Chapter 59: Treated Intrigue as Entertainment

My father-in-law, who had championed the Crown Prince’s campaign from the start, was now opposing it, and the Finance Minister, who had opposed the campaign from the start, was now in favor.

It was ironic that I was the one caught in between.

Grand Duke Karlus was thoroughly enjoying the ministers’ verbal sparring.

He looked ready to pop popcorn. A truly terrible personality.

The Crown Prince, who’d been silent throughout, addressed my father-in-law.

"War Minister. Then who do you think should be selected?"

"My son could safely assist Your Highness."

"Then how about making the Count’s son the unit commander and attaching Sir Streit as support?"

Apparently, the Crown Prince truly wanted to bring me along.

This was a disaster. If Michael and I were both absent, who would continue the Rafel investigation?

"Your Highness, my son and Sir Streit are investigating the collusive relationship between Rafel and government officials at the Judicial Department’s request. Results are finally coming in, and if both are absent on campaign, we’ll lack the personnel to continue."

"...So that’s why Finance supports my campaign."

The Crown Prince’s gaze turned to the Finance Minister.

His expression made clear he now understood why the man who had opposed the campaign had suddenly reversed course.

The Finance Minister calmly withstood the Crown Prince’s displeased gaze.

"Count Steiner. I understand you arrested a Rafel executive, so leave the subsequent investigation to the Judicial Department. Citizens are full of complaints and resentment because duchy troops have been mobilized so frequently. Now that the slum organization has been suppressed, surely the Judicial Department no longer needs the Military Department’s assistance?"

The Administrative Minister eventually sided with Finance as well.

He had backed my father-in-law when the duchy troops were first mobilized, but now that Rafel had collapsed, he pressured the Military Department to withdraw from judicial affairs, arguing there was no longer justification for duchy troops to remain active. The Administrative Department also disliked Finance but didn’t want the situation to escalate further than necessary.

I was witnessing firsthand how political alliances shifted—yesterday’s enemy becoming today’s ally and today’s ally becoming tomorrow’s enemy. Unlike when facing the Finance Minister, my father-in-law didn’t raise his voice to the Administrative Minister. With Finance having won Administrative over and Judicial wavering, he could no longer press the issue.

My father-in-law chose to step back.

"I want to press that damned Reinfeldt bastard harder, but I’ll give Count Dickmeyer face. Count Luke! The responsibility now falls entirely on you. We’re withdrawing."

"...Understood. I received ample support from the Military Department, so I’ll take charge from here."

So this was how it ended.

Could the Judicial Department manage on its own?

A minister reluctant to clash openly with Finance?

The investigation was very likely to be quietly buried.

What would Adelbert do? Perhaps this outcome was something Adelbert had engineered. If the Finance Minister went down too hard and Reinfeldt was ousted entirely, Adelbert would inherit chaos rather than opportunity. I suspected this was a political compromise Adelbert was signaling to me.

If my guess was right, Adelbert would definitely reach out.

I could only wait for that moment. In the meantime, I had no choice but to go along with things.

From start to finish, arguments and pressure had flown back and forth between the ministers, and given the vast gap in rank and experience, I didn’t dare interject. The Crown Prince had merely watched as well, equally unable to verbally spar with these wily ministers. So naturally, he relied on close confidants he could manage more easily.

"Have the ministers reached a compromise?"

The Grand Duke, who’d been watching the spectacle with evident enjoyment, stepped forward to conclude the meeting.

The Crown Prince should at least learn to observe such conflicts with the Grand Duke’s composure, if nothing else. It made sense that he had a strong tendency to work things out with Vermeer alone. It wasn’t simply youthful impatience—dealing with cunning ministers was simply overwhelming.

"The Judicial Department will handle the collusion between the slums and government officials independently, and for the matter of greatest importance—the Crown Prince’s campaign—the Military Department will provide duchy troops. Count Steiner’s eldest son will serve as unit commander, and Sir Streit will serve as support. Finance will cover all support and compensation costs the Military Department requests. Any objections?"

