Chapter 20. Internal Strife

Back in her bedroom, Ophelia sent Tina away, gave orders that no one was to be let in, and dropped onto the bed.

She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, then bolted upright and began pounding the hapless pillow with her fists.

“Albus Hamil, you flirt! What kind of nonsense was that!”

“And you, Ophelia Lares, why did you let yourself get swept along by that insufferable act again. You should have slapped him right then and there. Aaagh!”

Thud, thud, thud!

❀❀❀

That evening, Ophelia walked into the dining room and found her father and Leo waiting for her.

“Come, sit. I am sorry for leaving you to handle the move alone today. Something came up unexpectedly.”

Her father looked very tired, for some reason.

He went out looking for work again.

“Not at all. Noah handles everything so thoroughly that there was very little for me to worry about.”

Just then, Leo cut in from beside her.

“Ophelia, did you have a falling out with Prince Albus? His expression was quite off when he left the room.”

At the mention of Albus, Ophelia choked on the water she was drinking.

“A falling out? How could I possibly dare to quarrel with a prince? Brother, really.”

“Is that so? I must have been mistaken. Oh right, Ophelia, guess what gift I brought for you.”

At the word gift, Ophelia’s eyes lit up.

“What is it? A rare book?”

“What kind of girl only ever wants books? Here.”

Leo set a small gift box tied with a red ribbon in front of her.

“Leo!”

Ophelia opened the box, took out the gift, and looked up at Leo with wide, startled eyes.

“You wanted one since you were little. I had it made into a necklace.”

Before their mother passed away, she had once given each of the siblings an amethyst gemstone as a New Year’s gift.

Young Ophelia had been playing marbles with the gemstone when she dropped the last gift her mother had left her into a lake.

She had run to her brother, who would do anything she asked, and thrown a tantrum demanding his.

But even Leo had firmly refused that time, saying it was a precious gift from their mother.

In her past life, she had begged Albus again and again to let her see her father and Leo one last time, and had gone to the prison the day before their execution.

As Leo pressed the amethyst into her hands while she wept without end, he had soothed her and said,

“Lia, Father and I will protect you wherever, whenever. Always live boldly and happily. Alright? We will never leave our little one’s side. This is my other self. Leo Number One. Haha.”

“Leo Number One, take good care of Ophelia from today.”

The words Leo had said the last time she saw him in her past life still rang clearly in her ears.

Ophelia looked at the amethyst in the box through blurring vision and forced brightness into her voice.

“Leo, this is precious to you too.”

At Ophelia’s words, Leo spoke with a serious expression.

“Lia, it was all because of you that we could move to Skydium, that we could find our footing in this household. Right now I cannot do much to help you, but at least I want to make you happy. Please accept my’s heart.”

Ophelia bowed her head low, hiding her reddened eyes, and spoke in a wet voice.

“I will treasure it for the rest of my life. I will think of Leo as watching over me and wear it every day. From today, this is my guardian. Leo Number One.”

The mood had grown too heavy, and Baron Jont pressed his fist to his lips and cleared his throat.

“Ahem. Yes, Ophelia, you truly worked very hard this time. I am so proud of you, Lia.”

“Now, we should eat before the food gets cold.”

Leo’s bright voice lifted the mood in the dining room at once.

Everything was too perfect and too happy.

To protect this happiness, Ophelia would do anything.

The heart that had been wavering because of Albus grew calm again.

Right. In this life, my only goal is to protect my family.

The next morning,

After a quiet breakfast with her family, Ophelia finished getting ready and headed to Duke Baroso’s office.

Knock, knock.

“Miss Ophelia has arrived.”

At Noah’s announcement, the Duke’s deep voice came from inside.

“Send her in.”

The first thing Ophelia’s eyes landed on when she stepped into the office was the mountain of documents piled on Duke Baroso’s desk.

Duke Baroso set down the papers he had been reading, pressed his fingers against his temple, and gestured toward the sofa, telling her to sit.

Ophelia spread her skirt to either side, gave a bow, and quietly took her seat.

The Duke seemed tired. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

“Identifying the anti-war factions in both countries within such a short time is no simple matter. And the situation is growing more urgent by the day……”

By the Duke’s order, there was no one else in the room.

Ophelia poured black tea into a cup and brought it to the Duke’s desk.

“I spent a lot of time going in and out of the black market in Naris and heard many stories from foreign merchants. So I ended up gathering a great deal of information, not entirely by intention.”

At Ophelia’s words, the Duke’s closed eyes snapped open.

Ophelia returned to the sofa and continued.

