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Chapter 30
Deneb Pilius, the second prince, is one of two sons of the first Empress, Eli Pilius. She was the eldest daughter of the ducal family, Valencia.
He is supported by the Duke of Valencia, who is known to be the richest man in the whole Pilias Empire, thanks to the large number of port cities in his domain.
Deneb, the Second Prince, spends gold like water and took control of the Underworld of the Pilias Empire, so countless assassins followed behind him.
Of course, gold alone would not have dominated the Underworld of the Pilias Empire.
There was a true Master of the Underworld behind him, but very few people know about this fact.
“Lord, we have a visitor from ‘Deep Night'”
Late at night, a black-uniformed Shadow Squad member came in front of the bedroom of the second prince Deneb and to politely inform him of a new guest’s visit.
Deneb, who was sitting by the window reading, looked up. It’s already past midnight and he was quite tired, but he can’t let the guest from the “deep night” waiting
“Guide him first to the lounge room, I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Yes, Lord.”
He is a valuable guest, he can’t greet him in his pajamas.
At Deneb’s words, the Shadow Squad bowed his head and stepped back. Soon after, it was reported that a guest had arrived at the lounge room.
After changing clothes, Deneb immediately went to the lounge room.
“You guys stay out.”
Upon arriving at the lounge, the second prince sent three guards guarding outside.
He knew it may be unsafe facing this person without any protection, but the fewer people who knew about him, the better.
“You are finally here, Your Highness the Second Prince.”
Entering the spacious lounge, a woman dressed in black walked out of the corner dark, spoke with a calm voice.
She looked straight at Deneb, the second prince, with a cold attitude.
“You’ve been informed on what happened on the border, haven’t you?”
“The situation is not good.”
“Yes, it is. The Fifth Prince had rescued Marquis Crayer, who was on the verge of execution. Thanks to that, his status in front of the border army and marquis has risen to the sky.”
Milsa couldn’t deny it anymore. The Fifth Prince was really considered to be a border hero.
“The Marquis should have been killed, not captured alive.”
There was a sense of regret in Deneb’s voice. The words twisted the corners of Milsa’s mouth.
“Weren’t the one who will rule this empire, your Highness the second Prince? I think you’re taking their lives too lightly.”
Her words may have shown some concern but there was sarcasm in it. Hearing her words, the face of the second prince remained unshakable.
“I can do more to become an emperor.”
Milsa could feel a strong desire to be the emperor from the answer of the second prince. She had a faint smile around her mouth because she knew this will be his answer.
Without his greed to become the emperor, he would not been ablt to attract foreign powers to support him.
“Since ancient times, the nobles of the Northeast have been united under a single leadership with the Marquis Crayer, a prestigious knight family. They have always shielded the Empire from the sharp Spearheads of the Triple Alliance. Marquis Crayer is an aristocrat who has a big influence. He will soon declare his support for the Fifth Prince and the other northeastern nobles will follow suit.”
Milsa explained. Deneb couldn’t hide his angry look.
“This may have happen according to the calculation of the Fifth Prince when he saved Marquis Crayer at his own risk.”
“Raymond, I didn’t expect him to be this scheming…….”
The First Prince, the Third Prince, and even the Fourth Prince he has put someone on watch, but when it comes to the Fifth Prince, who was a scoundrel, he didn’t think it was worth it to send his men over.
But it turned out this was his biggest mistake. Now, Raymond had a sharper blade than the First Prince.
“Wouldn’t it be better to kill him?”
“I will leave it to the judgment of Your Highness, the Second Prince.”
Deneb said questionably, but the answer was already set.
Knowing that, Milsa grinned and avoided giving a clear answer.
“I’ve made up my mind, I’ll have to remove him.”
As expected, the answer was already set from the beginning. Milsa nodded and opened her mouth.
“Do you want me to create a stage for you?”
“I’d like you to support the assassins. I can only fill it with my own people, but it could lead to suspicion.”
