A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

87 – Closing, Farewell Behind the Scenes (1)

10 PM.

It’s a bit early to say it’s late at night.

“Everyone is gathered.”

My father gathered people in the study.

Mother. Noir. Lettar. Ruby.

Malcolm Deacon. Sir Mente. Sir Robert. Sir Carlos.

Naria, Astasia, Viscount Hex Romana.

And, me.

“From now on, all conversations that take place in this room are prohibited from being leaked outside. In the name of Crimson Gibraltar.”

Boom.

My father set the tone by stamping the sword in its sheath on the floor.

It’s not just about holding weight or anything like that, it’s actually releasing mana and putting pressure on others.

“I ask, and only those I give permission to speak. The rest listen quietly.”

No one can answer.

It is such a serious situation, such a serious situation – it is truly a ‘wartime’.

“Gray Gibraltar.”

“Yes, Your Excellency the Margrave.”

“Report the situation.”

“Yes.”

Everyone is looking at me.

Some people focus on me facing the wall with worried eyes, while others look puzzled.

“To begin with, the enemy attempted to assassinate Princess Naria Geo Nostrum, who was being protected in our territory.”

Those who know are surprised by the contents, and those who don’t know open their mouths and are shocked at Naria.

“The method is brainwashing by wizards using vampires. Baron Archen Gilarus was normal until yesterday, but according to reports, he locked himself in his room since early morning and did not come out. He even skipped the food he ordered for breakfast.”

“Grey.”

“Yes, Your Excellency the Margrave.”

“I don’t quite understand the part where vampires suddenly appeared. Is there any basis for the assumption?”

“There is, but…”

I turned my eyes slightly toward Astasia, and Astasia nodded her head at me.

“As you all know, vampires are demons who live in the northern part of the canyon, in the polluted black territory – the so-called polluted zone.”

“That explanation is-“

“Sir Carlos.”

My father looked towards Sir Carlos.

“I did not allow you to speak.”

“…I’m sorry, Count. And to you, Master.”

Carlos bent his waist 90 degrees.

Towards me.

“It’s okay. It’s definitely not something to explain at length, so I’ll just tell you the main points. It’s just a guess.”

After taking a deep breath for a moment, I pointed to the land adjacent to the contaminated area on the map hanging on the wall.

“It is highly likely that the demons called vampires are closely connected to the empire.”

“…!”

“This is nothing more than a conspiracy theory, but would you like to hear it?”

My father nods.

Since the father has decided to listen, the others have no choice but to listen quietly.

“After Naria Geonostrum was almost killed by Saint Geonostrum, Gibraltar followed the guidance of her Morgania and decided to protect her. And while her time had passed, the Empire was wondering where the princess missing was hiding. I figured it out .”

I pointed to the clock.

“Today is the princess’s birthday. No matter how quietly we hide, we can’t just ignore the princess’s birthday, so we will hold at least a small event. The empire is probably keeping a close eye on all places related to Morgania. They must have been watching Nia ordering cakes from the bakery, or buying gifts that the 13-year-old princess would like.”

Literally, to an excruciating degree.

“But a festival was held in Gibraltar, and one of the maids happened to be a girl with blonde hair and green eyes. Was the person who used the pseudonym ‘Jabeth’ and acted with aphasia really a princess? You couldn’t be sure.”

“But she sent a vampire.”

“There was an opportunity to be sure. This guy.”

I held someone’s portrait.

“Arshen Gilarus. A wizard dispatched to Gibraltar by Morgania.”

“Uhm…”

“Who asked you to send a wizard? I did. It’s my responsibility, so I’ll gladly accept it.”

“That’s… !”

Astasia started shouting without realizing it, but her father firmly rooted her head.

“Who made the suggestion, and I implemented it to fulfill the request, so it’s not something to argue about. In the end, I was the one who approved it.”

“Your Excellency the Margrave.”

“And if you really want to be honest, it can be said that it was my negligence in preparing for not being able to bring in a wizard who could properly set off fireworks at the festival, even though it is an earldom.”

“…Ha.”

If you surround me like this, even if Deacon Malcolm doesn’t-

“Huh…”

Doesn’t Sir Carlos keep looking at me and Noir in turns, unable to close his wide-open mouth and standing still as if he is somehow possessed?

“This is the extent of the situation report, the rest is for future response.”

“What should I do?”

“I think it would be better to talk to my father about this separately.”

“…There doesn’t seem to be any danger outside, but do you think there’s danger inside this room?”

“No, there is none.”

Not to be biased, but there is no smell of silver in this room.

“Okay then. Mente. Carlos. Robert. The three knights guard this room until I return.”

“Yes, Count.”

“Viscount Hex, please also protect His Royal Highness Princess Naria.”

