The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 213
Upon returning to Baien, I immediately prepared to attend the party.
Originally, I had planned to skip it citing health reasons, but since rescuing Yumir seemed like it would take longer than expected, I decided to lay low and observe the situation until the operation began.
Showing my face at the party was part of that plan.
At this party, the outline of the upcoming royal succession dispute would be revealed, so it wouldn’t hurt to see it firsthand.
“Eo, do you know where my tailcoat is? I can’t find it.”
“I know! Bisketa said you’d need it, so I had it cleaned! Are you wearing it today?”
“Not today. I just wanted to locate it.”
“Well, why don’t you try it on? The size might not fit anymore.”
“That’s unlikely.”
“Still!”
Eo got up with her heavy body and pushed my back while smiling brightly.
Then she hummed a tune while helping me dress.
‘Looking at her, it doesn’t seem like she’s recovered her memories….’
Estelle said to wait patiently, but it was strange that there wasn’t even a hint. Almost as if she was deliberately hiding it.
I tested her by saying, “Speaking of parties, that reminds me. Come to think of it, my first-ever party was also a royal party. I was so surprised then. Who would have thought Juras would suddenly barge in trying to sell slaves.”
“Y-yes. That’s right.”
“Cassius Loyd was among them too. Anton told me later that if I had bought Cassius instead of the female slave, it would have been interesting.”
The woman I was referring to was obviously Eo.
“R-really…?”
Eo’s fingertips seemed to tremble.
“And what else did he say? That in terms of both ability and potential, Cassius was far superior to the woman, so he would have been much more helpful.”
“I cannot accept that!”
Eo burst out. She immediately realized her mistake and shut her mouth.
“Ahem!”
“…Eo. You’ve recovered your memories, haven’t you?”
“W-what are you… No, what are you talking about?”
“Are you going to play dumb?”
Under my confident questioning, Eo hastily added, “W-well. They’re coming back little by little. Not completely!”
“Estelle said the same thing…. But why were you hiding it?”
“I wasn’t really trying to hide it. It’s just that many of the memories are hard to accept. You know how it is. If those memories are real, then I’ve been terribly discourteous to you all this time.”
It seemed she had recovered quite a bit of her memories.
“Anyway, I knew it. Take your time. Don’t worry about being discourteous. I actually prefer how things are now.”
“…Really?”
“But don’t pretend not to remember. It worries me.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Eo smiled broadly while adjusting my clothes.
That’s when Elena appeared.
“Eo, how are you feeling? I bought the snacks you wanted yesterday, have some.”
“Ah, Mast- I mean, Lady Elena!”
“Lady Elena? …Aha.”
Elena looked at me and smirked.
“Still keeping that up? I heard you’ve recovered most of your important memories.”
“Shh! Lady Elena, shh!”
“Really. How long do you plan to keep this up? Anyway, have some snacks. And Elaine, let’s talk for a moment.”
Eo repeatedly motioned to keep quiet and left the room with worried eyes.
Elena watched her leave with satisfaction and said, “In a way, this might be Eonia’ true self.”
“What do you mean?”
“When I was teaching her, Eo was an innocent tomboy. Just like how she is now. As she grew older, she developed unnecessary pretenses due to her high position and rigid role.”
“I heard from Bisketa. That she grew up like a princess when she was young.”
“Well, yes. Though quite different from a typical princess, she was certainly cherished. So Elaine, don’t be disappointed if she doesn’t return to her previous self. This is also her true self in its own way.”
“I never intended to.”
“Your answer sounds good, but.”
Elena turned to face me and caught her breath for a moment. I gave her a grin.
“What’s wrong, reminded of your husband?”
“…! Yes, indeed. You certainly look exactly like him. Though the contents are completely different.”
“That hurts. Is there something wrong with me?”
“There’s a big problem. At least Melian only had eyes for me.”
“Ugh.”
Elena narrowed her eyes and continued, “I heard that the operation you’re planning to carry out in Uland is to find your wife, this Yumir person.”
“Well, yes…”
“And Eo too. She was insisting that Yumir is fine, that we must save Yumir.”
“They were surprisingly close. Though Eo was always the one getting scolded.”
“Since she asked, I’ll cooperate too. So Elaine, set a date soon.”
“A date?”
“For my duel with Ilya Anfei.”
“You’re still holding onto that…. Are you confident you can win?”
“Of course.”
“Sigh, alright. I’ll arrange it when I have time.”
Only after getting a firm answer did Elena seem satisfied.
I thought that her younger self probably wasn’t much different from the current Eonia.
***
The party was held for over five days.
Usually for long parties, the schedule is set by date with the latter half carrying more weight due to planned rewards and honors, but this party was different.
Since who attended was crucial, the first day was most important.
People had two main interests:
Would the king, who was said to be bedridden, appear healthy?
If the king didn’t appear, would Prince Landis, first in line for succession, take the leading role in the party?
If things went this way, the balance of power would clearly shift toward Prince Landis.
