Chapter 4:
Lady Annabelle
NOW THAT HE was next in line for the Empire's throne, Cleo's life
had changed dramatically.
After leaving the inner palace in the morning, he headed for a room
where he'd meet with those who desired an audience with him. The
meetings took place in a building that served that specific purpose. It had a
large yard, and every room inside was lavishly furnished for all types of
meetings. The place hadn't seen any use until recently, but now it was
utilized morning until night due to the sheer number of people who wished
to speak with Cleo.
Cleo seated himself at the head of a table. In front of him was a
nobleman who'd brought him a gift.
"I'm so pleased to be able to meet with you, Prince Cleo," the
nobleman said. "I'll be able to boast about this for generations to come!"
Cleo made sure to control his expression in front of his visitor. The
nobleman's every movement was exaggerated, making Cleo feel that he
was putting on an act—and not doing a particularly good job of it. They'd
spoken through a monitor a few times before, and the man was proving
just as overenthusiastic in person as Cleo expected. He was already sick of
speaking with him but couldn't let that show on his face.
"I'm happy to see you as well," the prince responded.
Meanwhile, Cleo's guard—his older sister Lysithea Noah Albareto
—emotionlessly reminded the nobleman of the period allotted for the
meeting. "Our time here is limited. Please begin with the matter at hand,
rather than small talk."
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This was beyond rude, but Lysithea made the comment for her
brother's sake. They would meet countless people after this, so they
couldn't spend all their time talking to the man in front of them.
The nobleman bristled for a moment, but quickly grew apologetic.
"Forgive me. The matter at hand, yes... I'd like to request your assistance
in a dispute over territory within my family."
"A territory dispute," Cleo repeated.
"My uncle is unlawfully occupying a portion of my domain. He
claims—falsely—that my father gave him the territory, and he's refusing
to return it to me."
"And you want my help dealing with this," Cleo reiterated. The
matter meant nothing to the prince, but the man clearly felt very strongly
about it. I'm sure he wants me to mediate or something.
As Cleo considered how annoying this request would be, the man
continued, "Yes. I'd like to have Count Banfield or a representative of his
mediate."
"I see." It wasn't Cleo the man had named, but Liam. That irritated
the prince a fair amount, but he couldn't do anything about it.
"Count Banfield's influence within the Empire is quite significant,"
Cleo remarked.
The nobleman before him smiled widely. "Indeed! Word of his
exploits has spread to the very ends of the Empire's territory. If someone
like him mediates on my behalf, I won't have anything to worry about."
Cleo swallowed his complaints. "Very well. I'll pass on your request
to him."
"Thank you so much!"
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***
"Everyone who meets with me only brings up Liam's name," Cleo
grumbled to himself, taking a break after the nobleman departed.
Lysithea remained at his side. As his older sister, she too was
royalty, but she'd willingly become a knight to protect her younger
brother, who had shockingly few allies within the palace. Since she
guarded a prince, her uniform was more ornamented than a typical
knight's—closer to a dress uniform. Before, she'd worn her hair in a tight
bun, but now it flowed long and straight behind her.
"You won't last if you get upset about it every single time," she
said. "These meetings are scheduled down to the second for years down
the line, you know."
As Cleo's position within the royal family improved, more and more
people wished to meet with him. Not just nobles, but merchants and all
sorts of other visitors too.
Cleo didn't particularly enjoy any of their visits. "As soon as I had
the advantage over my brothers, people changed their tune completely."
Lysithea remembered well when Cleo had had no allies whatsoever
to speak of. "Still, it proves how highly everyone thinks of you now," she
said, trying to pacify her brother. "Sure, there are more than a few
suspicious types, but plenty of these people are trustworthy. Don't take
that for granted."
Cleo gazed at the ceiling. "I don't. I get it, really. I'm only here right
now thanks to Count Banfield." The power of House Banfield—Liam,
specifically—was the only reason he hadn't perished in the struggle for the
throne.
Lysithea was relieved that Cleo understood that. "Many nobles want
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to meet with you, and Calvin isn't here right now. More and more people
wish to abandon his faction and join yours instead."