“That’s-“

“Gray said he doesn’t suspect Morgania, and I also don’t think Morgania was behind the assassination.”

There was clear faith in my father’s voice.

“I can’t believe that Carmen sent someone to kill her daughter, even if it was Saint Geo. It would be more likely that Saint Geo was secretly working on that person.”

No matter how many people in the royal family try to kill their family, Carmen wouldn’t do that.

“Even if the person bitten by the vampire was someone prepared by Morgania, I don’t think it was Morgania’s doing.”

I think so too.

“So please rest assured and wait for a while.”

I’m not sure if the people behind it thought it through, but suddenly a crack appeared in the bond between Gibraltar and Morgania.

“Gray. Follow me.”

“Yes, father.”

My father opened the study door and went out, and I immediately followed behind him.

A lot of questioning eyes are focused on my back, and as soon as I leave the study, the servants and knights standing in the hallway also look at me with puzzled eyes.

Jeopuk, Jeopuk.

But my father kept walking.

Basement of the Count’s Mansion.

A different place from the charnel house where the remains of previous counts were collected.

“Is this your first time here?”

“Yes.”

This is my first life, and it is a familiar path, including before returning.

“This is a torture chamber. It’s a dungeon.”

Lettar lived here, and it was a place I needed to visit often.

“It is here.”

My father pointed to a prison room lit by a torch.

“Ah, Count!”

The soldier guarding the tightly closed iron door saluted his father, and as the iron door opened, those inside also took a saluting stance.

“Are you here?”

A blond man dressed differently from the knights of Gibraltar bowed with his hands together.

“Thank you for coming all the way so quickly, Priest Klein.”

“Not much to say.”

A young man wearing a brown habit.

“How can I remain silent when the demonic race that rejects the golden grace has appeared?”

He is a priest of the church, and one of the few priests in Gibraltar, where the church’s power is weak.

“What about the seal?”

“We proceeded thoroughly.”

Inside the prison.

There is something in the shape of a human lying in a fairly wide coffin.

“Arshen Gilarus, the one who became a descendant of the vampires. The sealing is over.”

There is a wooden stake stuck in his chest, and gold coins from Nostrum are attached to the cut pieces of his body.

And in between, there are heaps of gold-like flowers.

His face was split in half, but a gold cloth was covered over it, hiding the disfigurement.

“Good. Could you please leave for a moment?”

“Count?”

“I need to have a long talk with Gray, who dealt with the vampire.”

“That’s…”

“I understand your concerns, priest, but this has something to do with Gibraltar.”

Since my father has shown an overbearing attitude, if I also take action like that, it will be a pain in the future.

“Thanks to the blessings of the Golden Dawn and the Golden Dawn, I was able to control the vampires.”

“…Golden blessing.”

The priest prayed to me and my father and left.

Squeak.

The iron door closed, leaving only me, my father, and the completely dead Baron Archen in the squalid prison room.

“I am.”

My father opened his mouth quietly, releasing mana.

“I thought it was Saint Geo.”

“The incompetent king was possessed by a vampire and tried to kill her daughter?”

“Yes. Wouldn’t that be more persuasive? There is no basis to suddenly talking about the empire.”

“Others have no basis, but I have a basis.”

“…That’s the point, people think you’re strange.”

My father held up Baron Archen’s severed right hand.

“You probably didn’t expect a vampire to show up. If you had, you would have prepared a silver dagger in advance.”

“You know me so well.”

“So this time I was convinced again. That you are not reading the future.”

My father took a moment to catch his breath as if he was lamenting.

“That doesn’t mean he’s a genius.”

“That’s a little disappointing. Do I look like some kind of genius appealer?”

“Let’s just say he’s an acting genius who acts like that.”

“Hmm…”

“Geniuses are usually smart in many ways, but I don’t think you are entirely the same type of genius as Carmen.”

My father tapped his temple with one hand.

“Carmen said in a letter that although she is smart, she still lacks much experience. After you visited the Sirene territory.”

“Why?”

“I said it was because you told such a ridiculous story. It was as if I was sure it would happen in the future.”

“Ah. It’s a story about Gyeongryongjang gambling.”

“Carmen said so.”

My father frowned as if he was saying something he didn’t want to remember for a moment.

“No matter how much of a gambling genius you are, the amount of thaler you can earn from gambling houses is only at the level of one bank, not the entire empire.”

“Hoo.”

“Are you impressed?”

“Yes. Of course I was impressed. The reaction was exactly as my father expected.”

At one time.

When I proposed all these different plans to my father.

“People will feel like a 13-year-old child is talking about a genius-like idea out of his small perspective.”

“…”

“I mistakenly assumed that others had never had such an idea, and that others had already had similar thoughts or had seen through it. Or-“

“Like Lord Cadian Gibraltar, he was a hero who could see the future.”

