Tyrate, Capital of Barlia.
Inside the icy-like throne room, Johann knelt in front of his liege. The room was cold in temperature, in line with its appearance.
Ti seed to stretch endlessly.
Johann was unaware of how long he had been in this state. His leg has gone numb but he dares not to look up.
He remained motionless and waited for any sign or word from his liege.
All Johann can hear is the sound of paper flipping.
'What's going on? Why does he show his interest now?' Johann asked inwardly.
It wasn't a question he could voice out.
To be honest, Johann doesn't know how his liege perceives this event.
Since Prince Baldwin never made any comnt, he had acted with boldness.
Perhaps too much boldness.
But now, Prince Baldwin appears to be very interested in reading the report about his recent actions.
It was worrying since Johann put all his hope on the fact that their liege viewed this fight as unimportant.
"Sir Johann, where's Percival right now?"
"I'm not sure, Your Highness. He departed at midnight without alerting anyone. He didn't say his destination either."
"You didn't track him down?" Baldwin asked.
Johann denied, "No, Your Highness. Why would I do that?"
"Hmm...," Baldwin narrowed his eyes. He tries to gauge Johann's response.
"Percival and his family pose no threat to . They probably seek refuge sowhere and want to stay away from politics."
"You may be right. Anyway, please forget about my previous question. I thought you would. Back to the topic, you want to officially recognize you, right?"
"Yes, the Klover family has no intention of changing their liege. We're your loyal subjects and will remain that way, either now or in the future."
Prince Baldwin listened to Johann's assurances.
His expression remained unchanged. He takes Johann's words with a grain of salt.
Years of dealing with the flattery in high society had made him immune to flowery words and hollow promises.
"I personally have no problem. I also don't really care about your internal conflict as long as you know where your loyalty lies."
Baldwin continues with a warning, "However, the rest of the aristocracy may have a hard ti accepting you. They are very sensitive to these matters of 'overthrown' and 'power-grabbing'."
There was no doubt that the nobles would try to kill Johann socially.
They will go as far as trying to isolate him from the circles of power and looking for any sign of weakness to exploit.
He had heard that Johann had many friends and allies in the noble circles.
But who knew how many would actually stick with him now?
Many of them would shun Johann and choose to distance themselves to avoid being tainted together with him.
The Klover family would face a tough ti in the foreseeable future while Johann worked to solidify his position.
Nevertheless, Baldwin thought, this was not his problem.
In fact, having a weakened ducal family was beneficial to him.
It ant that the duchy would be less of a threat and more reliant on his support.
It would also allow him to manipulate the situation to his advantage, should the need arise.
For now, Baldwin decided to simply observe the situation developed.
"Rest assured, Your Highness. I'll do my best to get along with them."
Baldwin gave a curt nod, "See that you understand, I feel relieved now."
....
While the eting between Baldwin and Johann taking place, a certain woman wanders at a certain part of the palace.
This woman is Agent No. 45.
She was tasked to et with her fellow agent inside the palace, Dorothy, who was stationed here.
Her job was nothing extraordinary or had a huge significance. It is to simply pass a ssage to Dorothy.
This is supposedly her last assignnt before returning to the South.
In other words, Dunn just used her to run an errand for him.
Although she was frustrated, Agent No. 45 felt a thrill of excitent at the idea of eting Dorothy.
In terms of seniority, Dorothy was above her.
No. 45 hadn't t her senior yet, but she already held her in high esteem.
To be assigned to the enemy palace, her senior must be a highly skilled agent, right?
"Excuse , miss. This is a restricted area for visitors. May I know who you are?" A soft yet polite voice greeted her.
Agent No. 45 slowly turned around. Sure enough, a maid is standing behind her.
Not far from the maid stood a woman in a beautiful dress. Looking at how lavish the dress is, she's no doubt a noble.
She scrutinized the woman from head to toe.
'Brown hair...Red eyes.'
In her arms was a child. His eyes and hair are a striking match to Prince Baldwin's.
No. 45 instantly knows the identity of the woman and the child.
Dunn repeatedly described them to her to the point where she got sick hearing it.
'The lost princess...'
Her mind suddenly recalled the title Riz had given to his sister, Reina.
It was public knowledge that the king's sister had gone missing. However, the details of the incident were only known by the kingdom's inner circles.
She is one of those who's lucky.
To the populace, the story was shrouded in tragedy and mystery.
They had only been told what was necessary to invoke sympathetic emotion.
As for the maid, No. 45 wasn't sure if she was Dorothy. According to Dunn, her senior doesn't have any stand out features.
"Miss, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave this area," the maid's tone beca assertive.
No. 45 quickly regains her composure. "My apologies. I seem to have lost. You see, I'm not very good with direction. Can you help out?"
The maid glanced at Princess Reina.
The princess's eyes flicked over No. 45.
"Go and escort her out, Dorothy."
"But, Your Highness..."
"It's alright. I'll manage here. Just make sure our guest finds her way."
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