Since I Don't Know Anything About It, Shall We Break Up, Your Majesty? - Chapter 49

He turned to Fuego with a slight smile.

“So, since His Majesty will find it difficult to prepare for the wedding anyway, why don’t we, the Tartien family, take the lead in preparing for the troublesome and difficult royal marriage?”

“……Is that what you came to talk about at this hour?”

“It’s urgent. Isn’t it? Looking at that state… I wonder if His Majesty will even live until the wedding. My poor sister. What a fate, to possibly become a widow before even having the ceremony.”

At these clearly mocking words, Fuego silently clenched his fist.

It was a lamentable situation.

To put someone on the throne as they pleased and now to deceive and trample on him, saying the king is no different from a dead person.

‘It’s infuriating. The only frustrating thing is that I can’t gouge out his eyes and rip out his tongue right now!’

But he had to endure for now.

His plan was still in progress, and he could endure this level of insult.

In reality, the insult he received was just a drop in the ocean compared to the humiliation his king had suffered until now.

“……So.”

A shadow fell over Fuego.

Fuego looked up at Landers standing in front of him.

Landers reached out his hand towards him and said,

“I need the key to the national treasury to prepare for the royal marriage.”

Fuego’s face immediately hardened.

“That’s not for me to decide……”

“His Majesty is critically ill, and don’t you have emergency decision-making power when His Majesty can’t make decisions?”

“……”

“We need to hurry with the wedding. Hand over the key.”

……This was it.

This was clearly why he had suddenly come, like an ambush.

Deliberately targeting a time when the king wasn’t mentally clear……!

Fuego directly confronted Landers’ pressure.

Fuego was a viscount.

He was the chief chamberlain involved in administration, but he didn’t have power comparable to Tartien.

Yet, he stubbornly confronted his pressure head-on, following his principles.

“It would be better to hand it over obediently… Even if the king were awake, the result would be the same. Nothing would change. So why are you being so stubborn?”

“That’s…!”

It was then.

Knock knock knock.

Along with the sound of knocking on the bedroom door, a sentry entered.

“A guest has arrived. May I show them in?”

A guest at this hour?

Landers frowned.

And before he could say anything, the sentry revealed the identity of the guest.

“It’s Count Cissus of Berhe.”

* * *

“I see there was a guest who arrived before me.”

Karl entered the bedroom with a composed stride.

For someone who had rushed here urgently, he looked completely unruffled.

He nodded to the frozen Landers and approached the king’s side.

He stroked the pale forehead and kissed it, then placed the painkiller he had prepared beforehand next to the pillow.

“My dear cousin. This is a painkiller I obtained for him who always suffers from pain. Brook, is this what you requested from me?”

“What? Ah, yes. Th-this is correct. Thank you. It was really hard to obtain… This painkiller works very well for His Majesty, and we were in trouble because we had run out.”

Like clockwork, Brook hurriedly came over and took the painkiller Karl had put down.

Karl glanced at Brook’s trembling hands as he clutched the item.

‘He must have been quite startled in that short time.’

Why wouldn’t he be?

The fact that Landers Tartien suddenly barged in this late at night.

Even Fuego, whose skill in managing his expression could put most actors to shame, had a slightly stiff face, so it seemed Landers must have been quite spicy.

“Lord Karl Winger.”

Landers’ expression turned cold.

“Even if you are cousins, to come so suddenly without any notice… Does your country have no etiquette?”

He talks about etiquette when he himself appeared suddenly in the king’s chambers.

Karl inwardly sneered coldly as he stood before Landers.

“I heard the news that my cousin was fainting every night from pain, so as soon as I found the painkiller, I rushed here in one breath, and it turned out to be this time. What brings young duke of Tartien to the side of the unconscious King? You’re not particularly close…”

Landers’ brow furrowed at his sharp words.

He stared at Karl uncomfortably, then let out a snicker.

“We’re about to become family, so there’s no reason not to be close. As it happens, I came here in relation to that… Isn’t that right, Fuego?”

At his words, Fuego’s jaw tightened.

Landers smiled gently and took another step towards Fuego, passing by Karl.

“Although there’s an outsider here… well, it doesn’t matter. It’s not like I can’t make the request.”