Day by day, an increasing number of people suspected Prince Cleo
might just be the next emperor. Still, it wasn't as if Calvin wielded no
influence whatsoever anymore. Even if Cleo's position in the struggle for
the throne was better now, the gap between the two candidates was by no
means large. His current advantageous position didn't change the fact that
he was one misstep away from losing it all.
"I'm sure it's Count Banfield that everyone really wants to see."
That was probably the case. Still, if the visitors didn't want anything
to do with Cleo himself, they wouldn't have met with him. He could
assume that anyone who bothered arranging a meeting at least wanted to
make themselves known to him.
Lysithea sighed. "There's nothing we can do about that. Count
Banfield is your greatest supporter. If not for the count's money and
military support, who knows where we'd be? I know this can't be fun for
you, Cleo, but don't forget to be grateful to him."
Cleo was complaining so much that Lysithea was getting nervous
about it. She was worried he was unhappy with House Banfield—with
Liam—somehow.
Cleo grinned wryly at her. "I'm just tired from all these meetings, so
I'm grumbling a bit."
"Well, if that's all it is..."
"That's about all the time we have for our break. Let's get our next
meeting finished with, Sister."
"Got it."
Their conversation over, Lysithea turned her back to Cleo and sent a
tablet message to one of her subordinates to admit the next visitor.
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Watching her, Cleo whispered to himself, "In the end, I'm nothing
but the count's puppet."
He couldn't help voicing his complaints. He only had his current
position because of Liam. Every day, he was forced to confront the fact
that he hadn't changed at all from how he used to be; his position on his
own was as tenuous as ever.
I'm just the same as I've always been. I'm still weak.
Their next visitor should be arriving at any moment, but for some
reason, Lysithea looked flustered. She shot a look at Cleo, clearly out of
sorts. "Turn her away at all costs," she was saying into her tablet. "We
won't be meeting anyone who isn't on the schedule."
Someone had apparently forced their way inside to see Cleo. He was
getting nervous when Lysithea sighed heavily and turned to him, an
indescribable look on her face.
"Mother wants to see you."
When Cleo heard who their mystery visitor was, his eyes widened.
"Mother?!"
It was Annabelle Sereh Lengrand—the pair's birth mother, who'd
never once wanted anything to do with them until now. Neither Cleo nor
Lysithea could hide their discomfort at her sudden appearance. Cleo put
his hand to his face, trying to decide what to do. Ultimately, he failed to
produce an answer. "Sister, how ought we to proceed?"
"I'll ask what she wants first. We can decide then."
As Cleo watched, obviously uneasy at his long-absent mother's
appearance, the flustered Lysithea headed outside.
"What is it she wants after all this time?"
He had an idea, of course. But it only irritated him more.
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***
It was hard to describe how Cleo felt after meeting with Lady
Annabelle.
Due to anti-aging technology, the lady's appearance was still that of
a young woman. If not told, no one would guess that she was already old
enough to have grandchildren. She could easily pass herself off as Cleo's
older sister instead of his mother.
She'd worn a distinct, flashy dress with a large decorative collar that
made her look like a frilled lizard. Her hairstyle was distinctive as well,
coiled atop her head like an onion. She seemed the same as in the past—
with one significant difference. Before, she'd had no interest in her
children whatsoever. Now, she sat in front of Cleo and spoke to him with a
friendly smile.
"Oh, Cleo. You've grown so much I hardly recognized you. I've
heard, you know—you have more authority within the palace now than
Prince Calvin. Isn't that right?"
Cleo and Lysithea were bewildered by their mother's cheery mood.
Lady Annabelle was supposed to have shut herself up in the palace, away
from the outside world. Her unique fashion was likely due to her isolation
from the world at large. Yet she hadn't been so isolated that she'd failed to
hear about her son's successes, and now she'd gone out of her way to meet
with him.
Standing behind and to the side of Cleo, Lysithea sent her mother a
sour look. Though Lady Annabelle smiled at Cleo, she hadn't spared
Lysithea so much as a glance.
