A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

36 – War on the Table (1)

The orphanage donation fund-raising event was a failure.

Since then, no large-scale party has been held.

‘I made several small invitations.’

Gibraltar has continued to invite guests for light meals, even if it is not a grand party.

There was also someone who came to spy on us.

Someone came to investigate the death of a nobleman.

After taking a look at the orphanage, they left after giving a donation to help run the orphanage.

Isn’t this a bribe?

It is a gift.

It is a helping hand given out of sympathy to take good care of lost children.

In no way do we apply saliva in advance to children who grow up in this orphanage who are likely to become knights.

After they become adults, it is up to them to decide where the children from the orphanage will go.

I often see names on the ‘Large Donor List’ signboard inside the orphanage.

It is only a coincidence that he later goes to the nobleman’s estate as his new home.

Nobles competed with each other to donate to the orphanage.

It meant that he would get along well with Gibraltar in the future, but it was also a dark desire for his children.

After about 10 years, three quality properties will appear.

Gray. Noir. Lettar.

The top priority is, of course, Noir, who is learning how to use a sword herself, and next is Lettar, who seems like she will be the next greatest beauty.

And compared to the two, I am the eldest son who is older and has a lot of bad rumors about him.

Still, she inherited the blood of Gibraltar, so if Noir goes wrong, she will inevitably be the heir who will inherit the family.

Donors brought their children to meet with us often.

Noir and Letard have built up more connections since childhood than before I returned, and I looked at them one by one and traced my memories.

There was no particular nutritional value.

There was no talent that came to mind like Ethan Cesar.

The important thing is to erect several plaques through frequent exchanges.

They were even categorized into bronze, silver, and gold depending on the amount, so nobles even competed to have a name plate made of gold.

If you ask who is the top person among those gold plaques and who donated the most –

“Thanks to the orphanage, my relationship with Morgania has improved considerably. This is all thanks to our benevolent Queen Carmen.”

“She is Viscount Hex Romana.”

“Who doesn’t know that all that money comes out of her queen’s pocket?”

“Ha.”

The man who brought in such a huge donation today is Foreign Minister Hex Romana.

“Nice to meet you, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Please understand that I greet you every time.”

“Isn’t it quicker to talk to you anyway? Meet your father and talk about something.”

“A story about your time at the academy?”

“Arthur. You’ll be lucky if you don’t get stabbed on the spot. I heard you stabbed Cesar’s little heart this time?”

“Not the heart, just the skin.”

After deciding to treason and increasing the number of Gasols, Morgania also added new spies to our family.

“It happened a few days ago, but you know that.”

“Our eyes and ears are throughout the kingdom.”

“For example, a new maid with freckles from the Barony of Calia?”

“…Write it.”

“I’m not killing him. He’s working hard at the orphanage.”

“I can’t let my guard down.”

Perhaps because they have all died before, this time they are servants who strictly obey the family but secretly steal information.

“The moment you tell the outside world where this money comes from….”

“It’s a slush fund created by the queen. It’s a shell company created by operating a jewelry store and investing in stocks.”

“Hey. Is this coming from the top run by my wife?”

“I didn’t know your wife even touched smuggling.”

“Hmm…!”

The queen is stretching her hands throughout her kingdom.

She directly manages not only the capital’s commerce, but also foreign trade.

The person who monitors, investigates, and manages it is Duke Morgania.

“Let me tell you one thing, the Grand Duke doesn’t like money coming here.”

“In the future, you may want to consider investing directly. I caught one person.”

“…What?”

“Joker, chosen.”

And I am an ally who works quite closely with them and deals transparently with almost no secrets.

“…Really?”

“Yes. I barely managed to pick one out of 100 at the end.”

“Gray. It’s me, not anything else-“

“It’s become clear that Morgania can’t raise people properly, so why don’t you just leave it to us?”

“Sigh….”

Joker must be greedy.

No matter how secret an alliance it may be.

Even if it makes it seem like the relationship is improving now.

“This is a talent we have discovered. We can raise it and raise it even better.”

“Ugh….”

Gibraltar and Morgania have been enemies for a long time.

“In the first place, even if it was Sir Mente…”

“Let’s stop talking about that. I don’t have anything to say about Sir Mente, even if I have ten mouths.”

“It’s okay. Thanks to you, Archduke Morgania saved his face, and thanks to him, his father was very pleased.”

“…….”

Previous.

