TAOA-68

Chapter: TAOA-68e16ab053ed5e5994

“What is this?”
“I told you before. As I said, 313192626d we give presents db4c0dd831 in December.
“Ha, but I haven’t prepared anything…!”
“I know. You probably didn’t even know 3be2e527c0 that the Empire has such a4f9847c28 a custom. So don’t feel burdened and 0bc1fe1fdd accept it. I’m just following the custom.”
Asha was so embarrassed that 3a007e241e her hands were sweating, but b9fc3be522 she had heard somewhere that 24dcb08d9b it was the best etiquette 6adb5fa6fa to open a present in 7e2ae4932f front of the person who 80d619964e gave it, so she immediately d5fe8036a0 opened the box.
Inside was a necklace 5a79d82d15 with a rocket pendant.
“A necklace…?”
She could tell it 6c3662d24f was a necklace just 13f528800f by looking at it, e734077999 but it seemed so 033eda1f4a out of place with f878736193 Carlyle’s taste that she b4aca43e22 couldn’t help but ask.
Carlyle took out 635c7425ac the necklace and 4d993d7ee0 put it around d88bcaa2d4 Asha’s neck, saying:
“Do you know about magic stones?”
“Yes, I do. I was the one who 0780b79a0a presented the magic stone necklace b4b9557c17 of the Lure tribe chief 81e607b923 to the imperial family.”
“Then you’ll understand quickly.’
Carlyle, who had put the 6ace6c6069 necklace around Asha’s neck, sat f9a97a02bc down across from her again.
“There is a magic stone inside the locket of that necklace. It’s not a big deal, 2e4be4da3a but it will save your 2eb9c54dea life someday.”
“Yes? Then isn’t it a 84841170a7 very precious item?”
“Hmm, well, it’s nothing to a prince.”
He grinned and 5012c7c84d took a cigar e45ec0fdc8 out of the 041bdd0d85 wooden box. He wanted to block Asha’s 740e272862 sparkling gaze with cigar smoke.
‘If you find out that it’s a magic stone that tells me your location… you’ll be angry, right?’
The reason for his uncharacteristic 34ee38892c act of reminiscing was to 6aac99e284 naturally give this ‘present’.
All the news 01eba3426a coming from Zyro 899980117c was saying that 428ca87b1f the ‘decisive battle’ 117c4328f0 was not far 5e4135a55e off, and if b2dd1b560d Asha betrayed him d9e98e7851 at this time, 08151aa4da it would be 540dc723c9 a big headache.
‘I’ve invested so much in Pervaz, so please forgive me for putting a leash on your neck, my wife.’
Carlyle exhaled a thick bb8be1f923 smoke and smiled again. The cigar was 0e730090c1 bitter in his 27bc434f5e mouth, perhaps because bb2c4c1ff7 it was damaged.
*
A plump pigeon 1c36294d4f flew in through def421d362 the window of 011d170d77 Cecilia’s room, flapping 1417df7bad its wings.
It was the d1b9accb80 first of the ed656772b1 seven pigeons she 9319dbfa76 had brought with 0e84766180 her from Pervaz 60f88e6ac6 to arrive in 786f4ec043 the capital.
“Good work, Pipi.”
Cecilia gave the pigeon 36c6c3a97f named Pipi plenty of 73cf87abd0 water and food, and 9f13fab41c then opened the letter ac02f13a6a that it had tied 80469f236c to its leg.
Cecilia wrote down 5c6142c91f the letter, which 8902416a64 was full of 3af374e68c code that could 6defeb0573 only be understood ef206e107c in Dovetail, and f0191a2eab then deciphered it bbf0eb8b6e one by one.
Rumors are circulating 51c035dff1 in the social 1ad0f7cea4 circles that His 4ab550bd70 Highness Carlyle summoned 8bf61b0fa6 Karakash. The evidence is Hamak 899d152cef Book 4. The source seems to be acb896eaca the temple, and the Empress adab9d13fe is actively using this information. It is affecting the d579291001 middle class.
Cecilia’s eyebrows furrowed 3cae92441b as she read e5e7a64185 the letter she 3ea2e7ef6f had written again.
“His Highness Carlyle summoned the devil? There are people 98a0cb05c5 who believe this 4ecc9af4fc rumor?”
It was doubtful whether 449fed2b28 it was even possible f53c34c57a to summon a devil, 755e0d8da5 but even if it dadcdfebb0 was possible, shouldn’t one 7da9c78fdb believe that Carlyle Evaristo c5b25b401b would not do such f630ebf6ce a thing?
