Supporting Characters Also Need Some Love

CHAPTER 3: YOU ARE QUALIFIED TO BE THERE (VXI)

Part 050

Whether he was dumbfounded or not, Adrian said with a face asking about the weather in the next town.

“So?”

“You made a suggestion to the King to formally investigate the Queen.”

“It must be noisy.”

Was the reaction just that? She ate pasta for lunch, but she wasn’t sure of the taste anymore. But that was their reaction? Was it weird that she was surprised?

Adrian said with a grin as she looked at the two with a puzzled face.

“It’s no big deal.”

What was the big deal for him? A cosmic explosion?

“I didn’t know that it wasn’t a big deal for His Highness to be assassinated.”

“Looking at the situation, it doesn’t look like they really want to kill him. It’s a problem that they seem to have other intentions.”

She looked at Adrian with a bewildered face and Homer answered. She asked, looking at Homer.

“Any other intention?”

“It looks like they’re scratching between the two queens factions. It’s the queen’s official proposal, so even his majesty won’t be able to cover it up.”

This time, Adrian answered. She looked at the two men’s faces alternately, and she burst into laughter as the two opened their eyes wide to answer her question first. She laughed, and the two of them also laughed shyly.

“I heard you two weren’t on good terms.”

“There has been very little official confrontation. I won’t be able to keep my mouth shut about the assassination of the crown prince, so the queen won’t back down easily this time.”

“Since the person who will benefit the most on the surface is the second queen, it will be difficult to avoid suspicion. The second queen is such a big deal that if she makes a mistake like that, her neck could fly off, so she’ll react violently.”

“The problem is that we don’t know who the real culprit is.”

The two men nodded at her words.

“By the way, who the hell is going to benefit from the conflict between the two of them? Didn’t they keep trying to assassinate His Highness until the queen came out like that? What is the real culprit aiming for?”

“Right. Now, the issue of succession to the throne between the two princes, which Your Majesty has been forcibly suppressing, will rise to the surface. The conflict between the royal faction and the aristocratic faction will also become more acute.”

Homer nodded and said his words, then made a face thinking about something.

“They may be aiming for the confusion surrounding the succession to the throne itself.”

As Adrian concluded, Homer nodded again.

“There are already signs of suspiciousness inside the royal family. Lately, I don’t know what the guards are thinking, and the source of the money is unknown. That’s why, Lady Damian, can you help me?”

“Yes?”

“The amount sent from the national treasury to the royal family is 30 million gold. Of course, we don’t use it all, and the remaining amount is returned to the treasury’s reserve, but Her Highness the Queen is frugal, so originally, she didn’t spend even half of it.”

“Then there must be a lot of money returned to the reserve?”

“Originally, it was like that, but since last year, the amount used has increased continuously, and the amount refunded in the first half of this year was less than half.”

“It means there is money leaking. Do you think that the money would have gone to another place?”

“Yes, Your Excellency the Duke.”

“The Duchy of Taln?”

She asked because she couldn’t keep up with the flow of the story since she didn’t know the circumstances behind it. If it was the Duchy of Taln, then it was the country where Dozern and Eilene had their wedding, and it was the country that sold the smuggling weapons that Adrian was tracking? Why sprinkle money in the royal family and send it there? Adrian had an explanation for her question. A smile hung on his lips, but his eyes were serious.

“The leader suspects that the second queen and the Luther family may be fighting for the throne by making a secret military pact with the Principality of Taln, Damian.”

“A war involving foreign powers? Isn’t it just a civil war?”

“No, I’m not saying it’s okay if it’s a civil war, but if it’s an international war, the problem is too serious.”

It reminded her of a story she talked with Mr. Adol in the past. If it’s a civil war, Adrian would sort it out, so she could stay in the mansion for a week or so, but she heard that if foreign powers intervene, the whole country would become a battlefield. She was at least relieved when Adrian told her that the scale of the smuggled weapons was so small that it fell far short of the capital county, but this is another shocking story.

“To figure out whether it will end in doubt or what to prepare for, I’d like to get help from Lady Damian.”

Homer spoke to her with a kind smile even in the middle of this, and Adrian clicked his tongue with a disgruntled face.

“You’re asking me to investigate the royal family’s disbursements.”

“As expected, you understand right away.”

Looking at Homer who nodded with a bewitching smile, she was almost bewitched in an instant. It’s an overly friendly face.

“But can I be of any help? Investigating royal papers, I’m just a trainee administrator.”

“It will be difficult if you pretend not to know this time. I know that you played a big role in the paperwork for the embezzlement case last time.”

“Yeah, but I’m in the Treasury Department training right now, so I’m stuck with the Treasury all day.”

“I heard that the Education Officer is Tina. She will adjust Mondays and Thursdays by half.”

“Do you know my senior?”

“I have no choice but to know since we two are from Via Academy as commoners.”

So, was he the same age as her senior? She thought he was the same age as Adrian, but since she met Ethan, she couldn’t guess his age from his face.