“Grandfather, you know this well, but Crown Prince Myr of the Apollos Empire is not the Empress’s son. The two are, without question, like oil and water, unable to mix. And that raises one crucial question we must address. Between the Crown Prince’s faction and the Empress’s faction, which is the pro-war side and which is the anti-war side?”

“It would be the Crown Prince, would it not? He has shown genius-level talent in tactics. He would want to demonstrate his abilities in war once more and expand his base of support.”

Ophelia slowly shook her head at the Duke’s words.

“From what I heard from the merchants, Crown Prince Myr Renat is not only gifted in tactics but deeply concerned with the welfare of the people and holds them dear. Would someone like that be blinded by immediate gain and put the Empire he will one day inherit in danger?”

“Then the Empress’s faction? Why? It would bring them no benefit at all.”

“The throne.”

“The throne?”

“Yes. It is a contest for the throne. If war breaks out, the Emperor will appoint the Crown Prince as supreme commander to end it quickly. The battlefield is a place of many variables and many accidents. What more cunning method could there be for eliminating a political rival?”

At Ophelia’s words, the Duke’s eyes narrowed.

The thought that he had glimpsed a piece of a vast conspiracy sent a chill down his spine.

The Duke sat in silence for a while, turning her words over and letting them settle.

“And on Batus’s side?”

Expectation filled the Duke’s gaze as it turned to Ophelia.

“Batus is a little more complicated. They are a people who love war so much that it would not be an exaggeration to say they are all on the pro-war side. But even there, people live and breathe, so factional conflict exists. If we dig into that alone, we can stir up internal strife among them as much as we like.”

“Tell me in more detail.”

“Prince Tode, who currently enjoys the greatest favor of the Batus king, is also not the son of the current queen. Yet he is the most gifted tactician after Crown Prince Myr. That is why the King placed half of Batus’s military power in his hands. So what will the current queen and her son, the First Prince, do? Before leaving Naris, I heard a rumor that the Queen and the Apollos Empress had secretly joined hands.”

A flash lit in the Duke’s eyes for a moment.

“The enemy of my enemy is my ally. If we use Prince Tode well, we could drive a wedge into their ranks and prevent Batus from focusing on war because of internal strife.”

Ophelia sipped her tea slowly, savored the taste with ease, and smiled.

“Precisely. Internal strife.”

The two Lares looked at each other and shared a sly smile.

“Then we need to build connections with Crown Prince Myr and Prince Tode…… Right, did you not say that among those who traveled to the capital together, there was the Crown Prince’s cousin from his maternal family?”

“Yes, Count Rud Wells.”

“Then we can hold a party to celebrate the move to Skydium and invite them. Noah!”

At Duke Baroso’s call, Noah opened the door and came straight in.

“I need to send invitations right away. And we will hold a banquet at Skydium.”

Ophelia remembered that Myr had come out in secret, concealing his identity, with a minimal number of people.

“Grandfather, given the nature of the matter, it would be best to invite only a small number of people to the party.”

“Right, we will invite a few vassal families and those close to us. As for the Crown Prince’s maternal family, please deliver the invitation yourself. Noah will help you. It is a small gathering, so there is no need to drag it out. Let us set the date for two days from now.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

Noah and Ophelia answered at the same moment.

❀❀❀

After finishing the invitations with Noah, Ophelia returned directly to Skydium.

Tina came out to meet her and took her robe.

“Miss, Jonathan has been waiting for you for thirty minutes, saying he has something to report.”

Ophelia had been heading up to the third floor but stopped and turned back toward the sitting room.

“Call Jonathan to the sitting room now.”

Knock, knock.

“Miss, it is Jonathan.”

“Come in.”

When Jonathan entered, Ophelia sent Tina away and poured the tea into Jonathan’s cup herself.

“Thank you.”

“Now, you said you had something urgent to report?”

“Yes, it concerns Head Maid Roa. A few days ago, I had a drink with some of the servants after work. I casually brought up the subject of the third concubine and Head Maid Roa, and an older servant who works in the stables said something strange after getting drunk.”

“What did he say?”

“He said he had seen the two of them arguing in a secluded corner of the stables about a week before the third concubine passed away. He only caught a few words, but it was something along the lines of, it should have been me originally, he said I was cute, and that the cunning creature had deceived the young lady by pretending to be innocent.”

“Is that so? So that was the reason. Ha. The puzzle finally fits together.”

A faint smile spread across Ophelia’s face.

“And apparently the head maid’s nephew has been frequenting gambling dens lately. He has some debt, but it does not seem to be more than he can manage.”

“Gambling, is it?”

Ophelia closed her eyes out of habit and tapped the armrest of the sofa with her fingers.

A moment later,

“Jonathan……”

Ophelia leaned toward Jonathan and explained her plan in a low voice.

“Yes. I will pass that along to James.”