When Sir Mente was active in the raid on the mansion.

I formally asked my father to invite Lord Mente, and he immediately delivered a letter directly to Morgania.

“I understand that Grand Duke Morgania was very angry at the time. The knights under you were wasting their talents without seeing the light of day, so I declared that I would try to raise them.”

“The Grand Duke said so. If the Margrave saw something that I did not see, I can definitely see it too.”

The issue of Lord Mente’s treatment grew into a battle of pride between the masters.

-How dare that lump of blood taunt me?! OK! I’ll show you where to go! Let’s make Lord Mente a master! Not in Gibraltar, but in Greater Morgania!!

In fact, it was his father’s side that scraped it first through a letter, but the Grand Duke got angry and decided to invest in Lord Mente.

“We will provide you with as much support as possible for the remainder of your contract, so please remain in Morgania.”

“So, has anything changed in Sir Mente over the past three years?”

“…I rose to second place in the order of knights, but I did not reach master.”

The Archduke was dubious about his father’s insight.

However, Sir Mente’s skills improved greatly as he received investment, and he reached the rank of senior knight.

Still, I did not reach master.

My education was not completed properly.

“It’s already been three years since a disciple served his teacher. Is it right to see his face once a quarter and be tested?”

“Hmm. Hmm. So, that’s….”

Instead, Sir Mente regularly sent me letters, letters, and physical training books.

Although the content was focused on theory, it was useful content for training at just my age.

“That’s it. Since you’ve come here first, you’re probably curious about the protocol. As for serving the queen…”

“Ah, that’s okay. The queen said it’s okay anywhere, whether it’s a hotel in the territory or a room in the count’s castle.”

“……Yes?”

This is a bit unexpected.

“I even built a villa after a long time.”

“A villa that hasn’t even been officially opened yet? That’s okay. He said he would rather sleep in the count’s castle even if it was inconvenient.”

“If you do that, your father won’t visit you at night.”

“This is what a 13-year-old says.”

“I think it was worse than this when I was 10 years old.”

“How can I not say a word?”

Viscount Hex muttered, took out a piece of parchment and handed it to me.

“This is the queen’s request. Can you prepare this much?”

“No problem. No problem. In the first place….”

I pointed to a very small part of the numerous requirements written on the parchment.

“Eat with my father. It doesn’t matter whether the Countess is present or not. If this is all, the rest is fine.”

“Hmm.”

“I’ll give you one more. For my political godmother.”

“What are you trying to do?”

“Well, um….”

My mother might not like it.

“A secret late-night date for two people who were engaged before meeting their mothers-“

[Are you serious?]

From somewhere, I heard a sound that I shouldn’t have heard.

[Ugh….]

While I was holding my breath, I unconsciously heard an ‘oops’ sound.

“…Viscount.”

“Hmm. Well, that.”

“Is it a remote communication device or magic?”

[It’s magic. Go ahead and say it. Is it possible?]

“If you’re going to do this, why did you send the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mother Carmen?”

Viscount Hex takes out a crystal ball from his pocket with a face that looks like he’s about to cry.

[That’s to check if our handsome foster son is bluffing. According to common sense, it doesn’t make sense.]

“I can make it make sense.”

[Ha. Nonsense. He wants to spend the night with me, clinking glasses together and chatting quietly and leisurely? He never did that to me when I was his fiancee.]

He said he would just prepare a table, but he was alone on the terrace, laying out a tablecloth, wine, and cheese.

“Do you not trust me?”

[I appreciate your ability to cut through the given budget and secretly steal supplies, but don’t play around with the fact that I’m meeting the Margrave. You will be seriously angry.]

It’s a pity, but I still understand.

“Mother Carmen. Do I really look like the kind of person who would just throw an empty check on such an important issue?”

[If this is an absurd plan-]

“Permission has already been obtained.”

[What.]

Is it an illusion?

[Did I hear correctly just now?]

It must be a crystal ball imbued with magic for remote communication, but it feels like the crystal ball is trembling.

“There is a garden on the roof of the orphanage. And there is a table for tea time with major donors. There are only two chairs.”

[…….]

“You donated 10 billion won to support the operation of the orphanage, but I can’t welcome guests like that, right?”

It is right for my father to welcome me.

It’s late at night, there’s wine on the table, or it’s just the two of us on the rooftop – these are just minor preferences.

“For your information.”

Although I couldn’t see it through the crystal ball, I narrowed my eyes at Queen Carmen.

