Nobles and young ladies were dancing in pairs to the music of a symphony orchestra sponsored by the Marquis’s family. Fiel was especially popular, as the young ladies were eagerly asking him to dance.

Given Fiel’s personality, he couldn’t embarrass a young lady or noblewoman by refusing, so he accepted every invitation. I’d have to tell Elisabeth about this later. Viktor, on the other hand, was drinking wine like water alongside the other nobles.

The Offenburg nobles were remarkably bold and open, quite unlike the scheming Euz nobles. They admired manliness and didn’t hesitate to warm up to people. I had no idea why temperaments varied so much from region to region.

I was seated on the second floor of the banquet hall with Marquis Offenburg, watching the dancing and performances together. I knew he loved music so much that he’d spent a considerable fortune on it.

If I had as much money as the Marquis, I’d want to invest in culture and the arts too. Right now, I was too busy trying to increase Feuzen’s output to spare any attention for that sort of thing.

Maybe I should at least try to bring in some street musicians?

To my ears, since I wasn’t particularly fond of classical music, it was rather dull. But the Marquis was deeply absorbed, closing his eyes as if savoring every note, proving beyond doubt the rumors of his fanatical love for it.

"My uncle absolutely hates being interrupted."

"So that’s why no nobles are anywhere near here."

No wonder there was nobody around except the attendants. While I waited for the Marquis to emerge from his musical reverie, I was bombarded with questions by his niece. She was a very curious young lady.

This pure, snow-white girl was named Lily von Rudelich, and I was startled when we were first introduced. She was Princess Ingrid’s granddaughter. In other words, she carried the blood of the Altringen royal family’s maternal line.

Lily was deeply interested in incidents and wars.

So she listened intently as I told her about the crown prince assassination attempt, the Euz War, tournaments, and other major events. I think I got carried away without realizing it. It felt like meeting a woman who genuinely enjoyed war stories.

"You’ve been through truly incredible things."

"That’s why I am who I am today. I didn’t win the lordship of Feuzen by gambling. But, Fräulein, what are you writing down so intently?"

Lily had taken a quill pen and linen paper from her handmaid and was writing furiously. Her handwriting was remarkably elegant, and it seemed like she was organizing the key points from the stories I’d shared.

After writing for quite a while, Lily seemed to notice my gaze and smiled sheepishly.

"I’m sorry, Sir Streit. Actually, I wanted to use your stories as reference material for my novel."

"Is that so? What kind of novel?"

Looking deeply bashful, Lily gave a shy smile.

"It’s a story about a brave knight blessed by God and a princess."

An incredibly common premise, though not common at all in medieval literature. As it turned out, the Marquis’s niece had a hobby of writing romance novels. She particularly admired Christine, a French female author.

"Doesn’t it seem strange for a woman to write novels?"

"Other nobles might think so, but I personally think it’s perfectly fine."

This was an era that viewed literature and art as the exclusive domain of men, so society didn’t welcome women intruding into it. What was the point of prizing obedient women who never challenged patriarchal authority above all else?

At least Lily, born with the blood of both the Marquis’s family and the royal family, had the finest lineage in Beren, which was probably why the Marquis tolerated it. Having finished listening to his music, the Marquis was watching Lily and me with an amused expression.

"If it’s you, I could entrust my niece to your care."

"...I’m married, you know."

"Don’t misunderstand. She is the token of trust I promised to send to the Grand Duke."

"I’m happy to go anywhere, as long as I can write my novels!"

Watching Lily declare her resolve so boldly, I felt a headache coming on.

He had promised to send her to the Grand Duke? So the real purpose behind the letter had been Lily all along?

I had no idea what kind of scheme was at play here. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The Marquis gave a bitter smile and spoke to me.

"This child is the last remaining blood of my great-uncle’s line. That’s why I raised her as if she were my own daughter. I never expected her to develop such an interest in literature, though."

The Marquis said he’d supported whatever Lily wanted to do, but had never imagined it would be literature. Still, he couldn’t bear to take the smile away from a child who loved stories this much, and so things had carried on to this point.

"It’s sad to part with my uncle, but I really want to visit Breisburg."

"The only printing press in Beren is there, and she says she wants to make her own book."

The printing press hadn’t been around for long, so books were still expensive. But compared to the past, prices had dropped enough for commoners to afford them. Apparently you could buy one if you saved up for about three years.

