Fourth Prince's Debauchery

"Claus, are you interested in the throne?"

I narrowed my eyes. So he is here due to that after all.

Strangely, I can't feel any kind of hostility coming from him. In fact, just based on his attitude, he looks just like a kind grandfather asking his grandson about his plans for the future.

Mmm… This is interesting. Perhaps I can win something from this?

"… Why are you asking?"

"If you are interested in the throne, I can help you to take it."

Woah, that was unexpected.

But at the same time, it's intriguing.

This old man is showing me a bit too much goodwill.

Let me test the waters a little bit.

"… I thought Hidden History does not interfere with the matters of the throne."

The old man was surprised.

"You know a lot… You are right, but this time it's different."

"Different?"

"Yes. I fear that if I don't interfere this empire could end in this generation."

Oh?

Could it be that this old man knows about the plans of the other families?

How unexpected. Even the emperor does not seem to know about it.

"What do you say then? Are you interested?" The old man asked again.

I fell silent briefly before shaking my head.

"… It's a tempting offer, but I think you should be talking with my sister."

"Dina, huh. Certainly, she is a very capable girl. But in the end, she is a woman. No woman has been the emperor ever."

"She can be the first. Plus, I'm not interested in the throne."

"… I see. I suspected so. You don't look like someone that will be happy dealing with politics." The old man sighed. "Then let me ask you, is Dina interested in receiving my support?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You should be asking her, not me."

The old man chuckled. "You don't need to feign here. I'm aware that you are moving behind scenes to assure your sister's ascension to the throne. Beside, Dina trusts you with her life. If you accept my proposal, she will accept it too."

I fell silent this time.

This old man is pretty sharp. Although I was not deliberately hiding it, I don't leave many clues of it either.

The fact that he noticed shows he has an excellent information network plus great wisdom to complement it.

However, if he already noticed it, he should have noticed the rest as well.

"You should know the true reason Dina wants to be the emperor."

The old man fell silent.

Yes, as the head of Hidden History, he obviously knew.

He was trying to avoid the topic, but with my bringing it to the front, he could not continue avoiding it.

With a sigh, he shook his head.

"… My son has committed many errors in his life. Your mother was perhaps the worst of them all."

"But you did nothing to stop him."

"… It's not easy for me to interfere in that kind of situation." The old man said with a bitter smile. "Plus, I never thought it would bring so many consequences. To think the obsession of a man and the jealously of a woman are about to bring the empire to its knees... Tell me, then, Claus. What do you want?"

"They must die." I said simply, but the old man understood who 'they' were.

But it was not something he could agree to so easily.

"It's not possible. At the very least, Grand must survive."

I fell silent. As expected, he did not agree.

The old man looked at my expression and shook his head.

"You should consider it, Claus. Without my help, you will find it hard to bring your sister to the throne. I know you and your mother's family want revenge, but I can't agree to kill my son... No father will agree to it."

My father did not seem to mind it, though.

With an amused chuckle, I shook my head.

"You are mistaken about something, your majesty."

"Mm?"

"Even without your help, I'm pretty confident in bringing my sister to the throne and killing the emperor and his wife in the process. Why should I accept your conditions then?"

"… Right, I forget about the church."

The church? They are only one of the pieces on my chessboard.

Well, it's normal for him to think that only the church can shake the empire.

"Claus, you know that accepting the church's help is the same as inviting snakes to your house, right?"

"You don't need to worry about it, your majesty. I'm aware of what I must and what I must not do."

The old man fell silent. But suddenly, his body started to emit a thick killing intent.

"I will not allow the existence of a puppet emperor."

I chuckled again, completely unbothered by his killing intent. At the same time, Ysnay beside me smiled.

Suddenly, an even stronger killing intent attacked clashed against the old man's killing intent.

The old man grunted and glared at Ysnay with narrowed eyes.

"… As expected, your reputation is well deserved."

Instantly, his killing intent disappeared.

Ysnay smiled calmly and dispelled her killing intent as well.

Just like that, it was as though the confrontation of before never happened.

"… I can promise you to cripple Grand's cultivation." The old man looked at me and said "Moreover, he will never leave Hidden History until the day he dies. That is the most I will allow. However, you must promise me to cut all your ties with the church! Otherwise, even if I favor you and your sister over that idiot of Alan, and I have to risk a civil war, I will take Alan's side and use all the strength of Hidden History to kill you!"

I said nothing. But inwardly, I was a bit surprised.

To be honest, this is already more than I thought he would cede.

But I didn't agree immediately.

"… You look very confident in your chances, your majesty."

The old man sneered.

"These idiots and the church are truly naïve if they think they can destroy our family so easily. The strength of the Imperial Family is more than they can imagine. In fact, the only ones I fear are the church's forces. As for these ambitious families, if not that the daemons and the church are stirring trouble right now, I would have eliminated them when they showed the first signs of rebellion."

I raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Now I'm curious. What kind of strength is Hidden History hiding?

You must know, the church has one of the strongest gods of this world as backing and the three big families have deep and powerful foundations.

Hell, one of the ancestors of the Ferret Family is even a god as well.

Why is this old man so confident in his victory?

I glanced at Ysany from the corner of my eye. Should I ask her?

… Better not. She will surely ask for something from me if I do, and I have a presentment it will be something troublesome.

"What is your answer then, Claus? Will you agree?"

I did not reply. Instead, I sighed.

"I think someone else has the right to participate in this conversation." I then looked at Ysnay and feigned a respectful look. "Teacher, please."

Ysnay smiled mischievously. "This guy, you finally are showing respect to your teacher."

"… Are you going to do it or not?." I rolled my eyes and said.

Ysnay curved her lips up and nodded.

"Very well. We are moving then."

The next second, the three of us disappeared from the carriage.

When we reappeared, we were inside a room in the palace.

And in front of us, Dina was agape with a stunned expression.

...

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