The King's Proof

Bamont examined Pernok and asked.

[What are you planning to do with that?]

“How I’ll rip apart those guys you find so detestable.”

[But right now the fake is the real one, isn’t it?]

“Since there’s no difference between genuine and counterfeit, it’s actually easier to use. By the time this imperial seal is exposed, many things in Illumina will probably be settled.”

[Will you kill your siblings like Syria did?]

“King Syria already changed many things. He made it so siblings compete while searching for the tomb until only the last one person survives. And I like this rule.”

[You’re still not interested in Uncle’s tomb.]

“I’m interested in the spoils of war I’ll receive after it’s finished.”

Bamont shook off his gloomy expression and stood up.

[Alright! Do as you please! You’re the one who took the legacy everyone else ignored!]

“Since I received such a big gift, let me give something in return—when I conquer the coastline you wish for, I’ll name that place Bamont.”

[Really!?]

“So from now on, if anything comes to mind, don’t hide it and tell me everything. It’ll be a path to reach your aspiration more quickly.”

[Understood! Just trust me!]

Pernok smiled at Bamont who pounded his chest and shouted confidently, then snapped his fingers.

When the magic activated and Pernok returned to his original location, he called a maid from his quarters.

“Go and bring me just 2 sheets of paper.”

“Yes.”

The maid rushed down the corridor and brought 2 sheets of quality paper.

“Ah, and tell Princess Yuliana I want to see her tomorrow.”

“Understood.”

The maid bowed her head and headed toward Yuliana’s bedroom.

Pernok who entered the room diligently wrote something on the table.

[What’s that?]

“A dual contract.”

[Why are you writing that?]

“Yuliana has seen the fake imperial seal a lot since childhood. I need to check whether it’ll really work or not.”

Pernok stamped the imperial seal on the dual contract.

* * *

The next day, Pernok and Yuliana faced each other in the garden.

Yuliana was watching Pernok’s mood, perhaps because of Jan’s incident.

Pernok pretended to suppress anger, sighed, and just tapped the table.

And after a moment, he spoke coldly.

“That prince… Jan, wasn’t it? Is he really on our side?”

“There was a misunderstanding! Jan won’t threaten you anymore.”

“How can I believe those words?”

“I swear, I came to make a deal with you, not to plan an assassination to kill you.”

“Then why did Jan suddenly attack me?”

“Jan has been mentally unstable since childhood and sometimes suffers from madness seizures.”

“You want to make such a person king? You’re insane.”

“Jan has a kind heart that loves flowers and animals more than anyone in places other than battlefields. He can control his madness now too!”

“Prove it.”

Pernok placed the dual contract he’d written yesterday before Yuliana.

“What’s this?”

“A contract showing Count Boldman conducted business with the royal merchant group.”

“So?”

“There’s one more thing. Evidence that he diverted key items behind the scenes.”

Yuliana’s gaze fell on the dual contract.

‘How will you judge this fake I made?’

A royal who’d grown up seeing the fake king’s seal since childhood.

If she judges this as fake, he can lump it together saying there’s someone who spread forged documents.

But if she judges this as real?

“This is…”

The contract contents aren’t important. The method of judging this seal’s authenticity is what matters.

“…Where did you get this?”

“When I struck Vans’s counts, I obtained it luckily.”

Yuliana’s eyes became cold.

“Boldman has completely lost his mind.”

At that moment, Pernok firmly suppressed the laughter about to burst out.

He’d lightly tested it thinking there might be no useful method until the genuine king’s seal could be distinguished by the presence of sacred spirit stone, but the experiment was successful.

What would happen if he fabricated secret transactions difficult to easily judge for authenticity with the seal and spread them to Porla or Vans?

“This contract has Her Majesty the Queen’s personal guarantee.”

Pernok whispered secretly to the stiffening Yuliana.

“And Boldman is Vans’s person.”

“…!”

“The king’s tomb is just an excuse, in truth…”

“Stop! Mother wouldn’t do that!”

“Why not check directly?”

No matter how he probes, Yuliana just keeps her mouth firmly shut.

