Magic Caster of Destroy

“No, that isn’t what she desires. She went so far as to say, ‘Looks are a treasure you are born with, and to those who occupy the upper echelons of society, they are an important trait. One can compensate for a lack of intellect with hard work or excellent subordinates, but looks cannot be changed.’ or something like that.”

“Won’t Your Majesty’s bloodline alone will ensure that any child of your union will be pleasant to look upon? Well, it’s true that any of your subordinates would be happier to receive orders from a good-looking Emperor.”

“Is that how it really is?”

Jircniv had no superiors and had no way of relating to this situation. On his part, he would use a capable person regardless of how ugly they were, and even give them a key position if needed.

“At the very least, it would be better than having to look at some toad. After all, wouldn’t Your Majesty prefer the woman shaking her hips on top of you to be a beautiful one?”

“…I suppose so, yes. Well, it’s not like I don’t get where you’re coming from, but… is that really the case?”

Jircniv cricked his neck. Something was amiss, but he wasn’t sure what it was.

“Then, in that case, who would Your Majesty take as his wife?”

Fluder’s question made Jircniv furrow his brows.

“Well, if I had to choose between marrying someone from within the country or outside the country, I would have to go with the latter. There are no benefits to marrying a native, so, who to marry from outside the Empire… well, there’s that unreadable woman that fellow recommended.”

Fluder stroked his beard.

“Princess Renner, is it?”

Jircniv furrowed his brows again.

The third princess of the Re-Estize Kingdom ― Renner Theiere Chardon ryle Vaiself.

She was known as the “Golden Princess”, and her looks and reputation matched her nickname, but for several years she had ranked number one on Jircniv’s list of women he despised the most. In contrast, the kind of woman he most preferred would be someone like Mayor Kabelia, who

administered the city of Peibart in the City-States.

“I have no idea what that woman is thinking. After hearing about her actions, it’s almost as if she failed because she wanted to fail.”

Although Jircniv thought that such people should not exist, he recognized that humans were strange and complex enough that he could not rule out the possibility of such cases. Then, if she truly did plan to fail from the start, what was she planning? The more he tried to understand Renner’s way of thinking, the more he felt like like he was being tangled in a spider’s web. It was a thoroughly unpleasant feeling.

“…If only someone could help me get rid of that nauseating woman.”

“We will hire Ijaniya right away, if that’s what his Majesty desires.”

“Ijaniya” was a group of assassins that took on the name of one of the Thirteen Heroes for themselves. They were based between the northeast corner of the Empire and the City-State Alliance, and they were adept at using unusual methods. Although he had tried to bring them under their wing as a black ops department, they had not responded to the Empire’s overtures.

“Enough of that, we need that woman’s revolutionary insights. It’s better to let her live rather than to kill her…Hm. Did that woman take this development into account as well?”

“Could anyone have planned that far ahead?”

“As if,” Jircniv said, but even as he gave that answer, he had to admit that it was a possibility.

Renner’s words had been transmitted to Jircniv through their spies in the Kingdom. The policies she proposed were such that Jircniv could not help but admire them. The fact that those policies had then been quietly adopted by the Empire was a ringing endorsement of their practicality.

It would be a bad thing for the Empire if anything happened to her.

The timing of Renner’s suggestions to the Kingdom made him wonder if she had anticipated the Empire’s movements. If that was true, it meant that Renner could predict the Empire’s plans without any reliable sources from within.

As a result, even Jircniv, who coveted the Warrior-Captain Gazef’s strength for the Empire, could not bring himself to desire her.

“The Kingdom won’t be unduly harmed even if the Princess dies, but on the contrary, the Empire is finished if Your Majesty perishes. We, the Four Knights, might be able to deal with assassins, but other factors are a different matter entirely, so I hope Your Majesty does not immerse himself too deeply into his work.”

“Of course. No matter the reason, I cannot allow myself to die before a strong government has been formed for the Empire.”

If the head of an organization ―its most critical person― was lost, it implied that the catastrophic collapse of the organization would soon follow.

The Empire might become a great nation in the future. If anyone knew this and wanted to prevent it, they would sacrifice anything to forestall that rise by turning the Emperor into a martyr. The most likely suspects were the nearby countries, like the Kingdom and the Theocracy.