Chapter 119: He Probably Won’t Be Too Happy
“So it was that boy… I rember now. Leo seed to ntion him once afterward, saying he had found his daughter a rather decent whetstone.” A trace of interest appeared on the Emperor’s face. “So it was him.”
“Hmph. He is nothing more than a brat with outrageous luck and a twisted temperant!” the Second Prince, Keynes, could not help interjecting. His voice carried undisguised distaste. “I asked around. That Ryan Velt has a thoroughly rotten reputation at the academy! He throws his weight around because he has a bit of strength, bullies his classmates, and acts with spiteful arrogance!” He seed to realize that his emotions had shown too plainly and abruptly cut himself off, though his face had already begun to flush.
The Emperor glanced at his second son, and a flicker of understanding passed through his eyes.
How could he, as a father, not know what thoughts this boy harbored toward the Sword Duke’s prodigious daughter?
That reaction, then, was hardly unexpected.
“That is enough, Keynes. It is only natural for the young to have a certain sharpness to them.” The Emperor waved a hand without committing himself either way, then turned his gaze back to Cecilia. “Now tell about this matter in detail. I have read the case file, but I would rather hear the process from your own mouth.”
“Yes, Father,” Cecilia replied, then began her account.
Her words had been artfully refined, half candid and half omitted.
She described how Ryan had encountered an obvious fra-up in Magic Potion Class and been forced into a wager that gave him forty-eight hours to prove his innocence; how he had investigated alone, discovered that the materials had been swapped, and followed the trail to clues of Frostvine smuggling; how he had realized that the matter touched on treason and that his own strength was insufficient, and so had sought aid from her, the Princess who happened to be at the academy; how she had urgently reported the matter upward, employed the authority of the Royal Knights to intervene, and ultimately ensured that both the culprits and the evidence were seized on the spot…
The whole process was laid out with crisp logic and careful sequence, highlighting Ryan’s sharpness, decisiveness, and loyal judgnt in seeking help from the proper power at the critical mont, while downplaying the deeper extent of her own hand in pushing matters forward.
The Emperor listened in silence, his fingers resuming their asured tapping on the armrest. Only after Cecilia finished did he slowly speak.
“Composed under pressure, able to pull thread from thread, and more valuable still, he knows what matters and understands how to borrow the strength he ought to borrow… yes, a promising talent.” His voice carried faint approval. “Most of all, to break out from under a joint framing by two noble sons with deeper roots than his own, and then turn the blade back upon them to expose so grave a cri… that sort of temperant and ability is uncommon even among the younger generation.”
Keynes let out an extrely quiet snort through his nose and turned his face away.
Aster still wore that mild smile, though the shifting light deep in his ice-blue eyes seed to stir by the smallest degree.
The Emperor appeared not to notice the little movents of his sons—or perhaps simply did not care. Then, as if recalling sothing, he said, “By the way, the case file ntioned a wager between him and those two houses. A substantial sum, was it not?”
“Yes, Father. It involved twenty thousand gold coins,” Cecilia answered.
“Although the offenders have been dealt with and their property confiscated, I cannot mistreat one who has rendered ritorious service.” The Emperor fell briefly into thought, his gaze seeming to turn toward the north. “If not for him, I might still be ignorant of the fact that my northern defenses had been eroded by vermin of this sort. That old man Wilier… hm. He has not governed his subordinates well.”
He spoke the final few words lightly and slowly, as though savoring them. Yet beneath his eyes lay sothing like a frozen lake, revealing none of his true feelings.
A mont later, he made his decision.
“Since he has rendered service, and since he cos from a viscount’s house in the north… let it be this way. Of the wagered twenty thousand gold coins, let one half—ten thousand in cash—be paid to him directly from the Imperial Treasury. As for the other half… let part of the neighboring lands confiscated from those two houses be placed under the governance of the Velt family, with the tax revenues offset accordingly. The title will remain unchanged, but as for the territory… let his house gain a little more weight. My Empire is not stingy in rewarding ritorious service.”
The mont those words were spoken, not only Cecilia, but even Keynes and Aster unconsciously lifted their eyes toward the Emperor.
A grant of land—even if it was only part of the domain confiscated from two guilty nobles—ant far more than ten thousand gold coins. Especially when that land, which might otherwise have fallen within the sphere of Marquis Wilier’s influence, was instead being granted to another viscount’s house of the Northern Border…
The political signal embedded in that choice was worth careful thought.
And yet the Emperor seed to have decided it as casually as if it were a trivial matter. There was even a faintly reflective smile on his face.
“The young run hot. A few flaws do no harm. Who did not have faults in youth? What matters is whether they can be used.”
Then he shifted the topic, as though rely chatting in passing. “By the way, Cecilia, in a few days the exploration team for the Starfall Ruins will depart, will it not? Has the list chosen by your academy been finalized?”
Cecilia’s heart stirred slightly, but nothing showed on her face. Calmly, she gave the four nas, naturally including Ryan Velt.
“Oh? That boy obtained a slot as well?” The Emperor’s brow lifted faintly, and the interest in his eyes deepened. “Then his strength truly is not insignificant. Good. This ruins exploration has gathered the elites of the great houses and the academies alike. It will serve nicely to let see just what sort of quality this stone from the north truly has.”
As if so thought amused him, he gave two quiet chuckles and shook his head, as though marveling that such a figure could erge from a minor noble house in so remote a region.
When the laughter faded, he rose. His heavy imperial robe swept across the floor. At once, the two princes and the Princess rose as well and bowed.
“That will be all. Go attend to your matters.”
The Emperor waved a hand and said no more. Surrounded by his Court Attendants, he turned and walked toward the passage behind the side of the deliberation hall, his figure soon vanishing into the depths where light and shadow intertwined.
Only after the sound of his footsteps had completely faded did the tautness in the air loosen slightly.
Keynes straightened and shot Cecilia a vicious glare, forcing out several words through clenched teeth.
“That lucky wretch…”
Then he strode away without another glance, his boots striking the marble floor with dull, heavy sounds.
Aster, by contrast, gracefully adjusted his cuffs, then walked over to Cecilia’s side. His ice-blue eyes curved like crescents, and his voice was as soft as a feather brushing past.
“I did not expect that while at the academy, little sister, you would co to know soone so interesting. This ruins exploration… it seems it will be lively indeed. I find myself rather looking forward to it.”
He lightly patted Cecilia’s shoulder, then departed with that sa faint smile.
Cecilia remained standing there alone, her ice-blue eyes following the direction in which her father and brothers had gone before slowly turning toward the magnificent streetscape of the Empire beyond the window.
Sunlight filtered through the colored glass and cast shifting patches of light across her face. She drew in a quiet breath, and the velvet of her court gown rippled faintly with the movent.
It was ti to notify that interesting ritorious subject.
When he heard of His Majesty’s reward, what sort of expression would he show?
He probably would not be very happy.
The corner of her mouth curved upward ever so slightly, the motion so faint that it vanished in an instant.
Then she too turned, her skirt tracing a smooth arc, and left the empty deliberation hall still steeped in the scent of power.
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