“You mean Chancellor Hendrick, Your Majesty?”
“Do I have another uncle besides that man?”
The Emperor exhaled with a mixture of anger and the stench of alcohol.
He was clearly thoroughly fed up with him.
I roughly knew the reason, but decided to ask out of politeness anyway.
“Did Chancellor Hendrick make some kind of mistake?”
“He still seems to think he’s acting as regent. He should be content with being Chancellor.”
In short, he’d crossed the line.
An ambitious uncle who couldn’t be satisfied with a one-year regency and started meddling again—of course, that would be irritating.
Though the title of Chancellor sounded lofty, real national decisions were made by the Dukes’ Council, so the position was often seen as ceremonial.
To put it bluntly, it was a seat given to a toothless paper tiger.
In the original work, Hendrick had existed solely to illustrate how messed up the Empire’s internal affairs were.
He had no significant role, barely appeared, and exited early—a disposable character.
‘I completely forgot a guy like him even existed.’
Not surprising, really. None of the major characters ever mentioned Hendrick.
No one cared about a Chancellor who had no reputation, no ability, and only ambition.
Except one person—his nephew, the Emperor.
Although not in a very favorable way.
“What did the Chancellor do this time, Your Majesty?”
“Ah! There it is again—again! He ignored my words and did as he pleased!”
“That must be quite troubling, Your Majesty. What exactly did he do on his own?”
“He handed out my fish without permission.”
Pfft.
I nearly burst out laughing.
From a modern perspective, it was hard not to find it funny. Over some fish?
But the Emperor was still the Emperor, and his belongings were managed with strict formality.
Even dukes couldn’t touch tributes lightly, so a ceremonial figure taking liberty with them? Unacceptable.
‘…Wait, something doesn’t add up.’
The Eslick Empire was built in a setting where the Emperor’s authority was absolute.
Especially inside the palace, even the mighty Geller family couldn’t act freely.
So how had a mere Chancellor, living within the palace walls, touched the Emperor’s property and not been arrested?
“Why not simply send the Imperial Guard to arrest him for mishandling imperial property?”
“You think I didn’t try? I did, but it didn’t work.”
“You mean the Imperial Guard refused a legitimate order?”
No matter how incompetent they might be, I assumed the Emperor at least had firm control over the guard.
Perhaps sensing the implication in my words, the Emperor let out an awkward laugh.
“Relax, Count. You see, the Guard… had their reasons.”
“They were too busy to arrest someone who mishandled royal property?”
“That’s where you’ve misunderstood, Count.”
“?”
The Emperor hesitated, then downed his full glass in one shot and put on a solemn expression.
What now? Some kind of internal palace intrigue I don’t know about?
But I hadn’t heard a word about it—not from the Strategy Department, not even from the Ravens.
“The thing is, that fish wasn’t an imperial tribute, but a royal family’s tribute.”
“??”
“And by customary law, the senior member of the royal household has the right to distribute it. Doesn’t that sound ridiculous? I’m the head of the royal household, am I not?”
It was a good thing Valheit had narrow eyes.
Otherwise, it would’ve been obvious that I was giving the Emperor—barely over twenty—a death glare.
Ever since the incident with the Leader, I’d become even more aware of the need to fully commit to the Valheit persona.
I’d even reviewed and memorized everything related to the Imperial Family on my way here, just in case I slipped.
But now I was sitting here listening to beginner-level questions that would be on page one of any textbook on royal protocol.
“Your Majesty, if I may speak plainly, there is a clear distinction between imperial tributes and royal family tributes.”
“You think I don’t know that? Still, matters of the royal household fall within my authority. The problem is that my uncle is intruding into it.”
That was just being unreasonable.
At least by Eslick standards.
The Eslick Empire drew a sharp line between the Emperor and the royal family.
The Emperor’s authority was absolute, but members of the royal family were treated—at least nominally—on par with dukes.
Not a low status, but not anything exceptional either.
In fact, the reigning Emperor was expected to refrain from involving himself in the private affairs of the royal household.
So Hendrick, as the senior member of the royal family, distributing royal property wasn’t legally an issue.
I was about to start crafting a polite excuse to decline the matter when I realized something.
‘Wait… Hendrick is the royal family’s senior member?’
Come to think of it, there wasn’t anyone older than him in the royal family.
I just never noticed because his presence was so faint.
This could be useful.
“Understood, Your Majesty. I’ll see what I can do.”
“I knew you’d say that. Begin tomorrow. But for tonight—let’s go all the way.”
My glass was refilled once again.
Ah. Is this the misery of the working class?
I smiled and downed the liquor.
