I Became a Dark Knight the Empress Is Obsessed With

82 – Imperial Banquet – (1)

profit.

A huge carriage entered the space prepared in the inner palace.

Guard soldiers were lined up around the carriage as in the days of the Golden Duke, but unlike before, they were quite different.

Some of the knights had their hands on the scabbard, and a battle wizard climbed the wall and was ready to deal with it at any time.

Under heavy security, the carriage stopped.

The front of the wagon, painted white as if to represent the towering snowy mountains of Eisenworth, was lined with antique woodblocks carved in the style of ancient elves, and the driver sitting on it showed off his long ears.

Each of the chariot horses had horns of different lengths on their foreheads. It was a special species that only inhabited the coniferous forests of the northern part of the country with plenty of mana.

“You’re here.”

“Yes.”

Lyncia, who was sitting on the podium and preparing to greet the Great Duke of Winter, Aranion, approached Yuriad.

He was wearing epaulettes proving that he was in charge of the escort. Originally, it was something that Fried should have worn.

Uriad swept the surface a few times as if the epaulettes hanging from his shoulders were uncomfortable. Then, looking at Lincia, she opened her mouth.

“Are you okay? Fried, even though he’s immature, his love for His Majesty is no less than that of other Guardian Knights.”

“…I know that too.”

Lynchia answered as she watched Aranion’s elven attendants get off the wagon with courtesy.

“Turn it off.”

Uriad groaned softly.

I don’t know what happened, but it was that the relationship between Lyncia and the protector, Fried, had suddenly gone sour. No matter how much I asked Lyncia about the reason, she would remain silent, so it was difficult for Yuriad as well.

Uriad must have guessed that Fried must have made some mistake with Lynthia. When I thought about Fried’s behavior, it was comfortable to think that way.

However, the feeling was not too serious to dismiss it like that. For weeks now, Lynchia has been reluctant to even mention Freed. This time, he even took it out of the escort plan. Ahead of that important work meeting and a key person named Alanion.

Probably not for a simple reason.

I guess I’ll have to call him up sooner or later and ask him.

Uriad thought so, straightened his posture and stood upright.

“Sir Uriard.”

“Yes.”

“What kind of person is Grand Duke Aranion?”

At Lyncia’s question, Uriad searched for memories.

It was Yuriad, who had been in the position of a Guardian Knight for over 30 years. There had been several encounters with Aranion.

“Aranion Elderheart is… a sly man. And a skilled man. A man who knows how to profit from chaos.”

“A good ruler.”

“Yes. While he is a good ruler, as a person, he is not the kind of person I would like to get close to.”

“Why?”

“Aranion doesn’t see opponents as equals. He just judges them based on their usefulness. He only thinks of people as chess pieces, and he’s a person who just throws them away if they don’t help. And that’s the case with the emperor of the empire. It won’t be.”

More than anything, it was all the more so in a situation where the imperial family was at stake, like at this time.

Yuriard first saw Aranion when he had just become a Guardian Knight. And I remembered the meeting until the last time I saw him a few years ago.

At that time, the knight who assisted Aranion continued to change.

Living as his aide was a repetition of being purged or demoted.

“It’s scary.”

“It’s okay. Even so, I won’t be working in the imperial palace.”

Lyncia stood up with a nervous expression. Then, as I climbed onto the podium, the back door of the carriage that had just stopped opened slowly.

In the meantime, a pure white elf with waist-length hair appeared.

She was wearing a tight-fitting tunic and even tightened her corset, so from a distance she could be mistaken for a woman.

But his face reminded me of a cold ice statue. Outwardly, he looked like a young man no older than thirty, but the expression he was wearing was unmistakably that of a cool-headed ruler.

“The air in the capital is quite, humid.”

The man, Grand Duke of Winter, Aranion Elderheart, murmured while breathing heavily. Every time he turned his head, his ears twitched through his long gray hair.

Aranion looked around and looked at Lynthia. His expressionless expression had a complex and subtle elation. As soon as Lyncia received his gaze, she felt her heart beat loudly.

“It’s a new Irene…”

Aranion put one knee on the ground and the other hand on his chest.

He greeted them with courtesy in that state.

“Duke of Eisenward, Aranion Elderheart. Meet the new emperor of the Millennium Empire.”

He clenched his fists as if enraged, and continued.

“I expressed my regret in advance by letter… but it can’t help but be very lamentable. The Church will have to pay for this humiliation suffered by the Empire forever.”

Aranion was talking about how the imperial family was ambushed and destroyed.

Of course, that’s what he said, but everyone in the room knew that Aranion hadn’t attended the state funeral held recently.

“thanks.”

Lynchia slowly stepped in front of Aranion.

“Welcome to Sigrun, Duke of Aranion.

“hahahaha. You’re overly concerned. Eisenward and the snow elves, since becoming subjects of the great Millennium Empire, have acquired the stamina to withstand the cold of the North.”

Aranion replied with a faint smile on his face.

It was also known to everyone that the snow elves were semi-forcibly subjugated to the Empire.

Lynchia swallowed and stepped back. At that signal, Aranion also straightened his knee.

