Chapter 251

The Crown Prince’s mistress was executed.

The news stunned the residents of the Imperial Capital, nobles and commoners alike. How much had the Crown Prince cherished his beautiful, intelligent mistress? And how promising had she seemed until recently?

Even the sensationalist dailies, which had spent every day insisting that all the Crown Prince’s misdeeds were her fault, were caught off guard and began reassessing the situation. They had argued that the Crown Prince needed to escape that woman’s clutches, but… really? This suddenly?

The general circumstances were leaked—surprisingly—from the Count Isalani household. Lady Alecto Isalani, while mourning the death sentence of her closest academy classmate, revealed the “truth” behind the Crown Prince’s past gambling scandal.

How the young Duke had “unfairly” taken the blame for deceiving the Crown Prince, and how the “culprit” who had seduced the Crown Prince and led him to the fraudulent gambling club had brazenly played the victim all along.

The sharp-tongued Lady Alecto didn’t forget to add how many people the culprit had already ruined during her school days. With nothing but grim reports of death and defeat arriving from the front, the public seized on this scandal with eager fascination.

In less than ten days, the infamous villainess was hanged. There was no trial, but no one objected. For days, people simply gossiped about how the former Marquis’s daughter—who had once so amusingly swayed the Crown Prince—looked no different from a petty thief as she dangled from the gallows.

And while the news that the young Marquis had succeeded to the position of Marquis Lykeandros passed without much notice,

Nellusion Elandria swiftly rose as the Crown Prince’s sole confidant.

❖ ❖ ❖

“So… Megara.”

Hearing the news Talfrin brought, Nerys quietly lowered her eyes.

There was no sense of liberation on her face—the kind one might feel upon finally hearing of the death of someone who had tormented them for so long. Dora, who didn’t know Nerys’s past and therefore hadn’t expected such relief in the first place, tilted her head, waiting for something clearer than the ambiguous frown she saw now.

“Is there something you don’t like, Madam?”

“No… it’s not that. It’s just that I’m realizing Abelus’s so-called love wasn’t anything special after all.”

Ah, is that so. Dora couldn’t understand why her mistress would care about such a thing, but she did her best to respond.

“If the Crown Prince truly loved and cherished that woman, he wouldn’t have made her his mistress in the first place. He’s not so young that he wouldn’t know keeping a woman he can’t officially marry as a mere decoration would only hurt her.”

Nerys’s eyes widened at Dora’s words. Her lips parted as if to rebut her, but nothing came out, and she remained frozen.

After a moment, her lips formed a bitter smile instead of words.

“Now that I hear you say it, you’re right. Someone didn’t know such a simple fact, and suffered unnecessary pain for far too long.”

“Hasn’t it only been a few months since that woman became the Crown Prince’s mistress? Still, in those few months, she lost her father, lost her family’s money, and finally lost her life. It may have felt like decades to her.”

“Yes. It must have.”

Nerys didn’t pity Megara’s end. Although Nerys had intervened a little along the way, all the evil was ultimately Megara’s own doing.

But she wasn’t happy to hear the girl had finally died, either. Not anymore.

She was indifferent.

On the large map spread across the conference room, the pieces representing the Maindulante army had grown since before. Nerys shifted her gaze to it, and her expression cooled.

“Now that Nellusion has taken power, the Imperial Army will move more intelligently than before. In any case, the name ‘Elandria’ can’t be compared to ‘Lykeandros,’ so more noble families will cooperate.”

The Grunehals Duke faction would be more cooperative as well.

“Yes, Madam.”

Nerys picked up a gold coin that had been left carelessly beside the map and set it down on the Imperial Capital.

“Joyce McKinnon hasn’t done anything noticeable since arriving in the Imperial Capital. Under the guise of searching for Dianne, he’s essentially surrendered himself to the Imperial Family to lower their guard. According to the report, Abelus insisted on using the McKinnon Trading Company’s distribution network to supply military provisions as it is. Nellusion will probably use an even more thorough method than that.”

Since Dianne hadn’t responded to Abelus’s ridiculous enlistment order, he would argue that Joyce should take his place instead. Nerys was certain, because she knew Nellusion’s way of thinking better than anyone else in the Imperial Capital.

“To keep the McKinnon family from showing any ambiguity. And from the start, using the trading company’s distribution network as a military supply network is a way to suppress the McKinnon family by force.”

A trading company’s distribution routes were built over many years. In remote mountain villages where there were no roads, they cut down trees and leveled ground to carve paths, and they traveled existing roads until they learned the most efficient ways to move goods. Naturally, much of it was internal, confidential information.

Using such routes for military purposes wasn’t ‘sharing’ them. It meant taking and swallowing whole the treasure the McKinnon Trading Company had opened up. The movement of military supplies was the nation’s most important secret; it should never be exposed to merchants or anyone like that.

A slender finger nudged the gold coin. The movement was decisive, unhesitating, as if she had already made up her mind.

“The nobles of the Imperial Capital won’t send Joyce McKinnon somewhere he can easily gain military merit, given their pride. Most likely, he’ll be placed somewhere quiet, where Abelus’s confidants can keep watch. Starting with areas close to the Imperial Capital—here.”

The gold coin stopped once.

“Or here.”

It moved again, stopping in a different place.

“Or here. I’m not a military expert, so I’ll need to ask my husband to confirm. Ah, given my husband’s current location, he’ll soon run into the Imperial Family’s secret base again. He’ll be busy, so I should think first about how to avoid that place.”

At last, the gold coin came to a stop.