If she brings this and visits, the queen’s answer is obvious.

I never did this. It’s something someone plotted to slander me.

She won’t needlessly provoke the queen just to see her make excuses.

“It seems I overrated you, older sister. I gave you even justification, yet I evaluated someone who hides behind and trembles as having a king’s caliber. Was coming here my mistake?”

Yuliana raised her head.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Dispel all these concerns.”

“What?”

“Prove it. That Jan absolutely doesn’t fall behind Rakis. That he absolutely obeys your words.”

“Strike Vans?”

“Then did you think you’d reach the tomb without fighting Vans?”

“…Not now.”

“Shall I tell you one interesting fact?”

He sweetly whispered a lie that the shaken Yuliana couldn’t help but fall into because of the contract.

“There are traces of Rakis being involved in the fleet attack.”

“What!?”

Yuliana kicked her chair and stood up.

To the startled her, Pernok spoke calmly.

“There were many broken traces on the ship hull bottoms, right?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Didn’t Rakis have one tactical weapon that can fire even at sea?”

“You mean the Sky Piercer?”

Pernok nodded.

“What’s the Sky Piercer’s main material?”

“Of course the self-luminescent crystal produced in Illumina…”

Yuliana’s face hardened.

Self-luminescent crystal is managed by the state.

Each merchant group receives the queen’s permission and takes only a certain amount.

She examined the contract again.

It contained details of self-luminescent crystal being traded.

‘Nine truths in one lie.’

When Flemyr struck Vans’s slush fund merchant group, he’d specifically pointed out the special ore called ‘self-luminescent crystal’ among the contents written in the ledger.

It’s not content that doesn’t exist at all.

Pernok revived the tail Vans had already cut off with a false contract.

But even if Yuliana investigates, there’s nothing to salvage.

The self-luminescent crystal already went elsewhere.

Whether it’s Rakis or not isn’t important.

That someone traded self-luminescent crystal.

And she just carefully thinks about the fact that this is related to the culprit who attacked the fleet.

“From the moment you chose the throne, sooner or later someone was bound to die. Tomb? Competition? Those are just nice words. In the end, it means strike siblings like the previous king and rise to that position. The only way to survive on good terms is for older sister and me to match our stories like now, but will the other guys think the same as us?”

Pernok slid the false contract before Yuliana.

“The queen’s favor has already clearly turned toward someone. If you bring this, it’ll already have become something that didn’t happen. In reality, it’s no more than a role of dredging up the past. But I struck 3 count territories as soon as I saw this. But you? You’ll just do tomb investigations saying it’s already disappeared evidence and die from being stabbed in the back?”

And he rose from his seat without hesitation.

“Pay back what you suffered. If you can’t do that, I have no reason to join hands with you. Yuliana Al Illumina.”

Pernok turned his back.

He’d thrown tempting prey, and he hears rustling sounds in his ears.

Yuliana’s focus aligned on Vans and Rakis.

‘Large and small conflicts will erupt.’

Both forces are hiding troublesome powers.

It doesn’t matter who fights and wins.

The moment they’re distracted by fakes and mutual distrust deepens, Illumina will be torn apart.

That place will become the stage for Pernok.

‘Thanks to the unexpected treasure, the confrontational structure between Vans and Yuliana is complete, so what about the remaining one guy?’

Pernok who recalled Porla grinned.

‘As expected, the association over the state. It’s better to smash a single force first.’

Pernok wrote two letters.

[I’ve created a structure between Yuliana and Vans.

The moment Tyr moves to construct positions, Rakis won’t just watch either.

And Yuliana won’t avoid fighting.

I’m temporarily withdrawing hands from Tyr.

And we strike Wanstein.

Have a place ready as soon as I return from the Holy Kingdom.

Bring everyone.]

Porla who departed to find the tomb next after Vans.

He has excellent insight and abundant resources, but he doesn’t read the board at all.

Everyone has already grasped all military power.

If the mage association’s support is cut off, no matter what he does with that money, he can’t create a force comparable to each nation.

The key is the supporters backing him, not the royal.

