Chapter 27: Suspicions Abound

“What are you talking about, Sion? You mean one of the Four Dukes is a Chaos Serpent?” she asked in a flustered voice.

The empire’s Four Dukes were the nobles closest to the Emperor. They and their immediate family, collectively known as the Etoilers, were related to him by blood and were in line for the throne. That didn’t make them automatically trustworthy, but considering their proximity to the Emperor, one should expect to be able to trust them more than the rest of the nobility. Any evidence to the contrary was a significant concern.

“How not-definite is that information?”

Sion frowned in thought before replying.

“Well, if we take this at face value, you’d expect the accuracy of this info to be somewhat questionable. Originally, it was Wind Crows dispatched to Tearmoon who dug this up, but they probably shelved it at the time because it didn’t seem important. I mean, this is some pretty ancient intelligence we’re talking about. How relevant can it possibly be if they let it gather dust for so long?”

“How relevant can it possibly be, huh...” echoed Abel. “Is it just me, Prince Sion, or do I hear a hint of sarcasm? You said its accuracy is questionable if we take it at face value. Is there another way of looking at it, then?”

Sion affirmed his suspicion with a nod.

“There are always multiple facets to such things. You can always look at them from a different perspective. One that is, like you suggested, a little less head-on.” The corner of his lips turned up in a sly grin. “And it just so happens that I find the less obvious perspective more convincing. In other words, what if the intelligence was shelved not because it was deemed unimportant... but rather the reverse?”

“Aha. I see what you’re getting at. The Chaos Serpents did infiltrate the Wind Crows, after all. If Jem or his accomplices were purposefully concealing information, then the lack of attention paid to this particular piece of intelligence seems far more suspicious.”

“That... does seem very suspicious,” agreed Mia. “I think we need to find out more about this.”

If their suspicion was true, it would be a big problem. The suspects in question were the Four Dukes! They and their families supported the empire by rallying the rest of the nobility, and they were oathbound to stand with the imperial family to the bitter end... Or so Mia had thought... Then she remembered something from the previous timeline.

Hm? Wait a minute... Wasn’t I betrayed by Esmeralda last time?

Esmeralda, who frequently went around claiming to be Mia’s closest friend, had fled the empire as soon as the revolution began. It wasn’t just her, either; her whole family and all their retainers had hightailed it out of there. The Greenmoons owned sailing ships and had contact with foreign kingdoms overseas. By making use of their connections, they’d managed to escape the empire, which had been quickly becoming dangerous territory.

During their final meeting, Esmeralda had spoken to her with the same elegant smile she always wore.

“Miss Mia, why don’t we host a tea party here at the Greenmoon residence? We’ll make it a magnificent party and invite lots of guests. There, as proud Tearmoon nobles, we’ll declare our allegiance to the empire together and swear to serve it with all our heart and soul. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?”

Esmeralda’s words had been invigorating, and Mia took great comfort in them. Days of travel with Ludwig surveying the sorry state of the empire had taken a heavy toll on her psyche, and her good friend was a source of solace for her aching, despondent soul.

Then came the day of the tea party, when Mia had arrived at the Greenmoon residence to find it completely abandoned. This wouldn’t be the last of the betrayals she’d experience, but it was the first, and it had left her shaken to her core.

“Hnnnngh, and I was thinking I’d finally get to have some cake too...”

The fact that she’d been looking forward to eating some cake to reward herself for all her hard work made it that much worse.

Hm, now that I think about it, thought the current timeline Mia, those Four Dukes and their people... pretty much all behaved the same way...

She recalled the various times when she’d gone to them for help, only to run into a brick wall. Like when she’d asked one of them to aid the people who were struggling with famine, only to be turned down... and when she’d requested one of them send troops to the capital to defend it, only to be ignored... Worse yet was the fact that their pedigree required someone of sufficient status to make the plea, so Mia often had to make the trip herself, suffering the equivalent experience of knocking on doors and being told to scram. Every such instance left a new scar in her heart. It got to the point where there were rumors that the Yellowmoons were actually assisting the revolutionary army in secret.

All things considered, it shouldn’t even come as a surprise to me that there were traitors among them... In fact, I should consider myself lucky! This is an opportunity! I have a one-in-four chance of weeding out one of the Serpents. If I nab the guy and hand him over to Rafina, it might please her enough to let me off the hook if my campaign pledges don’t turn out so great...

Feeling a little better about her situation, she looked at Sion, who shook his head.

“Unfortunately, too much time has passed. Finding out more is going to be a tall order.”

“That’s... not surprising, I suppose.”

“Also, we lost contact with the person who fed us that information.”

“What? Then...” she said, trailing off as her mouth slowly fell open.

“Presumably, the agent was silenced. Murdered. That’s the most reasonable assumption,” said Sion in a grave voice as he crossed his arms. “Anyway, we don’t know anything for sure. Like I said in the beginning, the accuracy of this information is questionable. Still, some extra caution is probably advisable.”

His words sounded like a distant rumble to Mia, whose thoughts had turned inward. In combining Sion’s discovery with what Bel had told her, an entirely different picture had manifested in her mind.

The Four Dukes turn against each other as they vie for control of the empire. Bel said they split into two factions and civil war breaks out... but was it really just a power struggle?

Knowing what she knew, it was a question that came naturally. If one of the Dukes was harboring Chaos Serpents, a ploy by them would be a far more convincing explanation for the sudden fragmentation of the empire than a simple power struggle.

These Four Dukes... I’d better keep an eye on them...

And who would show up at her door the next day but the eldest son of Duke Bluemoon, Sapphias Etoile Bluemoon.