North x Northwest

“As long as you give him what he wants, Mireille will keep his promise. For him, a pardon is nothing too difficult, you just have to keep your mouth shut until a certain amount of time has passed. Don’t worry about me, I’m in no position to blame you and even if I was I wouldn’t, not when I know the full story.”

‘Listening to her words, it seems that rejecting Mireille’s proposal will only lead to a loss on my side. Especially knowing that she will eventually give the necklace to Mireille through someone else if I don’t do it…’

Maxwell, still hesitant, sought her approval.

“…Is this really okay?”

“I’m not a judge, so don’t try to get confirmation from me. You apologised to Edgar and have suffered enough, so I don’t plan on being strict with your decision. The Duke didn’t demand that you shouldn’t testify, so I leave the decision entirely up to you.”

Lil didn’t test his loyalty. She had no expectations from him other than his human conscience. Maxwell knew that to prove his loyalty, he had to pay for his sins. But he didn’t have the courage. In his own defence, any ordinary human being probably would make the same choice. Rather than swearing his belated loyalty to Lil, he just wanted to escape the entire situation. He just wanted to quickly return to his family and protect them even though it was an unfair choice.

This tiresome, endless fight between nobles wasn’t something he should participate in.

As a result, Maxwell chose the pardon. And he had no regrets…

– – – – – – end of flashback – – – – – – –

‘These days, there are many people who put forward bold ideas, claiming that everyone is equal. I once had such thoughts as well. But no matter how much I insisted that all people are born with the same eyes, nose, and mouth, nothing changed. Just as a man like Jean, Mireille’s lackey, could never be like me and receive a title, I could never pass as a natural-born noble.

But Liloa…

From Kano to Simena, the two Southerners and I moved together with the servants while following her. The male servants’ quarters were always large rooms with several beds… The older one snored horribly, so I woke up a few times. At one of those times, I saw Liloa, looking after the Southerners… I think it was the day before we arrived in Simena… She sat on the floor next to their bed and said a few words… She appeared to be reciting something. Wishing them smooth sailing.

How could Liloa, who had never knelt before the Prince regent of the Archduchy in her whole life, kneel before those humble Southerners and take care of them?

I can’t seem to erase that scene from my mind…’

Maxwell pressed his hood down in an attempt to shake her off. He had to move before he became more caught up in his thoughts. He slammed down on the reins and steered his horse with his back to the Empire. The wind rushed into his face and chest while he kept mentally repeating the same sentence over and over again.

‘…I will live without thinking about anything, focusing only on protecting my family and estate…’

***

The atmosphere in Sesbron took a turn for the worse and everyone was walking on thin ice. After all, most of the smuggled goods were items ordered or tendered by nobles. Among the items were large numbers of artefacts belonging to fallen royal families and collections of bankrupt nobles. Ministers and nobles alike were busy denying that they knew each other. Most representatives of the families claimed that they thought the price paid to the merchant groups already included not only import tax but also toll tax. And that claim was actually not as farfetched as one would think, because more often than not, the smuggled goods sold for a price rivalling the price after customs. Obviously, the profit made from those false tariffs went into the pockets of the merchants.

To emphasise one’s innocence against treason, condemning the traitor was needed. As was it in this case. The nobles joined together to criticise the merchant associations. The owners of the largest, the Duke of Mireille and the Count Lazilière, were immediately imprisoned.

This incident also solidified public opinion that the Duke of Mireille was an ‘unworthy’ match for Lil. Causing Lil to be finally freed from Mireille’s clutches. Ed, on the other hand, made up for his lack of achievements in the southern expedition. The operation had such a large impact, with a loot so massive that the naval officers eagerly divided it amongst themselves, that it was only natural for the dissatisfaction to disappear like snow melting in spring. Seeing the situation of the officers, who participated in Operation Hideout, was like this, the rest of the officers couldn’t remain still and began eagerly tracking other smuggling ships and locating smuggling bases scattered throughout the empire.

