Chapter 20
“I don’t know how things were on the battlefield, but here, a single moment can flip everything upside down.”
“It’s not so different in war. If anything, the battlefield is where people act most on instinct.”
“Instinct, is it?”
Henry closed his eyes slowly and took a sip of wine.
“That’s a good way to put it. Speaking of which, why don’t you tell us about the Mertos Desert campaign? I hear you turned the tide in an unwinnable situation. I imagine it’s quite the story.”
Henry chuckled and gave Abel a gleam-eyed look—clearly trying to steer the conversation away from the tension.
Clink.
I set down my utensils and dabbed at the corners of my lips with a napkin.
Being seated with this group had officially ruined my appetite.
“Prince Henry made a ridiculous proposal.”
“What kind of proposal?”
“I find it hard to believe you wouldn’t already know.”
After the banquet, I asked to speak privately with Grandfather.
Of course, it was to confront him about Henry.
“Are you planning to change the engagement partner?”
Marrying Henry now was an entirely different matter from when I was Deborah.
If he married the head of House Mergen, Henry would be tied down—submissive to our family.
But now? The situation could be reversed.
There was no way either Irene or I wanted to become a puppet, living our days bound to the imperial household.
“The retainers probably wished for that the moment Deborah died.”
“I’m not asking about the retainers. I want your intentions.”
“I didn’t think the prince would ever agree to it.”
“What if he does?”
“Then it would certainly be the most painless path for Mergen.”
“Henry is dangerous. Do you think you can handle him? He’ll drag Mergen into the imperial succession war.”
“He was Deborah’s fiancé. What’s changed?”
I swept my bangs behind my ear and took a breath.
I’d gotten too emotional.
“My sister and I are not the same. If he marries the head of Mergen, he’s shackled. But if it’s me…”
At that moment, I looked Grandfather straight in the eye.
He was listening calmly, even leisurely.
…No way.
Everything suddenly clicked.
Me claiming I had no interest in the heirship.
The broken engagement talks turned upside down.
Henry.
This was his doing—Grandfather had set this all up.
“You said I have the choice to reject the engagement.”
“Haha.”
I thought Chloe was cunning, but I was wrong. Grandfather was even worse.
“You’re telling me to become the heir.”
“It won’t be easy. You may not reach it on your own. The retainers are not so easily swayed.”
In other words, if I didn’t want to be used as Henry’s pawn and discarded, then I’d better take the seat of power myself.
I was the prey being driven to the cliff’s edge in Grandfather’s grand hunt.
That left me with two choices.
Bite the hunter’s throat—or yield.
“I like it.”
“What do you mean?”
I straightened my back and met Grandfather’s gaze.
“I mean the way you’ve set the stage.”
Being pushed to act wasn’t how I preferred to play things.
But now I had no choice but to accept the lesser evil.
Let’s go with that, Irene.
Grandfather’s ambition. Chloe’s greed. Everyone’s contempt.
In the end, those things will carry us to the top.
And once we’re there—falling won’t be a fear, but a game.
Late at night, as the heat of the day cooled, the Mergen estate lay silent and beautiful.
I slipped out of the mansion through the back gate.
Not far from the estate, at the appointed location, a single carriage waited.
Knock knock.
The carriage door creaked open as I knocked.
“Welcome. I’ll give you a mid-progress report.”
Inside, the carriage was far more luxurious than it looked from the outside.
And inside, Solmon greeted me with a sly smile.
“Do you usually handle all this yourself?”
“Of course not. I only personally involve myself in matters of importance.”
“I have a question, though.”
“Go ahead.”
“Why is he here?”
I gestured toward Lahan, who was seated beside me.
Why on earth was he here?
“As you know, this is essentially a joint request. And since the majority of the payment came from his side, there was no way around it. I assure you, it’s not some sneaky attempt to finish you off in one go.”
That confirmed it.
It was exactly that—an attempt to finish me off in one go.
