CH 104

The morning of the day of the conference already dawned.

Crown Princess Garnet, who has been unable to sleep for several days due to tension, pressed her temples and ordered her employees.

“I don’t want any of the flowers to spoil. Move it carefully.”

“Yes, Her Highness the Crown Princess.”

“There! Did you check all the seats and chat like that?”

Garnet wanted to check everything with her own eyes.

Some of the maids took a moment to breathe, avoiding her fiercely moving eyes.

“Isn’t Her Highness the Crown Princess too nervous these days?”

“She reprimanded the maid in a loud voice even though we were nearby.”

“Since she has invited all these nobles who aren’t even close to her, it’s understandable that she was more worried about making a mistake but… ”

For some reason, they felt unfair as only the employees were sweating profusely under the Crown Princess’ obsession.

“Didn’t the original tea party only invite ladies from politically aligned families?”

“It was like that until last year. But this time, it’s a situation where she has to keep Her Highness Grand Duchess Prause in check.”

“Well, I don’t know, but Her Majesty the Empress must have put pressure on Her Highness, the Crown Princess.”

Just as the maids were whispering while wiping the dust off the dishes, the empress arrived in the garden.

Crown Princess Garnet, who was still nervous, lowered her head to her in surprise.

“Are you here, your Majesty the Empress?”

“Are you ready?”

“It’s almost done. Everything, including decorations, tea leaves, and desserts, was prepared at the highest quality.”

“You have to prepare everything in accordance with the dignity of the imperial family so that there will be no gossip. It would be splendid if flowers and flags symbolizing the imperial family were also arranged.”

The maids, who were diligently moving their hands and eavesdropping on the conversation, had a small question.

‘Symbolizing the imperial family…?’

‘Wasn’t the tea party or ball held by Her Majesty the Empress or Her Highness originally held in the colors of Gelon?’

The flower symbolizing Gelon was a white rose.

Because of this, until last year, it was customary to place several vases of white roses when aristocratic women gathered at the Grand Founding Conference.

‘Come to think of it, she didn’t even order white roses this year, did she?’

Most of the employees who were put into work today had been at the palace for over ten years.

They seemed to know what the empress or crown princess had in mind by not ordering white roses.

‘They’re trying to distance themselves from the Duke of Gelon.’

‘Even though they lived in the Imperial Palace, they were very conscious of being part of the Zelon family…’

‘That means they are on the defensive, right?’

These days, even in the Council of Elders, which can be said to be the main pillar of the conference, blind faith toward Gelon is gradually being lifted.

The maids hurriedly prepared for the tea party, thinking they had to behave themselves.

* * *

At the conference hall, high-ranking nobles who were qualified to participate in the conference began to arrive one by one.

“His Highness, Duke of Gelon, has arrived.”

“It’s a long time before the meeting, but a lot of people have arrived.”

Duke Gelon took a step forward with a calming expression.

As a member of the Council of Elders, he was familiar with the meeting place, so he didn’t even look down at the nameplate.

‘Since the emperor is absent due to health problems and Tahar has taken over, my position is…’

It was when the duke naturally tried to sit in the second-best seat.

“Meet His Highness, Grand Duke Prause.”

The person guarding the entrance to the meeting hall found Daniel and his party and bowed his head.

Behind him comes Daniel Prause, wearing a black robe.

Everyone’s eyes naturally focused on him.

‘I’ve known since he said he wanted to attend the great meeting, the Grand Duke had a plan.’

‘I thought the expression “transcendent” was just a title… It’s something different from ordinary people.’

The cloak swayed gracefully as he walked.

He was tall enough that they had to look up, and his eyes were light in color but exuded a strong sense of intimidation.

He even had a cool and beautiful appearance.

Everything was revealing the dignity of Prause, the dragon that had protected and ruled the North for generations.

“Your Highness, Duke of Gelon.”

When Daniel spoke first, Duke Gelon’s shoulders were tense.

Even if you rampage without knowing the subject, you are conscious of the eyes of others.’

It was ridiculous to pretend to be calm while stealing data from the Magic Tower and researching it thoroughly to destroy Gelon.

Duke Gelon tried to ignore him.

But Daniel spoke again.

“Your Highness the Duke. You seem to have the wrong seat.”

“What?”

It was only then that Duke Gelon looked at the nameplate on the desk.

[Daniel Prause]

Among the attendees of the meeting, the seat for the person with the highest ceremonial rank is next to the crown prince.

In its place was written the name of this intrusive man, not his own.

“They must have misdirected my escort at the entrance.”

