Chapter 1392.1 |
While it was unusual for Emperor Deorte to appear out of the blue, Willow quickly understood. The timing he’d shown up at was perfect to be considered a lucky coincidence, meaning he must’ve come with a reason.
Even if he was her doting grandfather, he was still the emperor of a nation. She needed to know why he had come all that way.
“What are you thinking?” he asked with a smile.
“Grandpa, be honest with me. You didn't just come on a tour, did you?”
He laughed, “Haha, I’m on a tour.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I heard you would be here, so I flew here first,” he told her.
She looked around to assess his security. “Grandpa, you're His Majesty the Emperor. Even if you have incredible power, don't you think you have too few guards?”
He smiled with a look of satisfaction. “Don't worry. Who in this land would dare threaten me?”
“Oh my! If my granddaughter wishes for it, then I will do just that.” Pleased with her concern, he laughed heartily. He then continued, “Willow.”
“Yes.”
“Are you aware that this whole situation is a test your father is giving you?”
“Yes. It's what I want as well.”
Although she had no intention of inheriting Heins Territory, she felt there would be no harm in gaining her father’s trust and confidence.
“Even if things don’t go the way you want to, it's important to look around. This is Lyndis. Your father has made a lot of important connections in this empire, so you should think carefully about who you can get help from here.”
“You, Grandpa?”
“Oh, you rascal. As if. Isn't it already a big enough help that your grandfather has told you this much?”
“Wow. I feel like I've been scammed.” She pouted, though a faint smile lingered beneath it. It seemed she had figured something out. “Grandpa, is the reason you came here related to Grandma, by any chance?”
Emperor Deorte made a satisfied face. “You sure are bright. Yes, that's right. I have a lot of memories with her in this place.”
If he’d come there for memories with Empress Redimia, there was another person who was bound to have followed him.
“Grandpa, honestly, you didn't come to help, did you? Come on, what deal do you want to make with me?” she asked, impatient.
“Ugh. Don't rub it in too much when you already know,” he muttered.
“It's about Prince Vashas, isn't it?”
Verdarium Territory, where the Gelup Merchant Group was located, was ruled by a noble who followed Prince Vashas. That meant she could ask Prince Vahas for help to obtain information.
“I can see why that rascal Davey is testing you with something so difficult.”
“Hehe, I'm pretty good, aren’t I?”
“Haha. Well, since it's come up, you should take that guy with you. Seriously, whenever I try to talk in private with Redimia, he's always in the way.”
“Don't worry, Grandpa. I'll move right away, once I see the next step.”
Prince Vashas was once an adversary. Willow wondered if he’d help, but it didn't really matter. She would make him help, even if he resisted.
Like Davey, she was the type to push through any obstacle. She announced, “Then we’ll get going.”
“Don't go too wild,” Emperor Deorte cautioned her. “Even I have limits in helping you.”
“No worries.” She smiled brightly and skipped away as Rinne watched her silently from behind. Rinne glanced at Emperor Deorte, then turned back to follow Willow.
* * *
Count Falkos, who governed the Verdarium territory, was one of the central figures of the noble faction. Though, he was closer to being a loyalist of Vashas than being a noble faction die-hard.
In his current residence, a man looked out the window with a very troubled expression.
“There are many guests today,” the man said with a downcast face, then slowly turned his head to look at the two people who had nonchalantly broken the mansion's security. He had seen one of them before, but the other was someone he had never seen in person.
Willow began, “Nice to meet you, Prince Vashas. I’m…”
“I know. You're my niece.”
“Uh. Oh. yes,” Willow answered with a hesitant look. “How did you know?”
“It's something one can quickly figure out if they pay a little attention.”
‘A little…?’
The reason she thought that was because she had never appeared in public until recently. So, unless he had some extraordinary way to obtain information, he shouldn't have been able to identify her.
“Aeria told me about you.”
‘Ah.’
That cleared everything up.
“Hmm. But you feel a little different from what I heard,” she remarked while eyeing him.
“You’re probably right. I was different until recently.”
He had, in fact, been hostile toward Aeria. Yet, the man Willow saw was much more at ease than before.
“Are you okay? Whatever the reason, my dad was partly responsible for your son’s downfall.”
“It was always bound to happen. It’s my fault for failing to prevent everything beforehand.”
Davey had told Willow that Aeria had said she’d forgive him if he reformed into a better person. Davey didn’t seem to have liked her decision, but Aeria’s kindness prevailed.
“Well, I don’t think it matters. I know it’s a little brazen, but I came to ask you a favor, Uncle Vashas.”
“Go on.”
She solemnly continued, “I want to find a person in this city.”
“Doesn't Heins have information gathering comparable to this empire?”