“Do you intend to use the Triple Alliance again?”
“It would align with  your kingdom’s interest if I became emperor.
The Deep Night envoy had no answer. She just grinned. A heavy, quiet silence lasted for more than five minutes. Finally, Milsa opened her mouth first.
“I’ll call the higher ups.”
The envoy left the lounge first. Deneb shook his head with a short sigh. He may have borrowed the power of foreign powers to become an emperor, but he was still reluctant to trust them completely.
‘When the time comes, I will cut off our connections.’
If he succeed to get the throne with the help of power of foreign powers, there would soon be a limit to his own power. So Deneb was preparing to sever his relationship with the “deep night” as soon as his position in the race for the throne became somewhat solid.
He was moving discreetly and cautiously, but “deep nights” are by no means easygoing. They actually knew everything.
“Silvia.”
“Did you find it?”
Unlike other members of the Second Crown Prince’s Shadow Squad, who had a gloomy auras, the color of her hair guves off light  But at the same time, a person woukd feel chills when looking at her.
She is an elf with platinum wavy hair that reaches her shoulder.
Her soulless green eyes looked at Deneb.
“You’ve got work to do.”
“Your Highness, I thought you’d free my sister and the leader after the banquet.”
“Didn’t things go wrong because you made a mistake? So that’s deal it’s invalid.”
Sylvia bit her lips to the point where blood leaked out. She managed to resist the swearing that was about to pop out of her mouth.
She felt powerless at tye leash that was holding her own, she wanted to rebel but the second prince was currently holding in captive the most important people for her, so she had no choice but to follow.
“So, what do you want me to do?”
Sylvia asked carefully. What is he going to order this time?
There seemed to be a storm of trials ahead, so she had no choice but to close her eyes.
How long should she have to wait in order to free her sister and father. The second prince opened his tightly closed mouth.
“I heard your clan has a stronghold in the forests of the northeast.”
“Yes, it is.”
She suddenly felt uneasy.
“You must be familiar with the geography of the Marquis Crayer’s domain”
“Yes….”
She didn’t want to be in the same place as the second prince anymore.
If she had to comply with the order anyway, she wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.
“Go to the Black Mountains with my assassins.”
“What should I do there?”
As expected, the destination was the Black Mountains, one of the most dangerous places in the whole continent.
“This time, you’ll just show the way again.”
That was it. The second prince did not say much. All that’s left is to hear orders from assassins under his wing.
* * *
Despite being busy thinking about Elphis and the Apocalypse, Raymond stepped down from the Black Mountain together with Marquis Crayer with his men.
A Knights from the Marquis Crayer led the 500 cavalry to the border in order to escort the Marquis.
They lowered their heads from their horses in unison, as they met the Fifth Prince and Marquis Crayer coming down from the borders of the mountains.
“The Fifth Prince! Welcome back to the land of Marquis Crayer!”
It was an enthusiastic welcome unlike their first time. Seeing their lively greetings Raymond turned his head toward Marquis Crayer, who was next to him, and grinned.
Nothing has been said, but the Marquis Crayer must be well aware of the meaning behind that grin.
“Your Highness, the hero of the Northeast, will not be treated as an outsider while you stay at Crayer.”
Marquis Crayer said. It was also a way to redeem himself from the past who had been imprudent.
Unlike when he first came to the Northeast, Raymond, was not only a hero who rescued Marquis Crayer, but also the hero who played an important role in the Black Mountains against the Fresyrians.
If there was any negligence in dealing with him, he will specifically punish them.
They arrived in the central city of Crayer, escorted by the Border Army. The gates were wide open and people were waving flowers and imperial flags on both sides of the boulevard. The soldiers were controlling, but the atmosphere was so intense that they were facing difficulties.
Each if the buildings’ rooftop were also full of people in order to see the face of the Fifth Prince. All the doors and Windows of the houses facing the main street were wide open, and people were waving handkerchiefs and flags as their heads were sticking out.
