Chapter 80……………………………………………..
The next day, I waited in front of the security bureau’s annex to receive a certain man.
The man who stepped down from the carriage had a sturdy build and healthy bronze-toned skin.
“Welcome, Count Miloam.”
Count Miloam, now in his forties, greeted me cheerfully.
“Thank you for the invitation! So you must be…?”
“I am Idel, a direct subordinate of the Second Prince.”
At present, I was moving in and out of the security bureau as a temporary aide to Terrence, who was in charge of this tax investigation, and as a member of the investigation team. By handing over the annex building to the team, the bureau had given us autonomy.
Power really is the best.
Thanks to that, I could invite Count Miloam here discreetly. Of course, I had already asked him to keep everything confidential.
“To think the Second Prince would take an interest in me. I’ve visited the capital countless times, but it’s been a long while since someone sought me out first instead of the other way around.”
The count looked deeply moved. For certain reasons, he was avoided by most nobles—including the emperor.
It was I who had asked Terrence to summon him. As luck would have it, he was staying in the capital and readily accepted the prince’s invitation.
“As I mentioned in writing, the person you’ll be meeting today may behave rudely. I ask for your understanding in advance.”
“That’s fine. I hear he’s some great genius? If I can borrow his wisdom, I’ll gladly endure it!”
He had come today to meet Elliot.
As I guided him to the room where Elliot was being held, I explained a few precautions about the upcoming meeting.
When we entered, Elliot was sitting obediently on a chair placed inside the cell. I introduced the two men.
“So the person you meant to bring was Count Miloam? I truly cannot understand your thinking.”
Elliot examined the count and me warily. The count responded with an easy grin.
“Haha, a pleasure to meet you! You must be that famed genius, eh?”
Leaning against the wall, I watched anxiously.
Would Count Miloam be able to bring about any change in Elliot—the man who, in another timeline, might have become his retainer?
In Riena’s first life, the “remote, insignificant post” where Elliot had been stationed was none other than Count Miloam’s territory.
The first point that had made me question things was that very description in the novel: Elliot Lude, proud and brilliant, confined to some backwater post.
Even if his background and personality had been obstacles, wasn’t it strange? A genius of Elliot’s caliber should have been able, given time, to advance into central politics.
In the past, when I had believed the novel at face value, I might have dismissed that faint sense of incongruity. But I had already witnessed many things firsthand that differed from what I’d read.
The Cassius family, which had seemed warm on the page, had been cold to me. The butler, whom I had thought merely kind, had been hiding pain.
didn’t contain outright lies—but neither was it a complete and unfiltered truth. It was a world written from Riena’s perspective.
And when Elliot first met Riena, he had openly displayed ambition.
It was hard to imagine someone like that quietly resigning himself to a minor post out of frustration. So perhaps—just perhaps—he had chosen that post himself.
If that were true, there must have been a powerful motive behind it. I thought long and hard about what that might be.
In my view, nothing influences a person more than other people. We change through meeting others, speaking with them, and encountering their ideas.
But…
Elliot’s parents had died when he was an infant. The uncle who raised him had also passed away before Elliot entered the academy. Due to his isolated personality, he had no close friends either.
In the novel, Riena had guessed that this was why Elliot clung to her with near-obsessive loyalty, and she had tried to embrace him for it. That thought gave me an idea.
Just as Riena became such a significant presence to Elliot, perhaps in his previous life, the lord he served had also meant something to him.
And perhaps the reason Elliot had been in Miloam’s territory… was Count Miloam himself.
The two men, who in another fate might have become lord and retainer, now met across iron bars instead. I observed them closely.
“As you may know, my lands are barren. We can’t reduce military spending while guarding the border with the Kingdom of Jabika.”
Count Miloam was confiding his struggles as a lord.
“Lately, with Jabika’s internal affairs worsening, more and more refugees are fleeing into the Empire. We’ve no notable specialty products, yet there are countless places money needs to go.”
That was precisely why he was avoided—every meeting turned into a request for funds.