‘The problem is if the king appears healthy…’
I thought this possibility was slim. From what I briefly heard from Lucretia, though his condition was stable, public activities would be too strenuous.
‘Will Prince Landis take power like this?’
That was what I needed to watch for at this party.
“Sir Ars, it’s our turn to enter.”
Deep in thought, Erina caught my attention.
She wore a plain navy blue dress. She even wore a coat to reduce exposure. Being of non-noble status here, she couldn’t dress too lavishly.
Still, she commanded attention.
Both nobles and commoners kept stealing glances at her. Even Prince Joseph stared at her in a daze.
Slightly annoyed, I pulled her closer to shield her from others’ gazes.
This action seemed to delight Erina immensely, making her beam with joy.
“Heehee, this feels new.”
“What does?”
“This is my first time attending a party as your partner.”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true. Back where we were before, the difference in status made things awkward…”
“Dancing alone in the moonlit garden has its charm… But today I definitely want to dance in the ballroom.”
Upon entering, we quickly found seats.
Since the inner area was reserved for nobles, we had to take seats on the outskirts.
Though I was hungry and wanted to eat, Erina seemed to think greetings should come first as she searched for Princess Rosa.
“I’m going to greet Princess Rosa.”
She was indirectly asking if I wanted to come along. I shook my head.
“It wouldn’t be good for me to go. Go by yourself.”
“Yes, then.”
When Erina left, I felt like an unpopular member of an idol group left alone center stage.
Meaningful gazes pierced me like arrows.
Some gazes were sticky, some wary, and some showed pure curiosity.
‘Maybe I should have gone with Erina.’
I was considering going to the bathroom when someone approached.
“Hmph, dressed up like this, you look different. Like a proper noble rather than a commoner.”
“And you haven’t changed.”
It was Lucretia. Wearing her royal guard uniform, she looked quite out of place at this party.
When she spoke to me, I felt the gazes around us intensify.
Despite this, Luc tried to continue the conversation with me.
“Are you in charge of security for the party today?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“So it’s true that you were demoted.”
Usually at times like this, the royal guard officers would be guarding the king.
Lucretia’s expression darkened at my words.
“It was Prince Landis’s orders. To focus the royal guard personnel on party security.”
“What does that mean? Is it because the king will attend this party, or is it for Prince Landis’s own safety?”
Luc looked around cautiously before answering quietly.
“Probably the latter. His Majesty won’t be attending the party.”
“This is getting interesting.”
“Are you okay with this? At this rate, Princess Rosa whom you support won’t even be able to spread her wings before falling.”
“That’s rich coming from you who decided to support Prince Landis.”
“…”
Luc turned away, looking troubled.
“Just so you know, I don’t plan on doing anything particularly dangerous.”
“You mean you don’t have that level of ambition?”
“That’s right. Even if Prince Joseph or Prince Landis takes the throne, nothing much will change. I support Princess Rosa just to take the easy path. Whatever happens, both the Kingdom of Ellan and the Savior Alliance will end up bowing before me anyway.”
“How brazen of you to say such things…”
“As I said before, the war capabilities here are too weak.”
“If that’s what you think, it means you’re not a good general. They say a good general neither overestimates themselves nor underestimates their opponents.”
“That depends on the situation. In a fight between an adult and a child, you usually win as long as you watch out for vital points.”
“Is that the extent of the difference between the Magic Continent and us…!”
“That’s about right.”
“Hmph.”
Luc turned away with a snort, seemingly unwilling to accept it.
Just then, Prince Landis made his appearance.
The party venue buzzed with murmurs when he appeared.
“So Prince Landis is really taking the lead!”
“Does this mean His Majesty is not in a state to run the kingdom…”
“Well, given his age… From now on, His Majesty probably won’t appear in public anymore. That’s how the throne changes hands.”
This was one of the typical cases of succession to the throne.
The elderly king steps back to wait for his death, while the crown prince seizes power early to sort things out.
The nobles were whispering about how to manage Prince Landis’s temperament, who was known for his quick temper.
As expected, they didn’t seem pleased about it.
“I should return to my position now. I hope you enjoy the party, Wade.”
Luc headed towards Prince Landis’s side.
Prince Landis smiled triumphantly and began leading the party.
The nobles tried to curry favor with Prince Landis alone, not even considering Prince Joseph or Princess Rosa.
Rather, sympathetic glances were being cast at those two.
This was because now that Prince Landis had seized power, there was a high chance he would purge his siblings.
While Rosa could be sent away through a political marriage since she was a princess, Joseph couldn’t be dealt with so easily.
Many people predicted that Prince Joseph would soon lose his life.
Whether aware of this or not, Joseph just looked ahead with composure.
That’s when the unexpected happened.
“…Huh?”
The party venue started becoming chaotic.
People who appeared to be royal guards blocked the entrance to the party venue and suddenly began searching people’s bodies.
While complaints and raised voices erupted here and there, they were soon drowned out by murderous screams.
The news had reached the party venue.
The news of the king’s assassination.
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