“It’s a place my mother hasn’t been to yet.”

[Two days.]

“Yes?”

[I’ll see you at the count’s castle in two days.]

“…….”

What kind of action is this?

My mother can’t even go to the daycare anyway, so it looks like she’s on fire.

[In the meantime, talk about the ‘collaboration’ issue with the Minister of Foreign Affairs.]

“Collaboration?”

[Yes. If you can convince your father about collaboration, this time I will prepare a gift for you.]

Queen Carmen’s voice began to contain some playfulness.

[Tea time to be shared with Princess Naria.]

“…….”

* * *

After receiving approval from her father and handing over the parchment with Viscount Hex’s protocol requirements to the head of the house, Malcolm.

“The queen is coming in two days?”

“You can speak comfortably. This is the study, and it’s just my father and I.”

“…I never thought Carmen would really want to come early.”

Uncharacteristic of a father, he covered his face with his hands.

“Then why did you abandon her fiancee and replace her with her mother?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know that?”

“She should have at least had an intermediate process even if she changed hands, because as soon as she saw her mother, she broke off the engagement with the palm of her hand.”

“…Saint Geo, that guy keeps being annoying. As soon as he met your mother, or even before he met her, he kept flirting with her.”

There was no trace of regret in my father’s voice.

“He confessed that he fell in love with me the first time we met, and after that, he started following me around.”

“Isn’t that called ‘stalking’?”

“Stalking?”

“It’s a new word I saw in the Empire Ilbo. It means watching and following the other person’s every move because you like them even though the other person doesn’t.”

“Oh, yes. That’s the perfect word. Stalking.”

My father chuckled.

“Thanks to you, I was able to capture your mother’s heart.”

“Yes?”

“Saint Geo, that human was stalking your mother, and she was very afraid. One night, she said she felt like someone was watching her from her bedroom window, so she asked me to stay with her.”

“So you went to your mother’s room just because you wanted to?”

“I broke the window and jumped out, and found St. Geo.”

“…….”

Who the hell is that person?

And to such a person, the mother is-

‘No.’

One piece of information has been added that I didn’t know before because I wasn’t particularly interested, so my mother also has an extenuating factor.

“Father.”

“Yes.”

“When did you realize that your mother was very active?”

“…….”

My father’s expression hardened for a moment.

“Why do you ask that?”

“No. I was wondering if you chose her mother over Queen Carmen for that physical aspect. I guess that’s it.”

“There is not a big difference.”

Gibraltar is famous for its canyons, and Morgania is famous for its great plains with a wide horizon.

“When I just got engaged to Carmen, I had no idea your mother was like that.”

My father’s complexion turned white for a moment.

“Don’t go out and say anything. Making fun of your mother means spitting in your face.”

“The stories I hear here are not talked about outside of here. No one listens to them.”

There is no one here except my father and me.

“Your mother…Sigh. She’s a succubus.”

“…….”

One of the new things I learned in this life.

“No, I’m not saying it’s a monster. What I’m saying is an idiomatic expression….”

“There was such a phrase written in the Empire Ilbo. The feeling I had when I looked at my mother from afar. The beauty of an elf, the voluptuous mercy of a goddess, and the s*xiness of a succubus.”

“…Who said that?”

“From the Empire Ilbo. It’s been quite fun watching what’s flying over the first gateway these days.”

“…….”

His father just threw his head back.

“I realized that your mother was like that after the unplanned Noir came into being.”

“Wow, you’re just throwing out things that would hurt people if they heard Noir and Letard.”

“It’s true. It’s not wrong.”

Why did my father, who thought that having one eldest son to inherit the family be enough, give birth to three children with his mother?

“Your mother…Is quite amazing. If her talent was in swordsmanship, she would have become a sword master.”

“……I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it.”

I learned new information, but it was a moment when I wondered if I had heard it for nothing.

“There is more to the agenda, so let’s discuss that.”

“What else?”

“Sooner or later, someone from the empire will come.”

One of the ‘planned futures’ that I remember well.

“A new educational institution is scheduled to be established in the royal capital, and the diplomat is hoping to pass through the Gibraltar Gorge.”

“……?”

“Ah, sorry. This is an educational institution decided to be 99% funded by the empire. It is a royal academy that will be established through collaboration between the kingdom and the empire.”

A delegation comes from the empire.

“He asked me to open the gate so the delegation could come.”