#107. Negotiations Break Down
Originally, the plan was to expose the Kanteleif Duke’s corruption right before Raul’s wedding.
Belia intended to release the documents she had prepared before Raul and Elin’s marriage to completely destroy the alliance between the First Prince and the Kanteleif household.
But Khalid’s disappearance left them barely holding their ground, and it wasn’t easy for Belia to stir up anything more under those circumstances.
Then Raul started openly flirting with Belia even in front of Elin, and the relationship between the two began to creak and strain.
Now is the perfect time, Belia thought.
So she decided that, with the atmosphere unsettled by Khalid’s return, she would release those documents.
Raul surely hadn’t expected Khalid to come back, and had behaved as if he were emperor himself until now.
“Uh? It looks like Her Highness the First Prince’s Consort is coming this way….”
At the maid’s words Belia turned toward the First Prince’s palace and saw Elin striding across the garden toward them with a proud gait.
She put on an effort to look composed, but the slight furrow between her brows revealed that she hadn’t managed to hide her hostility completely.
“Hmm?”
Belia turned her body to face Elin and waited silently until she reached them.
Elin’s maids’ expressions twisted in resentment as they watched Belia remain motionless, not even taking a step.
Even though they were both of equal rank now that the wedding was over, Belia’s stance made it look as if she had the upper hand.
“It’s been a while.”
“So it has.”
“It hasn’t been long since you married. Have you gotten used to life at the palace?”
When Belia asked kindly, the corner of Elin’s mouth trembled slightly.
“…The palace isn’t unfamiliar to me; I spent a lot of time here when I was young.”
“I see. I was a little lost at first. I’m glad it’s working out.”
Elin moved her lips as if she wanted to say something to Belia, but words didn’t come easily. After hesitating for a moment, she turned her head and told her maids to fall back far enough that their voices wouldn’t be heard.
Belia nodded to her own maids in response. The maids of the Second Prince’s palace took a step back from Belia as well.
Suddenly, in the middle of the garden, a space existed for only Elin and Belia to speak.
Elin glanced around quickly, gathered herself, then looked up and spoke to Belia.
“I have something I want to ask.”
“What is it?”
Elin ground her teeth, stung in pride.
But this wasn’t the time to bicker about pride.
“These documents about my family.”
Belia’s face registered surprise as she looked at Elin.
She hadn’t expected Elin to ask outright like that.
“Are you—are you involved with those?”
“Hm. I don’t know why you’re suddenly asking me that. Weren’t those documents something His Majesty ordered a full inspection of regarding the Duke’s household?”
Belia tried to play innocent, and Elin’s lips trembled.
“Someone handed all those files straight to His Majesty. People will think it was the work of His Highness Khalid, but he would be suspected if it were obvious, so he likely didn’t interfere at all.”
At times like this, Elin revealed a shrewdness Belia had rarely seen in her. Belia regarded her with a look of interest.
“Looking at the situation, there’s no one who could have done this but the Second Prince’s Consort.”
Elin took several short breaths to steady her emotions.
Belia then said bluntly, “If it was something I prepared?”
Elin froze.
She slowly lifted her head and met Belia’s gaze directly.
“…That wouldn’t be all, would it?”
Ah — Elin’s guess had been correct.
Belia planned to use this opportunity to sever the Kanteleif household from the First Prince entirely by releasing the documents in two stages.
What the Emperor knew—the list of embezzled assets and the numbers of the secretly maintained mercenaries—was only the tip of the iceberg.
The Kanteleif household had not only traded goods with foreign nations. They had passed along imperial intelligence, state secrets—things classified as confidential—to other countries. If it became known that they had handed over certain classified information abroad, the Dukes could be utterly abandoned by the Emperor.
“What are you talking about?”
Belia feigned ignorance, and Elin clenched her lips in frustration.
“Well, I honestly don’t know what you mean when you say that, First Prince’s Consort.”
“That’s… a deal.”
At that moment Belia’s eyes lit up.
It seemed the Kanteleif household had definitely realized she held those files.
“Why me?”
“You already have gained a lot. This wouldn’t be a loss for you. Please meet my father.”
Belia looked down at Elin in silence for a moment, then snorted and smiled.
“All right. Then tell the Duke to come to the Second Prince’s palace soon.”
She wanted to find out why the Kanteleif Duke had his daughter arrange this meeting.
“It’s an honor to meet Her Highness the Second Prince’s Consort.”
The Kanteleif Duke smiled brightly and greeted Belia.
Khalid lightly tilted his head toward the Duke and held up a hand as if to block the greeting.
“We’re not on friendly terms for a chat.”
“Ha ha. Of course.”
The Duke narrowed his eyes slightly.
For an instant his expression turned unpleasant, but then he returned to his affable mask.
