Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 370

“…Achoo!”Arendt let out a short sneeze. Llewellyn, who had been lost in thought, looked up in surprise.

“What’s wrong? You said you weren’t feeling well before you left. Did you catch a cold or something?”

“How could that be? Tsk. Am I a weakling like you?”

Arendt glanced at him and scolded him, then rubbed his nose.

“Who was cursing me?”

Of course, this was something Arendt could not have imagined.

He would have been chewed out by street thugs who had suddenly become scapegoats.

And Arendt could not understand the fact that Laius was holding back bitterness in front of his subordinates who had caused such a huge accident.

Llewellyn, who had glanced at Arendt, changed the subject.

“By the way… it’s not exactly uncommon for royal couples to not get along. In the first place, there are many cases where marriage itself is used as a political tool.”

“What about the Everan Kingdom?”

Llewellyn made an ambiguous look in response.

“They had a very passionate love… I heard that His Majesty lay down in front of the nobles and said that he would never marry anyone other than my mother.”

“I wondered where your strange temperament came from.”

“Shut up.”

Llewellyn glared, but Arendt ignored him as usual.

“Anyway, even if it’s a common thing, not everyone can accept it without a problem. Since we don’t have time, I’ll explain it briefly.”

Instead, he continued talking while looking out the window where the sun had completely set.

“This is a fairly famous story among the nobles of the Lucain Kingdom. It is said that Her Majesty the Queen was not very keen on entering the royal family.”

“Why? Did she have another lover?”

“No. I would say it’s a bit more regrettable than that.”

Arendt picked up the few remaining snacks and stuffed them into his mouth.

“…If she hadn’t become queen, she would have inherited the family’s business. I heard she showed great management skills at a young age. She had high hopes for that.”

Llewellyn blinked at the unexpected story.

“I see…”

“She enjoyed traveling, and for a noblewoman, she even went out as a merchant and closed several contracts herself, which was quite rare. In short, she was a person similar to you.”

So, it was impossible for her to be satisfied with the position of queen, protected and well-maintained in the middle of the palace.

“But as you said earlier, because of those political circumstances, she ended up marrying His Majesty. And Crown Prince Victor, the legitimate successor, was born safely…”

“So their relationship didn’t get any better after that?”

Llewellyn frowned slightly.

The fact that the relationship between the king and queen was not so good was proven by Prince Louis and Princess Rieta, who were born to Lady Violetta.

“Yes. Since there were no signs of improvement in their relationship, those who served His Majesty closely recommended that he take in a concubine. And coincidentally, there was a great young lady from a family with similar political interests…”

“And that was Lady Violetta?”

“That’s right.”

Arendt nodded.

“There wasn’t much emotional exchange between them either. It was said that His Majesty wasn’t a very easygoing person to begin with. It’s not surprising that His Highness Victor grew up with such a withdrawn personality.”

“So… it was because His Majesty taught him strictly?”

Llewellyn thought for a moment.

“The teacher must have been the one who taught him so strictly. His Majesty and the Queen probably didn’t have much interest in raising children. Of course, since he was in an environment where he could get everything he wanted, it wasn’t a big problem for His Highness. In any case, the two of them probably only saw His Highness the Crown Prince as a successor.” The source of this content ɪs NoveI-Fire.ɴet

“…That’s a big deal, you bastard.”

When Llewellyn replied in bewilderment, Arendt responded indifferently.

“He won’t have to go hungry, he’ll learn everything he needs to know, and he’ll grow up to be the most precious person in the Lucain Kingdom. What does he have to complain about?”

“You’re acting out just because you’re not on good terms with your father. Hey, it’s not like you ever went hungry or lacked an education, so what nonsense are you spouting?”

“I don’t have a father. And unless you’ve been locked in a dungeon and eaten stale bread with rats as company, just keep your mouth shut, Your Highness.”

Arendt, who had shamelessly spoken, shifted the topic back to the original subject.

“Anyway, Lady Violetta is a person who is loyal to her interests. But that doesn’t mean she is the type to be overly greedy… it’s said that she was at peace when she gave birth to Prince Louis.”

“When you say she was at peace, does that mean Lady Violetta didn’t particularly want her child to become Crown Prince?”

“That’s right. Whether that was true or not, only she knows…”

Arendt picked up another snack and ate it.

“The actions that followed showed the same. When His Highness Victor was crowned Crown Prince, it is said that Lady Violetta’s family actively supported him.”

“Prince Louis didn’t really object?”

“Object? Please. He was still just a young child at that time. His Highness Victor was crowned at the age of twelve, and Prince Louis was only five.”

Llewellyn thought for a moment and then spoke.

“Brother Victor is twenty-six this year… Prince Louis will soon become an adult.”

“That’s right. And Princess Rieta is said to be two years younger than him.”