“I’ve prepared a seat in the banquet hall of the Naeseong Fortress. Hurry up and get rid of your travel poison.”

“Thank you for your hearty hospitality.”

Aranion bowed his head deeply.

Then he raised his face and scanned the guards and guards lined up around the wagon.

Faced with Aranion’s cold gaze, the soldiers flinched. Seeing that, Aranion smiled.

“Heh heh. By the way…”

Aranion got lucky.

“The atmosphere is quite stiff for a place of hospitality. As if you are wary of something. No, are you afraid?”

Aranion looked at Lynthia.

The wide-opened eyes were strangely recalled.

“Of course, at times like this, I think it’s important to firmly prepare for a sudden attack. I admired Your Majesty’s wisdom.”

“…”

“As expected, he is the legitimate ruler of the empire.”

Lynchia felt goosebumps run down her spine when she caught his gaze.

At the same time, I was sure.

The person behind the series of attempts to assassinate the grand duke must be this person.

*

“Is that how it happened?”

When I finished talking, the blue-haired girl sitting in front jerked her fork.

“You mean Cleta can move now. Plus Arwen… that would be a big deal. You’re going to have a hard time. It’s the worst. The worst.”

Then he took a picture of the cake on the plate and brought it to his mouth. I smiled as if I was happy.

“Best.”

“Sigh…….”

I took the guy’s plate away. Then, the girl who took the plate made a dissatisfied expression.

“Give it back. Lautrec brought it to me.”

“So, it doesn’t make sense to eat such expensive food for a death row inmate.”

“Worst. Garbage. Human end.”

Lautrec’s son. It’s really unexpectedly incompetent.

It’s an interrogation, and since then, I’ve been giving away only expensive food. The mind is cheap, but only the taste has become sophisticated.

“Anyway, it’s nobody else’s business. I’m just curious what you think about this. Have you ever heard of Arwen plotting something? What about Cleta?”

Taking the plate away, I asked the girl in front of me, Yuria Enruin.

The place where I was was the dungeon of the imperial palace.

I had no place to go for me, who was left out of the escort plan and had to wait in the rear. In the end, I was looking for YuRia to find out even a bit of information about the church’s plan.

YuRia was still living a luxurious life. In a way, it looks better than the Royal Guard hostel I am staying in.

More than two months have passed since the commissioner’s case and she was not sentenced to death.

The reason for this was also because my breath worked greatly, but the big thing was that Lautrec continued to submit petitions. He seemed to think he still had information to find out from YuRia.

“Well, Arwen has always been an unknown person. The same goes for Cleta. As a member of the Order, the information that can be known is limited.”

“……Hmm.”

It’s useless, too.

“What does Lautrec say when he comes to interrogate you?”

“What is it? Like you, I asked about the church’s next move.”

YuRia licked the fork and continued.

“And, it seemed that he doubted you.”

“Who? Lautrec? Me?”

“Who else is there? I think they guessed that there was some kind of connection with the Church. The question I asked was also related to that.”

“……her.”

On the outside, it seemed like an absurdity, but Lautrec was also poking a proper chimney.

He was a guy who could not be underestimated.

I thought I would need to be careful when dealing with Lautrec in the future.

“Ah, speaking of Lautrec.”

“yes?”

“Soon, a disaster will strike the spirit world.”

“…”

That must be the story of Act 5.

The spirit world is eroded by the power of foreign gods, and the aftermath goes back to Lautrec. In this way, he becomes the Apostle of Destruction, kills Atral, and appears as the final boss of Act 5.

How else should I prepare for this? The future was bleak.

“Come to think of it.”

Suddenly, I remembered that Lincia had learned spiritism from him.

If Lautrek’s fall was due to the erosion of the spirit realm, it was impossible to be certain that the same would not happen to Lynthia.

Of course, in the game, learning spiritism didn’t negatively affect Act 5. But I can’t be too sure.

While lost in thought, Yuria abruptly opened her mouth.

“Apostle of the Abyss, Phaedras.”

“what?”

YuRia sighed as if asking again.

“I’m in charge of the plan to erode the spirit world. I’m plotting things in a different direction than Arwen. Perhaps, the area of activity is High Linx.”

Apostle of the Abyss, Phaedras.

Come to think of it, it was the same name I saw in the tooltip for Raising Empress.

I wasn’t vigilant because I appeared in the final act as the incarnation of the abyss, that is, as a minor role who was used and then eaten by Cleta.

Make sure to read from noble mtl dot com

Does that mean he was behind the fall of the spirit world?

This was another important piece of information.

YuRia looked at my expression and narrowed her eyes.

“What. Didn’t you want to know this? It’s still the worst.”

“What are you saying, boy?”

“therefore.”

Yuria pointed the fork at me.

“When are you going to give it to me?”

I looked at the plate I was holding. There was a cake half left over.

“Yes. Eat as much as you want, glutton.”

With a feeling of desperation, I pushed the plate as it was, and Yuria smiled brightly as she stabbed the fork.

“Best~.”

“Sigh…….”

Seriously, Lautrec got into the habit of a kid.