The trainee’s schedule was under the jurisdiction of the education officer in charge, so if Miss Tina decided to take her time off, it wouldn’t be much of a problem if it was 2 days a week.

“So, how can I help you?”

“It is difficult to take documents from the palace outside without permission. So I think you have to come in.”

“Yes? Me?”

“Wait, Captain, are you going to expose Damian’s existence to the second queen?”

Adrian, who had been listening silently, interrupted while shooting cold energy at Homer. Then Homer responded with a straight face.

“Could that be? I’ve been looking for a good excuse.”

“Excuse?”

“Yes, young lady, you are close to Joseph’s son.”

“Yes, he is my history teacher.”

“Princess Remina will call Joseph to the palace. He is also Remina’s teacher, so she decided to ask for lessons twice a week. I think you can join Joseph’s apprentice at that time. I will leave the documents you need to see with Lady Remina in advance.”

“Does Remina knows about this, too?”

“Yes. She agreed to cooperate.”

Wow, she hadn’t even thought of that. She knew her teacher’s father was Remina’s teacher, but she never thought to make her way through this connection. Princess Remina was known for not engaging in political activities at all and calling in artists and scholars from the princess’s palace to focus on her studies and education. It was already known to the social world that she was a disciple who was close to her teacher, and it was not obvious that the assistant-cum-princess was talking about her at least one of them.

She nodded and looked to the side inadvertently, and saw Adrian, who was staring at Homer with an uncomfortable face.

“Adrian, don’t you want me to do that job?”

Her voice automatically brought a smile to Adrian’s face as he looked at her, but it didn’t seem like it. Adrian, who had only looked at her for a moment, opened his mouth slowly.

“No. Do as you please.”

She knew he would oppose it because it seemed like he didn’t like it from before. She was thinking, “If he opposes it, I’ll have to persuade him,” but she smiled broadly because he was pretty when he said it clearly. Adrian returned it with a wide smile.

“Okay.”

Homer bowed his head in gratitude, scratched his cheek with his index finger, and said,

“Well, but Lady Damian, actually, I have one more request.”

“Yes? One more?”

“I went to Sir Joseph to ask for this job, but he closed the door even after I took out the two words ‘Royal Family’. Can the young lady convince him?”

‘Oh, sir, he said so because he didn’t want to be involved in politics.’

She laughed because it was a reaction like an Adol teacher.

“If I say he is going to see Remina, he’ll accept it. I’ll tell you well.”

Homer repeatedly bowed his head. It’s been a long time since she had been in the middle of the action. It was time to go in to avoid the nagging of Brother Lootvan, so she hurriedly cleared her seat, left the two waving men, and climbed into the carriage.

* * *

Homer and Adrian stood side by side, staring at the tail end of the carriage as it was moving away. With his gaze still far away on the carriage, Homer spoke in a passing tone.

“I thought you would object.”

“It’s what the young lady wants. I don’t want to interfere. I don’t have the confidence to stop her.”

Adrian also answered in a passing tone, but when he said that he had no confidence to stop her, Homer glanced at his profile. The Adrian he knew wasn’t the kind of person who would talk like that. He smiled dejectedly, thinking that he must have fallen in love quite firmly.

“Isn’t she getting enough attention for her relationship with the Duke and her friendship with Lady Eilene?”

“Did the guy who knew that already do all the behind the scenes work before bringing up his words? Didn’t he think he would accept them?”

The eyes looking at each other were cold. However, Homer didn’t care even when he met Adrian’s angry eyes, which were sunk red under the sunset.

“You’re not going to let anything happen.”

“Take it for granted.”

“I won’t let it happen either.”

The two looked at each other with confident faces, then turned their heads at the same time.

‘He’s black inside’, thought Adrian.

‘A guy I don’t like,’ thought Homer.

“What about ‘Queen’s Star’?”

Adrian asked while ignoring him, and Homer looked at the face next to him and answered.

“She is imprisoned in the palace of the 2nd prince.”

“Can you get her out before Dozern really goes mad and rampages?”

“Well. Wouldn’t it be difficult to take her out against her will? After all, since she has the ‘Queen’s Star’, I don’t think he will fight and kill her, so I’m going to leave her alone. His Excellency, the Duke, if you don’t believe in something like the ‘Queen’s Star’. Are you standing?”

“I’m not interested in things like the Queen’s Star.”

Damian didn’t like to worry. Adrian swallowed his whispers, but Homer understood at once. It’s not unusual how things were going. It’s still just a doubt, but what if Dozern really went to war? Homer knew that Adrian had recently strengthened his military training more than usual. In the middle of that busy time, he glanced at Adrian’s face once more, thinking that he was a monster. Whether it happens or not, it’s better to be prepared.

It’s called ‘Queen’s Star’. If a war really breaks out, at least one girl like that would die or disappear, and he was not interested. No, it’s okay to get rid of her in the midst of confusion rather than leaving her as a seed of futility. But… Homer, recalling Damian’s face, looked back in the direction where her carriage had disappeared.

As expected, he didn’t want to stain the little young lady’s face with worries.