That brief flicker of change was not the demeanor of someone who had come for a negotiation under threat.
Belia was certain he hadn’t come for a genuine bargain.
“So what is the reason you arranged this meeting, Duke?”
Khalid cut straight to the point.
The Kanteleif Duke produced a written oath from his coat.
“First, if you accept today’s deal, this shall be my vow that I will keep my promise.”
He truly meant it—the document he produced was imbued with magic. It carried a powerful curse that could even take the life of the user should they fail to keep their word.
Belia watched it intently, intrigued.
Was he sincere about trading?
But this was the Kanteleif Duke.
He stood opposite Khalid—an imperial spear prepared to strike at any time.
The Emperor had been enraged at the Duke’s misdeeds, yet he summoned the Duke instead of sending soldiers. That meant the Duke still held the Emperor’s greatest power in some form.
“What are the terms of the deal?”
“As you’ve perhaps guessed, you will destroy all the materials you hold.”
Khalid asked in disbelief, “You expect us to surrender all of that?”
To tell them to throw away the weapon already in their hands—did the Duke truly believe that was possible?
Yet the Duke did not waver. He spoke as steady as a man who led the greatest faction in central politics.
“Do you know what we have?”
Khalid probed.
The Duke shrugged the corner of his mouth up and said something unexpected.
“You handed His Majesty a list of our assets and even the number of our mercenaries. Though we committed many acts behind His Majesty’s back, we never abandoned the duties of the great nobility. So you can imagine what weaknesses His Majesty holds over us.”
“Stop dodging and speak plainly.”
“Transactions with southern nations.”
The Duke smiled.
“If you bury that, we will provide an appropriate return.”
“…Tell me your conditions.”
“Recently, His Majesty has been hurrying the investiture of the Crown Prince. We can delay that somewhat. We could also seclude ourselves completely for about half a year. During that time, we would refrain from political involvement.”
At that moment the greatest threat to Belia and Khalid was the Kanteleif Duke.
If he secluded himself for half a year, Raul’s faction would be unable to wield true power.
Even a temporary removal of their main obstacle was tempting.
But Khalid rejected the Duke’s offer without hesitation.
“Sorry, that’s not tempting. We refuse.”
“So it seems. It’s not easy to strike a deal with you, is it?”
The Duke looked untroubled. He returned the magical oath to his coat and rose from his seat.
“A trite warning, Your Highness. You will regret rejecting my offer today.”
“Is that so? Then I hope I do, as you say.”
Khalid showed no sign of actually believing that he would regret it.
He smiled and saw the Duke out.
The Duke had indeed been competent.
The moment he realized the deal with them had fallen through, he negotiated with the Emperor.
It was unclear what he had wagered, but he must have handed over something very precious from his holdings.
Otherwise the Emperor wouldn’t have so immediately covered up their crimes.
After that day the Kanteleif household turned completely away from them—so completely that even the possibility of reconciliation seemed impossible.
“It’s a pity. Would things have been better if we’d accepted their terms?”
Belia muttered.
Khalid, pausing from writing on a document, snorted with a smile.
“Neither the Duke nor we were planning on keeping our word; both sides were looking to stab the other in the back.”
“You can’t be sure. He didn’t seem that close to Raul either.”
Khalid laid down his pen and leaned back in his chair.
“Even so, it wouldn’t have changed who Raul would choose between him and me. The Duke moves by careful calculation. When he came to us, he was likely already planning to trade with the Emperor.”
“But the terms he offered were tempting.”
A half-year of seclusion.
Without the Duke’s interventions, there would be a lot they could accomplish in that time.
When Belia said she regretted it, Khalid smiled and replied,
“If he hadn’t offered that, would we even have met with him? The Duke probably never intended to truly deal with us as a premise. Don’t worry too much, Belia.”
Perhaps the Duke had reached out to test the situation in enemy territory. Then, without looking back, he dashed to the Emperor.
At that, Belia let out a bitter laugh, as if she’d suddenly realized something.
“He ruined the timing for my second release.”
Since the Emperor had already promised to cover up everything, Belia could no longer use the Duke’s biggest weapon—the evidence that he handed over information to a foreign nation—for the time being.
Moreover, the Duke’s awareness that she had the documents meant he likely prepared countermeasures.
In one meeting, the Duke’s biggest weapon—proof of passing information abroad—had been neutralized.
“What a crafty man.”
“The fox of an old man, indeed.”
Belia nodded.
“It wasn’t supposed to be a knockout blow anyway, so the result hasn’t changed.”
She was only disappointed that the impact had been smaller than she’d expected.
Belia watched the sunset quietly.
In the end, she would make an enemy of the Duke in this life as well.
“But we must prepare thoroughly. Let’s shake things up a bit using the Marquis of Caprié.”
Belia smiled.
