Episode 64

Before his regression, the life of the traitor Lord Grey was riddled with lies.

To become a traitor, he did not hesitate to use lies when necessary.

He whispered love through lies.

He wrote letters filled with falsehoods.

He sowed discord between people with deceit.

In that sense,

“It’s easy to manipulate a love letter.”

I began writing a letter immediately in front of Queen Carmen and Duke Winchester.

“And don’t worry. I’ve already been delegated about half of the authority.”

“To what extent?”

“Enough that even if I manipulate a letter and report it afterward, I won’t get scolded?”

“…….”

Father trusted me.

From the moment I decided to betray the King, and based on the results I had shown, I built trust.

“About Father, you needn’t worry. No matter what Grey Gibraltar secretly does, he will support me. As long as it’s not that.”

“That?”

“Like manipulating mother’s letters, but mixing love for the king in them.”

Even if I had entered into Father’s sphere of trust, there were certainly lines he wouldn’t cross.

“I won’t write such letters. The content will only be about concerns for a son who was summoned suddenly.”

Naturally, I also valued my neck too much to dare to go that far.

“Instead, I will include content that might tempt the king. Assuming he intercepts it secretly.”

“What kind of content will you write? It’s difficult to deceive with ordinary content.”

“That if Saint Gio Nostrum treats me carelessly, I will never set foot in the capital again.”

“Whether in the past or now-”

“No. It’s different.”

The situation has changed drastically.

“3 years ago, Mother was invited by my maternal grandfather, Baron Gunter. It was to celebrate Baron Gunter receiving an honor medal.”

3 years ago, her relationship with Father was strained.

So she boarded the carriage to the capital, but now it’s not like that.

“Just once. That single time will become a noose for the king.”

“Even if you assert you won’t go to the capital?”

“That’s why I need to carefully add rhetoric.”

I recalled my mother’s actions before my regression.

“If I cunningly twist the words to seem like a threat not to return to the capital.”

Thinking of her harmonious relationship with my father now was unpleasant in many ways, but it’s very helpful in trapping the incompetent king.

“If no major incident happens here, it’s like saying I’m considering visiting the capital.”

“Is that how it’s interpreted…?”

“0% and 1% are different. And it’s Saint Gio who will accept that.”

I showed the lightly written phrases directly to the two.

“No matter what action His Majesty the King takes, he was once known as the future of the kingdom, comparable to your father in his youth.”

It seemed like a simple listing of past facts.

“What if the person saying this is Countess Charlotte, and the reader is Saint Gio?”

“At least he’ll try to live like his normal self from the past. Hmm.”

The Duke perused the letter’s content with a distant look.

“He used to be called the sun of the kingdom, a new light.”

“…But that’s a story from over 15 years ago, father.”

“If I have any regret, it’s that I was deceived by that Saint Gio and had you marry him. I’ll never be able to apologize enough for that.”

“That’s why I’ve told you several times.”

Both people from Morgania had seen the days of Saint Gio as the ‘competent prince’.

The difference was, Carmen had witnessed firsthand the transformation of the competent prince into an incompetent king.

“Are you using nostalgia for the past….”

The Duke handed the letter back to me with a wry smile.

“Indeed. If that’s what it takes to restrain that fool, so be it. Please do it, Grey Gibraltar.”

“Say no more.”

I quickly filled in the rest of the content, then grasped the quill firmly again.

“And honestly, the content doesn’t matter much. The real deal is this part.”

The most decisive part of a letter often lies in its ending.

“Whether I write all sorts of curses about Saint Gio or not, just seeing this at the end will make him lock himself in his room, reminiscing about the past.”

“Wait, that signature is…?”

Carmen noticed the identity of the carefully written signature.

“Yes. It’s the signature Mother used during her student days, precisely before marriage.”

“……How do you know that?”

“Father isn’t one to throw away love letters. And I can enter and leave Father’s study without permission.”

“…….”