I stared at Solmon and Lahan in disbelief.
“Do you not have anything better to do?”
“Why would you assume I don’t?”
Lahan answered, clearly amused by my question.
“I just didn’t expect someone like you to be so interested in my family’s affairs—enough to be out this late.”
“If you interpret my interests that broadly, then I suppose it might seem that way.”
“Now, now,” Solmon cut in with a chuckle, handing each of us a stack of documents. “All the report details are there. No need to worry.”
This was the most “efficient” guild in the Empire?
I took the documents with a scowl and began flipping through them.
Rustle, rustle.
The only sound in the carriage was the soft flutter of turning pages.
If the quality was terrible, I would’ve canceled the contract on the spot…
Unfortunately, the report was immaculate.
It contained even more detail than I’d hoped for—especially plenty of personal information.
It was thorough down to the number of chips Vermont had lost at a gambling den.
But best of all?
It was filthy. Just how I liked it.
“This time frame—are you sure the information is accurate?”
“You can trust everything in there.”
Solmon looked confident enough that I had no reason to doubt him.
If the intel really was this reliable, things were about to get very interesting.
“You even dug up dirt from quite a while ago.”
“We gathered everything that could be obtained.”
“Hmm.”
In truth, I only needed the recent stuff—but having his entire life story laid out like this was surprisingly entertaining.
Reading through Vermont’s history all at once felt oddly satisfying.
He really was a piece of work.
Especially the part where he threw an extravagant yacht party during my funeral. That took guts.
“You really gathered a lot in such a short time.”
“Our people are still tailing him as we speak. The report’s growing by the minute.”
“No wonder your guild’s reputation is so strong.”
I stacked the papers and set them on my lap.
I’d go over them more thoroughly later.
“And what about you, Your Grace?” Solmon asked, turning to Lahan.
“You never give me a chance to be disappointed,” Lahan replied with a wave of his hand.
From the looks of it, he hadn’t even touched the documents.
Didn’t seem like he was desperate for information.
So then why show up at this hour?
“I expect Vermont to come looking for me soon. When he does, make sure your guild’s agents are there to protect me.”
“Hm, getting involved in something dangerous typically comes with added costs, you know.”
“Send the invoice to me,”
It was Lahan who responded to Solmon’s comment.
“And why would you be covering that, Your Grace?”
“I’ve already paid for most of it, minus your commission. What’s a little more?”
He wasn’t wrong—but it didn’t feel like a sufficient explanation either.
“Are you trying to run a charity now?”
“A merchant like me? Hardly.”
“If I had to put a name to it… let’s call it an investment.”
“Investment? In what? In me?”
“If that’s how you’d like to understand it, then yes.”
Lahan had always been… peculiar.
Everything about the path he’d taken in life defied the expectations of someone in his position.
He had abandoned his royal surname, taken over a family that had once disowned him, refused the position of Speaker of the Assembly, and instead—declared himself a merchant. His name among nobles was synonymous with rebellion.
He was a man whose decisions I could neither predict nor easily understand.
Perhaps that’s why…
Peaceful roads aren’t meant for me.
If it was something Lahan found worth investing in, then there would surely be blood on the wind.
“Do you feel some kind of kinship with me?”
The way I survived had always been different from his.
Where he cut through storms with bold decisions and disruptive power, I survived by building a fortress, stone by stone—firm, unshakable.
I accepted only what I had tested and understood, always cautious, always watching.
“If this is going to turn into a conversation like that, shouldn’t we at least have a bottle of wine in front of us?”
His answer was far gentler than I expected, considering the weight of the question. It could’ve easily been an insult—touching on his lineage and old grudges—but he brushed it off with smooth composure.
Why is he being so agreeable?
The more amiable he seemed, the deeper my suspicion grew.
“Are you enjoying yourself?”
“To be honest… lately, this is the only thing that’s caught my interest.”
