Chapter 74: 73

“What did you say? Marriage proposal?”

Blanche’s eyes widened because of the unexpected news. Even Marquis Medus couldn’t hide his surprised expression. He had just heard that Khalid had expressed his feelings toward Renato a little while ago. But a sudden proposal out of nowhere? Blanche looked at Renato with a confused face.

“Was the confession you said a while ago a marriage proposal? Did the grand prince propose to you that day?”

“No, I have never received a proposal.”

Renato hurriedly waved his hand with a look of bewilderment. Blanche fiercely raised his eyes towards him. Judging Renato’s expression, it seemed he really didn’t know, but something felt suspicious. Just as Blanche was about to question him again, Caleb opened his mouth in a timely manner.

“There is no time to delay. Let’s go to the main palace.”

“Father.”

When Caleb urged them, Blanche called Marquis Medus to ask what to do. The Marquis got up from his seat and said while straightening his clothes.

“For now, the two of you should go to see His Majesty the Emperor. In the meantime, I will take a look at the situation.”

“All right.”

Blanche struggled to fix his disheveled expression when Marquis Medus told him what to do. Renato also asked Louis to bring his jacket with a nervous face. Soon, the two left the Marquis behind and went to the main palace with Caleb.

That day, news spread throughout the capital that Khalid had formally proposed to Renato.

* * *

“This is absolutely unacceptable!”

The day after Khalid formally proposed to Renato, Maximo, with a more haggard face than usual, came to visit Marquis Medus. The Marquis frowned at Maximo’s rude behavior of shouting at him without saying his greetings.

“What do you mean by unacceptable?”

“The 1st Prince’s marriage! I am against it!”

Maximo raised his voice with a reddened face. Recalling yesterday when he heard the news, the back of his head still hurt. As soon as he heard the news, he immediately ran to the Prince’s Palace. However, Renato was absent because of Tristan’s call.

‘His Imperial Highness has gone out.’

This morning was also in vain. He couldn’t sleep all night and immediately went to visit, but the Prince’s Palace’s gatekeeper blocked Maximo, saying that Renato was out. He didn’t believe the gatekeeper and had a quarrel, then only turned away after confirming that the guard knight and the chief attendant who were always with Renato weren’t there. And then, he headed straight to the Marquis’ mansion.

“They haven’t met for long, but he already proposed? I’m sure he is up to something!”

“You are too excited, young Duke. Calm down a bit.”

Unlike Maximo with a flushed face, Marquis Medus was calm. He called the butler to bring tea and sat down on the sofa in his office. Then, he beckoned Maximo to sit down.

“I don’t understand why you are against it. If the grand prince becomes the Prince’s companion, he will be a great help to us. If he joins us, we can quickly gain the military force that was lacking compared to the imperial faction.”

“That kind of measly military force……!”

“Measly? The Black Wolf Knights Order led by the grand prince is one of the strongest on the continent. In particular, it is said that each member of the special unit within the Knights Order has skills that are equal to a hundred people. Not to mention the grand prince’s ability.”

“Ugh.”

Maximo was momentarily speechless and bit his lower lip. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his agitation, before opening his mouth again.

“Don’t you think this kind of situation is strange, my lord? It has only been two months since the grand prince became the diplomatic ambassador. Why would he suddenly propose to His Imperial Highness like that?”

“Hmm, it is definitely too urgent.”

Marquis Medus nodded his head in agreement with Maximo. To him, Khalid’s proposal also felt too abrupt. So yesterday, he hurriedly sent out people to investigate as well. But there was nothing particularly suspicious about it.

Just in case, he commissioned the famous information guild ‘Shadow of the Night’ to purchase an information book detailing Khalid’s actions over the past two months. According to the information the guild sent after a few hours, it seemed that Khalid had fallen in love with Renato.

After closely collating his aide’s report and the guild’s information book, he tentatively concluded that Khalid seemed to have Renato in his heart.

“The grand prince must have proposed for some irreverent purpose. So……”

“Well, does it really matter if that is the case?”

“Pardon? Do you mean it doesn’t matter?”

“It doesn’t matter if the grand prince proposes to the Prince for another purpose. Marriages of people with noble blood are originally like that. As long as we exchange what we need, it is enough.”

“……So do you mean that you are in favor of the Prince’s marriage, my lord?”

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“Of course. Anyone can see that it is beneficial to us.”

Marquis Medus answered in a tone saying that Maximo was asking something obvious. Hearing his answer, Maximo opened his mouth wide as if he was betrayed. The Marquis looked at him pathetically.

If he doesn’t have the ability and has a terrible personality, he should at least be smart and calculating. Marquis Medus cursed Maximo inwardly. He had no one to put forward except for Maximo, so he inevitably had to choose him, but seeing what the man was doing right now made him feel dissatisfied.

“What do we lack right now? It’s military power. And the grand prince has it. If a civil war breaks out over the next throne, his military force will be of great help.”

“Civil war? Didn’t you say that you would proceed as quietly as possible?”