Though his territory survived on state subsidies, it was never enough. The count had to personally go about borrowing money. While that showed his devotion to his lands, others were reluctant to lend to someone unlikely to repay.
In truth, even a poor territory could make its lord wealthy through exploitation. But Count Miloam lived frugally and was known to help the needy from his own pocket.
I dared to hope. Perhaps Elliot Lude, seeing such a lord, might use his genius to offer some assistance.
“Genius sir, would you share your wisdom? Borrowing money endlessly won’t solve anything. How do you think my territory might prosper?”
Not only that—he was even humbling himself before a commoner like Elliot to ask advice.
Surely even that insufferable Elliot would feel something—
“I’m not interested.”
…Apparently not.
“Do you think I’d feel like wracking my brain for someone else’s sake while I’m locked up here? I’ve been in a thoroughly foul mood since yesterday.”
“Ah, don’t be like that.”
“If you let me out of here—or allow me to contact someone outside—I might consider it.”
“That’s not within my power. Is there anything else you need?”
“Money? If you pay me ten thousand gold, I might change my mind.”
“T-ten thousand gold?! That’s absurd!”
“Then stop bothering me and leave.”
“I brought some bread made by Molly from my castle. Would this perhaps—?”
“Do you think it would?!”
Muttering about the absurdity of it all, Elliot sharply turned his head away.
“Now, now, don’t be so cold. Just a word. I hear you’re vice guildmaster of Iber.”
“……”
“I’d like commerce to flourish in my territory as well. What should we do? Think of it as helping the unfortunate.”
“……”
“Genius sir, now that I look at you, you’re quite handsome. They say a fair face has a fair heart. Don’t ignore me—answer, won’t you?”
Despite the count’s coaxing, Elliot didn’t so much as twitch an eyebrow. Instead, he picked at his ear and muttered:
“Ah, is there a dog barking somewhere?”
At last, the good-natured count exploded.
“You insolent brat!”
He thrust his hand through the bars and grabbed Elliot by the collar. Bang! Elliot’s head slammed against the iron bars.
“Ugh!”
But the one sent flying was Count Miloam.
It was the effect of the self-defense artifact Elliot had implanted in his body.
“Are you alright?!”
I rushed to the count. Fortunately, though a red lump had formed on his forehead, he didn’t seem seriously hurt.
“My apologies. Miss Idel warned me not to lay a hand on him.”
“Why did you do that?”
“What use is intelligence? That brat isn’t fully human. He deserves a beating!”
I agreed a hundred times over—but if these two became enemies, I was in trouble.
“I’ve never been hit before…”
Elliot looked stunned. The pain had mostly rebounded onto the count, but the mere fact that he’d been struck seemed to shock him.
“You can’t even solve your own problems, yet you come begging others for help—what kind of nonsense is that?!”
Count Miloam grinned at Elliot, who glared murderously back.
“Someone should’ve beaten you a few times earlier in life. No one ever corrected you, so your personality turned out like that.”
“Try hitting me again! You’re the one who’ll suffer!”
“Fine! I’ll keep hitting you until that artifact of yours overloads!”
“Do you think brute force will disable an artifact? Is your brain just for decoration?”
“Excuse me, both of you, please calm—”
“Rotten brat!”
“Stupid noble!”
No matter how I tried to intervene, the greatest genius of the age and the benevolent count continued their childish squabble.
This is a disaster.
They were supposed to grow closer, not become sworn enemies.
Was I wrong after all…?
At this rate, instead of changing Elliot, I’d only leave Count Miloam with a bad impression.
“Idel Wallace! Never bring this wretch here again!”
“Miss Idel! Don’t listen to him. I’ll come every day to beat him up!”
I suddenly found myself missing Terrence. The way he had smiled kindly yesterday as he handed me a teacup.
Location: the imperial palace of the Asteroth Empire. More precisely, an interrogation room tucked away in a secluded corner.
“Do you intend to remain silent to the end, Lady Cassius?”
“……”
The Second Prince, Terrence Belver Asteroth, was in the midst of interrogating Riena Cassius.