“You, are you in your right mind…!”

Landers gripped Fuego’s shoulder firmly.

Despite being a prosthetic hand, the grip strength was remarkable.

“Think carefully.”

“……”

“When that ship sinks, do you think you can survive?”

Fuego’s face twisted grimly.

Landers laughed cheerfully, as if he found that sight quite pleasing.

“I hope to see it on my office desk by tomorrow morning.”

“His Majesty won’t approve!”

“No. His Majesty will allow it. It’s his own wedding, after all.”

Isn’t that right?

Landers, smiling slightly, patted Fuego’s shoulder a couple of times before turning around.

As he passed by Karl, who was staring at him intently, Landers stopped abruptly and whispered to Karl.

“I hope you’ll be sure to watch the woman you discarded become the queen of this country.”

Karl, who was smirking, replied in a voice similar to Landers’.

“Well, I wonder if that marriage will actually happen, I do.”

Landers stared at Karl quietly.

Although his eyes showed quite a bit of killing intent, Karl merely smiled back at him.

Landers left the bedroom without saying anything more.

* * *

“Give it to him.”

“……Pardon?”

“No, don’t just give it. You should give it as if it’s being taken.”

“What on earth do you……”

“Dangle the key in front of Landers. The soldiers will probably try to intimidate you. Then, as if reluctantly, let it be ‘taken’ from you. Do you understand what I’m saying, Fuego?”

Fuego was so stunned that he couldn’t properly comprehend what Karl was saying.

So, is he really saying to just give the key that can open the national treasury to Tartien?

Did I hear that correctly just now?

“Why such a stupid face?”

“……People sometimes look stupid when they’re surprised.”

“Is that so?”

Karl hummed, seemingly finding this newly learned fact interesting.

Although his demeanor seemed somewhat arrogant, it was just so elegant and beautiful like a painting that it didn’t feel unpleasant.

His dazed face would look the same too.

At times like this, truly, one can feel the power of appearance.

Fuego sighed, fiddling with his beard that he thought was his most handsome feature, and said,

“Dangling the key… Yes, dangling the key isn’t difficult. But before that, please explain the reason properly.”

“It’s simple.”

Well, that’s what I’m asking for, that simple explanation.

Don’t just define it as simple by yourself.

As Fuego glared with a hardened expression, Karl chuckled softly.

He had been in an oddly good mood since earlier.

Even after Landers came and caused that ruckus.

‘Has the unusual symptom completely disappeared?’

When the body gets better, the mood naturally improves.

When Fuego found his own answer and accepted it, Karl spoke plainly,

“Symbolism.”

“……Symbolism?”

“The king’s authority. The king’s symbol. Among them, what resonates most with the people. What could it be?”

No, you said it was simple……

Why aren’t you explaining the simple thing simply?!

Fuego retorted with a somewhat aggrieved face.

“There could be many things. The crown, the scepter, the royal seal, the royal family’s crest……”

“Bzzt. Wrong. I thought you were smart, why can’t you grasp the point of the question? Even when I’m saying it outright?”

“……I was in the middle of answering?”

“Hmm, is that so? Then the answer is?”

“Since we were talking about the national treasury, it would be the national treasury, right?”

“Oh ho, trying to guess based on the hints?”

At the king’s mocking tone, Fuego glanced at him, dumbfounded.

His Majesty was certainly in a good mood.

Karl added an explanation with a light laugh.

“The throne and scepter can’t be easily stolen or taken away. The royal seal is an important item, but it doesn’t really resonate with the general public. But if a powerful force arbitrarily extorts the king’s treasury?”

Fuego nodded at Karl’s explanation.

“I see. That would feel different in value because it’s filled with the blood and flesh of the people.”

“That’s right. It would feel as if their own possessions were stolen. If they hear that their hard-earned tax money is being used for others’ personal gain.”

And if that news spreads, the backlash against Tartien will surge.

That backlash can become the cornerstone to ignite flames.

Karl intends to keep adding firewood so that those small sparks will eventually turn into a big fire.

Certainly, Karl’s opinion has merit.

‘But……’

Fuego looked at Karl with lowered eyes.

“But Your Majesty, if that happens…… wouldn’t you be in danger too?”