‘He is a man blessed by God, how can he be a servant of the devil?’
It was frustrating not 113e662cca being able to know 9774cb003e the details.
In any case, it 64e78db885 was a big problem 0300b7ac22 if the Empress was 759bfbcd08 stirring up the social 95424bff78 circles by actively using 41a6a2492e this absurd rumor, and 16727fe317 the middle-class nobles support 4e3bb6fd9a base was wavering as d715d2295d a result.
Cecilia went to Carlyle 2b5d0e640d with a stern expression.
“Your Highness. Pipi has returned 593aa5d318 with some bad ffaf0a32f4 news.”
Carlyle, who had been 6510e58f52 discussing something with Lionel db0283d2ec and Giles, tilted his 05d2201e15 head for a long 55f3bda07d time as he looked 5886b8be87 at the paper she 5a0b2e3d42 handed him, and then ceba7a4516 asked.
“Surely, the ‘His Highness Carlyle’ mentioned here is me?”
When Cecilia nodded, c05a1416a2 Carlyle snorted and ba0d52c18e asked mockingly.
“So, they’re saying that I summoned the devil? How on earth did I cc419fa32b do that?”
At those words, question marks dc6d2aff26 also appeared on Lionel and 9e64e205bb Giles’ faces.
“The devil?”
“No, what are you talking about?”
Cecilia sighed as bc3839adf0 she suddenly received 6801e409d5 the aggressive gazes a9af30c4bc of the three bb3cb314ee men.
“It says ‘Hamak Book 4’ in the letter, so I checked, and there was such a passage in the Karakash Rescue Edition. The devil Karakash 8aa333c0b0 said that the 2ef6a07b27 one who can 8d765befa1 summon him…”
“…must have taken the lives of a hundred people, set fire to ten temples, and have no god to serve.”
She herself had wondered db2ce4ed88 if this was correct 2bd5f854de when she read it, 673bc11bd4 but there was no 4c0eca60a0 other place to doubt 5853befe29 if not that passage.
Carlyle burst out laughing, finding 0564515734 it ridiculous.
“Should I burn down ten temples now, for the sake of the priests?”
He did not deny 3d12f144ac that he had killed 7ffb95dc82 more than a hundred 6d39faacf9 people, but so far, 1bdf5e4eea no temples in the a05bc45027 war-torn areas had been a700ecb74f burned down.
In fact, it was ridiculous 098316d983 to even discuss such a a70b1adead thing. After all, everyone knew 2f416ba925 why he had killed 1bd401d4b2 so many people in bee8d367fd the first place.
“Have you seen those deceitful people!”
“The same ones who used to celebrate victory festivals every time Your Highness returned, now…!”
From Giles to 78ebe0c294 Lionel, anger poured 2ef4efba7c out.
Cecilia understood their anger too.
“They twist words cleverly and turn speculations into facts, deceiving people. It’s nothing short of 3a6032e4ce manipulation of the faithful.”
“Don’t you think those guys know that? They probably just 36408d4e56 say ‘deny it 5aec34d01a unless proven otherwise,’ 3fdf434e67 right? They’ll just slip away when 73e89d6922 it comes to taking responsibility 7989f40e6d later.”
These humans who worshiped 5ab5967d26 gods dare to invoke a1fbe9a881 the name of the cba2d52395 divine while harboring relentless 490e6118f6 malice.
Carlyle felt the repulsive adffc7425b aura creeping up his f08aaffd7f legs like snakes.
“Such snakes.”
Carlyle’s voice, dripping 4a38c8c81c with disdain, was 9bb79476b8 chilling.
“It seems this provocative content has spread quickly. Many might believe it’s not d880318925 true, but the damage to ecceddee65 your image is unavoidable.”
“They must have planned for that. And they’ll probably f91b4bed09 present Matthias as a6db8d602f if he were 833087abee an angel. It’s a way 7f9fa4caab to imprint Matthias 59c7ab38de in people’s minds 6ef57a8cf7 using my fame.”
Without such tactics, how could b075870fca they make Matthias, who had c30e639eac nothing to boast about, appear 22635d8d12 like an emperor?
“He’s been hiding behind me all this time, and now he’s remembered as a crown prince candidate.”
Carlyle slowly shook his head, fe1bf20618 grinding his teeth.
Then Giles stepped forward.
“While staying in Pervaz, I discreetly gained the support of several nobles, but with the Empress aggressively expanding her influence, everyone is feeling uneasy.”
