Chapter 46
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Chapter 46
Beneath that mask, the sharp, refined features of Lahedis's face were revealed—no longer Rachel's.
It was unmistakably the visage of a man, impossible to conceal any longer.
Currently, he lived alone, having left the Duke's Residence where Kaltz dwelled.
Ever since that day ten years ago when the Emperor ambushed him on the road back to the Capital.
From that accident, Rachel became officially dead to the world—a choice he alone had made.
As long as he lived, the Emperor would continue such atrocities.
So Lahedis concealed his identity and crossed into the Neighboring Country, where he honed his blade and magic through mercenary work in actual combat.
Two years ago, he returned to the Empire, established the information guild Terrak, and had been quietly building influence from the shadows.
When he finally revealed himself, even the Emperor would not dare touch him carelessly.
That way, he could protect Kaltz—and Vivian.
Yet he had told Vivian he remained in the Neighboring Country.
When he finally stood before everyone with full power, Vivian would eventually learn the truth.
But he could not yet bear to show her the blood on his hands, the brutal reality of the world he inhabited.
'Has she sent anything today?'
Lahedis approached the drawer containing the diary, his expression transformed from the fierce guild master of moments before into that of a boy eagerly awaiting a gift.
After mastering the principles of magical artifacts, he had devoted every spare moment to research, creating his own unique device.
It was an exchange diary.
The paired exchange diaries were crafted so that wherever the other person was, whatever was written would be visible to them.
It was a form of communication.
Four years ago, when Lahedis succeeded in creating it, he immediately sent one diary to Vivian.
Since then, their nearly daily exchanges had been his only happiness.
But today, the diary was silent.
It had been several days now.
"She said the Festival ended yesterday, so she's probably resting today..."
As Lahedis reluctantly set the diary back into the drawer, it happened.
The mana stone affixed to the diary's cover glowed blue, and the magical artifact activated.
It meant Vivian had written something and sent it.
'She's probably bragging about how much profit she made.'
Lahedis opened the diary, anticipating what Vivian would say. A clear smile had already spread across his cold features.
But what was written in the diary was something he could never have imagined.
Lahedis, I'm coming up to the Capital.
Lahedis blinked in confusion, then finally understood as he read the sentence aloud.
'So suddenly?'
But why...?
He quickly retrieved his fountain pen and wrote furiously in the diary.
What do you mean all of a sudden?
But even after considerable time passed since the diary transmitted his words, no reply came.
Vivian?
It seemed Vivian had left that bombshell statement and simply walked away from the diary.
Lahedis was going mad with frustration, but no reply came even after more than ten days.
* * *
After arranging the most urgent documents in order of priority and placing them on the Emperor's desk, Igraine left the Study.
Perhaps because heavy rain had fallen throughout the night, the trees visible beyond the corridor windows appeared even more verdant, and the sky seemed remarkably clear.
Autumn had arrived.
Yet for her, the Empire's Prime Minister,
'With so much rain this year, we may face a poor harvest.'
it was merely a season that brought another worry.
As she walked down the corridor, contemplating how to prepare for the coming winter, a familiar figure approached from beside her.
An aged veteran whose white hair now outnumbered his black, yet whose commanding presence overwhelmed even the vigor of younger men.
It was Kaltz.
"With the Prime Minister pouring all her efforts into state affairs, our sovereign can hunt without a care in the world, can't he?"
It was a barbed remark about the Emperor, who delegated state matters to the Prime Minister and hunted nearly every day.
At the same time, it was also mockery directed at Igraine for faithfully serving such an Emperor without complaint.
At his words, Igraine's violet eyes narrowed behind her spectacles.
"Yes, I work without rest because of the heavy burden someone thrust upon me."
"Speak truthfully. I didn't thrust it upon you—you took it upon yourself."
After Isella disappeared, Kaltz had served as Prime Minister, supporting the Emperor and handling state affairs.
But when Isella appeared with Rachel, he voluntarily stepped down from the position.
Igraine had tried to dissuade him.
[Please reconsider, General. I understand it must be difficult, but if you step down, what of the people?]
Both Kaltz and Igraine knew that Orpen was a tyrant.
However, since they could not replace the Emperor, and knowing that the powerless common people would suffer most in such chaos, they had instead become Prime Ministers supporting the Emperor, serving as a buffer.
It was clear that if another greedy noble from the Emperor's faction took the Prime Minister's seat that Kaltz relinquished, the nation's circumstances would deteriorate.
Yet despite Igraine's dissuasion, Kaltz stepped down from the position, and as if that weren't enough—
[I recommend Igraine Lowswide as the next Prime Minister.]
He recommended Igraine as Prime Minister.
A recommendation was merely a personal opinion, and had she refused, it would have ended there.
But Igraine ultimately resolved to bear that heavy burden herself.
The nobles initially spoke openly about a woman becoming Prime Minister, but now none dared treat her carelessly.
Fifteen years had been such a time.
"Perhaps your brother didn't return because he wanted to thrust that tedious responsibility onto you."
"You speak as though you know my brother well."
As far as Igraine knew, Kaltz and Dain had almost no connection.
Despite being a minor duke, Dain had found politics tedious and devoted himself only to his position as Knight Captain.
But Kaltz's words weren't entirely wrong.
[The position of family head suits my sister far better than me.]
He was always eager to thrust the successor's role onto me.
Perhaps, knowing that she had to suppress her abilities and live merely because she was a woman, he had spoken such words.
"Well, perhaps I know him a little better than you do."
Suddenly pulled back into memories of Dain, Igraine dismissed Kaltz's words as nothing more than a frivolous jest and shifted the conversation.
"You look positively delighted to have foisted that tedious position onto me and made your escape. And leaving the palace at such an early hour, no less."
"I'd prefer to hear more of your troubles, but it seems an old friend from afar is coming to visit, so I really must take my leave."
"Very well."
Igraine, responding in her characteristically indifferent tone as Kaltz clicked his tongue at her impertinence, paused as she turned over the word she'd just heard.
"A friend, you said?"
"What, you think a cantankerous old man like me has no friends?"
Igraine's surprise at the word "friend" from Kaltz's lips stemmed not merely from such a thought crossing her mind.
Rather, it was because he scarcely had anyone he could so casually refer to as a "friend."
Standing above all others, below only the Emperor, he had lived his entire life as a ruler—commanding and ordering—and the word "friend" as an equal felt profoundly foreign to him.
"I confess I'm curious what manner of person could suit your temperament so well."
"Sharp as you are, but unlike you, that one's far more cunning."
A rare smile played at the corners of Kaltz's mouth as he thought of that "friend."
"I'll introduce you if the opportunity arises."
Just then, a bell tolled in the distance, marking the hour.
Kaltz bid Igraine to work hard and departed.
Igraine turned toward the Study. A considerable stack of documents awaited her today.
Just as she arrived at the Study.
"Your Excellency!"
Urgent footsteps approached alongside a voice.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org