This resulted in the Merchant associations going in protest, questioning how the navy could possibly attack the people of the same empire, but in the end, this only further irritated the Emperor. Public opinion could also not be avoided, making the Emperor particularly merciless when it came to the smuggling incident. But anyone could guess that he intended to use this momentum to enrich the national treasury.

Of course, the Emperor tried his best to keep Ed in check as well, however as the person who benefited the most from this discovery was none other than the Emperor himself, he had no choice but to acknowledge him again this time. If the emperor, out of personal reasons, ignored his subject who made a significant contribution, it would be quite shameless of him to do so. He therefore commended Ed and raised the status of the navy on a large scale.

“His Majesty killed two birds with one stone.”

Lil nodded at Ed’s words.

“Indeed. Most of the smuggled goods were repatriated as imperial property, enriching the national treasury. In addition, the nobles who feared being classified as treasonous by His Majesty were kept in check. At first, we only thought of the documents as insurance in case Mireille took a hard line, but the results were truly behind expectations.”

The two finally met and talked about what happened during the time they were apart. Since Annette had been around Lil so much, Ed was only able to meet her by formally inviting her to his mansion.

As Annette threatened that she wouldn’t let Lil’s honour or reputation get damaged, Ed had to first receive permission from the Empress, who claimed to be Lil’s guardian, before very politely inviting Lil to the residence. However, when Lil suddenly showed symptoms of a cold, Ed, — as expected, made a big deal about her accidental sneeze — claiming to be a renowned doctor, declared that he would take care of her all night. Annette could only laugh in vain when Ed sent such a message to the Imperial Palace with a big fuss…

It was almost dawn. As the light was just beginning to spread along the horizon, the bedroom at the Retiro’s residence was still dark. Ed sat at an angle with his back against the pillow, whereas Lil lay in a crooked position with her legs up on top of him and her head resting on his chest. Ed had his gown undone and was as good as naked while Lil was just wearing a negligee. Their activity had been intense last night, so the area around the bed was devastated with fallen pillows and spilt clothes.

Lil glanced at Ed, who was sipping his wine.

“How did you come up with the idea to capture four ships? I mean four ships, how was that even possible?”

“I hate politics. To minimise my engagement, I knew I shouldn’t give it any room.”

Ed put his glass down and smiled as he caressed her knee. With the hem of her negligee already way up, Lil noticed something suspicious in his smile, but chose to ignore it. She raised her upper body instead and asked.

“You knew roughly how they moved, didn’t you?”

“Well…”

“Because you once boarded a smuggling ship.”

Edgar lifted Lil’s knee, kissed it, and muttered.

“…You have me all figured out…”

“I know. But it’s bigger than that right? Has it something to do with your collection back at Roahn?”

“…”

As Lil narrowed her eyes, Ed subtly averted her gaze. His action of pausing rather than answering straight away always made her more curious.

Lil urged him again.

“I heard you’re currently collecting items that are up for auction.”

It was an auction entrusted to the Sesbron Auction Company by government offices in the name of the imperial family. The imperial family auctioned off some of the confiscated smuggled goods in order to solve urgent financial problems. Now, the royal family’s artefacts, works of art, various alcoholic beverages, nobles’ collections, furniture, and real estate, which had become extinct under the imperial rule, came pouring out. Ed, never one to miss an opportunity, he sent his servants to bid on hundreds of pieces in the never-ending auction.

This auction was currently one of Sesbron’s most hottest topics, so there was no way it wouldn’t have reached Lil’s ears.

Ed slowly nodded his head.

“There were too many people involved to make a hasty move. It was just too much of a hassle. I was thinking about personally touching the topic about ‘pirates’ only after seeing the solution…”

“You were right.”

‘Somehow, four ships were swept away in less than a month… Even for an admiral who could fly and crawl, it was a task that was close to impossible…’

– – – – –

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