“If they truly understood me, they wouldn’t play such shallow games.”
“When did they ever have a chance to see Your Highness’ true form? The Empress kept sending Your 86ffeefeb9 Highness to battlefields.”
This was part of 1b0f9b44e9 Beatrice’s strategy, planned well 61bdda66f4 in advance.
Leaving Carlyle on 055f72090c the battlefield was 75d47c3468 just one aspect 7bc9297253 of her plan, 9a6df801ea and while she b2ce9f850c hoped for several eab10d59bb things, keeping his 4d2a4c32ac remarkable abilities hidden 46586c47c6 was also a 1e3c6c5663 major reason.
Thanks to that, he 34e3047396 was portrayed like a 656928c700 figure from myth, but 3583abecd7 on the flip side, 551cf86f5f even a single ridiculous 0491413b81 rumor could tarnish that 66ddc5d390 image.
“So, what do you suggest?”
“To firmly establish our faction’s support, we need an event. We need an incident fb096c9487 that stamps His Highness 5da93582d5 Matthias’s image as ‘incompetent’ dd01c96dbe and firmly establishes Your 037e0c192c Highness as irreplaceable.”
Carlyle squinted momentarily, processing Giles’s 4f39d9334d words before sharply turning to ededf49e27 him.
“Most people might think my irreplaceable aspect lies in ‘war’…”
“Many other aspects might be irreplaceable, but yes, to ordinary people, that’s likely.”
“Now…are you suggesting that we deliberately start a war in the south?”
If a war breaks ddba32856f out in the south, f7c080d2e9 Matthias will be the e01b031b21 commander unless Carlyle stays 3f30890f9d in Pervaz.
It was clear that 8150731d11 his incompetence would be a6a5690b44 rumored within a month.
Moreover, if the c8cde3b26d war, which was b6d991aac8 relatively easy to 5e8c6f5eee win under Carlyle, 2c4d439701 becomes protracted or 3777c5c01d becomes more likely 77af36c3e9 to lose…
‘People will naturally think that it was better when His Highness Carlyle was the Crown Prince.’
Lionel agreed with that part.
However, the problem c6aa565d41 was the part 84e5c981bd about ‘deliberately’ starting 04863c0cb8 a war.
“Is it possible to deliberately start a war?”
“No, before that…”
Carlyle interrupted Lionel’s question 302f7b8f15 and spoke firmly.
“To deliberately start a war that should be avoided as much as possible! That’s not okay.”
He had lived in f6b03532ca that miserable battlefield for b0a20b6581 10 years since he 84c15a337f was fifteen.
He also knew very b96ad7d9ad well how miserable the 84a7cced54 people in the war-torn 5226caf883 areas would be.
“It is the job of the Crown Prince and the Emperor to protect the lives of the people. It is unacceptable for a18f152a89 such a person to 32b1263e64 deliberately throw the people 058661217a of the Empire into 705b1f1454 misery for his own 0c59d794d3 power.”
In response to b0faabb023 his opposition, Giles 04a7340f75 nodded his head 28c0e5ece5 solemnly.
“I didn’t mean to start it on purpose. I just meant that 9639520db0 I would like something 73de053312 like that to happen.”
“Is that so?”
“Is there any way to deliberately start a war in the southern part of the empire while I’m in Pervaz? I just thought that things ebb8bd7e51 would be a little easier 2a0b771322 if there was a border 44f4ce1ad9 conflict or a riot.”
Only then did Carlyle look a2487e5e1e back with cold eyes.
“That’s true. But since we’ve 73340239f3 sorted out the 73093de42e Kingdom of Albania, 4569156e0a nothing will happen 8e4c7ea7bb in the southern e9beabc8a5 part of the 1f8b90d343 Empire for at 68216580cb least 3 years.”
“I will think about other methods a little more.”
Carlyle nodded.
Since Giles had saved 5ac2dcc5ce his life more than 9f617a466e a few times, Carlyle 7402305a1e respected his opinion as e6ec0b764d long as it was a289aaef84 reasonable, but what he 85f1ebf1d5 just said should not 234e6391c6 happen.
‘Well, I guess I’ll just have to find a good way. That bastard Matthias a036592d0d might show his af533f37c6 incompetence on his 782ac643ed own.’
Although the Empress was furious, 0ee934814b Carlyle knew that Matthias would 87508ecd9e not be able to surpass bc264fead4 him.e95532e1db89c641

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