"Why, at this rate, you may just be the next emperor, Cleo," she
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continued.
"Who can say? It's hardly a done deal at this point."
Annabelle's eyes widened at his wishy-washy response. "What're
you saying?! Calvin may be crown prince, but he's away from the palace
right now. He's left himself wide open while he's off fighting the
Autocracy. You have to take this opportunity to solidify your position!"
She wasn't wrong. With Calvin absent, Cleo should've been
expanding his faction's influence inside the palace, but he had little
involvement in that matter. "It's in Count Banfield's hands."
At the mention of the name "Banfield," Lady Annabelle's gaze
sharpened. It seemed she had some animosity toward House Banfield, if
not Liam himself. "Cleo, I understand why you favor Count Banfield so
much. It's because he supported you when things were hard for you, isn't
it?"
Cleo had to stop himself from barking out a laugh in response. He
thought about answering sarcastically but weathered that urge as well. "I
suppose so, yes."
Unlike someone who abandoned us, he spat inwardly. Still, he said
nothing further aloud, so as not to start a fight with his birth mother.
Lady Annabelle seemed to pick up on his feelings anyway. "I truly
regret what I did. It must've been so hard on you. I know I should've left
you in my family's care all those years ago." Seeming truly apologetic, she
squeezed Cleo's hand in hers.
Behind Cleo, Lysithea scowled at her audacity, muttering, "You
think you can just..."
Annabelle didn't appear to hear her. "Still, it's not good to rely on
someone so completely. If you continue to depend on House Banfield, it
will cause problems for your reign."
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"I'm sure it will, but..."
If Cleo succeeded to the throne under these circumstances, House
Banfield would become a problem. There could be no greater achievement
for them than raising Cleo to the throne. He would owe them
tremendously, which would force him to give them preferential treatment,
affording them ludicrous influence within the Empire. House Banfield
would rule within the palace, and Cleo wouldn't be able to govern without
their approval.
But if Cleo treated them coldly after they helped him become
emperor, his own reputation would suffer. His rule would prove unstable if
no one trusted him to reward faithful service.
Either way, betraying House Banfield at this stage would only
weaken the standing of Cleo's faction, reducing his influence within the
palace. Then he'd have very few moves left to make. Cleo was entirely
reliant on just one entity—House Banfield. But that was something he'd
had to accept from the very beginning.
"If not for House Banfield, Mother, I most likely wouldn't be
meeting with you like this."
In the end, he had no choice but to rely on them.
That was, until Lady Annabelle presented him with a new option.
"You were just desperate to survive, weren't you?" she replied. "But now
your position isn't as weak as it was."
"What're you saying? What do you think I can—"
Before he could ask what she envisioned him doing, Lady
Annabelle's voice drowned his out. "Make use of House Lengrand. You
don't need to abandon Count Banfield entirely; just come to rely on House
Lengrand a bit more, little by little. By doing so, you can prevent Count
Banfield from holding all the cards."
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"Wha—?!" This shocked interjection came from diagonally behind
Cleo. "Don't listen to her, Brother! The nobles won't accept a sudden
power shift to House Lengrand!"
Cleo took Lysithea's counsel seriously, but he couldn't help
thinking, Is it really wise to keep relying entirely on Count Banfield?
Would it so bad to achieve a bit more balance via House Lengrand?
House Lengrand had only approached Cleo when the possibility that
he might become the next emperor arose, so they were hardly worthy of
trust. Still, the idea of using them to somewhat offset Liam's power
seemed solid enough to ignore that. Liam's influence was so great that
Cleo considered accepting the suggestion, despite House Lengrand's
untrustworthiness.
If I don't do anything, I'll never be more than a puppet. I don't
intend to resist that. I don't, but... Surely, I can at least make a
preliminary move for my own future's sake, can't I?
In the end, he decided to accept House Lengrand's assistance in
order to weaken Liam's position, and to somewhat mitigate his own sense
of inferiority.
