Chapter 37: NON-EXISTENT tea.

I looked at the Grand Duke in puzzlement; I’ve actually been sitting here for over an hour, but all this man does is wander about in the undergrowth. Even now, I really don’t know exactly why he summoned me.

In any case, to prevent him from acting any more mysteriously, I asked him directly

"Why did you summon me?"

He sat in silence, lost in thought once more... Here we go again.

This must surely be some sort of illness—a serious and contagious one at that, as its symptoms have already begun to show in Ivar and Rolan... Oh, although the latter is lost forever and has turned into a ghost, so he’s escaped this ordeal and saved us along with him.

"... Your mission is, -first, to reach the capital of the fallen kingdom alive; -second, to seize the royal family’s inheritance...; -third to locate what remains of the Crown of Calamity and gather as many fragments as you can; -fourth, and most important, to obtain the legendary Weapons, ’The Lament of the Fallen’ and ’The Wail of the Cursed’; - and fifth, to return home. That’s all. And if you think you’re incapable of carrying out the tasks of this expedition, withdraw early and don’t waste my Korvekar’s forces in vain because of your incompetence."

Finally...

Let’s ignore that last insult as if we hadn’t heard it, and... well, it seems Uncle Radmir kept his promise in the end—or did he?

why do I feel as though I’ve been deceived?

Radmir was reprimanded and stay by my side for four days; given the timing of the Grand Duke’s summons to me, did he really manage to convince the Grand Duke in less than an hour? Is this a joke?

In any case, I asked him the most important question: the recent uproar caused by the Emperor, which he had used as an excuse.

"What about investigating the causes of the Northern Province’s fall? You didn’t mention it in the tasks."

"The cause of the Northern Province’s fall is a side effect of the Catastrophe Crown of Calamity’s collapse. There’s nothing we can do about it, and resolving this issue isn’t within our remit either."

Oh... And that is why neither the Grand Duke nor the former Grand Duke ever took any interest in the matter of the Northern Province after the Great Catastrophe.

Everyone assumed it was because Korvekar was unable to bear the burden of investigation and restoration; there are even rumours that Korvekar does not dare to reclaim that province for fear of another war.

The Grand Duke gestured towards an ornate silver jewellery box sitting on the table in front of us.

"What’s that?"

"A few essentials for the campaign. If you go there without them, you’re literally walking to your death... "

he said, taking another sip of tea, though I doubted there was any tea left in his cup; it seemed he was merely trying to maintain his dignity and the appearance of a cool, indifferent man.

Let’s just ignore him; let the old man pursue his hobbies in peace.

I took the jewellery box and opened it; inside I found a signet Storage ring bearing the emblem of the Grand Duchy’s military authority—this ring grants me the power to issue orders to the knights and soldiers ebven the Generals of the Grand Duchy of Korvekar —alongside a night-Blue gem set in a piece of silver, though the silver felt completely cold to the touch.

I recognised this object... At least the gem, because ten years ago, when I tried to take my own life after those events, and after I woke up, I found a necklace around my neck with a blue gem as Pendant hanging from it.

No matter how hard I tried to get rid of it, I couldn’t, and Vilen told me that this was something the Grand Duke had placed around my neck to prevent me from attempting suicide again.

And since he’s shown it to me in its entirety now, I reckon I deserve to finally know what this damned thing is.

"What’s this?"

"It’s fragment of what’s known as the Crown of Calamity. Although it’s called a crown, it’s actually a massive edifice in the north; you can even see it from here. It’s what we call the North Star."

"Hold on, is the North Star on Earth???"

He took another sip of his non-existent tea and replied thoughtfully

"Not exactly. What we see in the sky is the reflection of light from the edifice. As for on the ground, directly beneath the star, what people call the ’Northern Star mirage’ appears during the day in certain specific circumstances. We don’t know much about it because it was something your mother’s family took an interest in. After their downfall, it was destroyed for some reason, and a fragment of the Crown fell into our Empire, so I took possession of it."

He could have told me that straight out. Why is he trying to play with words... this man...

"Are there any remnants of this thing across the continent now, or did just one fragment fall into our empire and happen to end up in your hands?"

"What do you think?"

he asked, taking a sip of his NON-EXISTENT tea.

"Well, logically speaking... it seems that this thing called the Crown Shard has indeed had pieces of it scattered across the continent."

"This fragment will grant you entry to the royal capital of the fallen kingdom. Now, take these items, as well as the files on the left-hand side of the desk; they concern the deployment of this year’s graduating trainee knights across the ten armies. Sort them out and send them off by this evening."

This man...

By the time I get back to my room from here, it’ll already be evening! ! Does he want me to rot in misery in his office to finish his work for him, or is he just messing with me???!

I glared at him angrily. I’d forgotten all about it, but if he was trying to take advantage of me like this, I reminded him coldly as I picked up the jewellery box and stood up

"I’m sorry, Your Grace, but I’ve got a fever, and even my servant has been punished for no reason, so he can’t help me carry all these things to my room, especially as he’s already limping. Please don’t only remember that I’m your son when you want to take advantage of me."

Then I left without looking at him again.

What an eccentric man. If you’ve got a lot of paperwork, call that bookworm over...

But before I could call the guards to open the door for me, the guard called out from outside the door.

"The First Lady requests permission to enter."

"Come in."

A voice came from behind me as the door opened and Roxana entered. She glanced at me for a moment before turning towards the Grand Duke and curtsying to him.

Speak the devil and it appears.

Although I’d have loved to provoke her a little, now that I’m facing the threat of the curse of office work in official matters, it’s best to get out of here now.

So, respectfully, I left the Grand Duke’s office without a word so as not to disturb him... Well, I didn’t want to draw attention to myself again.

Because two against one is an unfair fight.