“…”

Personally, I think it might be a case ‘similar to mine’ rather than having future poetry, but there were no records.

“Gray Gibraltar.”

That’s why I’m more confident.

“You-“

“Does your father think of me as a stupid frog in a well?”

“…No. I know your true identity. I know that you are a savage who is planning even what others see.”

“…”

“What I want to ask about is not that side, but this side.”

My father tapped the stake with Baron Arcene’s severed hand.

“I will not interrogate you for your information. If I do interrogate you, I made an inference based on what I saw in the imperial newspaper and this and that. I will say something like that.”

“It’s a joke.”

“Anyway, you know.”

Rather, because I did not leave more information, I was able to hold a more powerful weapon as a similar case to future generations.

“Tell me something that even I, a frontier white man, don’t know, so that I can understand now.”

“If the Kingdom of Nostrum is called the Land of the Sun-“

“From the conclusion.”

“…Excuse me.”

I’m really supposed to take after my father, but I keep developing habits like someone else.

‘For something useless to the crown prince.’

Would it be better to use my father’s speaking style, cutting back and forth?

Or would it be better to use the emperor’s long-winded way of speaking, mixing all kinds of metaphors and metaphors?

‘Why not mix both?’

All you have to do is choose the good ones.

“The Empire has historically had a close relationship with vampires, and the Empire secretly used vampires as spies. That’s how they ruled and occupied other kingdoms for 500 years.”

“If you were in cahoots with the demons, why didn’t you get caught until now?”

From noble mtl dot come

“Although they are demons, the vampires are similar enough to humans to easily integrate into human society?”

I stretched out my hand towards Arshen Gilarus’ head.

“Monsters whose eyes turn black, lose their senses, and drink blood with a vampiric impulse. Of course, vulgar people are like this, but purebloods and high-ranking vampires will show the same attitude as any noble.”

He removed the golden cloth and pointed to the side of the head that was split in half.

“But all vampires have the same parts.”

“…Ears.”

“Yes. These ears are pointed like an elf. They are like a symbol of a vampire.”

“Are you saying that the person who controlled this person, or made this person a vampire’s descendant, is a noble of the empire?”

“That is literally the realm of conspiracy theories.”

“…I see. Now, to the main point.”

He is also my father.

“Try whatever you want. I will listen.”

“I questioned the white people countless times, but in the end, I was unable to find out the raw materials for the white silver.”

“…No way.”

“But after all this research, I was able to figure out one thing.”

If I had a report, I could have performed by scattering it, but since I didn’t have one, I picked up the golden flowers buried in the coffin instead.

“I found out that half of the silver was somnus powder, but I couldn’t find the other half.”

Then he lifted the candle hanging on the wall and dropped it down.

“I think I found it.”

“…”

“It’s very faint, but the smell is similar.”

Hwareuk.

“This substance, silver powder, is a horse.”

Three years after regression.

“It is a substance made by mixing somnus petals and vampire ashes.”

For the first time, I was throwing out future information with poor probabilities and a plausible basis for predicting the outcome.

“If the source of white silver is the Empire, and one of the raw materials for white silver is a vampire.”

“The Empire is a vicious group that can even recycle the corpses of its soldiers.”

“The bodies of dead vampires can be ground into powder and used to power living soldiers. Wouldn’t it be possible in an empire?”

“…Yes. They are capable of doing that.”

President Astasia and Erwin are foreign, and that is what the empire is all about.

“What.”

With the magic language.

“Or else.”

The most important factor to me.

Obtaining silver.

Achievement.

“Father, there is another problem.”

“What is it?”

“Actually, this may be the most important thing…”

Should I say it?

“This is nothing more than a conspiracy theory based on real imperial newspapers, information about the empire, and intelligence obtained from the Whites.”

I already took a risk and released information about Baek Eun without any basis, but if I talk about this, it may be a bit harsh.

“Say it without hesitation.”

“Princess Naria is no longer in danger.”

“Then?”

But.

Even if my weapon called ‘return’ is revealed.

“…The granddaughter of Astasia is in danger.”

This much needs to be said.

“For the emperor, Astasia, the granddaughter of Emperor Astasia, is a political enemy who must be killed, but to the crown prince, she is his own daughter and a political target who must be protected.”

“…It looks like there are complicated circumstances on that side as well, but what do you mean by it being a political ploy?”

“Astasia von Tersian. She belongs to the next emperor, Habsburg von Tersian.”

The sharpest dagger I have prepared in the three years since Astasia came to our Gibraltar.

“It is the key that will open the gate called Gray Gibraltar.”

To make the crown prince recognize that the beauty world was successful.

A trap designed with more care than anything else.

“No matter what happens, we must protect Emperor Astasia’s granddaughter. She is from the current emperor who has vampires as his minions.”