Most paper was linen, but nobles also liked to show off by collecting books made from expensive, high-quality paper. Lily wanted to achieve in the capital the dream that had been impossible in Offenburg.

That was why she’d so readily accepted the proposal the Marquis had struggled to bring up, leaving him feeling deflated. Lily’s disposition was emotional (good). She was clearly a deeply sensitive person with genuine literary talent.

Lily excused herself with her papers. She apparently wanted to reorganize her thoughts, and according to the Marquis, it would probably take a while.

Why did the Grand Duke want Lily?

Was he planning to get rid of the Queen and make Lily his new Queen?

Marriages between royal relatives of fourth cousins or more distant weren’t encouraged, but they could be arranged when necessary. It wasn’t taboo. And we all knew the pioneers of such intermarriage all too well.

Was the scheming Grand Duke dreaming of becoming the next Habsburgs?

But if that wasn’t it, only one other possibility came to mind.

And actually, that seemed far more reasonable.

"Was the person who was just here the future crown princess?"

The Marquis merely smiled meaningfully and said nothing.

But that silence was an affirmation. That was enough.

"I already knew the crown prince was illegitimate."

I froze when the Marquis spoke so casually about the crown prince’s true identity. Wetting his throat with red wine, the Marquis seemed to regard the crown prince’s secret as no great matter.

"Strasbourg is right across the border. Did you think I wouldn’t know what the Queen was up to?"

"...If you’ll forgive the question, why would you have been keeping tabs on the Queen, my lord?"

"Because I was once a man who tried to make her mine."

Was Strasbourg really that captivating a city?

The Marquis had known about the relationship between Baron Constance and the Queen, and everything that followed. A sudden chill ran down my spine. The fact that he’d kept silent despite knowing the whole story meant he’d been saving it as a diplomatic card all along.

It struck me again that the great lords were never to be underestimated.

"When the previous king took her from me, he made me a promise. If Ingrid’s descendants ever produced a young lady, he would make her the future crown princess. That was the secret pact between the Altringen family and me."

And with this recent incident, there must have been pressure from Offenburg. That was why the Grand Duke had dispatched me as a special envoy: to grant what Offenburg had so desperately wanted.

"Are you saying that tying yourself to the Altringen royal family mattered more than your personal feelings?"

"As expected, you’re someone the Grand Duke would keep close. Why do you think I wanted to forge ties with the royal family?"

"...It’s because of Württemberg, isn’t it?"

The Marquis smiled and gestured, and an attendant poured wine into my empty glass.

The greatest threat to Offenburg wasn’t Burgundy. It was Württemberg.

That was the crux of everything.

Offenburg didn’t care whether the crown prince was illegitimate or anything else. They simply needed Altringen’s support to fight the enemy to the north.

But what if Altringen suddenly wavered?

Naturally, Württemberg would make its move.

A very simple logic of power.

That was why the union between the crown prince and Lily, a descendant of Princess Ingrid, had become so important. The crown prince might be Baron Constance’s illegitimate son, but Lily carried royal blood, so the line would connect back to Altringen.

On paper, it would be a marriage between relatives of fifth cousins or more distant, but biologically, they were complete strangers. A flawless plan, but one question remained: why had the Grand Duke acknowledged the crown prince as his own child?

That was the fundamental question. The fact that the Grand Duke had tried so hard to protect a child who wasn’t even his own blood... was it ultimately because he felt guilty about Baron Constance’s sacrifice? Even though it was the Queen who had forced the Baron’s death.

"Are you aware that the commander of the Imperial Knights has sided with Prince Louis?"

"Has he? I don’t really keep up with that."

"...Isn’t he your son?"

"He’s a son I already cut loose when he became independent."

Looking at the Marquis with that cold, sardonic smile, I thought I understood why his second son had gone so astray. Unlike his niece Lily, the Marquis’s second son had clearly grown up under cold indifference.

The Marquis didn’t tell me the reason.

And I, for my part, had no warm feelings toward the Imperial Knights commander regardless. Did I really need to understand his personal circumstances? He was someone I’d rather face as an enemy.

"If the Imperial Knights commander ambushes me on the way back, what will you do?"

"Kill him. It’s only right to nip trouble in the bud."

In the end, Marquis Offenburg not only promised he wouldn’t hold me responsible for killing the Imperial Knights commander, but also pledged to provide an escort all the way to the Breisburg border.