"Don't tell me His Highness the First Imperial Prince is absent?"
"N-no, that's not it. It's just… haah!"
Pressed by Lucian, Jürgen let out a deep sigh, as if it might have been better had he truly been absent.
A moment later, Jürgen squeezed his eyes shut and took something out.
"Please accept this for now."
"What is this? A mask?"
Lucian accepted the mask with a puzzled expression.
At first, he wondered if it might be some kind of relic, but it wasn't.
It was a simple mask—thin and fragile, the sort used at parties.
"Why are you suddenly giving me a mask?"
"Until all the lords participating in the allied forces have gathered, please wear that mask. And if possible, you must not reveal your identity."
"What on earth are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"It's a form of entertainment that's recently become fashionable in high society. People mingle while wearing masks and hiding their identities, then reveal who they are at a certain moment."
"Entertainment?"
At Jürgen's explanation, Lucian frowned.
There was a word mixed in that he absolutely could not just let slide.
"Did you just say it was a game?"
"Yes. I don't know much about it myself, but they say it's quite effective for building camaraderie. Since people can mingle regardless of rank or title—"
"That's not what I'm asking. We didn't come here to enjoy a party; we came to suppress a rebellion."
With an expression of near resignation, Jürgen nodded his head.
It was an entirely reasonable objection, yet he looked as though there was nothing to be done.
"In fact, it was something His Highness the First Imperial Prince proposed for the sake of fostering unity within the allied forces."
"The First Imperial Prince said this himself?"
"Yes. So please, I beg you. You may not like it, but there is a reason for it, in its own way…"
"Ha."
A hollow laugh escaped him.
A reason, my ass.
No matter how he looked at it, this was clearly something the First Imperial Prince was doing for his own amusement.
He probably wanted to watch the lords crash into one another in confusion, not knowing each other's identities.
'Does that man have no sense at all? Maybe this kind of prank works on court nobles, but pulling something like this on territorial nobles?'
Court nobles without lands were nothing more than the imperial family's hands and feet.
Even if subjected to such antics, they had no choice but to endure them.
But the territorial nobles gathered here were a completely different matter.
They possessed their own military forces, and their loyalty was hardly unwavering.
Under such circumstances, the very least one ought to show them was a modicum of respect.
'Even if I stretch my generosity and assume he'd only play tricks on some insignificant house, doing this to me—the acting head of the Valdeck Grand Ducal House—is crossing a line. Taken the wrong way, this could easily be seen as an insult.'
You could laugh it off if you wanted to, but if you chose to take it as an insult, it could very well become one.
That was how precariously balanced the First Imperial Prince's prank was.
Jürgen knew this too, which was why his complexion had gone dark.
Lucian clicked his tongue briefly, then accepted the mask and spoke.
"Well, I suppose loosening up a bit before a war isn't such a bad thing. I don't know how effective it will be, but if it's what His Highness desires, then as his subject, I'll comply."
"Th-thank you! Thank you so very much, Duke Lucian!"
At Lucian's words, Jürgen bowed repeatedly, looking like a man brought back from the brink of death.
After all, Lucian was essentially saying he would let pass—merely as a prank—something that could have been blown up into a grave insult against the Valdeck family.
"Truly, House Valdeck is a pillar of the Empire! And with Duke Lucian, the heir, being so wise and discerning, the house will surely flourish alongside the Empire for generations to come!"
"I'm not the heir, though."
"Not yet, perhaps. But just from what you've shown today, it's clear. The one who will shoulder House Valdeck in the future can be none other than Duke Lucian."
Once again, Jürgen launched into a barrage of gilded praise.
Lucian nodded absently and was about to head inside when Jürgen, startled, hurriedly blocked his path.
"J-just a moment, please. There is still something I must tell you."
"And what now? Are you going to check whether I put the mask on here and now?"
"If you would do so, I would be grateful. I will also provide a cloak for concealing your identity. When moving around, there is a rule that you must hide your identity as much as possible, and your escort is limited to one person—"
After that, Jürgen spent quite some time explaining trivial rules in painstaking detail, all the while sweating profusely.
As the explanation dragged on, Lucian pressed a hand to his throbbing temple.
What a spectacular mess this allied force was.
***
"Does His Highness the First Imperial Prince even understand what he's doing? This is an insult to House Valdeck!"
After finishing setting up the tent, Gerard came inside, his face twisted with displeasure.
Unlike Lucian, Gerard clearly couldn't accept this as mere "horseplay."
