Chapter 65
While Samuel was fervently speaking about romance, Cardin quietly opened his mouth.
“Samuel.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
“You seem to know a lot about our princess?”
“Yes? I mean, I’ve been around her…”
Samuel was about to answer naturally when he saw the sharp gleam in Cardin’s eyes, causing him to quickly retract his words.
“I don’t know much. I was just speaking in general terms.”
“Is that so?”
Cardin twisted his lips into a small grin.
“But I hear you’re not exactly in a position to give me love advice.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’ve been talking down to me, giving advice as if you’ve had some grand romance,” Cardin said with a teasing tone.
“…”
Cardin didn’t speak further but gave a small, mocking laugh. The pained expression he had just moments ago seemed completely forgotten, replaced by a smile that was more of a skill in tormenting others.
Samuel’s face hardened.
It wasn’t because of the mockery.
“How could someone as beautiful as him use that smile in such an annoying way?”
His stiffened demeanor stemmed from a sense of regret and disappointment.
After a moment, he regained his composure and asked, “Where did you hear such a thing…?”
“The princess’s loyal maid told me. She said that your famous love history was of no use and shouldn’t be followed.”
“Larisia?”
Samuel froze, his pupils trembling from the shock as Cardin’s words sunk in.
Hearing Larisia’s name, he instinctively swallowed.
The fact that a mere maid, with nothing but loyalty to her, had judged him, the Duke’s assistant, was a blow to his pride. But there was no intention to do anything about it.
Just recently, he had been locked in a room, his mouth sealed, with that memory still fresh.
“Is it really alright to talk so much about love when it’s only been a passing romance and not even your own, speaking of love based on someone else’s face?”
Cardin, the one whose face was the very subject of that love, said with evident displeasure.
“And what’s wrong with sharing common interests with your lover and discussing them?”
Cardin glared at Samuel, who was once again being cheeky as ever.
He wanted to mock Samuel, saying that breaking up over a disagreement about shared tastes didn’t count as real love, but he couldn’t be bothered. He tried to suppress the rising irritation and rested his face on the desk again.
Maybe it was just his perception, but Cardin thought even the way he was lying on his side looked perfect from an aesthetic standpoint.
Would it be so? Samuel thought to himself but didn’t realize that Cardin had already closed his eyes tightly.
“How often do the Grand Duke’s forces conduct the monster hunts?”
When the question was posed, Samuel’s mind went blank, and he couldn’t see anything in front of him.
It was because, at that moment, he had already noticed that the affection in Anette’s eyes, which he had previously seen, was now gone.
There was no need to dwell on why Anette suddenly brought up the topic of monster hunting.
“Could it be that she still misses those monsters?”
Cardin, who had crossed over to the Kingdom of Heyworth several times just to see Anette, had of course seen the royal knight order she led.
In his eyes, it had always been Anette who mattered, and the knights surrounding her only seemed like obstacles.
However, even though his judgment was clouded by personal feelings, they weren’t good subordinates in Cardin’s eyes.
They might have respected and sworn loyalty to their commander, but on the outside, they were cold and insolent.
If they had been too friendly or courteous to Anette, that would’ve made things worse for Cardin, but he quickly dismissed his thoughts about the royal knights.
“Even if Anette has grown fond of them after spending ten years together, once she’s back in the empire, she’ll forget about them.”
Cardin believed that once Anette returned to the Alcan Empire, where people could treat her the way she deserved, she’d feel that it was the place where she truly belonged.
He had even believed it when she had expressed interest in knowing more about the Grand Duke’s forces.
However, now…
Cardin slowly opened his eyes with a sigh.
“I knew our princess wasn’t a heartless person… but considering she mentioned the purification stone, it must mean she’s thinking about the royal knight order’s unfortunate situation in the Kingdom of Heyworth.”
He had no intention of showing any mercy to the Kingdom of Heyworth, but if Anette cared about them, that changed everything.
“The purification stone… Should I sell it?”
The purification stone, which had been created with the Emperor’s direct involvement in linking the Magic Tower and the Temple for the Grand Duke of Harjent, had actually been an idea from Cardin himself.
Despite dedicating himself to it, covered in the blood of monsters, Anette had only given him a cold, disdainful look when he had offered it to her.
