ESL Chapter 64

“For a crown prince of a nation to stare at my friend with such eyes — the future of this kingdom looks bleak indeed.”

“Th-that kind of eyes? What kind of eyes?”

Flustered, Lanster turned to Thomas, who let out a sigh and spoke.

“I am embarrassed on your behalf, Your Highness. You must not look at a young lady with such eyes. Furthermore, she has not yet come of age.”

What did I do? I only looked because she was pretty… Is that a crime? What am I supposed to do about her being beautiful! Lanster felt wronged. People said he was the makings of a king who would usher in an era of great prosperity, yet these two seemed to be in complete disagreement with that assessment. Leaving Lanster to stew in his frustration without a word to say for himself, Luciel returned to his seat, and Thomas began reporting to him the information he had gathered.

“First, regarding the matters you asked me to look into by correspondence — the case of Jacques Rombel, Knight Commander of the Mihael Order.”

Jacques Rombel. The knight commander leading the Mihael ducal house’s order of knights, and the man who had taught Luciel the sword. Exceptionally skilled, loyal, and deeply trustworthy, he commanded great respect among his subordinates as well. The Jacques he knew would never remain still when he was in such a situation. He was the kind of man who would follow orders issued by Cheor, the acting duke, for the sake of the ducal house — but would never move on personal commands.

And yet he’s been quiet… Only the 6th Unit has been running amok.

It was strange. That was why he had asked for an investigation. And the results were exactly as he had expected.

“It appears that Jacques Rombel’s only daughter has been taken hostage. According to what we’ve found, the acting duke used the daughter’s life to demand his loyalty. However, the threat did not fully succeed — it seems they reached a compromise in which he would not move the knight order regardless of what happened. What’s interesting is that a mysterious beauty appeared out of nowhere and has been staying at Jacques Rombel’s quarters.”

A mysterious beauty? This storyline seems awfully familiar… Lea, who had been lightly furrowing her beautiful brow, soon remembered. This was the classic method of that cursed organization.

“A honeypot scheme?”

At Lea’s question, Thomas replied with a slightly surprised look.

“Yes, miss. The woman seems utterly deliberate about it — apparently she wanders through the knight order in a state of near-undress, and by all appearances she has been having relations with Jacques Rombel every night. To be more precise, it would be more accurate to say the woman is violating Jacques Rombel — by all accounts, he does not move in the slightest during their encounters.”

“As I expected.”

Watching her nod as though she had known it would come to this, Luciel asked with a look of surprise.

“Do you know something about this woman?”

“Not the woman herself, but the organization she belongs to — a little? You mentioned that your so-called uncle has allied with some organization. I think it’s the same one I know. The methods are similar.”

“Tell me in detail.”

At Luciel’s request, Lea began explaining what she knew about the organization. By the time she finished, Luciel, Thomas, and even Lanster — who had somehow sat down across from them at some point — all wore grave expressions.

“So in summary, this organization intends to seize the major noble houses and take control of the entire country.”

Watching Lanster speak with a seriousness that didn’t match the image she had formed of him, Lea looked at him with a surprised expression. Catching that look, Lanster made an aggrieved face and glared at Luciel.

“Luciel, you! What are you going to do about my ruined image?”

“What do you mean, what. Simply maintain it as it is. Or… is there some reason you feel the need to make a good impression on my friend?”

For a moment, from those beautiful emerald eyes, a killing intent radiated so thickly that Lanster quietly closed his mouth.

“So the Empire managed to escape their clutches?”

Watching Luciel, who was projecting killing intent at him while turning to the pretty girl beside her with the softest and most gentle expression imaginable, Lanster grabbed the back of his neck — but no one knew of his indignation.

“Not yet. The houses that held out without falling were saved with Father’s help, but there were one or two that had already been taken over… Most troubling is that they seem to have joined hands with the Second Prince. With that and the fact that they tormented a friend of mine, I’ve been thinking about how to bring him down.”

“Hmm… if even a prince is involved, that’s quite a nuisance.”

“Right. Someone like that can’t be allowed to become Emperor.”

At Lea’s firm words, the corner of Luciel’s mouth curved upward.

“Indeed. That must not be allowed.”

With those beautiful emerald eyes, Luciel gave Lea a small smile. Seeing it, Lanster froze entirely, unable to even think about how unseemly his reaction was. A smile… Luciel Lucan Mihael is actually smiling… Reacting exactly as Berchel had before him, he shook his head as though he had witnessed something he shouldn’t have. Lightly ignoring Lanster’s reaction, Luciel turned his gaze toward Thomas. The smile that had just been on his face had vanished without a trace.

“Setting Jacques Rombel aside for now… how does the Council of Elders look?”