"Third Young Master, there's no need for you to humor the First Imperial Prince's antics. Even if we flip the table here, His Grace the Grand Duke—and even His Majesty the Emperor—would surely understand."
"And then the allied forces' atmosphere would go straight to hell. Do you really think someone who pulls stunts like this would quietly back down if the table were flipped?"
"That's…"
Struck by the accuracy of Lucian's point, Gerard fell silent.
This was the First Imperial Prince who thought nothing of playing such games with territorial nobles.
If things truly blew up, he was far more likely to react emotionally than to handle it rationally.
"For now, it doesn't seem like His Highness bears any ill will, so let's just let it slide. Besides, this mask game does have its advantages."
"Advantages? You're saying there actually are some?"
"It makes it easier to probe each lord's true intentions. If we'd met openly, everyone would've just shown their carefully polished faces."
House Valdeck was the highest-ranking family in the Empire, second only to the imperial family.
In other words, unless they were enemies, no one dared reveal their true feelings to them face-to-face.
After all, no one knew what kind of backlash might follow if they earned the displeasure of a grand ducal house.
But with masks on, at least temporarily, identities could be concealed.
"It won't take long before the truth comes out, but until then, more candid conversations should be possible than usual. Since we've decided to play along with the First Imperial Prince's little game anyway, I plan to make use of the opportunity."
"Hm… is that really necessary? From where I stand, it seems more likely to cause needless conflict."
"Necessary? Absolutely."
Strictly speaking, it wasn't something House Valdeck needed—it was something Lucian needed.
If all he wanted was to become the head of the house, then the inner thoughts of minor and mid-ranking lords were of little consequence.
Talking about inner thoughts or whatever, none of it would ever be revealed in front of the head of House Valdeck anyway.
But for Lucian—who still had the option of striking out on his own—this was a decent chance to get a read on the lords' inclinations.
'It might come in handy someday, so I should observe carefully. You can never have too much information.'
"If that's how you see it, Third Young Master, then please proceed as you wish."
Gerard, having no way of knowing Lucian's true intentions, nodded calmly.
Once Lucian, who had been granted full authority, made up his mind, there was nothing Gerard could do to stop him.
"However, according to the rules set by His Highness the First Imperial Prince, when you move around you're only allowed to bring a single escort."
"That's right. Unfortunately, Sir Gerard, you'll have to wait here."
"Then whom do you intend to take as your escort?"
"Obviously, Sir Raymond."
Hugo's skill aside, his standing was far too low for a proper escort.
When everyone else would be accompanied by knights, Lucian couldn't very well keep a commoner at his side.
If he was limited to one person, there was no more suitable choice than Raymond, a former Black Lion.
"All right, then—since I've made up my mind, shall we go take a look right away?"
Lucian immediately put on the mask and headed for the "outdoor party venue" prepared by the First Imperial Prince,
intending to see for himself how the other nobles were reacting to this absurd game.
***
"…There are far fewer people than I expected."
A sigh slipped from Lucian's lips before he even realized it.
Even though he was wearing a mask and had a cloak pulled over himself, only about half of the nobles represented by the banners were actually present.
Raymond, who had been brought along as his escort, looked around and let out a wry smile.
"When you think about it, isn't this only natural? There's no real reason to humor His Highness the First Imperial Prince's antics."
"So instead of flipping the table outright, they can just hole up in their own tents and not come out."
"Exactly. If anything, the fact that half of them showed up at all is impressive."
True enough.
A seasoned noble would rather avoid getting dragged into pointless trouble by indulging in such nonsense and simply not participate at all.
It might sour the First Imperial Prince's mood a little, but they would likely judge that option to be the better bargain.
"And the reason half of them still participated is either because they're from weak houses and overly conscious of the imperial family's favor, or because they're too thoughtless to consider the political implications. Or else…"
"Because they're desperate for connections. Surprisingly, making acquaintances at gatherings like this can be quite useful later on. Or perhaps they're preparing for the rapid changes the Empire has been undergoing lately."
At the sudden voice, Lucian and Raymond both turned their heads to the side.
There stood a noble, masked and cloaked just like Lucian, along with his escort.
Judging by the skin visible beneath the mask and the sound of his voice, he seemed to be around Lucian's age.
"…Nigel Cracey?"
Lucian murmured the name unconsciously when he caught sight of the familiar scar beneath the man's lower lip.
The other man flinched, clearly startled by Lucian's words.
"You know me?"