He didn’t sell the purification stone openly in Alcan’s capital, as it was part of a plan to bring Anette to Alcan.
“There’s no way the petty King of Heyworth… No, my future father-in-law, will refuse to buy it.”
“Most likely, he’ll have no choice but to purchase it this time.”
At that moment, Samuel, who had been comforting his wounded heart after seeing Cardin’s expression, spoke.
“I have news that the situation in the Kingdom of Heyworth is not looking good.”
Cardin chuckled and stood up from his chair.
“They’re slower to react than I expected.”
“They probably didn’t want to admit it. After all, they’ve been living off the favor of others. They’ve been avoiding facing reality, trying to find proof that they’re still in control. But it was all just a form of denial.”
Cardin, who had been feeling the breeze coming through the window, turned his sharp gaze to Samuel.
“We’ll soon be hearing from Heyworth. Perhaps the royal knight order might come here themselves.”
“Yes. You should prepare, just in case. If the princess changes her mind…”
At that moment, Cardin turned to look sharply at Samuel.
Startled, Samuel quickly corrected himself.
“Of course, that won’t happen. But… perhaps it’s better to stop pushing her too much…”
“I already told you I don’t need your love advice.”
Having observed everything from a distance for two years, Cardin’s patience had worn thin.
Now that Anette was finally within his reach, was he supposed to keep holding back?
The look on Cardin’s face revealed his frustration as he watched Samuel sigh.
“No, you were planning to wait longer, weren’t you? You were going to delay the marriage because of her injury…”
“Well, it’s lucky that it happened,” Cardin replied with a shrug and a smile.
Originally, he had planned to spread rumors about the Grand Duke of Harjent and apply pressure on the Kingdom of Heyworth, eventually proposing a political marriage.
But then he heard the unbelievable news that Anette had been kicked out of her position as the head of the royal knights due to an injury.
Cardin instantly realized that this might be a rare opportunity.
He rushed to the imperial palace, prepared a letter proposing a marriage alliance, and sent it to Heyworth. Everything progressed smoothly from there.
Even the miracle that Anette’s injury healed quickly seemed like fate turning in his favor.
“So, fate is on my side.”
Seeing Cardin become confident again, Samuel reluctantly spoke up.
“After finally expressing your feelings to the princess, you’re now saying you can’t wait any longer?”
Thinking about how Cardin had behaved like a fool when disguised as a mercenary, always lurking around Anette, Samuel couldn’t help but nod in agreement.
“Fine. If Your Highness is determined, I, as your loyal assistant, will follow your lead. But before sending someone from Heyworth, there are preparations to be made, aren’t there?”
At that, Cardin’s eyes suddenly brightened as he remembered something he had forgotten.
The thought that Anette might still be yearning for the Kingdom of Heyworth and missing it had made him feel down.
But now, with renewed determination, Cardin was excited to see the affection return to Anette’s eyes, and he was ready to make sure she would visit the Alcan Empire.
In the Kingdom of Heyworth.
After the final national strategy meeting, where all the ministers hurriedly left, only one person remained in the large war room.
The King of Heyworth, sitting in the highest chair, looked like a shadow of himself.
In just two weeks, he had visibly aged, his face gaunt and tired.
It was no surprise. Since ascending to the throne, he had faced the greatest crisis the kingdom had ever known.
“Ha, it’s not even funny. Just because of Anette, that one person…”
The King, still unable to let go of his arrogance, muttered to himself in a deep, almost bitter tone.
The time from two weeks ago rushed through his mind like a storm.
The report from the current head of the royal knights, Zeon Millard, had left him stunned for a moment, but the King had quickly regained his senses.
How could he trust just one person’s words?
Though he was reluctant to believe it, he had quickly ordered the entire royal knight order to be detained.
He personally interrogated each one, ensuring they couldn’t talk to each other.
The results were shocking.
Not a single knight had failed to confirm Zeon’s statement.
“If it weren’t for the captain… no, for the princess, we would never have been able to hunt the monsters as we did.”
“It was all thanks to the captain, the one who protected the people of Heyworth.”
“The captain is a once-in-a-century genius with a sword!”
