Lester family… but this family shows no openings.’
Yes, what was there to hide.
The person who played the biggest role in the downfall of the Lester family, the person who framed them for treason.
It was none other than Duke Aziz.
‘It was possible only because ‘he’ agreed with the idea.’
Though surprised by the suggestion to strike at the Lester family first, dealing with them was exactly what he also desired.
Their interests aligned perfectly, and after working in the shadows and cooperating openly, they successfully expelled the Lester family.
Why expel the Lester family?
The Lucid and Lester families.
Families that have loyally served the royal family for generations.
‘To ascend to the throne, one of them must be eliminated without fail.’
That was the conclusion Duke Aziz reached after much contemplation.
To be frank, with what he had prepared, he could aim for the throne now but…
‘At least not in my generation.’
If the empire was split into factions due to rebellions, there would be no point in securing the throne.
He must minimize chaos with the legitimacy and pretext of succession on his back.
Therefore, it was safer to execute the plan at least in the next generation… no, two generations later to be safe.
The position of the throne. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t sit on it himself.
Duke Aziz was that kind of person.
A very meticulous person who knew how to endure and wait patiently, even with the throne within sight.
It was natural for the straightforward Lester family to fall for his schemes.
‘Anyway… the Lester family has been dealt with.’
The Lucid family was also a problem, but he had to deal with the immediate issue first.
‘Why did he suddenly call us?’
There were times when they were summoned for an audience, but it was the first time being called without being told the reason.
Moreover, to be called together with Duke Luke.
‘Being called together means there’s something that involves both of us.’
Even the astute Duke Aziz couldn’t easily guess the reason.
‘The worst-case scenario would be if it was discovered that we framed the Lester family…’
But if that were the case, they would have been bound and dragged here. They wouldn’t have been left free like this.
‘No matter how much I think about it, I can’t figure it out.’
He wondered if Duke Luke knew the reason, but he remained with his eyes closed.
The same rock-solid man as always.
‘Well, even if evidence that we framed them is found, it doesn’t really matter…’
The incident with the Lester family had already ended with their downfall.
Even if it was revealed to be a frame-up, they were already beyond the point of no return.
At most, he might be ordered to step down from his official position for a few years.
More importantly, ‘he’ was also involved in this matter, so for the sake of protecting his own political life, he wouldn’t dispose of him.
‘So, there’s no need to worry about that. But then, why did he call us?’
As he was lost in these thoughts.
The massive door opened, and a knight with a stern face spoke sternly.
“His Majesty is waiting for you.”
Although it was they who had been waiting, they weren’t foolish enough to play word games.
Duke Luke and Duke Aziz stepped through the door.
There were no fanfares from a military band, no heralds proclaiming their families.
It was an unofficial meeting, so it was natural.
After walking about a hundred steps in the silent space.
On a tall staircase that required one to look up to see, in the center sat a luxurious chair.
There he was seated.
The ruler of the empire, Leon de Reinhardt the 13th.
As Duke Luke and Duke Aziz knelt on one knee, Duke Luke shouted robustly.
“The ruler of the Saxen River and the benevolent ruler of Annwood, the owner of the empire and the continent’s…”
“Enough, enough.”
The emperor raised his hand to stop him.
Though his once shining golden hair was now more white than gold, the serene aura in his eyes had not diminished in the slightest.
“Let’s leave it at that. You know this isn’t the place for such formalities.”
Duke Luke and Duke Aziz stood up and straightened their postures.
The emperor immediately got to the point.
“As you may have heard, it seems there has been an unfortunate incident at the academy.”
It had happened just yesterday, but both Duke Luke and Duke Aziz were well aware of it.
A major event where demons attacked the academy.
It was shocking enough for them, so others must have been even more shocked.
“Lady Lucia did a great job once again. Duke Luke, I always seem to be on the receiving end of your help without giving anything in return. I feel quite sorry.”
“It’s nothing, Your Majesty. It’s all thanks to Your Majesty’s grace.”
“Ha, this man. How is that my grace? By the way, it was the same with the previous incident. What was it, a demon’s shard?”
The seed of a demon that had been lurking in the academy’s basement for decades.
Rodelin, the youngest of the Lucid family, had dealt with it, and they were able to gather a lot of information about ‘Erosion’ from the laboratory there.
Considering the threat of Erosion across the continent, this was a tremendous achievement.
Not only that.
“To uncover and eliminate those who have made contracts with demons. How old is your youngest daughter?”
“…Sixteen.”
“I see. To fight against demons at that age with such spirit and courage. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“You flatter me.”
The conversation continued on various topics.
Mostly about the academy and the demon attack.
