Inside the office of the Bestir Empire’s Second Prince, Shurus. The words of the person who had burst into the office weren’t something that could be simply ignored.

In the silent office, Shurus was the first to speak.

「What did you just say? I sounded like you just said Crimson was here.」

You do know what will happen if you’re joking, right? It was a question that held that implication, but the noble responded without showing any signs of being intimidated.

「A mage subordinate of mine has the ability to sense the magic power of others. It’s a rare ability, but they reported that they sensed Crimson’s magic power inside the castle due to their ability.」

「……The ability to sense magic power, huh? I have heard that there are people with such an ability, but are you sure it’s Crimson’s magic power?」

「Yes. They sensed Crimson’s magic power directly during the fighting tournament, so I’m sure there’s no doubt. And……」

The noble, who had spoken with confidence up until now, suddenly grew silent.

「What’s wrong? If there’s something else, don’t worry about it, just tell me.」

「……That is, I wasn’t completely convinced by the report myself, but Crimson’s magic power is so great that it can’t be mistaken. Anyone with the ability to sense magic power will not be able to mistake it.」

Shurus twitched at the noble’s words.

He took a deep breath, in an attempt to vent his irritation, as he called out to the noble again.

「Well, why are you only saying this now? If Crimson’s magic power is so strong that it can’t be mistaken, why didn’t you just say that to begin with?」

「Uh……the mage was scared when they sensed Crimson’s magic during the fighting tournament and locked themselves inside their own room ever since……they were a timid person to begin with.」

「Even if they’re timid……well, whatever. Since you reported it to me in the end, it’s better than doing nothing. ……Dune.」

「Y-Yes!」

Dune responded to Shurus in a bit of a panic, not having expected to be called out.

「It seems like the robed person you said was with the White Rose Knights was Crimson. It’s almost certain.」

「……The robed person was Crimson? But I’ve met Crimson before!」

「Yes, I know. The Unicorn Knights complained about it.」

Dune stopped moving in shock at Shurus’ cold voice.

However, realising that things wouldn’t end well if things stayed as they were, he hurriedly continued speaking.

「I met Crimson then, but I didn’t notice him at all today. Is that possible?」

「Yes. The Crimson you know is one is the one with the Griffon around. For better or worse, that impression is too strong. That’s why you didn’t recognise Crimson under his robes. ……After all, robes are commonplace around here.」

「That is……」

Shurus’ words reminded Dune of Crimson’s face, when they had met close to the Imperial Capital.

However, the impression of the Griffon back then was so strong that he didn’t remember much else.

Even though he had made such a fool of himself back then.

Despite trying to recall the face of the robed figured he had seen in front of the castle previously, he couldn’t match their face to the time he had met Crimson.

If he had gone to the fighting tournament, he might have been able to recall Crimson’s face more clearly.

But unfortunately, or more accurately, due to his own faults, Dune had been under suspension for extorting tolls from merchants.

He had been under guard supervision as well.

That was why Dune barely remembered Crimson’s face at all.

「So, Prince Shurus. What are our plans from here on?」

「……It’s difficult to decide.」

Shurus frowned slightly at Amare’s words.

The one to speak up was the noble who had brought the news in the first place.

「Prince Shurus, why are you hesitating? The rebel army’s greatest strength is inside the castle……in other words, they are in our hands. And from what I’ve heard, the White Rose Knights brought Crimson in with them. If that’s the case, then we should take this opportunity to……」

「No!」

Shurus shouted out almost on reflex, rejecting the noble’s proposal.

The noble seemed to understand that Shurus held many thoughts regarding his sister and cleared his throat before speaking again.

「I know that Prince Shurus cares greatly for Princess Frizione. But please take a good look at the situation in the castle. Theat Crimson……the one who singlehandedly wiped out Prince Kabajid’s punitive force, is in the castle, right?」

「The battle wasn’t fought but Crimson alone. It was confirmed that other soldiers were present.」

Shurus tried to hide his own feelings, but realised what he was doing after a while. He gave a soft sigh before speaking.

「I understand what you want to say. But I think Kabajid already knows about Crimson. If we take action on our own, there is a good chance various bad situations will arise. I’m sorry, since you were the one who brought the news, but I can’t get involved in this on my own.」

「I do want to earn some merit. That’s why I came to inform you that Crimson is inside the castle. But, I also believe that capturing Crimson here will be of great benefit to Prince Shurus in the future.」

Shurus turned to look at the noble, who was looking at him, as he replied.

「But, it is dangerous to let our relationship with Kabajid to deteriorate here. Especially since the person we’re dealing with is Crimson.」

「This is a good opportunity to capture Crimson!」

「……How?」

It was Amare who spoke to the noble, who was trying to persuade Shurus.

As usual, there was barely any change in her expression as she voiced her question. She didn’t want to argue, she just wanted to ask how they intended to capture Crimson.

「How? Well……」

The noble tried to respond, but was at a loss for words.

It was only natural. Their opponent was a single person with power rivalling an entire army……or even surpassing one.

Capturing or killing such an opponent would naturally require the deployment of a similar level of force.