The Duke attributed his misunderstanding to someone else’s mistake and sat down where he should have sat.

It was next to the Grand Duke Prause, but the Grand Duke’s appearance was so good that one side was frustrated because of that.

Tahar, who soon arrived with his escort, was also feeling the pressure.

“Everyone seems to have arrived, so let’s start the great conference. Many issues need to be addressed first.”

Tahar, who had been educated as the crown prince since childhood, was accustomed to conducting meetings.

Looking at the meeting materials his subordinates had handed out, Daniel wanted to smile.

Well, at least there’s less talk of Frey now that I’m attending.’

Daniel’s decision to attend the Great Conference was based on the judgment that there would be several political advantages.

However, the decisive factor was a conversation with Prause’s intelligence department.

[“Your Majesty, I’ve obtained a draft of the conference materials that the palace scribes have been working on, apparently distributing them to the heads of nearby noble families first.”]

[“From what you’ve brought me, I’m guessing there’s something troubling in it.”]

When he looked through it, there was not enough content.

Unless he attends as Frey’s husband and as the legitimate Grand Duke of Prause.

If that was the case, it was obvious that they would rob Holt’s upper ranks for ridiculous reasons.

‘It can’t be like that.’

According to the Ministry of Information, after pushing through and allowing Prause to attend the conference, the conference materials were changed significantly.

The important story was clearly intended to be shared in the absence of Prause.

Nobles gathered here to try to steal and erase the fruits of Frey’s efforts.

Daniel felt like his blood was rising.

“Then, next is the flood damage case in the south….”

It was around the time that Tahar was reciting an agenda quite different from the one he was originally meant to deal with.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Daniel spoke in a low voice.

“yes?”

“Time is limited, so as you said, it would be good to talk about the issues that need to be dealt with first.”

Tak!

Daniel kept a smile on his face and put down a stack of papers on the table.

The faces of Tahar and several other nobles contorted when they realized what it was.

“I’m embarrassed to tell you, but it’s the first time the family head of Prause has been allowed to attend a great meeting, so I’ve got the meeting materials in advance and read them several times.”

“….”

“I heard that it was the material for the conference made a few days before the undead monsters attacked the divine power barrier.”

Daniel looked straight at Tahar.

As it should have been, he would have let the world know that the Emperor was helpless and in poor health before discussing it

“A plan to abdicate the throne to the heir, His Highness Tahar, before His Majesty passes away.”

“….!”

“I don’t think there is anything more important than this, so I’d like to talk about it first.”

Daniel said with a light smile.

Seeing him drop the bomb with a smile, the middle-of-the-road aristocrats swallowed dryly.

‘Duke Prause, unlike his appearance, his personality is reckless.’

‘No matter how fearless you are, that question….’

‘It’s no different than asking the Duke of Gelon and the Crown Prince, <Did you know in advance that His Majesty’s health would deteriorate?!’

The aristocrats, who had been relaxing for a while in the boring meeting, corrected their posture and sat down.

Daniel and Tahar stared at each other for a long time with scary eyes.

* * *

“Your Highness, Grand Duchess. His Highness the Grand Duke has said that the conference is likely to be long.”

“Thank you, Baron. It seems that he is dealing with issues that may cause disagreements.”

For some reason, the conference Daniel was attending was getting longer.

As the sun at the top of my head gradually went down, and the time for Crown Princess Garnet’s tea time ended, my nervousness reached its peak.

‘Woah, waiting for guests is also drying my blood…’

When I prepared for tea time with the help of many people for several days, I thought I would be able to wait comfortably after work.

Handing out invitations.

Plating rather rugged northern foods to suit the taste of the capital.

Entrust Luke with publicity.

Decorate every corner of the garden with countless aquarines.

After finishing the heavy labor, a anxiety came.

‘What if no one comes to my tea party after all this hard work?’

It would have been helpful if I held some tea parties before becoming Grand Duchess Prause.

For some reason, I had a song in my head from a previous life: “I’m a beetle. I don’t have any friends…” playing in my head.

‘No. It’s different from back then.’ 

‘Anyone would come…I guess?’

Around this time I want to bite my nails.

“Your Highness, Grand Duchess. I stopped by because I thought I should ask for your opinion for a while.”

Lina asked in her usual calm voice.

“What’s going on?”

“Well, the ladies who received the invitation urgently asked for your opinion.”

“ah… Was it difficult to attend?”

When I asked, Lina smiled and shook her head.

“No, She asked if it was okay to bring more young ladies with whom she was close.”

“What?”

“The carriages are already arriving one after another, Her Highness the Grand Duchess!”