"Where's the harm? House Lengrand's blood flows through my
veins as well. The other nobles wouldn't like me abandoning my blood
relatives either, would they?"
Lysithea wasn't sure what to say to that. It was true that noble
society placed great value on blood ties, so Cleo would come off as
untrustworthy if he abandoned his relationship with his birth mother's
family.
"That may be true," she said, "but how do you intend to explain this
to Count Banfield?"
"I'm sure if I'm up front with him about it, he'll understand." My
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position is still inferior to his, but I can't remain his puppet forever.
Thus, House Lengrand secured its position within Cleo's faction.
***
"I suppose you've got it rough too," Marion told me one day while I
was busy at work.
I wasn't sure what to say to that vague statement. I could outright
ignore it, but then Marion would probably just go on endlessly, so I
decided to humor him.
"In what way?" I asked.
Marion leaned forward giddily. He must've been quite interested in
whatever he was about to bring up. "With House Lengrand, I mean.
Everyone's heard about Randy's meeting with Prince Cleo at this point."
He pulled up a holographic display on his tablet. It seemed to show
something like the internet forums from my former life. Onscreen, all sorts
of people anonymously discussed rumors within the palace. Most were
baseless nonsense, but every so often, someone posted something true.
Thus, you couldn't write it all off.
Marion was showing me a discussion about Cleo and Randy's
rumored meeting.
"Prince Cleo's supposed to have meetings booked years in advance,
but he made a special exception to see House Lengrand's heir."
"So his birth mother's family is finally getting involved now?"
"It's definitely a bit late at this point. But it feels like there's some
reason he'd meet with them now."
"He's probably sick of how Count Banfield's been acting."
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"Everyone knows hick nobles from out in the middle of nowhere
have no manners."
"Let's just hope the count goes home and holes up in his own
domain as soon as his training's over."
"That war-crazy idiot should stick to fighting and keep out of
anything else."
There were a lot of posts bashing me as well. Since Marion had
gone out of his way to show me this, he'd been expecting something from
me. Did he want me to get angry?
I ignored the posts and got back to my "work." "Is that all you
wanted to show me? I'm busy at the moment, so could you leave me
alone?"
Marion's shoulders slumped. He must've been disappointed that he
couldn't get a rise out of me. "If you want to look for the people who
wrote those comments, I'll help you," he said. "Not that you need my help,
I'm sure, with the intelligence operatives at your disposal."
If I'd wanted to, I could've tracked down and disposed of every
single one of the idiots disparaging me in that thread. Kukuri and his men
would no doubt have handled it cleanly. I had no time for anything like
that, though.
"They can write what they like. I have no interest in gossip." I
closed my mouth and got back to work.
Marion gave me an exasperated look. "Diligent as always, aren't
you? It doesn't matter what you say—you can't hide that natural
diligence."
This guy doesn't understand me either. Me, diligent? He must be
blind. "Did you want to make me angry by showing me those
scribblings?"
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"That's right. I thought you'd go find the culprits and eviscerate
them."
Who exactly do you think I am? So many people badmouth me in
this universe. If that was all it took to get my goat, I wouldn't last a
second. I could only imagine what the residents of my home planet said
about me behind my back. It was natural for citizens to badmouth
politicians.
"Sorry, but I don't have time to humor you." If I were free, I
wouldn't have minded hunting down the people who'd written those posts,
but I really was busy at the moment.
"Too bad. I was looking forward to watching you fly into a rage."
While we talked, Randy approached, wearing a flashy suit as
always. For some reason he looked triumphant as he spoke to me. "Do
these as well, would you, Liam?"
A considerable amount of holographic data displayed before me as
he tossed the work assigned to him and his lackeys to me.
"What's this supposed to be?" I asked, my eyes flashing at him.
Randy gave me a nasty grin, apparently playing a childlike prank on
me despite his age of almost two hundred. "Since we're in the same
faction and all, we should help each other out, shouldn't we? And we're
rather busy over here, so would you handle our share of this work? You
specialize in busy work like this, don't you?"