Indeed… The smiles are exclusively reserved for that young lady. Thomas stole a glance at Lea, who was sipping her tea, then opened his mouth.

“That’s where things get a bit strange. When we looked into the Council of Elders, there were those who had disappeared. They apparently left letters explaining their reasons for departing and then vanished suddenly — and there was a common thread.”

At the word common thread, Luciel, who had been listening quietly, curled the corner of his mouth into a sardonic smile and spoke.

“Those with influence in the Council of Elders who supported me.”

“That is correct.”

“It’s the only logical move. To remove me from the position of successor next week, they would need to dismantle my base of support. Quite diligent preparations, I must say.”

Watching Luciel speak so matter-of-factly in a situation that warranted anger, Lea reached out and tugged at his cheek, scolding him.

“There you go again, talking as if it’s someone else’s problem. This is your problem, you know.”

“I know. Sorry.”

Seeing Luciel apologize obediently, Lanster gaped without even realizing how undignified he looked. Is this really Luciel? Could this perhaps be someone else wearing Luciel’s skin? While he was pondering that, Luciel leaned back leisurely in his chair and said,

“They’ll have them locked up somewhere. All they need to do is stall for time. They would have used the organization Lea mentioned for that — which means the location they’re hidden in, as well as those guarding them, are very likely to be far from ordinary.”

“So what are you going to do?”

Savoring the sight of Lea’s jewel-like crimson eyes sparkling prettily with curiosity, Luciel smiled. It was a beautiful smile that could have enchanted anyone — but with a hint of danger lurking somewhere within it.

“I suppose I’ll have to cheerfully find what they’ve so carefully hidden away.”

****

On top of a well-built man lying motionless in bed, a dark-skinned woman with bare skin arched her head back, lost in pleasure as she moved. With every one of her fervent movements, her long, lush copper-colored hair and her swaying breasts danced. It was a sight that would have tempted any man — yet from the firmly shut lips of the middle-aged man lying with his eyes closed, not a single sound escaped. Perhaps that very stillness only stoked her desire further; a high-pitched cry tore from the woman’s lips as she moved roughly, like someone riding a horse, until at one point she arched her lower back and shuddered.

“Haaah~~”

Having reached her peak, the woman brushed back the hair plastered to her face with sweat and slowly lifted herself off him. Even after the woman had pulled away, the man’s considerable arousal remained, standing at full attention.

“You stubborn bastard… One would think you’d have c*m at least once by now, yet you keep holding out.”

The copper-haired woman, Merina, fixed her toxin-filled gaze on Jacques Rombel, who still lay with his eyes closed.

She had thought it was utter nonsense to claim that a man’s willpower alone could suppress his carnal desires — until she met this man. It had been half a month since she had begun violating him by threatening him with his daughter’s life, and she had still not broken him. His body clearly responded to her hands and mouth, but it went no further than that. No matter what she did, he would not c*m.

“Well, I suppose I was satisfied enough for my own part.”

Merina licked her lower lip, aroused by the fact that she was able to violate the knight commander of the Mihael ducal house — a man before whom even birds in flight would fall. She resolved to succeed tomorrow without fail, then picked up the robe she had tossed on the floor. Her body was unsatisfied in this state, so she intended to go down to the knight barracks and find a man to her liking.

“See you tomorrow~ Knight Commander~”

Merina went up to Jacques, who was still lying motionless, bit hard on his earlobe, and hummed a light tune as she left the room.

Thud. The sound of the door closing, and then the presence faded. Jacques opened his eyes. His dark navy gaze burned with fury as he slowly rose. Not once in his life had he ever imagined he could be violated in such a manner. The woman called Merina was trying to ensnare him using her voluptuous body. And for that very reason, he refused all the more to give in to her provocations.

“…Yuria…”

He quietly murmured the name of his kidnapped daughter.

His daughter Yuria had grown up lonely after losing her mother at a young age, but she was a good child who never caused trouble and instead looked after him. That was why, even though he knew his duty as the knight commander of the Mihael ducal house, he had been unable to abandon his daughter’s life. In the end, he had negotiated with Cheor. He would permit Merina to do as she pleased with him, in exchange for not mobilizing the knight order. He had believed that at least this way, he could prevent the order from falling into Cheor’s hands. But in accepting that deal, he had failed to protect the one he truly should have — Luciel.

“…Young lord…”

He knew that Luciel had been framed and seized by Cheor. He knew Luciel had fortunately escaped, but that the 6th Unit was in pursuit. And yet he could not take any action — the helplessness and self-reproach bore down on him and he hung his head. He was standing on the edge of a dark cliff from which he could see no way forward.