Llewellyn frowned at Arendt’s answer.

“He’s starting to get older and is at an age where he’s full of energy. Wouldn’t it be possible for Prince Louis and Princess Rieta to covet the Crown Prince’s position now?”

“First of all, it is said that the three of them are on good terms externally, but that is quite possible. There is no rule that says that a child always shares the same views as their mother.”

Arendt nodded readily and picked up the last piece of the snack. Llewellyn asked irritably.

“…Is it delicious?”

“It’s delicious.”

Arendt continued speaking absentmindedly, a piece of it hanging from his fingertips.

“But there’s a problem there that I mentioned earlier.”

“The problem you mentioned earlier… ah. There’s almost no political change?”

“Oh, well, that’s not something we, as strangers, can easily figure out just by observing for a day or two. If there had been a change in that area, His Highness Victor would have noticed it first.”

But Victor’s sharp hostility was directed entirely at his uncle.

This meant that no unusual changes were observed between Prince Louis and Princess Rieta.

“No matter how stupid that person is…”

“Hey, hey. That’s still the Crown Prince, you brat.”

“Surely he’s not so stupid as to not notice that his close younger siblings are lusting for power. It’s true that he’s timid and meek though.”

Llewellyn interrupted, but Arendt continued speaking as if nothing had happened.

At the very least, Cantares held him in fairly high regard, and Arendt had considerable confidence in his judgment.

And his response to the commotion that occurred during the last meeting wasn’t too bad either.

“So what does that mean? Are Prince Louis and Princess Rieta out of the suspects list?”

Llewellyn asked with a puzzled look on his face.

“After all, if what you say is true, the only person who would want to harm His Majesty is the Queen.”

“It’s a bit early to jump to conclusions like that.”

Arendt continued speaking, throwing the snack he was holding into his mouth.

“…Among the servants serving His Majesty, there were quite a few people from Lady Violetta’s side.”

“Oh?”

The prince’s eyes widened. Arendt simply nodded.

“A distant relative from Violetta’s side of the family, or a child from a family with business ties… something like that.”

As was the case in the Caerleon Empire, most of the servants and errand boys working within the palace were from lower-class noble families.

This was due to the common belief, unique to a class society, that noble royal blood must be attended to closely, and thus couldn’t be entrusted to the hands of commoners.

“And the aide who is currently on vacation is someone recommended by Her Majesty the Queen’s family, and the chief chamberlain is someone who accompanied Violetta from her family when she entered the palace as a concubine.”

“Hey… what that means is that this is an environment where anyone can do anything. It’s entirely possible for Her Majesty the Queen or Lady Violetta to carry out a cover-up.”

Llewellyn scratched his head irritably.

“Ugh, this is really giving me a headache. I can’t just wander around here and there. The perpetrator who made His Majesty like that has disappeared without a trace… and why isn’t Lord Lexion here?”

“Well, as I said before, maybe he found something unusual.”

Arendt responded calmly.

“Don’t worry too much, he’ll send Stellar over here if something big happens.”

“How am I not supposed to worry? Even if nothing’s blown up yet, something’s clearly going on. How can you stay so calm?”

Arendt shrugged his shoulders at the sarcastic remark.

“Now is not the time to make a fuss.”

The point was that there was a right time for everything.

Just as each person had a role and place that suited them.

Llewellyn, who had easily read the meaning behind those words, gave him a disapproving look.

“Honestly, he’s a bastard without humanity.”

“Thank you for the compliment. Anyway, back to the beginning. The reason His Majesty ended up like that… this is the biggest clue right now.”

“That’s not a compliment.”

Llewellyn sighed deeply as he responded sharply.

“Did you come up with anything plausible?”

“There are many scenarios that come to mind. There is the worst, the lesser of two evils, and the best of the best.”

“Which of those is most likely?”

“Based on my experience so far, the worst case scenario is most likely the correct answer.”

This time, the indifferent tone returned. It was as if he was talking about someone else’s business.

Because of this, Llewellyn ended up feeling slightly annoyed.

“So what is it?”

“It’s not at a stage where I can give a definite answer yet, so I can’t say much in detail.”

Arendt, who had been silent for a moment, frowned slightly.

“If you had something to hide, what would you do?”

It was a rather unexpected question. Llewellyn answered obediently, though he had a puzzled expression.

“Well… I guess I’d just hide it really well, wouldn’t I?”

“What if that’s not enough? No, what if it’s something that can’t be hidden like that in the first place?”

Llewellyn found his words to be increasingly incomprehensible. Fortunately, Arendt didn’t seem to be looking for a definite answer anyway.

He added plainly.

“One way is to just turn people’s gazes in a random direction so that they don’t even look at it.”

But the hidden meaning in that one sentence was not that simple.