The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 222
A modest party was held at the mansion that day.
Given the current circumstances, they couldn’t be too extravagant or invite many people.
‘Even if we could invite people, there’s no one to invite anyway.’
At most, maybe Lucretia. And since Luc said she’d just stop by briefly to see me, that’s everyone who’s coming.
Food prepared under mother’s direction was being placed one by one on the dining table.
Ash and Gaspar were already emptying bottles of alcohol and laughing heartily.
“Woah! You drank all that in one go! As expected of Mr. Gaspar!”
“Hahah! This much doesn’t even register in my liver! Now, Ash, it’s your turn!”
Gaspar was originally supposed to go to the Northern Continent with Sophia’s group, but he said he wanted to see Yumir settle in safely, so he came along.
Unlike the others, he wasn’t a wanted person in the kingdom, so there was no problem with him staying for a few days.
“Good grief…”
Rinoa looked at the two with an exasperated expression and said to me.
“I don’t understand how they can be so carefree in this situation.”
As she said, Baien’s internal political situation was like a bomb about to explode.
Second Prince Landis and Fourth Prince Joseph were engaged in a power struggle, and bodies were turning up in the palace every day.
Since the situation could affect us at any moment, Lucretia had stationed her family’s security force at the mansion.
“That’s that, and this is this. We should enjoy ourselves when we can.”
“I’m not that strong-hearted. More importantly…”
Rinoa smiled gently looking at the baby Yumir was holding.
“You said it’s a girl, right? What’s her name?”
“We haven’t decided yet.”
“Oh? Don’t people usually think about it beforehand?”
“I wanted to discuss it with the family.”
I originally intended to go with whatever name Yumir thought of, but she didn’t have many options for girl names.
She had such a strong desire for a boy that while she thought of thirty names for boys, she hadn’t thought of a single name for a girl.
Rinoa thought for a moment and continued.
“How about a name like Ernie? Hehe, maybe that’s too presumptuous?”
“No, you’re practically our benefactor, so it wouldn’t be strange for you to name her. Ernie… That’s nice.”
But this name feels like I’ve heard it somewhere before.
Sure enough, Eonia starts getting restless. Then she looks at me with teary eyes.
“Haha… Ernie won’t work. Someone’s already claimed it.”
“Claimed it?”
Rinoa caught on to what I meant and chuckled.
“Looks like they won’t need to worry about names over there.”
“Right. They’ve already decided on names for both boys and girls.”
Eo blushed and fled. Yumir tilted her head at such girlish behavior.
“Did something happen to Eonia?”
“Many things happened. I’ll explain gradually.”
The party properly began only after all the food was served.
While the purpose of the party was to celebrate the birth, it naturally turned into a name-choosing session.
Various names like Fiona, Mana, Laura, and others came up, but in the end, they settled on ‘Ryuna,’ which Yumir quietly suggested.
Ryuna Elaine.
When we called her by this name, the baby started crying loudly, making us wonder if she disliked it, but she soon fell into a peaceful sleep.
***
In the midst of the party, as they had just finished deciding the baby’s name, Lucretia, who had barely managed to find the time, visited the mansion.
Lucretia, who looked haggard due to the busy affairs at the palace, briefly greeted Yumir and then whispered to me.
“I’d like to talk to you for a moment.”
The fact that she said this during the party meant she had an urgent matter to discuss.
I moved to the reception room and had a private conversation with her.
Luc seemed exhausted, as she tightly closed her eyes and spoke in a low voice.
“Can we trust the information you brought from the underground city of Uland? Is there a possibility it’s false information?”
“Even if they set a trap to let us take those confidential documents, that’s not the case here. At least, the information is not false.”
“Tch…!”
Luc gripped her head.
“It just doesn’t make sense. All the princes were affiliated with the Alliance!”
That was the real reason behind this succession struggle, and why Rinoa didn’t delve deeper into the traitors within the kingdom.
Because the princes-in-line for the throne were all traitors.
“At least, it seems Fourth Prince Joseph only recently allied himself with the Alliance.”
Joseph’s alliance with the Alliance was recent. Since he would be as good as dead if Landis succeeded to the throne, he reached out to the Alliance in a last-ditch effort.
Luc seemed to understand that part.
“I had already expected that Prince Landis and Prince Joseph had the Alliance’s involvement behind them. But Prince Proud too? Even so, this has to be false information!”
First Prince Proud, who had died at the hands of assassins during the previous conflict with the Article.
The fact that he was in cahoots with the Alliance had Luc in a state of shock.
“He was the one with the most assured path to the throne. So what reason did he have to ally himself with the Alliance?”
“In politics, you never know what might happen. The relationships are so convoluted.”
I could understand Prince Proud’s actions as well.
He had realized the Alliance’s influence had already penetrated deep into the kingdom. In order to succeed to the throne, he had to simultaneously contain and co-opt them.
“Prince Proud allied himself with another faction to counter the Alliance that was opposing him.”
“How could he do such a thing…! He has no way of knowing when they’ll betray him!”
“As you know, the Alliance is a dotted-line organization. It’s not a unified group. If their interests align, the worry of betrayal decreases. Prince Proud was well aware of that.”
The problem was that he had underestimated his opponent.