He thinks I'm just a grunt, does he?
With that, Randy took his underlings and left. Even those lackeys of
his sneered at me as they walked off.
"Best of luck, Mr. Diligent."
"Sure helps to have talented friends, doesn't it?"
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"You better finish all that."
My eyes widened at the attitude Randy's flunkies were showing me.
I couldn't believe there were still people who'd act that way toward me. I
found myself wondering whether I should reassess them. After all, it took
serious guts for them to hassle me when they all knew their positions were
far inferior to mine. Of course, I couldn't discard the possibility that they
were just that stupid. Looking at them really sent home that people didn't
fundamentally change, however impressive an education nobility afforded
them.
Now that they'd forced all that work onto me, Marion seemed to
pity me. "Want help?"
I sighed and looked over the data Randy had given me. "It's no
problem. Just do your own work."
I decided to play nice for now.
...For now.
***
Lady Annabelle had summoned her nephew Randy. They met at a
facility just outside the palace where the emperor's concubines could see
their families.
Randy nervously informed Annabelle of Liam's movements. "He
hasn't taken the bait, despite how arrogant I've been toward him. It's hard
to believe he did all the things they say during his training assignment."
Randy couldn't be called talented, even as flattery. Not having
finished his training at almost two hundred displayed his lack of foresight;
in addition, there was nothing in particular he excelled at. His abilities in
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any area compared unfavorably to those of bureaucrats in his workplace
hired for their talent.
All this was after he'd used education capsules too. Following that
process, he'd slacked off with rehabilitation and practice, so he hadn't
improved as much as he was meant to. Overall, he'd received the best
education his noble rank could grant him, yet he had nothing to show for
it. Of course, even Randy was superhuman compared to a commoner, but
there was a huge divide between what he and Liam were capable of.
Lady Annabelle sighed at the waste-of-space nephew before her.
"Be careful as you continue to observe him."
"Of course. So when will House Lengrand be in charge of Cleo's
faction?"
All Randy was concerned with was rising to the top of Cleo's group.
Lady Annabelle shook her head, disgusted by her nephew's lack of
comprehension of the facts.
"What's wrong, Aunt Annabelle?"
"Use your head a little, will you, Randy? When exactly did I say
we'd support Cleo? We'll dismantle his faction from the inside. It's what
he would have us do, after all." Lady Annabelle had never intended to help
Cleo from the get-go.
Randy blustered at this news. "But if we do that, there's nothing in it
for House Lengrand!"
"Calm down. I'll make sure we get something out of it."
Randy did his best to figure out what that meant. "Are you saying
you have a connection to Prince Calvin? He'd benefit most from Cleo's
failure." Calvin obviously stood to gain if Cleo dropped out of the
succession conflict, so Randy assumed his aunt Annabelle had some
association with the crown prince.
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However, Lady Annabelle didn't answer his question. After all, she
couldn't trust Randy enough to give him that information. If he thought
Calvin was behind this, letting his misconception stand was fine with her.
"Just keep observing Liam. If he gives you an opportunity, take him out.
But I want you to be very careful. I assume you're aware of how many
other nobles he's crushed before now? You can't allow him to get the
better of you."
Randy nodded, sweating slightly at Lady Annabelle's warning. "O-
of course."
"Good. I know I'm repeating myself, but don't take your eyes off
Liam. That brat's seriously dangerous."
Since Liam had made short work of any number of aristocrats, Lady
Annabelle was incredibly wary of him, and extremely anxious about
having to leave this matter to her nephew.
Randy held his head high, oblivious to her concern. "Never fear.
I've found the perfect person for the job. With them on our side, we won't
have to worry."
"'Perfect person'? This person works for you, correct?" Annabelle
asked sternly.
Randy didn't even notice her expression change. "No, but there's no
need for concern. I was the one who found them, after all."
Lady Annabelle put a hand to her face. Could she really just trust
this to her incompetent nephew? Her anxiety was only growing. Sighing,
she decided she'd just have to look into things herself. "Tell me who this
person is. I'll do some digging of my own."
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