Chapter 156 - EPISODE 156 – THE DUKE’S INVITATION (1)

Chapter 156 - EPISODE 156 – THE DUKE’S INVITATION (1)

Late post~ Got too busy with Genshin since I ended up pulling Xiao and had to enter artifact farming hell. And the first half of this chapter was atrocious with all the politics, idioms, phrases, etc.

Terms used in this chapter:

Doves and hawks?– Doves represent those who oppose the use of military power to resolve a dispute, while hawks are those who favor going into war.

To weep while beheading Ma Su?– This is an archaic Chinese phrase which means to mete out punishment for the cause of justice regardless of one’s personal feelings. It’s from China’s Three Kingdoms period where the strategist, Zhuge Liang, had to order reluctantly and tearfully for the beheading of Ma Su, who was like a son to him, because Ma Su violated military command.

There was a saying that when two people come together, a relationship of power would be formed, and when three or more people come together, politics would begin.

There were numerous nobles in the royal capital, which naturally led to complex political structures being formed.

‘Why do people form groups?’

There were many reasons, but the biggest reason was for survival.

Power was strengthened when people formed groups, thereby preventing danger and allowing them to acquire necessary things.

‘The political circles in the royal capital.’

Several groups were created there.

Several divisions were also formed in a group, and if one counted the number of groups in the royal capital, it would be more than a dozen. However, all these groups could be classified into either of the two factions.

The royalists and the aristocrats.

The former were groups of nobles centered around the royal family, and the latter were groups centered on a large coalition of nobles powerful enough to keep the royal family in check.

Both factions consisted of nobles in the S?len Kingdom, but their composition revealed quite a different appearance.

‘The royalists has many relatively new nobles while the aristocrats are composed of nobles with a long history and tradition.’

It wasn’t a structure created by the new nobles because of their high loyalty to the royal family.

There was a more realistic reason hidden in it.

‘They need someone to lean on.’

From the perspective of the ‘old nobles’ who already held vested interests, the ‘new nobles’ were nothing but thorns in their eyes.

Because they were opponents whom they had to share their wealth and power.

For this reason, the new nobles were ostracized by the existing noble society, so they chose to be loyal to the royal family as their means of survival.

The new nobles depended on the royal family, and the royal family absorbed the new nobles and developed their strength in order to fight the aristocrats made up of the old nobles.

‘It sounds like dreams or romance do not exist, but this is reality.’

Of course, some of them were deeply loyal to the royal family.

‘Something like that isn’t bad after all.’

It was clearly unproductive for royalists and aristocrats to fight for power, but it was also productive at the same time.

‘Because absolute power will absolutely corrupt anyone.’

If one faction drove out the other faction and monopolized power, corruption was bound to begin from that moment onwards.

Therefore, confrontation was necessary even if it was a needless waste of energy to keep each other in check.

‘Anyway, about the royalists and the aristocrats.’

There would always be a leader when factions are formed.

Naturally, the royalists and aristocrats also had leaders who led their factions.

‘For the royalists, it’s the Lord Protector.’

Duke Antarius.

He started as a commoner and rose to the position of a duke, so he was the dream and hope of the new nobles. And from the perspective of the royal family, he was a relatively easy person to handle for the long term.

‘So we have to get the leader.’

The proponent of the plan to kill the royal family was no one else but the Lord Protector.

So the royal family was actually nourishing a snake in their bosom.

‘In any case, it’s the Lord Protector who is currently leading the royalists.’

Therefore, they had to borrow the power of the aristocrats and not the royalists in order to keep the Lord Protector in check.

‘The power of the hawks and not the doves.’

Since it was a coalition of nobles, the aristocrats were established in the form of having multiple leaders. But if one looked at them in the big picture, they could be divided into the moderate doves and the radical hawks.

‘Duke Spencer leads the doves. And Duke Balloa leads the hawks.’

The dove group’s Duke Spencer was in-laws with the royal family and was virtually neutral and did not move, so it was necessary for Jude and Cordelia to borrow the power of the hawks in order to actively attack the Lord Protector.

“Complicated. It’s complicated!”

“Just go to Duke Balloa’s house and give it to him.”

“Then why didn’t you just say that? Why did you have bother to me with complicated explanations?”

“Huhu, this Daddy doesn’t want his princess to give up in using her brains to think.”

“I usually do a lot of thinking, okay? Like what to do tonight, how to make a prettier explosion, and so on.”

“A beast woman indeed… I haven’t heard you growl for a long time.”

“Wurf! Wurf!”

Cordelia tried to bite Jude’s hand and then barked like a dog. Afterwards, she dressed up as phantom thief Pink Bomb and asked Jude again.

“Anyway, I should just leave this at Duke Balloa’s house, right?”