“Realizing that Prince Proud had allied with another faction to counter them, the Alliance instead attached themselves to Second Prince Landis and Third Prince Paris to counter Prince Proud.”
That escalating confrontation led to the assassination incident.
Luc finally seemed to grasp the full picture.
“Then, the forces supporting Prince Joseph are…!”
“Correct. Likely the faction that had been allied with Prince Proud.”
She leaned back on the sofa, seemingly dizzy.
I took this opportunity to completely ensnare her.
“Now you also understand why Princess Roza must be placed on the throne, don’t you?”
“Is it because Princess Roza has not allied herself with the Alliance?”
“Exactly. If Princess Roza does not become the queen, the kingdom will soon become a puppet of the Alliance.”
“…”
Luc was silent for a while.
Only the raucous sounds from the dining room could be heard.
Eventually, Luc spoke up.
“Prime Minister Railand has already given his consent.”
“That means…!”
“Yes, he has decided to support Princess Roza.”
Prime Minister Railand, who held actual power at the moment, had been maintaining political neutrality in the succession struggle. But with evidence emerging that all the princes were affiliated with the Alliance, and that the king was assassinated because of it, he made up his mind.
“I will follow your plan. The intelligence division under the Prime Minister has already started moving. I’ve also obtained my father’s permission to mobilize the Akasha family’s forces to this side.”
“Be careful not to get caught. If you raise any suspicions, the plan could go awry.”
“Don’t worry.”
Additionally, under the leadership of Anduha, the forces of the Branford family had also been quietly moved to Baien.
The total force would be around 1,000 men.
While a negligible number, the objective was not to occupy the city, but to seize the palace. That would be sufficient.
‘With this, most of the preparations are complete.’
I instinctively felt that the moment to strike was not far off.
***
The party ended, and the people were about to go back to their respective rooms to sleep. However, a problem arose here. The Branford mansion was already full to capacity. Previously, when Rinoa went back to her family home, there was more space, but now that was not the case. At the very least, Rinoa’s room and the surrounding area had to be kept quiet, making room arrangements difficult.
I would have liked to kick out Gaspar and Ash and have them stay at an inn, but they were already unconscious from drinking, sleeping peacefully together. With the smell of alcohol permeating the air, I decided to let them stay in the same room. Mother, Bisketa, and Meissen took one room, and I gave the guest, Lucretia, her own room, leaving only my room left.
“I’d better start looking for a new mansion soon.”
I muttered that to myself, trying to hide my dismay. Erina, Yumir, and Eonia were standing next to me, shifting uncomfortably. Even they were clearly flustered, as Erina kept fiddling with her hair, Eo was swallowing hard, and Yumir’s tail was moving restlessly, though her expression remained calm.
“I’ll sleep on the floor.”
I suggested that, as the four of us wouldn’t fit comfortably on the bed, but they vehemently opposed the idea. As I was at a loss for what to do, Yumir calmly spoke up.
“I believe the young master and Eonia should definitely sleep on the bed. And the princess of the ducal family, Lady Erina, should also sleep on the bed. So I will take the floor.”
Of course, immediate objections were raised. Erina argued that she was experienced in sleeping on the floor from her time in the Forest of Lament. Eonia also insisted that there was no need to accommodate her.
Seeing their strange debate, I proposed a compromise.
“Even if it’s a bit cramped, why don’t we all try sleeping on the bed?”
As if they had been waiting for this suggestion, the three of them silently agreed. After putting the baby in the cradle, we lay down on the bed, which was just a little bigger than a super single. With four of us on it, it was extremely cramped, and our skin inevitably touched.
The faint scent of grape wine wafted through, likely from Erina, as Yumir and Eo had not been drinking. Apparently due to the alcohol, Erina quickly fell into a peaceful slumber, tightly hugging my back. Because of that, the option of sneaking down to the floor was no longer available.
‘Oh well.’
I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. However, the feeling of someone’s breath so close made it impossible for me to doze off.
After a few minutes, I carefully opened my eyes and found myself face to face with Eonia.
“…Not sleeping?”
“Uh, yes, I’m sleeping.”
“Now that you mention it, you’re still using honorifics. Seems like a lot of your memories have come back.”
“Yes, most of them have… I’m truly sorry for committing such an offense against you, Ars.”
For some reason, I didn’t like that sight.
“No honorifics when it’s just the two of us.”
“Eh?!”
“I said no honorifics. That’s an order.”
Eonia seemed flustered, but also happy, as she rolled her eyes.
“…Is that really okay?”
“It’s more familiar to me now.”
“Well, then I’ll do that from now on. But in front of others, I’ll still use honorifics.”
“Why? You used to use them even when others were around.”
“I-It’s embarrassing now. Eep?!”
Without realizing it, I had leaned in close enough for our breaths to mingle, and I ended up kissing her lips.
Eonia flinched but then quickly relaxed. She brought her hand to my cheek, seemingly wanting to continue.
But just then…
“Young master.”
It was Yumir, who had been lying at the edge of the bed, likely ready to tend to the baby if needed.
“What is it?”
“For tomorrow’s sake, it would be best if you and Eonia went to sleep early.”
“…Okay.”
I could feel Erina’s arm, which had been hugging my back, tightening a bit. Apparently, she had not been asleep after all.
I silently decided to try to get some sleep.
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