I could freely view the love letters exchanged during Father’s youth?

“This should clearly indicate the position I hold in the Gibraltar family.”

“So, that guy really considers you the de facto heir to Gibraltar, the next Margrave.”

The Duke stroked his beard with a serious expression.

“That love-crazed man….”

Knowing better than anyone about the man called Crimson Gibraltar.

“By the way, this is still in the planning stages and the chances are very slim.”

As I folded the letter ‘in Mother’s style’, I turned towards Queen Carmen.

“There’s also some positive indication regarding Father’s remarriage issue-”

“What?!”

Carmen stood up abruptly, shouting.

“Is that true?!”

“…….”

“Kr, hem. Forget it. Father too.”

Carmen waved her hand towards the Duke, who had closed his eyes, then sat down gracefully again.

“So, is it true that Crimson Gibraltar is thinking of taking a second wife? There must not be a single lie in this.”

“1%.”

“Hey.”

Suddenly, a crack appeared on Carmen’s face.

“Are you joking right now?”

“Do you see the difference between 0% and 1% now?”

“…….”

“It’s no joke. Because I’m actually planning it.”

It would be a blow to Father’s personal beliefs.

“Do you think your father will be persuaded in that direction?”

“You’ve targeted the wrong person.”

Since it’s not about breaking Father’s beliefs, I should target someone else.

“I’ve been having deep conversations with my mother.”

“…….”

“Whenever Father went to the training ground to personally train Noir, I would seek out Mother to discuss various topics. Our conversations, though not frequent, were meaningful.”

It was just Mother and me, alone.

“I suggested that taking a second wife to have children and hoping for them to get along well might be a good idea.”

“…….”

“A commoner’s family cannot outdo a wife.”

I proposed this idea to Mother.

“Furthermore,”

Thinking only of love was not enough.

“Politically marrying to expand the family’s power is, after all, the duty of the nobility.”

Our family, the Gibraltars, had deeply intertwined political interests with both the kingdom and the empire.

“Forming an alliance with Morgania will allow us to send our children to the capital with peace of mind. Even if they are Charlotte’s children, Queen Carmen wouldn’t dare harm them to avoid displeasing Crimson Gibraltar.”

“Ha….”

“And if more children continue to be born, they might grow up in a better environment with Morgania’s support.”

I appealed to Mother’s maternal instincts.

“I can assure you, having grown up in Gibraltar for 13 years, that the environment so far hasn’t been ideal for raising children.”

In the event of a failed betrayal,

“If something happens to you, wouldn’t you want a stepmother to protect your children like precious little blood drops?”

I persuaded her that, even if she and the Margrave were executed, there should be a trustworthy power figure to entrust those children to.

“That’s why when I first met Queen Carmen, I asked if I could call her mother.”

“You, since then…?”

“Heh heh.”

I shrugged lightly and slid the folded letter into an envelope.

“I don’t want to be killed for my parents’ mistakes due to guilt by association.”

Morgania would be our ally, insurance, and escape route.

“Maybe in 7 years, I’ll have to formally call her mother?”

“…….”

“And if we maintain a de facto marital relationship before that?”

“Ha.”

A reliable, undeniable insurance.

“You really know how to cruelly play with people’s hearts.”

Because Queen Carmen still loved Crimson Gibraltar.

“Fine. But leave the task of leaking the letter to the king to me.”

Carmen crossed her legs and smirked.

“I’m best at such things.”

The next day, early dawn.

“Khup, kheuh….”

An undead, no, a blonde-haired, red-eyed man, barely dressed in a robe, stumbled through the hotel corridors in the early morning, clutching a bottle of liquor.

He reeked of alcohol to the point where it was unclear when he had started drinking, but no one dared to say anything to this man.

Who would dare to touch the king, even though he was drunk and wandering?

Many had tried to support the stumbling king, but all of them had their fingers cut off the next day for daring to touch his royal body.