No one objected, though the Finance Minister’s face crumpled at being ordered to cover all costs when he’d been savoring his victory just moments before. From what I could tell, my father-in-law would probably wring every last coin out of Finance. The Grand Duke had mediated deftly, substantially softening both sides’ grievances.

As expected, he wasn’t Grand Duke for nothing.

"Your Highness. Where do you plan to select as the theater of operations? Surely not the French border?"

"If I send the Crown Prince to the French border, the enemy will swarm trying to capture him. That’s far too dangerous."

"...Then where do you have in mind?"

"The Finance Minister happens to have prepared a suitable stage."

My father-in-law’s eyes practically bored holes into the Finance Minister. You again, you bastard? This was my first time witnessing a ministerial meeting, and it seemed they’d been conducting their sessions like this all along—trading blows while the Grand Duke sat back and watched.

The Finance Minister received my father-in-law’s glare with relish and said:

"A large bandit group recently appeared in Rosenheim. According to the estate manager’s report, they’re presumed to be vagrants who crossed over from the border between the Duchy of Roden and the Duchy of Burgundy. Their armament is poor since they’re vagrants, but the problem is their numbers—roughly fifty men."

Since the estate manager had no military authority, the family that owned the estate would normally dispatch forces directly. Rosenheim had originally been Baron Constance’s estate, but when Baron Constance died in battle and his line ended, the estate was reclaimed by the royal family. Against fifty bandits, duchy troops alone would be more than sufficient.

Going on campaign by myself would be one thing—but escorting the Crown Prince?

This really was a punishment game.

So my father-in-law argued it was safest to mobilize 150 duchy troops, combine them with Rosenheim’s fifty-man garrison for a total of two hundred, and crush the bandits in a single blow. The Finance Minister tried to object, but the Grand Duke had already decreed that Finance would provide full support, so the Finance Minister reluctantly accepted.

As it happened, the first campaign’s destination was Rosenheim.

The mansion I owned was also the Constance family’s Rosengarden.

I had fought tooth and nail with the Rose Knight as well.

Could there be some deeper connection between me and that family?

That was the end of the ministerial meeting.

My father-in-law and the Finance Minister lingered behind and glared at each other, growling.

"You slipped away like an eel again. Consider yourself lucky."

"Watch your back. I won’t forget this."

If this hadn’t been the audience hall, would they have come to blows?

Only after the Crown Prince, the Administrative Minister, and the Judicial Minister had exited first did the two finally turn away from each other and leave. I was about to follow suit, but the Grand Duke suddenly called me back.

"The Military and Finance Departments growling at each other is nothing new, so don’t let it trouble you."

"Is that so? But what business do you have with me, Your Highness?"

"I heard catching the spies was your doing? The manner in which you did it was quite impressive."

Grand Duke Karlus’s gaze weighed heavily on me.

It felt as though he were seeing right through to the core of who I was.

"Bertheim’s assessment is one I trust. Alongside Steinhof’s grandson, aren’t you the next generation of talent who’ll lead Beren’s future? I personally expect you—a man with such a keen eye and sharp instincts—to compensate for the Crown Prince’s shortcomings. I believe you’re more than capable."

A keen eye and sharp instincts...

From the Grand Duke’s vantage point, unaware of the system and scouter’s existence, that was a reasonable conclusion. He’d see it as an innate gift. What the Grand Duke seemed to want was for me to serve as the Crown Prince’s eyes and ears. For my part, as long as I didn’t betray anyone, there was no reason to make an enemy of the royal family. At the very least, I’d rather not antagonize someone who treated intrigue as entertainment. Wouldn’t that be like wading into a swamp?

But Klugen’s dying words—not to trust the royal family—remained seared into my memory.

Baron Constance, the Rose Knight, and the royal family’s relationship.

If anyone knew, it would be Bertheim.

"Sir Streit, have you been well? Not since the investiture ceremony, right?"

"Sir Steinhof? What brings you here?"

Emerging from the audience hall, I ran into an unexpected face.

The person waiting for me alongside the Crown Prince was Fiel.

A knight my own age whom I’d met at the investiture ceremony—and the grandson of the national hero, Adolf Ritter von Steinhof.