***
There was a separate office in the palace for the Chancellor.
Luxurious and grand, decorated with paintings by famous artists and handcrafted furniture by artisans.
Hendrick hated it.
To a regular person, it would’ve been jaw-dropping, but to him, it was nothing more than an empty, hollow space hiding behind a grand facade.
He preferred the annex in the royal garden.
Even if he got bitten by bugs there, at least he could breathe.
Unfortunately, today he had no choice but to stay in the office.
All in the name of an investigation.
When the Imperial Guard had shown up that morning, he thought it was a joke.
At least until he learned who had summoned him.
“My apologies for being late, Chancellor.”
A cheerful interrogator entered.
Just hearing the tone, he already knew who it was.
“It’s quite alright, Count Valheit.”
When he heard the Emperor had summoned Valheit in a rush, he hadn’t believed it.
To think he would call in the snake just because he was short on fish.
“Thank you for understanding. Since this isn’t exactly a pleasant meeting, why don’t we get right to it?”
Valheit threw a stack of documents onto the desk.
The top pages scattered messily across the surface, with names written at the top.
“What is this, Count?”
“You’ll know once you read it. If your eyes are too weak to make it out, I’d be happy to read it for you.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
With a curt reply, Hendrick gathered the documents and reviewed them.
They contained detailed information about the individuals to whom he had sent royal family tributes.
“Five days ago, you distributed fish from the royal tribute as gifts. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“And you also sent gifts to people outside the royal family. Is that correct?”
“Those individuals weren’t just outsiders—”
“Wrong. Please answer only with ‘yes’ or ‘no.’”
Valheit paced around noisily, his tone grating.
Once I started noticing it, even the click of his shoes was irritating.
“…Yes.”
“Mikhail Heinkel, Head of the Southern Armory; Jakob Tudor, President of the Imperial Central Daily; retired General Daniel Carius; another retired General Otto Kugel; Kurt Skoda, Head of the Royal Blacksmiths’ Guild; and finally, the First Duke Johann Geller. These six—correct?”
Hendrick looked at Valheit as if struck in the head with a hammer.
Yes, those were the people he had sent gifts to.
But the fact that Valheit singled out just those six could only mean one thing: he had a purpose.
“There were other external recipients too—why only mention those names? That’s clearly intentional.”
“Still can’t take a hint, I see. Yes or no. That’s all I need.”
“No. It is a guaranteed right to defend oneself and explain one’s—”
Bang.
A desk that a middle-class citizen of the Empire would have to save up for an entire year without spending a single coin—was now shattered.
Valheit remained standing still, but the residual mana that had burst forth was still more than palpable.
“Poor Chancellor. It seems he doesn’t understand the situation he’s in.”
Even with that old title of “Advisor to the Imperial Family,” he had clearly crossed the line.
Yet Hendrick said nothing.
A cunning snake only crosses the line when there’s a reason.
“Surely you understand what it means that Count Valheit came to the palace under His Majesty’s orders and is officially conducting this investigation.”
No one could make such blatant threats in the Imperial Palace unless the Emperor was backing them.
Within the palace, no one could surpass the Emperor.
“Seeing as you’re quiet, you seem to understand. This is an investigation into treason. Only whether you did it or not matters.”
“Is it treason to send gifts to those friendly with the royal family?”
Valheit ignored his protest entirely.
The questioning continued.
“Did you send gifts to these six people for political reasons?”
“Would anything change no matter how I answer?”
“Yes or no.”
“…Yes.”
“Was your visit to the frontline military unit last month, and the banquet held for the officers, also for the same reason?”
To have dug this deep in such a short time—
Or had the Emperor already been monitoring him and handed the data to Valheit?
Either way, there wasn’t much room for Hendrick to maneuver.
“Yes.”
He kept answering yes to the questions that followed.
Every single move Hendrick had made over the past few months was in Valheit’s hands.
The outcome of this fight had already been decided.
“Hendrick Kruber. Despite being the elder of the royal family, uncle to His Majesty the Emperor, and Chancellor of the Eslick Empire—did you conspire treason?”
“No. But at this rate, he won’t be Emperor for long anyway, so what does it matter?”
Hendrick changed his tone.
He was no longer a Chancellor or an uncle, so there was no need to choose his words.
“And does that justify an uncle envying his nephew? Also, I’d advise against remarks bordering on treason.”
“You think the dukes will sit back and watch that fool? He’ll get stabbed in the back soon enough.”
Valheit, as always, responded with a vague, unreadable smile.
And now that he was no longer pressing for yes-or-no answers, the farce seemed to be over.
