Chapter 96

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 96

Chapter Title: Mutual Warnings

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“The Fourth Princess and the Grand Duke are the types who blame others for their failures. You’ll need to be especially careful.”

Medea stared silently at Cezare, who left behind this unexpected warning.

A man hiding so many secrets.

With his bizarre appearances each time, he disrupts Medea’s plans.

However, regardless of the process, the results had always benefited her—that much was fact.

“Cezare.”

In that case, it was only right for her to offer a warning of her own.

“Grand Duke Castulo isn’t a good card for Facade. Keep your distance.”

Though his face was expressionless as usual, Cezare sensed something different.

It was the first time the princess had spoken to him so directly. Interest gleamed in his eyes.

“You won’t tell me the reason?”

His sharp golden gaze seemed intent on digging deep into Medea’s secrets.

“My meager advice ends here.”

“Castulo...”

As he repeated her words, a low chuckle slipped from his well-shaped lips.

It was blatant mockery, but the target didn’t seem to be Medea.

“A worthless street rat like me, playing petty tricks, wouldn’t catch the eye of such a noble figure.”

Bending at the waist like moonlight gliding across the floor, he pressed a kiss to the tip of a rose petal pinned to the table.

The gesture was one of reverence—or perhaps seduction.

“Only a kind and gentle lady like the princess would treat me as human.”

No, he was teasing Medea. She frowned faintly.

His self-deprecating words were biting, yet his attitude was utterly arrogant, robbing them of any sincerity.

If anything, the gap between his tone and demeanor made it clear that someone like Jason was beneath his notice.

That’s a relief.

Medea thought coolly as she gazed at Cezare, his form glowing pale in the moonlight.

If he ever joined hands with Jason, she would have had to eliminate him somehow.

The deep night over Baldina Royal Palace.

Beneath the shadows cast by the moonlight, a sleek silhouette like a leopard took form.

“Master, Jared is throwing a fit.”

Alpha reported.

“He sent orders to Empire Kazen summoning elites from his territory. Looks like he’s planning retaliation. What are your orders?”

He held out a small, crumpled parchment—the standard contact ledger used on the front lines.

Cezare turned and gazed at the Princess Palace.

The cream-colored palace emitted a serene glow even in the darkness, much like its owner, but it didn’t look secure to his eyes.

The gaps in the heavy guard details and blind spots jumped out at him, ripe for exploitation.

Displeasure flickered in Cezare’s refined eyes. Even a mangy stray dirties the mud after leaving home.

“Kill every last one who sets foot in this country and send them to Jared.”

“Yes, Master.”

As Cezare strode past the bowing Alpha, he halted.

“Stamp it with Facade’s crest.”

He needed to drive a warning into that redheaded fool’s skull. Don’t go waving that ugly mug around carelessly.

“...Yes, Master.”

Alpha hesitated a moment before obeying.

In the Empire, the First Prince had clipped Jared’s wings just as he tried to take flight. In Baldina, Facade’s mercenaries had buried his future in the muck.

Jared had no clue it was the same man both times—almost pitiful, really.

Cezare nodded, then turned to Zeta.

“You, protect the princess.”

“Yes, Master.”

They melted back into the darkness.

“Come out already, Sise.”

“...”

“Since when did you start enjoying hide-and-seek?”

Sise emerged from behind the corner wall.

“I saw you leaving the Princess Palace.”

The monocle perched on his nose gave off an opaque sheen, mirroring his troubled thoughts.

“What business does Facade have with Her Highness? We’d already settled Baldina’s affairs between us.”

His voice was colder than ever.

As a friend first—but above all as Baldina’s Prime Minister, and as a man—vigilance stirred within him.

“It’s between the princess and me. You don’t need to know.”

“...”

Silence fell.

Sise realized no further answers were coming. With a hardened expression, he pressed.

“What are you really thinking?”

Cezare shrugged.

“Clarify your subject.”

“I’m asking why you—Cezare, so unlike yourself—are hovering around Her Highness Medea.”

“...”

“Facade hit the Rasai tribe’s supply route, didn’t they?”

Sise knew Cezare well: the man who remained cool and detached in the Tower of the White Night.

He wasn’t the type to extend a hand or offer favors without reason. Every move he made had purpose.

So volunteering as the princess’s ally meant something else was at play.

“I thought you weren’t as bad as the Empire. Hell, I believed you wouldn’t exploit our friendship. My mistake.”

Sise fought to suppress his rising emotions.

“Facade, pull back and leave.”

“Ah. Supplies sorted, so no more business for you? Are all Baldinans this callous?”

Sise ignored the jab and pressed on.

“Stay away from Her Highness. If you know the danger you stirred up that day.”

“If not me, who could’ve forced Jared to his knees and shut the Fourth Princess’s foolish mouth?”

Cezare snorted. His utter confidence was as natural as the cloak draped over his shoulders.

“You? Her knight? Or Baldina’s washed-up old generals?”

“...”

“And Sise—you’re mistaken. This country you serve so loyally? Not a great card for me.”

His drawling tone belied the venom in his words.

“Pitifully weak military. Citizens stuffed with unbreakable convictions. You know even an invader wouldn’t pick this headache.”

Sise stared at Cezare.

Not after Baldina, then? Only one reason remained.

“Then and now, she holds the best card she can. Telling me to fold? A bit above your station, no?”

Faint irritation flickered in his golden eyes.

“Sise, you don’t know her. In this Baldina, I’m the only one who truly gets her view.”

“Cezare, you—”

“So stow the baseless worry. She and I? Just a deal where we both win.”

His expression screamed even explaining was a chore. Sise fell silent, feeling like an insolent trespasser who’d crossed a sacred line.

“Ask the princess yourself.”

Cezare vanished into the shadows without waiting for a response.

“...”

Sise removed his monocle and rubbed his dry face.

“Protect the princess.”

The order Cezare had given his shadows rang true, no doubt.

It was easy to guess: his arrangement to shield her from Jared’s rage after today’s duel loss.

His mind grasped it—Cezare as protector, the princess as target—but his heart rebelled.

He should’ve been relieved his trusted friend wasn’t gunning for his homeland. Yet Sise’s face remained shadowed.

On the way back to his office, he fidgeted with his pocket.

Inside was wound salve.

In truth, he’d worried about Medea’s injuries from the imperial princess’s duel. He’d headed to the Princess Palace right after filing the oaths, only to spot Cezare.

What was I thinking?

Sise turned on his heel.

Entering his office, he froze. Neril, the princess’s maid, waited there.

“Her Highness summons you.”