“…?”
A question mark floated above Duke Aziz’s head.
The conversation had been about the academy since a while ago.
He could not have imagined that this was the reason he was called.
‘I have nothing to do with it?’
The demon sleeping in the academy, the demon’s shard.
The teacher who contracted with a demon, Lérang.
And Bineus, the fourth-grade demon who attacked the academy.
All three matters were unrelated to Duke Aziz.
‘If there’s anything related, it would be about my youngest son…’
Aywin de Herizeus, the president of the student council.
But this couldn’t be the reason he was called.
He had heard from Aywin that he didn’t even know these three incidents had occurred.
As he continued to harbor doubts, the emperor shifted his gaze from Duke Luke.
“Duke Aziz, you’ve had a hard time too. I was puzzled at first, but now I understand.”
“…Yes?”
“About Principal Dwener. I see why you recommended him. A talent capable of overcoming crises. It would have been a disaster without him.”
“…?”
The emperor said various things, but they didn’t quite register in his mind.
He couldn’t remember who ‘Dwener’ was.
Was there someone with that name among the talents he recommended?
But if he was a talent praised by the emperor, it’s impossible he wouldn’t remember.
‘…Have I developed dementia? At my age?’
As he desperately tried to remember who Dwener was.
“Principal Dwener… no, it seems we should officially call him the chancellor now. It looks like his position won’t change for a while.”
Chancellor?
Only then could Duke Aziz remember who he was.
The parachute he had sent down to Annwood Academy.
At the same time, another memory surfaced.
The day he first met Dwener.
The memory of that dreadful day.
At a party hosted by the Herizeus family for a minor noble family.
Duke Aziz sipped wine as he surveyed the party.
‘Though it’s a minor family, their influence is considerable.’
From people everyone would recognize by face to knights just starting to make a name for themselves, and capable bureaucrats.
Talents were everywhere.
‘I came here for a completely different reason… but this isn’t bad either.’
In fact, Duke Aziz was looking for an incompetent person.
Someone so incompetent that even an ordinary person would be shocked.
But it seems they gave out too much in grants.
“We invited everyone, those with and without connections. There must be a talent here that will meet your expectations.”
The lord had exerted too much effort.
It seemed he would have to be satisfied with recruiting a usable talent today.
“Hmm?”
That was when he noticed. A fly appeared.
Buzzing around.
Looking for something to eat or hands to rub together, the fly buzzed around.
Though it took the form of a person, from Duke Aziz’s perspective, it was no different from a fly.
The kind of people he usually wouldn’t spare a glance for. But today was different.
Rustle— Rustle.
The fly started snooping around, eavesdropping on people’s conversations.
Such a pathetic sight. Unbelievable for a noble.
‘But.’
That made it all the more intriguing.
Because it expressed a desire to cling onto something with its whole body.
“Who is that?”
“Let me see… Hmm…”
Count Garta scratched his head after observing him for a while.
“I’m sorry. I’ll find out right away.”
Count Garta quickly left his spot.
Even he, well-connected in this region, didn’t know the person.
A fly among flies, undoubtedly.
Meaning, not just any incompetent person.
Soon, Count Garta returned with the fly.
“Th-This is Sir Dwener. You, you were looking for me…”
“A talented individual like you hidden here without recognition. My heart aches for you.”
“Hehe, I tried to hide it, but it seems I was caught. Yes, that’s right. I am Dwener, a descendant of the great hero from the Seigan family.”
Praising himself just because he was a little flattered.
Looking at him now, isn’t he a fly that doesn’t even know where to land?
Duke Aziz found him to be the perfect fly.
‘There’s nothing more frightening than the efforts of a fool.’
Without education, accumulated experience, knowledge, or wisdom.
A nobody meddling here and there.
It’s natural for incidents to follow one after another.
‘He’s perfect.’
The position of chancellor at Annwood Academy.
Seeing how this fly handles things, the Elester family would be shocked enough to run over barefoot.
Even if not the Elester family, someone in a high position would have to come to the academy.
Someone has to clean up the messes Dwener makes.
‘To drive away the emperor’s talents far and take their place.’
It was Duke Aziz’s scheme.
What if an accident too big to handle occurs?
‘It ends simply by cutting off the tail, claiming he falsified his credentials.’
Duke Aziz was sipping his wine in a good mood when.
“Ah, Duke… This capable Dwener… would like to offer a toast.”
“Go ahead.”
Dwener, staggering before him, suddenly bowed his head towards him.
Was he about to say something secretive?
As Duke Aziz leaned in to listen.
“Blargh-.”
Something hot flowed down his body.
–TL Notes–
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