The moment the association disappears, Porla’s fate also falls to the ground.

The payment for trading self-luminescent crystal…

Pernok stamped the imperial seal on a bold move that would bring down Porla.

* * *

The next day, Tyr’s king, Suira, met privately with Yuliana.

“Is this true?”

Suira personally examined the contract Pernok handed over.

Because he’d exchanged letters several times to build friendship with Illumina, he knows.

The seal stamped there is definitely the imperial seal.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“The one who attacked the fleet was…”

“High probability that it’s Rakis.”

“…Are you certain?”

“It’s difficult to clarify the facts with just this. It might be no more than a simple transaction. But today as Pernok left the royal palace, he told me this.”

Yuliana reported with a hardened face.

“That Porla brought self-luminescent crystal to Vans.”

“Then does that mean the third prince supported Vans with his merchant group?”

“I don’t know the detailed circumstances, but to cut the tail of how self-luminescent crystal spreads, it’s better to make it pass through multiple merchant groups. Probably, Porla and Vans have a high probability of having delivered it so that a certain amount or more of self-luminescent crystal flows to Rakis.”

“Is this speculation or conviction?”

“It’s a hypothesis. It’s merely an assumption that the mage association and Rakis might join hands and try to check the most troublesome opponent first. But the timing is extremely coincidental.”

“Right. Position construction… They wouldn’t welcome that inland. Especially Rakis.”

Suira’s beard trembled with fury.

“If all these words are true, it means Queen Phillena who guaranteed the self-luminescent crystal trade with the imperial seal also isn’t friendly toward you. What will you do?”

“Probably, she’ll try to deny the contract. The imperial seal is stamped but I don’t know the exact transaction date.”

“In other words, do you think you can insist the previous king plotted this long ago? Do you think such nonsense will work?”

“There’s no reason she can’t. Her Majesty repeatedly said Vans and Porla are people closer to the throne than me.”

When a cold smile formed on Yuliana’s lips, Suira asked indifferently.

“Then, what will you do?”

“If what they’re really aiming for is interfering with Tyr’s front lines, I’ll face them directly. If I grasp solid evidence and push in, I might make both unable to move in the competition.”

Yuliana said while suppressing anger.

“Please permit me to send Jan to the front lines.”

“You’ll finally collide with the 13 Lords. If even the association turns its back, it’ll be a difficult battle. You’ll have to cooperate well with Prince Pernok. Since he seems to have ties with Rezhen, he’ll be a good card.”

“We already decided our respective roles before leaving this place.”

“What did you say?”

“While I block Rakis, Pernok will push Porla’s merchant groups.”

“The association?”

“Since there’s much evidence, he said if we use this to call out Duke Flemyr, he’ll be able to block the association.”

Suira nodded in admiration.

“He’s different from that despicable first and that snake-like third. Good. It’s regrettable we can’t discuss positions, but if it’s a discussed situation, we must also respond accordingly.”

When Suira struck the throne’s armrest, the great hall rang and Jan wearing a mask appeared.

“I’ll forgive last night’s misconduct. I’ll also release your confinement, so show me once more that you have the qualifications to become king.”

Jan’s eyes rippled fiercely from inside the mask.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

* * *

Ruin and Rio gathered in one place after a long time.

“I received Lord Pernok’s letter.”

“He said he’ll strike the association. Why does he tell me to share the work he entrusted to me with Rio? Am I inadequate?”

“No. I don’t know how it happened, but Tyr has started sharpening its blade sharply against Rakis. Rather than stirring up sensitive places, he must mean to target the association that’s ripened most deliciously.”

“It’s early. I was thinking 1 year.”

“He said he’ll tell us what card shortened that time after returning from the Holy Kingdom. He told us to gather forces and wait until then.”

Ruin examined the heterogeneous races gathering below the hill at the sea.

With them, there’s absolutely no shortage to face Wanstein and his faction.

And if Pernok joins too…

“It’s truly taken a long time.”

A chilling smile formed on Ruin’s lips.

Baudelaire’s memorial service is not far off.