“I would like to do so as well, but…… the situation isn’t good.”

Marquis Medus’ voice became heavy. Originally, he intended to poison Tristan and Trudy. In the line of succession to the throne, Maximo’s rank was 6th, but Archduke Acet in the 3rd rank would soon have his 60th birthday, while Duke Florence in the 4th rank hoped that his son would become Emperor and not him.

In the case of their biggest obstacle, Margrave Penno in the 5th rank, he basically had no succession rights anymore after swearing to defend the border until his death. Therefore, when Tristan and Trudy died, Maximo would naturally become the next Emperor according to the order of succession to the throne.

So Marquis Medus planned to poison both of them. Because he had already succeeded in killing Ludmilla by creating a poison that wasn’t found in tests, he was confident.

But he failed again and again. After years of failure, he realized he had hit a wall. To overcome it, he looked for talented people who could be used as assistants at the Imperial Academy, but there was no one to his liking.

A thesis written by a teaching assistant who was expelled from the academy because of a disgraceful incident years ago caught his eye, but no one knew that person’s whereabouts. He already sent someone to look for that person, but there was still no news.

“What do you mean?”

“It is just like what I said. You also know that the Emperor has been attending state affairs conferences more frequently these days than before, right? His closest vassals, Prime Minister Elaine and Marquis Kyle, have started cracking down on the imperial faction’s nobles, too.”

“Ah.”

“I thought he would collapse with the Imperial Consort’s death, but it is the opposite. He must have come to his senses because of the thought that he couldn’t lose even the 2nd Prince. The palace doctors planted in the main palace reported that he is actively engaged in depression and rehabilitation treatment.”

“Then what will happen?”

“What else will happen? The reason we have grown in strength over the past few years is that the Emperor was a toothless tiger. Even if he was injured, a beast is still a beast, so we must not let our guard down. If the Emperor’s body recovers even a little, he will be extremely troublesome in the future.”

Marquis Medus stared at Maximo as if asking how he could not know something like that. Maximo clenched his teeth when facing the gaze filled with disdain toward him.

“In three years, the 2nd Prince will turn 10. By then, his fairy blood will fully manifest, and the Emperor will try to make the 2nd Prince the Crown Prince. If we don’t get rid of the two before then, it’s going to be a prolonged battle. We will have to be prepared for a civil war as well.”

“So you mean that we should accept the grand prince’s proposal? What about His Imperial Highness’ opinion?

“The Prince of course will obey our orders. Has he ever refused before?”

The Marquis countered with a tone saying Maximo was asking an unusual question. Renato’s opinion was not something for him to consider.

“I looked into it, and it seems that the grand prince is very kind to the Prince…… so he might actually like that. He didn’t seem to hate it yesterday either.”

Hearing the Marquis’ murmur, Maximo clenched his fists so hard that his nails dug deep into his palms. Khalid and Renato’s kiss vividly came to his mind. That memory had haunted him like a never-ending nightmare for the past few days.

Recalling the red eyes staring at him and the pheromone pressing his body, Maximo involuntarily trembled. His knees still wobbled when thinking about that moment. At the same time, a violent rage rose in his head.

“Anyway, unless something else happens, the marriage to the grand prince will proceed. You should understand that too.”

“But……!”

“Oho. I explained to you so kindly, yet you still say something like ‘but’?”

Marquis Medus raised his voice, annoyed by Maximo’s attitude of constantly nitpicking at his words. Suppressed by his attitude, Maximo closed his mouth. With a small click of his tongue, the Marquis soothed Maximo with a somewhat soft voice.

“I know what you are worried about. I’m not unconditionally in favor of this marriage either. But we have to think about the good cause. Politics means we have to accept even a dark-hearted guy on our side if it is beneficial to us. Of course, we still have to put on a leash so that he won’t bare his teeth later.”

Marquis Medus benevolently smiled and tapped Maximo’s shoulder.

“So think positively. Hmm? This will only be good for you and never cause you harm. Rather, you should thank the Prince for making this opportunity possible.”

“I……”

“Hmm, by the way, I didn’t expect the Prince to have a knack for that. Thinking back to when I had to bow my head to the arrogant dominant Omegas to get the Prince engaged, tsk. If I had known this would happen, I would have searched among the Alphas earlier.”

No longer intending to listen to Maximo, Marquis Medus muttered to himself. Maximo clenched his teeth hard enough to make a gritting noise when the Marquis openly ignored him. The inside flesh was wounded and a metallic smell spread in his mouth, but he didn’t even realize it. His vision was burning red with rage. Maximo managed to resist the desire to grab the Marquis by the neck and strangle him at any moment.

“I understand what you mean, my lord. I apologize for being rude by coming here without contacting you.”

“It’s alright. Something like that can happen, well.”

“……Thank you very much for your generosity. I will be heading back now.”

Maximo barely suppressed the rage that had reached his chin, spat out a greeting, and turned around. He came out of the Marquis’ mansion with a hideously contorted face. It seemed that he would have to talk to Renato directly to prevent this marriage.

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