However, they were already at a disadvantage against the rebel army, they had no leeway to deploy a force with that level of strength.

Of course, they understood that if they could capture Crimson now, they would greatly reduced the rebel army’s strength, but they didn’t want to reduce their own strength just to do that.

Especially in the current situation, where although the First and Second Prince’s faction were currently allied, they would still look for opportunities to exploit each other’s weaknesses.

Once the civil war was over, they would be at odds again, so both sides wanted to conserve their own forces where possible.

「Do you understand now? If this were a battlefield, we could still reach some sort of compromise. In a large battlefield, both sides would trade losses. But in this case, the only enemy is Crimson. And since the castle would be the battlefield, we can’t attack with a large army. This depends on where exactly we could fight, but we may only be able to send 10-20 people.」

And, if they weren’t careful, even their best soldiers could be wiped out.

Hearing the implicit message, the noble groaned.

Because he understood that it was true.

「So……we don’t know how long it might be, but are we just going to let Crimson stay in the castle like this?」

「Yes. That said, he can’t stay in the castle forever. This is still enemy territory for him. If we are going to attack, it will be when he leaves the Imperial Capital and we are fully prepared and waiting.」

The noble nodded at Shurus’ words.

「I see. The reason we can’t defeat him inside the castle is because the battlefield is too small. So, we will just wait for him in a larger space with Prince Kabajid. That’s certainly true……」

However, Amare interrupted the noble again.

「We would be able to defeat Crimson eventually like that. Even though he has a title, he’s still in his teens. We will be able to win through a war of attrition……but it will also drain our own forces. If that were to happen, how would we deal with Prince Mercurio’s rebel army?」

「I understand what you’re trying to say, Amare. But this is a golden opportunity. If we don’t defeat Crimson here, he’ll just join back up with Mercurio and attack us together.」

「That is true, but……」

Amare kept quiet as she didn’t want Shurus to become enemies with Crimson right now.

It wasn’t that she was worried about the danger to Shurus.

No, if they were to fight Crimson, there was a good chance that Shurus would be in danger. But if that were the case, Shurus could just delegate command to his subordinate and not approach the battlefield at all.

The main reason Amare didn’t want Shurus to participate in this right now was……

(Princess Frizione is definitely planning to join Prince Mercurio.)

She didn’t have proof. It was just a prediction based on the current situation and the reports from the people she had stationed around Frizione.

If asked for clear evidence, she could only say that it was a woman’s intuition. Right now, there was only circumstantial evidence.

That said, the fact that Crimson was with Frizione would be enough evidence alone.

However, Amare also knew that Shurus cared greatly for Frizione.

Although Shurus hadn’t shown it in his attitude towards Frizione recently, having grown up with him since childhood, Amare knew what Shurus felt deep down.

That was why she wanted to delay Frizione’s betrayal becoming apparent to Shurus for as long as possible.

She would have to let him know eventually, but she wanted to wait a little longer……

It wasn’t an action as Shurus’ adjutant, but as a foster sibling and childhood friend. And the emotions between them as a man and woman.

Although Amare always appeared calm and indifferent, her thoughts showed her human side.

「For now, contact Kabajid. I need to hear how he plans to handle this matter.」

While Amare was lost in thought, Shurus collected his thoughts and his voice brought Amare back to reality.

「Yes. I will contact him right away. By the way, Prince Shurus, I think we should prepare something on our side as well. What do you think?」

Shurus nodded after thinking for a few seconds at Amare’s words, who asked knowing that it would seem suspicious if she pushed back any further.

「That’s right. We can’t just sit back and do nothing. But if we were to make a bold move, not only will Kabajid find out, Frizione might find out as well. She probably took this outrageous action to mediate between us and Mercurio.」

Though he sighed, Shurus didn’t show any signs of surprise.

He had been swept up in Frizione’s unpredictable actions before, so he was used to it.

But, this time, it didn’t quite make sense.

Shurus had already decided that Mercurio was an enemy that needed to be defeated. of course, he would like to capture Mercurio without killing him if possible, but only if possible.

「Anyway, just make sure we’re ready to move no matter what happens. ……I hope Kabajid can use that trump card against Crimson he mentioned previously. What do you think?」

Amare looked back at Shurus and thought for a moment before shaking his head.

「Indeed, when it comes to Prince Kabajid, he wouldn’t call something that has no effect a trump card. But, unfortunately, we have yet to see how effective it is. Considering that, it would be best to not get your hopes up about it.」

「I see.」

Shurus nodded, but then Dune, who had been silent up until that point, spoke up.

Since he had come all this way to Shurus’ office, he wanted to make a strong impression. At least htat was what he thought.

He also thought that this was the point for him to make his mark.

「Your Highness Shurus, leave this to me. Despite how I look, I have faced Crimson before. I want to make use of my experience……」

「No, there is no need for that. You can just spend your time as usual and don’t do anything unecessary.」

However, Shurus thought that if Dune, who did nothing but cause unecessary trouble, were to do something, he might catch the attention of the other party. As a result, he simply rejected the idea and spoke as such.

「Huh-!?」

Dune’s surprised voice echoed through the office, having never expected his opinion to be rejected so quickly.

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