The Emperor of Istazio, Hedges Istazio, felt like he was about to explode with rage.

From the urgent knocking and the voice that followed, he already felt uneasy.

[Your Majesty!]

[What is it?]

[The Crown Prince is currently at the Tempt dock!]

[What? Why!]

[We haven’t been able to determine that. He’s called the security forces and is stirring up the whole place… and he’s only accompanied by Sir Cheshire and Sir Coenheim!]

[This… this child!]

While the eldest sons of other families grow up to be reliable individuals who can take responsibility for their families and households, why does his own eldest son seem to be on a different path despite his age?

The astonished Emperor quickly issued an urgent summons for the Crown Prince, and as a result, the father and son faced each other after a minor commotion.

“You rascal, cough, cough!”

“Your Majesty, please calm down. Your already frail body will deteriorate further.”

“Who do you think is responsible for this! Why are you causing such trouble!”

“Your Majesty. Trouble, you say. It was necessary.”

“Was it necessary that you kept it from me and snuck out?”

“There was no time to report. It was a matter of urgency, and I had no choice. It was not for my personal enjoyment.”

Hedges’ fingertips trembled.

He lowered the hand he was about to point with to the armrest of his chair and said,

“Fine, explain yourself. You caught something suspicious?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. First, this.”

Kaiden handed over a brief report he had prepared.

“I received a tip about smuggling and, due to time constraints, had to verify it myself.”

Hedges quickly skimmed through the report.

Kaiden, seeing the page he was reading, cautiously spoke.

“And there, I discovered a large quantity of gunpowder.”

“……What did you say?”

Hedges’ hand, which had been flipping through the report, stopped.

“It’s not an amount that could have been siphoned off a little here and there. We must consider the existence of a hidden saltpeter mine.”

“……This is a serious matter.”

“Yes. While further investigation into other items is needed, I believe it’s a matter worth delving into deeply.”

“I understand. I will give you full authority. By the way, you said you received a tip?”

“……Yes.”

“Do you plan to investigate through that informant?”

“Of course, I will use the informant, but I intend to rely more on our information network.”

“That’s the right answer.”

Hedges, looking at the report again, said,

“This time, it ended well because the results were good. You know that, right?”

“Yes.”

“You… you need to take care of yourself. You’re not too young to understand what I mean.”

“……Yes.”

At that moment, both father and son thought of the same person.

Kaiden Istazio’s biological mother, Lilia Istazio.

The former Empress who was poisoned.

“But Your Majesty.”

“Is there more you want to say?”

“Yes. About this upcoming meeting of the lords.”

When the term ‘meeting of the lords’ came up, Hedges, who was listening, suddenly frowned, wondering why he brought it up.

“It’s time to check the state of water storage… and repair the old dams and canals.”

“Suddenly? Is there something bothering you?”

“There are predictions that this year will have a severe drought.”

“A drought… If that prediction turns out to be true, it will be quite troublesome. Do you trust this information?”

“…….”

Hearing the Emperor’s demand for a definite answer, Kaiden fell silent for a moment.

In truth, he wasn’t entirely sure about that part.

It was Ellen Crient who confidently predicted a great drought, not him.

‘But wasting that much money on something uncertain? No matter how much Crient takes responsibility, that’s…’

He thought it was impossible.

‘And somehow, I can’t imagine her words being wrong.’

Ellen Crient’s unwavering confidence gave him an unwarranted expectation.

If someone else, even if it was his trusted Sir Coenheim, had said such things, he wouldn’t have acted this way.

Or rather, he wouldn’t have been able to.

None of them would have shown such bold action.

As he hesitated, the Emperor also stepped back and said.

“Very well. We can’t ignore disaster predictions and not prepare. You must have brought it up because it concerns you.”

“…….”

“I will pay as much attention as possible to the projects that should have been conducted this year.”

Hedges, saying so, clicked his tongue, seemingly already feeling the headache.

“Tsk, I hope Marquis Baroque doesn’t try to sabotage.”

“That’s always been the case, hasn’t it?”

Kaiden jibed.

“I strongly agree with that, but from my perspective, you’re not much different, so please restrain yourself.”