Know him? Of course he did.
How could he not know Nigel the Bat Baron?
A minor baron of a weak house, yet a master of diplomacy who had managed to hold onto his territory until the very day Lucian died.
In his previous life, Lucian had even worked under Nigel for a brief period.
'His skill at threatening an opponent just enough to draw them to the negotiating table, then backing off, was pure artistry.'
Beyond that, he would bluff just convincingly enough to deter attacks from stronger foes, or leave a delicate hint that he might draw in other powers—never quite committing, never quite retreating.
Though he lacked raw strength, he ultimately preserved his independence through almost uncanny diplomatic prowess.
Of course, for him those choices had been life-or-death gambles, but since every decision had turned out right, he could truly be called a natural-born diplomat.
'But I can't exactly bring up a past life here.'
Lucian decided to gloss over it with one of Nigel's well-known anecdotes.
"My apologies. I recognized you from the scar near your mouth and made a guess—it seems I was right."
"Ah… this thing, you mean. Funny how something so trivial ended up making me famous."
With a wry smile, Nigel fiddled with his lip, which had once been torn by a falcon's talons.
The story of his brother accidentally throwing a falcon's prey at Nigel's face during a hunt was fairly well known.
In truth, the tale had gained notoriety because of rumors that his brother had aimed for Nigel on purpose.
"Please, give me a moment. Since you guessed who I am, allow me to guess your identity in return. Hmm… House Dampierre?"
"No."
"Then House Kleist?"
"That's not it either."
Nigel rattled off the names of several houses, but not a single one was correct.
The problem was that he clearly didn't consider Lucian to be from a great house in the first place, since he never named any family above the rank of count.
At last, Nigel raised both hands with a bitter smile.
"I surrender, I surrender. This is embarrassing. I thought I had a decent eye for people, but to think I couldn't guess even your family name."
"I find it more impressive that you know so many houses and their traits in the first place. You weren't just throwing out names at random—you were looking for some kind of pattern, weren't you?"
"Oh dear, have I been found out?"
Looking a little embarrassed, Nigel scratched the back of his head.
Despite Lucian's discourtesy in calling out his name so abruptly, their first meeting hadn't gone badly.
Seizing the moment, Lucian decided to ask about what Nigel had mentioned earlier.
"Come to think of it, you said earlier that the nobles gathered here either because they're desperate for connections, or to prepare for changes in the Empire. I understand the former, but what did you mean by the latter?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. The Empire has been shaking lately."
The two of them began talking as they strolled along, almost as if taking a walk.
Even so, as though the topic were sensitive, Nigel lowered his voice to a whisper.
"There's the succession issue surrounding His Highness the First Imperial Prince, the agitation and incitement by those Imperial Liberation League scoundrels, unrest among the vassal states—and on top of that, even the mages who'd been lying low in various regions are starting to stir. So far nothing's happened, but no one knows when things might explode. In times like these, every connection counts."
"So it's so people can help each other when something happens? Because existing connections might not be enough?"
"More because the connections you've already built might vanish at any moment. When a storm hits, it's not uncommon for someone you know to get swept away without warning."
I see.
You go through all the trouble of building a network, only for it to become useless due to some unforeseen incident—so you make as many as possible in advance.
Even connections as thin as paper are better than none at all, it seemed.
"The old, seasoned lords seem to think it's nothing, just young fools making a fuss. But personally, I can't shake this unease. It'd be one thing if it were only the imperial family, but even House Valdeck is in turmoil."
Lucian flinched.
Why was Valdeck coming up here?
"Has something happened to House Valdeck?"
"Haven't you heard? Recently, the reclusive Third Young Master suddenly appeared and began to stand out. He exposed Marquis Logran's plot in advance, saw through the schemes of the Imperial Liberation League, and even secured the support of Sir Aizen the Sword Saint."
"I-is that so?"
"That's not something you can just brush off with 'is that so.' Even that alone would be unbelievable, but there are even rumors that he's coming as His Grace the Grand Duke's plenipotentiary for this rebellion's suppression. It's an event that completely upends the succession order—there's no telling how far the repercussions will spread."
"It may be overcautious advice, but people like us need to lie low at times like this. When whales fight, it's the shrimp whose backs get broken. I hear the Third Young Master is quite young, but don't judge by appearances alone—be careful how you act. Even if he's young, a lion is still a lion. Behind that youthful face, he may be hiding a truly fearsome nature."
"That's… quite a reasonable point…"
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