“That's exactly it. Everyone in the Heins information network is busy right now. I can't just randomly use them for my personal matters, either.” She spoke as if at ease, but was quickly organizing the cards for negotiation in her mind.
She knew he probably wouldn't agree easily. So, she needed a way to make him have no choice but to help—
“Fine,” he responded without missing a beat. “I'll contact you in half a day.”
She could hardly believe it. “Huh?”
“Did you not hear? I said I’ll contact you in half a day,” he repeated.
“You're just... agreeing to help me?”
“A request from my niece is no small thing.”
Despite his cold appearance and frosty tone, his willingness to agree so readily made her fear that her favor might affect Davey in some way in the future.
“Can I... ask you just one thing?” she offered.
“Whatever you like.”
“Did you... eat something bad?”
Facing her blunt question, he simply chuckled.
‘Wait… He’s not even getting mad at this?’
She was finding it hard to understand what he was up to. It was a very rude question, yet Vashas didn't seem to mind.
“It doesn't matter if you don't believe me or not. I’ll hand over satisfactory information in half a day, so you can just wait in the guest room in the meantime. I’ll inform you when it’s done.”
“H-here?”
“Is that a problem? Right, I’ll instruct them to prepare some nice refreshments and tea. For some reason, you seem to have brought Darian O’Rowane with you. A long march like this would be too much for a child who's just started walking. If you really need something...”
“Ah... No! It's okay! I feel like I won’t be able to eat anything if I stay here, so I'll come back in half a day.”
Willow had tried to sway him. She’d thought he could have had a slight change of heart, but his behavior was far beyond her imagination.
This change, paradoxically, made her feel burdened.
After refusing his offer and leaving the mansion, she saw Darian happily giggling while pulling Rinne’s hair and cheeks.
“Will-oh!!” he babbled out.
“Hey, hey, I’m here. Was my little brother playing nicely?”
“Airflane! Airflane!”
Seeing his adorable giggle and outstretched hands, her eyes lit up. Having watched Blue Ribbon and Red Ribbon for a long time, she quickly understood what he was talking about.
“Sure. You want me to give you an airplane ride?”
Whummm.
Once she manifested a faint hint of her power and Darian began to float, he started to giggle with joy.
Once she had played with him for a long time, the happy Darian kissed her on the cheek and hugged her tight. She wondered where he had learned to pat others with his small hands.
Willow sometimes wondered if he was truly a genius baby or just a grown-up pretending to be one.
“Aww, you cutie. Where did you learn such charm?”
“Rinne requests an explanation of the situation.”
“There's not much to explain. I'm actually flustered because he agreed so readily. He said to wait half a day, since information doesn't come easily. I guess I'll just spend a day looking around the Lyndis Empire. Darian, want to go to the underwater garden here? I heard it's gorgeous.”
“Kyaa!”
As he excitedly waved his arms, Rinne, who was watching from behind, quietly tilted her head. As someone who rarely showed her emotions, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
* * *
Willow managed to collect her surprised feelings and asked the cold-faced man in front of her, “Already?”
“Yes,” he confirmed. “I found it.”
“No... how? You... found a dead man? Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“How in the world...”
“I pressured him.”
Hearing the short answer, her eyes twitched. “Press... pressured him?”
“Yes. I pressed Count Falkos hard. He might have fooled the Gelup Trading Post’s loan sharks, but he couldn't fool Count Falkos.”
“Oh goodness…”
He was basically saying he had pushed his subordinate to the edge for a personal favor.
She couldn’t help but wonder what made him change so much.
As Willow parted her lips, he turned around and slowly said, “This time period is the only chance I have to see my mother again.”
‘Ah.’
Knowing that the time left for Empress Redimia's soul had become extremely limited, he couldn't afford to waste a single second.
“Plus it's easier to say that I owe your father a debt.”
“Is there another reason?”
“If I want to change, I must start with what I can do. Gaining the trust that was impossible before is one of the methods I have adopted.”
‘It would’ve been great if you were like that from the start, Uncle.’
Though her thoughts strayed, she decided to look on the bright side.
Willow received the bundle of documents Vashas handed over and gasped.
He then handed her something else.
She didn't recognize it. “What's this?”
“It’s nothing. Just some snacks.”
She chuckled, looking at the simple snack. “Thank you.”
He was an odd man. Normally, pride or other reasons would hold someone back their whole lives, but he sought to change himself without hesitation once he made the decision.
He turned around to leave.
“Where are you going?”
“Going to my mother.”
“What about... your son?”
“Do you have something I should say to him? I’ll give it deep consideration.”
She wondered if he had always been that way. Aeria did tell her he was truly gentle and cheerful, but it seemed he had changed a lot over the years.
“Be careful. He'll be so full of venom that everything will look hateful. Still, just pushing him won't solve anything.”
“You know more than I would've thought,” he remarked.
“It's from personal experience.”