“Your Majesty, that’s harsh.”

Hedges shouted as if he couldn’t believe it.

“What’s harsh is your thunderous, reckless behavior!”

* * *

At Duke Krembell’s residence, in the Duke’s office.

As usual, Gillian, who was sitting at his desk reviewing documents, lifted his head to relieve his stiff neck.

Checking the clock, it was still around lunchtime.

He thought he could read the reports on the workshops by tonight.

As Gillian lowered his head again, he heard urgent knocking at his ear.

“Your Grace!”

Judging from the voice, it seemed to be one of his subordinates planted outside.

Making such a loud noise.

Gillian recalled the woman who had barged into his office not long ago and thrown a ridiculous piece of paper at him.

Feeling displeased, he pressed his brow.

“Come in.”

The door swung open, and the person waiting outside hurried in.

It was a subordinate he had instructed to manage the workshops.

“What is it?”

But the subordinate’s face was unusual.

Gillian, reading something unfavorable from that face, urged the hesitant subordinate.

“Quickly.”

“Well, it’s….”

The subordinate swallowed dryly, glanced around briefly, and opened his mouth.

“The meeting point at the Tempt Canal has… been discovered. The Crown Prince personally led people, sealed off the area, and began investigating. Everything there, both goods and people, fell into the Crown Prince’s hands without being disposed of.”

“……What?”

Gillian felt a surge of strength in the hand holding the pen.

What did you just say?

“Repeat that.”

“Well, it’s….”

Bang!

The pen in his hand struck the desk.

He had slammed his hand down without realizing it, and he looked down at the sharp pain that followed.

He saw the completely broken pen tip and a bit of blood on his hand.

“Everything taken… Surely that doesn’t include gunpowder, guns… things like that?”

“Well… it’s likely that some of it was included….”

“They found that, and even took it?”

Feeling even more upset, he swept everything off the desk onto the floor.

Crash!

Furious, Gillian shouted.

“How could you not realize you were being tailed until things got this bad!”

“……I’m sorry.”

“Find out what was confiscated, how much was taken! Start with that, immediately!”

“Y-yes!”

The man, trembling and bowing his head, was gripped by the fear that he might die there and quickly fled the scene.

* * *

“……Alright, let’s start the meeting.”

Meeting of the Lords.

The highest council that decides the major affairs of the Istazio Empire.

The Emperor picked up the topmost paper from the piles of documents in the basket.

“The first agenda today is about the reservoirs and dams.”

Hearing this, Kaiden’s throat moved once.

“Indeed, it’s best to complete such maintenance in the spring.”

The first to respond was Marquis Cedric Port, a staunch supporter of the Emperor.

He argued against handing over industries related to military supplies entirely to the noble faction and was investing all profits from profitable businesses into the deficit-ridden development of firearms.

“Spring construction is all well and good, but where will the budget come from?”

With a tone that was not only free-spirited but almost rude, Duke Dwayne Tria, a core force of the noble faction, pointed out.

“Where else would it come from? From the taxes the Duke has been collecting.”

Marquis Port retorted. But a rebuttal came from another place.

“Each territory will cover it? Then it’s something to be handled individually, so there’s no need to discuss it here.”

The oldest person present, Marquis Hemoni Baroque, spoke.

He was the de facto leader of the noble faction and the father of the current Emperor’s only wife, Concubine Bellates Istazio, and the maternal grandfather of Prince Crescent and Princess Eclipse.

“It’s time to repair outdated facilities. Any problems that arise later will be too late. National maintenance is necessary.”

This stubborn old man!

The Emperor ground his teeth and drove in the wedge, but Marquis Baroque did not easily back down.

“……Your Majesty. Suddenly pushing forward with such a project when there was no mention of it at the end of last year is bound to cause confusion. Moreover, if you intend to fund the project by raising the nobles’ tax rates, even though we live by Your Majesty’s grace, this could become a problem.”

At those words, the Emperor massaged his neck, apparently already infuriated, and Kaiden, who had proposed the agenda, folded his arms with a smile, hiding his annoyance.

Then, the young duke, Gillian Krembell, who shared the blood of Istazio, intervened.