“Yes, with this important letter.”

Jude spoke with a smile before he inserted a letter with Pink Bomb’s signature in the secret ledger they found at Count Macan’s house.

“If we bring it to them, they’ll be the ones who’ll hit the forces of the Lord Protector.”

“Well…dispensing medicine should be left to the pharmacists.”

“We’ll leave it to the professionals.”

Even if they had the secret ledger, it was impossible for Jude and Cordelia to directly air the Lord Protector’s dirty laundry in public.

However, it would be a different story for the aristocrats who were always searching the royalists for a weak point to stab.

They would obviously rummage and search everywhere in excitement.

“Okay. Then we’ll have to scatter these treasures in specified places, right?”

“Yes, it’s evidence of the royalists’ corruption.”

If it was a simple treasure, it would be a sin to just stash these riches. But it was a problem that all of these treasures were stolen goods.

“It’s mostly the royal family’s items.”

“From the royal family’s perspective, it’s like they raised thieves, right?”

“You’re right. They’ll be weeping while beheading Ma Su.”

As Jude smiled a bit wickedly, Cordelia’s face instantly lit up and she nodded.

“Yes, yes, to weep while beheading Ma Su. That’s a really nice phrase.”

“Oh, you know about that?”

“Hmph, of course, I know that. Did you perhaps think I wouldn’t know that?”

Cordelia smugly said, and Jude clapped his hands in admiration.

“Do you like the Three Kingdoms?”

“Yes, I like Zhuge Liang.”

I like smart men.

Cordelia somehow held herself back from saying that thought before she stood up and brushed away the dirt in her rear.

“Anyway, let’s go.”

“Yes, let’s wish the aristocrats good luck.”

And the next afternoon.

The aristocrats began to move stealthily and quickly, and Jude counted the number of newspaper extras that wrote about Cordelia’s activities.

‘I think it’ll somehow work out until the founding anniversary.’

It was a thief’s simple thoughts to wish for the royalists of the Lord Protector to collapse with only one secret ledger.

What they could expect was the downfall of Count Macan and several working-level officials, and the Black Moon shutting down several businesses.

It would only slightly affect them, but this was actually enough.

The two just had to break the Lord Protector’s perfect plan.

‘Of course, I’ll have to continue thinking of follow-up measures.’

“You’re thinking of something evil again.”

At the snide remark he heard from his side, Jude smiled and turned his gaze.

They were in front of the south gate.

They were at the place where Adelia had welcomed Jude and Cordelia a few days ago, but this time, they were the ones waiting at the gate.

Obviously, Adelia was still in the waiting position both then and now.

“No, no. There’s a huge difference in her energy levels.”

“Yeah.”

Unlike Jude and Cordelia who were sitting on a bench and calmly waiting, Adelia had been restlessly walking around near the south gate for some time.

“Her neck’s going to fall off at this rate.”

Adelia had been raising her head and upper body as she tried to see as far as possible.

The reason why Adelia was so restless was simple.

“They’re here!”

The carriages of Count Bayer and Count Chase.

To be exact, Adelia’s beloved who was on board the carriage!

The very excited Adelia was about to run towards the carriages at that moment, but she clenched her fists and restrained herself.

No matter how much she loved him, she couldn’t act like a silly woman and run towards the carriages.

Especially in front of Ga?l.

“Good, good. I can endure it. You can endure this, Adelia. Yes, yes, you can do this.”

“Unnie, don’t do that and just recite the prime numbers. That will work.”

Cordelia advised from the side, but Adelia didn’t hear her at all. Adelia touched her chest and repeatedly did some deep breathing exercises.

And a few minutes later.

After that time which felt like an eternity to Adelia, the carriages of Count Bayer and Count Chase finally arrived at the south gate.

***

“Lord Ga?l.”

“Lady Adelia.”

“Lord Ga?l.”

“Lady Adelia.”

“Lord Ga?l!”

“Lady Adelia!”

At the garden of Adelia’s mansion.

Before moving to the accommodation provided by the royal family, the group stopped by to rest for a while, and Ga?l and Adelia faced each other as they exchanged words and gazed at the other. The two hugged and kissed each other, and various expressions appeared on the faces of those who saw them.

“It’s nice to see them like that.”

“You’re right.”

Maja and Count Bayer warmly smiled.

“I never thought Adelia would be like that, even in my dreams.”

“Me too.”

Dahlia and Cordelia were happy yet somehow embarrassed at the same time.

‘It would be nice if they didn’t forget that this is a public place.’

Why are couples not bothered in being affectionate at public places?

Jude shook his head as he clicked his tongue.

“The world must be ending… The world must be coming to an end.”