Even if he fell, it was better to just leave him be.

So, no one paid attention to Saint Gio Nostrum staggering, keeping out of sight as much as possible.

It was dawn, and there was hardly anyone around anyway.

“…Huh?”

Despite the early hour, there were murmurs.

Leaning halfway on the staircase railing, Saint Gio listened to the sounds coming from the lobby.

“No, it’s just that, this is…”

“Wait till morning.”

“I have to return too…! I rushed here overnight…!”

“Then leave it to me.”

“That’s absurd…! The master said to deliver it personally! The Margravine said so…!”

Margarvine.

Just hearing that word piqued his interest.

Come to think of it, hadn’t a child from Gibraltar come yesterday-

“I must return to Gibraltar quickly…! Please let me see the young master. I beg you!”

“…….”

If someone saw this scene, they might have thought magic was involved.

“Who are you?”

“Huh, huff!?”

“Your, Your Majesty.”

A dust-covered servant widened his eyes in shock, and the knight blocking the lobby hastily bowed his head.

“Where is this letter from, and for whom was it written?”

“That, that is….”

“Didn’t His Majesty ask you! Answer quickly!”

The knight urgently scolded.

“I am from, from the Margrave Gibraltar’s house…! Lady Charlotte Gibraltar sent an urgent letter…!”

“This one?”

Swoosh.

“Ah, aah…?!”

“It’s not even sealed.”

The servant was too slow to react to the movement.

“How, when…? Oh, that….”

“What. Why. I want to see it.”

The exhausted messenger failed to notice the king’s swift movement, despite his drunken state.

“I’m just checking the content and then I will return it….”

The king’s expression turned pale momentarily as he tore open the envelope.

“…Huh?”

As if the alcohol had suddenly evaporated, he unfolded the letter inside.

“!!”

Despite the letter being upside down, the king stared intently at one side of it.

“Your, Your Majesty…!”

“…I’ve read it. Again. Nothing special. Here.”

The king tossed the letter and envelope back at the messenger’s chest and turned away.

Thud, thud.

He promptly made his way back to his room.

“Haah, haah, haah.”

He gasped for breath.

“Indeed, there’s still a chance…!”

Muttering incoherently, the king immediately poured the remaining wine into a glass next to his bed upon returning to his room.

“My Charlotte…!”

He then took something out of his pocket, and soon, white powder emerged, seeping into the wine glass.

Gulp, gulp.

The king drained the wine mixed with the white powder.

“My….”

And then-

“This time, definitely….”

He threw himself onto the bed and closed his eyes.

Was it because he was already heavily drunk?

Or was the drug mixed in the drink some kind of sleep inducer?

“Hehe, hehehe….”

The king chuckled softly, falling into a deep sleep.

Gwaak.

The act of clutching the pillow and gripping the bedsheet evoked a sense of something, yet.

Thud, thud-thud.

Even in a half-asleep state, the up and down movement was confined to his room alone.

“…….”

If anyone were watching this scene, it would appear as nothing but a shadow.

Dawn.

“It seems like the letter smells of alcohol.”

The manipulated letter arrived, its envelope torn and contents exposed.

“What is His Majesty the King up to?”

“He must be drinking and sleeping, deluding himself with strange fantasies about Charlotte. Yawn.”

Queen Carmen yawned deeply and stretched, her movements almost cat-like, eliciting a brief chuckle.

“Why are you laughing?”

“No reason. Aren’t you tired after staying up all night?”

“Tired.”

Duke Winchester had long since returned to his room.

“We spent the entire night discussing the Gibraltar domain.”

Now, only Queen Carmen and I remained in her bedroom.

“Sleepy.”

“Shall I call a maid?”

“No need. No one will enter this room until noon today. Hmm, then…”

Queen Carmen’s smile turned playfully mischievous.

“Do you want to sleep beside me?”

She sat on the bed and patted the space next to her.

“Like sharing a bed with the Imperial Princess?”