“The Chancellor has two choices. Live under house arrest for the rest of his life—or rot in prison for about twenty years.”
“Doesn’t sound like much of a difference.”
“Well, the prison bed is harder. Ah, and your entire family would join you in prison, of course.”
Hendrick’s expression darkened.
Now that even his family was being dragged into it, he had only one option left.
After the house arrest was decided, and Hendrick sat there powerlessly waiting for the Imperial Guard, Valheit approached with a shake of his head.
“Truly unfortunate that it had to end like this, Hendrick.”
“If the Emperor had any brains, he’d have known to distance himself from the old snake rather than a powerless uncle.”
“True enough.”
“And if you had any sense, you wouldn’t be siding with the Emperor. You’ve watched the royal family long enough to know—you could be next.”
“It’s because you keep sticking your nose into others’ affairs that you ended up like this, Hendrick. I’ll handle myself, thank you.”
After the guard took Hendrick away, Valheit stood alone in the now-empty Chancellor’s office and waved his hand into the air.
“As expected, hit -100. Got a free skill, too.”
Whistling, Valheit curled his lips into a wicked grin.
“Now all that’s left is painting a picture where Blaiher saves the elder of the royal family.”
***
“…Wasn’t planning for it to go this far.”
The day after Hendrick’s house arrest was decided.
Scratching my head as I read the paper.
Hendrick’s removal was, at most, an internal matter.
Given the nature of the palace, it was hard for any news to make it to the outside world.
“Then where the hell did these reporters get their info?”
The front page of every leading Imperial newspaper carried the story of Hendrick’s house arrest.
Sure, rumors might spread later—but it hadn’t even been a full day.
Even the reason was detailed: misappropriating fish that had been offered to the royal family.
It looked like they were flaunting the fact that they’d ousted someone for such a ridiculous reason.
The most awkward part was the name Valheit being mentioned in the articles.
Though I had only appeared as the interrogator, anyone who mattered already knew who I was. The disguise was meaningless.
‘Only one person could’ve leaked it.’
There were three people involved from start to finish: me, Hendrick, the Emperor.
I didn’t do it, and Hendrick was under house arrest, so… no way. He wouldn’t have.
“His Majesty the Emperor is here.”
The doors opened with a resounding announcement.
And strutted the Emperor, all full of pride—startling me.
“Your Majesty, what brings you to such a humble place…”
“Have you read today’s paper?”
“Yes, I was just reading it.”
“Not bad, right? A clever little ploy of mine.”
A ploy? Blabbing palace affairs to the whole world?
No, I still couldn’t be certain he’d done it himself—
“This way, everyone knows the crime my uncle committed. For touching what belongs to me, you see.”
Yup. This bastard did it.
He seemed to think he was using the media cleverly, but this was the worst.
There was a good chance he’d earn himself the image of an Emperor who purged his uncle over some fish.
The sensationalist rags of the day were already talking about where the tribute fish came from and how much the Emperor loved fish.
“I even slipped your name in there. Don’t worry—I didn’t make a big fuss of it. Just clarifying where responsibility lies.”
Judging by how he was staring hard, I figured this was his version of a threat.
Like he was ready to pin everything on Valheit at a moment’s notice.
How talented—to make enemies of two people with one incident.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“Oh, don’t mention it. Anyway, where do you plan to confine my uncle? Doesn’t feel like much of a punishment to lock him in his house in the capital. Someone might sneak in.”
In other words, he wanted him out of sight.
He’d already been socially isolated for life, but apparently, that still wasn’t enough.
This guy clearly didn’t understand that having the enemy where you could see them made it easier to monitor them.
Still, no matter how shallow the Emperor’s reasoning, this was working in my favor.
“I’ve already thought of a place. Do you know the summer villa in the North, once used by the royal family?”
“It’s mine, of course I know it. Though come to think of it, I haven’t been there in a while.”
“If we place him there, wouldn’t that give Your Majesty peace of mind?”
The Emperor briefly weighed the value of the villa against his fear of his uncle, then nodded in agreement.
“Indeed, Count Valheit. Sounds like a fine plan. You will take charge of the transfer.”
Before I could even respond, the Emperor was gone.
Say his piece and leave, huh?
In the novel, I thought he was just pitiful. Now I know—he’s utterly pathetic.
“Caw!”
A sudden noise outside the window.
A crow pecked at the windowsill with its beak.
I opened the window, and the bird stuck out its right leg with a mail tube. When I took the letter, the crow gave a final caw and vanished.
I didn’t know who sent it, but the stationery was quite fancy.
“…What the hell is she doing there?”
That was my impression after reading the letter.