“Long live the Pilias!”
“Hurray for the Fifth Prince!”
‘As expected, my calculations were accurate.’
As he watched the cheering crowd, Raymond lifted the corners of his mouth. Marquis Crayer was really a popular lord in the northeast.
Although he did not join the ranks of the Great Duke, many aristocrats gathered under the banner of Marquis Crayer, and the commoner supported him.
‘At least the Northeast won’t antagonize me with this.’
Marquis Crayer is a Noble who establishes close relationship.
He can tell by the setting of the novel.
Raymond drove his horse into the middle of the wide road, confirming once again that his choice was not wrong.
The children ran out and sprayed petals on Raymond’s path.
Indeed, there was no such thing as a grand return ceremony. The welcoming crowd led them till the centre of the city.
Since the entry of commoners is limited in the inner parts, the welcomed army thought it would end here, but it was just an illusion.
“Welcome, Fifth Prince!”
Knights dressed in neat uniforms lined up along the road.
They gathered to thank Raymond, the Fifth Prince, for saving their Lord with his knights.
Unlike when he first entered the central city, they were full of favorable views on him now.
Raymond’s group, which passed through the inner city with welcoming greetings from the knights, finally reached Castle.
“A welcome dinner will be soon ready.”
Marquis Crayer said as soon as he crossed the castle gate of the Castle. Raymond nodded gladly because this was his anticipated development.
All of Raymond’s aides attended the dinner. Whether it was prepared with sincerity, the level of cooking served during the dinner was high.
At the recent feast of fine cuisine, which was not usually seen during their times in Black Mountains, the Blue Tower Master moved his fork and knife with tears.
“We are in front of His Highness the Fifth Prince. Keep your dignity.”
The Master of the Red Tower reprimanded him, but it was useless. The Blue tower has already lost his head in front of the high-quality cuisine. Raymond just laughed at him and shook his head.
At the end of the dinner, Raymond went to the terrace with Marquis Crayer together a bottle of liquor.
In a light silence, each other’s glasses were filled with wine.
“Fifth Prince.”
When about half of the first glass was emptied, Marquis Crayer broke the silence first. Raymond, who was looking at the side below, raised his head.
“I want to thank you again.”
“I think you’ve already done it many times on the way here from the border.”
“I don’t think it’s a proper thank you if I said it while injured.”
Marquis Crayer rose from his chair and bowed politely.
“To be honest, my first impression of you was bad. But who would have thought you would be the first person to come and save me when my life is in danger.”
Marquis Crayer’s voice trembled. If he had been brutally murdered by the ghost army, the marquis right now would have been his eldest son, Cron.
Cron is a talented knight, but he was not yet a capable lord. He still need to learn many things. If he had become lord in such a young age, it would not have been easy to deal with the large domain of the Crayer.
“I save you because of his majesty and the Pilias Empire.”
“Of course I know, Your Highness the Fifth. But since you saved my life, I think I’ll still need to show my outmost sincerity.”
In the novel’s setting, Marquis Crayer’s homely attitude was to establish a relationship with the Imperial Family.
“Get to the point.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Marquis Crayer saw the butler standing behind him and asked him to bring something.
I’m sure it is something he will give return for saving his life.
As Marquis Crayer delivered it himself, it would never be a useless reward, so Raymond waited calmly, calming his pounding heart.
Soon, the butler step forward at the Marquis Crayer’s word and carefully gave a box to Raymond.
“Your Highness has saved our Marquis Crayer. Therefore, I will give you an artifact, which has been in our family for generations.”
When the cover was opened, a white ring with cold energy appeared.
‘Is this even possible?”
The rewards was greater than expected. There is only one artifact in the novel setting that gives of such a cold energy among the artifacts that the Crayer family possess.
That’s what…
“To His Highness the Fifth, I offer you this ‘ Ice Spirit Guardian’.”
It is the only First Class tool in the whole Pilias Empire.
***
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