Edward, the eldest son and heir of Count Chase, said as he doubted his eyes and somehow seemed to be forgotten by everyone.

“Hmm.”

And Count Chase had a calm expression while having a small smile.

‘Well, they don’t seem to care at all.’

Jude looked at Ga?l and Adelia having a passionate kiss and shook his head before turning his gaze to the excited Cordelia who had covered her cheeks and lips with her hands as she received an audiovisual education. He then turned his head in surprise.

“Jude, don’t we have something to talk about?”

“…Yes, father.”

Count Bayer wasn’t particularly angry, but his eyes were more subdued than usual.

He would be like that since Jude was gone for weeks – no, he ran away again while heading to the royal capital.

“Adelia’s letter contained some of your circumstances… but I’d like to hear it directly from you.”

“I understand.”

Jude replied with an awkward smile, and Count Bayer couldn’t help but smile before saying.

“You’ve changed a lot. No, you’ve gotten a lot stronger this time.”

It had only been around three weeks since he left the house, and Jude’s abilities had made rapid progress in that time.

Count Bayer would be able to tell exactly how strong Jude had become if they fought, but the count could already feel just from facing Jude that he had become strong enough that he was like a completely different person from the previous Jude.

“You’ve grown a lot.”

Jude was smaller than Cordelia just a few months ago, but he now seemed to be a head taller than her.

“A lot of things happened.”

“Yes, let’s talk about those later. But first, that seems to be more urgent.”

“Eh?”

“I mean, that way, that person.”

Count Bayer laughed and entered the mansion, and Jude saw Count Chase looking at him with his usual expression.

“Father.”

“You’re still small.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re still small.”

Jude had grown a lot, but he was still small by Count Chase’s standards.

That was true since the current Jude was around 180-185 cm, while was Ga?l was around 186-190 cm, and Count Chase was a giant nearly two meters tall.

“Yes…?”

As Jude said in anticipation, Count Chase suddenly looked back at Adelia. Having confirmed that she was still distracted by the passionate kissing, Count Chase walked to Jude and said.

“It’s a third-rate item.”

Count Chase handed a small leather bag in Jude’s arms and quietly spoke as he kept an eye on Adelia.

“Eat in secret.”

Without Adelia knowing.

Alone.

Don’t get caught.

“Yes, father. I will do that for sure.”

Jude was moved and didn’t even check what was in the bag as he talked, and Count Chase snorted like always and was about to walk away.

However.

“Ah.”

Count Chase stopped and came back as he looked at Jude.

“Father?”

Are you going to give me something else?

Jude looked at him in anticipation again, but not this time.

Count Chase looked at him as if he was hesitating and soon said in passing as he gazed at a distance.

“Something…did something change?”

“Change…in what?”

“No, um, it’s nothing.”

It’s rather good if there aren’t any changes. It’s good.

Because they haven’t even had their coming-of-age ceremony yet.

“Father?”

Jude asked once again, but Count Chase switched to a stern expression instead of answering, and headed towards Adelia and Ga?l who was startled and raised his head.

‘Hmm…that’s a nice look.’

Jude had a small smile as he saw Ga?l’s face before he tried to approach Cordelia who was lost in her thoughts as she held her red cheeks with her hands.

But it was at that moment.

“It looks like a letter has arrived.”

Maja said as she looked towards the main gate before heading there, and Jude saw a man standing beyond the metal fence and waiting for the gate to open.

He was wearing the outfit of a nobleman’s messenger.

“Who is it?”

“He’s from Duke Spencer.”

When Jude responded to the question Cordelia had muttered, she raised her head in surprise.

“How do you know?”

“Because there’s an emblem on his outer clothes that shows he’s from the Spencer family. Perhaps… it’s an invitation for you and me.”

It was time to see the benefits they had gained from giving Princess Darianne the Seven-Colored Herb.

And as Jude had thought, the messenger who appeared at the front gate was from Duke Spencer.

But there was one thing that was different from what they had expected.

“This.. it seems like we’re not the only ones invited?”

An invitation in a slightly different form than what they had thought.

“Well, I don’t think it would be a problem since it’s an invitation anyway, right?”

Cordelia said with a smile, and Jude thought the same too.

‘Well, I guess you’re right’

‘Yes, yes, I’m right.’

It didn’t matter what way they used, as long as they were able to go to Duke Spencer and meet the Sword Saint of Light, Rhun Froud.

‘So don’t worry and let’s go there proudly.’

‘Okay.’

Jude nodded in response to Cordelia’s gaze, and Cordelia brightly smiled again.

Cordelia didn’t know at that time.

No, Jude didn’t expect it either.

The fact that this invitation would, for the first time, make them do something that real lovers did.

They would be doing something that real lovers did.