Not an expert? It was rare for loyal Dora, but she found her beloved mistress’s words amusing.

Certainly, Nerys wasn’t directly in charge of planning the war’s operations. Even so, the points she raised—born of deep thought and extensive knowledge—were worth considering.

Looking at the three areas she had indicated, Nerys smiled coldly.

“Joyce McKinnon will inevitably have to enlist and lead soldiers for a while. But as long as he isn’t sent to the front lines, there’s no problem. This is all according to plan. It’s best to ignore the McKinnon family. They’re only a wealthy family.”

Because the one thing that had to be avoided was Joyce being placed under Imperial guard too early. Wasn’t Dianne still hiding near the Imperial Capital?

“Dora, call Joan. We need to make those who look down on money realize whether they can even get a sip of water without it.”

“Yes, Madam.”

Dora hurried out of the room. Watching her go, Nerys suddenly felt dizzy and gripped the table.

The dizziness passed quickly.

‘Is it because I haven’t been sleeping well lately?’

With Cledwyn away, she was staying in the West Palace alone for the first time since their marriage. It felt strange to lie in the bed they had once shared.

But changing beds didn’t ease the feeling. No matter how she lay down, she couldn’t get comfortable. These days, she tossed and turned for a long time before falling asleep, and then woke early to work.

‘There’s no need to show weakness.’

With Cledwyn gone, Nerys was the sole master of this vast Grand Duchy. And she couldn’t worry others while fighting a battle that would decide this land’s fate. If she collapsed now, it would be disastrous—so she needed to pay closer attention to her meals and sleep.

Nerys took a deep breath and straightened her back. As she listened to Joan’s footsteps approaching, she began listing the minor lords whose supplies could be cut off immediately with money.

❖ ❖ ❖

“We’re short on money again?”

Abelus asked in a dazed voice after reading the Imperial Army’s financial report that Nellusion had presented.

After Megara’s death, Abelus had lost the will to do anything for a while, drifting through his days. But there were too many people around him for him to wallow in loneliness in the middle of a war he had started himself.

Eventually, with comfort and encouragement from those around him—and with the energy of his simple mind—Abelus returned to state affairs with startling speed. And he appointed Nellusion as his new aide.

“Yes. As you know, an army consumes money endlessly simply by existing.”

Nellusion answered smoothly.

“Didn’t the families of the Academy’s latest graduates, whom Your Highness recruited, send quite a number of soldiers? As the Imperial Army grows, the costs rise by the day.”

“No, who doesn’t know that? Isn’t it the vassals’ job to solve it?”

Of course, that wasn’t true. But Nellusion didn’t dare object to Abelus’s absurd complaint.

Nellusion knew it well. Abelus seemed to have regained his trust, but in truth, the bond between them had been shaken beyond repair.

The fraudulent gambling incident at the club had been covered by blaming it on the Grand Duke, and that had been that. But the crime of slandering a member of the Imperial Family couldn’t be pinned on the Grand Duke, so Nellusion had to bear part of the blame as well. Alecto Isalani might have packaged everything as Megara’s fault, but Abelus wouldn’t be completely unaware.

That Megara could never have driven Princess Camille into such a corner without Nellusion’s immense, relentless effort.

The legal department mumbled vaguely about how “all the disgraceful things are that woman’s responsibility,” but there was no strictness in the court now. Anything could be pulled out and used if Abelus wanted it, and if it became inconvenient, it could be tossed away under some excuse.

So an awkwardness lingered between Abelus and Nellusion—the kind shared by people who both knew the problem, yet refused to speak of it. Nellusion maintained the posture that he had no questions about the Crown Prince’s actions, so that the awkwardness wouldn’t become ‘cumbersome’ in Abelus’s eyes.

With a gentle smile—just as he had worn as a student—Nellusion spoke.

“I was going to tell you this anyway. First, how about enlisting Joyce McKinnon, who is currently in the Imperial Capital?”

“Viscount McKinnon? Yes, that would be good. He has a lot of money, so he can feed the soldiers he leads himself.”

Joyce’s enlistment was decided as casually as arranging tea. Abelus, feeling slightly relieved, asked,

“You started by saying ‘first.’ That means there’s a second thing, right?”

“Yes, of course. Since the Imperial Family is facing a major crisis, wouldn’t it be good for the elders of the Imperial Family, even from the collateral line, to step forward?”

Abelus had thought of that too. The problem was that the collateral relatives currently around were either poor or unruly, so he hadn’t touched them. And it was better to use the nobles’ money than the Imperial Family’s, if possible.

“Good. Who? Adrian has money, doesn’t he? He hasn’t been home lately, so should I look for him?”

“Duke Adrian is also a good choice, but wouldn’t it be better to ask someone closer to the Imperial Family first? That way, we can demand more sincerity from the nobles.”

Only one person fit that description. Abelus frowned.

“My aunt? She’d never give up a single penny. Even when Father told her to remarry again and again when she was young, she refused, and she’s still living alone.”

“But in such an urgent situation, wouldn’t the Grand Dowager fulfill her duties as a member of the Imperial Family?”

“Look, even if I forced my aunt—who didn’t listen to Father—to hand over her money…”

“How about in exchange for covering up her weaknesses?”

Nellusion smiled.

“Your Highness knows the Grand Dowager is close to the Grand Duchess, right? I hear there’s a Moriér Merchant Group spy hiding in that mansion. Wouldn’t it be unpleasant for the Grand Dowager—an elder of the Imperial Family—to be suspected of colluding with the enemy?”