There were two reasons that I aimed at Richard.

The first was just because he was cheeky.

I expected it, but he was very relentless in provoking me.

I thought he could get hurt a little because he was a bad guy.

The second was to drive Carlon into a corner.

He was in a hurry, so he wasn't the type to slowly look at the situation and then respond.

Once he set his goal, he had to finish it quickly.

Richard's injury will likely urge Carlon to act fast.

"I heard that the administration has a lot of work these days."

Robert added anxiously, and the emperor clicked his tongue with an embarrassed expression.

"Oh, come to think of it, that's right."

Robert immediately said with his sparkling green eyes at the emperor's reaction.

"There's someone with talent I wanted to recommend. Your Majesty has seen him before because he's the son of Shrida."

"You mean the young man from the North?"

"Yes. Why don't you let him in as a support staff?"

Carlon's complexion began to deteriorate rapidly.

This was because there had been many official documents being manipulated by Richard.

"Okay. Tell him to join starting tomorrow, right away. Is he still in the capital city?"

"That's right. Then I'll give him instructions right away."

The emperor nodded coolly, and Carlon's face now turned blue.

This was because it was obvious that there would be a problem if Robert's person came into the administration and dug things up in earnest.

'You'll think it's the end, probably.'

Looking at Carlon's face, I was confident in myself.

'But I'll slowly show you that it's not the end.'

When it came to black magic, there was only one way to drive out Carlon, who never left evidence.

For the third 'origin of black magic', I had to set the trap first.

And this was the first step in setting that trap.

"Anyway, this is how the duel ended."

Robert smiled and looked around the people in the banquet hall.

"An unexpected accident has occurred, but it is not enough to break the excitement of the banquet because it is not life-threatening."

It was true that the excitement of the banquet was broken, but no one said anything about it because the main character was still in a good mood.

"Your Majesty, I'm happy to return this handkerchief safely."

I untied the handkerchief I had hung on the sword handle and handed it back to the emperor.

"It was such an honor to be able to fight for your honor."

"Oh, my..."

The emperor couldn't hide his excitement as he accepted the handkerchief and breathed heavily.

No, I was the one who succeeded, but why was the emperor making a triumphant face...?

"I watched a duel in my honor... I got my handkerchief back too..."

Watching the emperor muttering, I realized the reason.

His passion for swordsmanship was exploding, which had been suppressed just because of his status as an emperor.

'In my previous life, there was a word that meant this kind of heart... Was it fan sentiment?'

Carlon, who was looking at it, slowly stood up.

"Then I'll go to Richard Abedes."

I exchanged eyes with Robert.

'Yeah, hurry up and go.'

It was exactly what I expected.

~*~

Carlon left the banquet hall leisurely, but after that, he hurriedly took steps.

"This is really ridiculous."

Lagian made absurd excuses as he followed Carlon.

"As you can see, Annabelle was unilaterally pushed by me."

He continued to talk with an expression of resentment.

"She avoided the attack, but it must have been a coincidence or something..."

Lagian sincerely thought so.

The pattern of the duel was exactly as he expected.

Annabelle was accurately revealing the limitations of what he and other experts had analyzed.

That was why he was able to dig into those weaknesses and drive it easily.

In the meantime, it was true that it was a little excessive to kill her at once.

But according to the speed he calculated, it was normal for her to avoid it...

"I don't know such things."

Carlon responded bluntly.

"However, you lost and put my important manpower in serious injury..."

His eyes glared at Lagian with a flash.

"That made me very embarrassed."

"This is really ridiculous..."

"Remember the contract details."

Carlon said gruesomely.

"The condition was to kill Annabelle."

"Don't worry about that."

Lagian immediately replied.

"Today was a completely unexpected event. If you give me another chance, I can really kill her then."

He added with a worried look that he would not give him more opportunities.

"Really... I really want to get rid of it."

In fact, Lagian seemed to be already burning up because he wanted to beat Annabelle somehow.

She was originally an opponent he wanted to kill, but after actually facing the sword with her, his hatred for her increased.

It was ridiculous since he provoked her by talking informally in the first place.

However, when she dismissed him as a loser in front of everyone, he was even more angry and was going crazy.

'Even after winning by a fluke...'

At that moment, in Lagian's head, there was an ominous suspicion that it was not a fluke and all this was a meticulous calculation.

But he quickly erased the suspicion.

No matter how much he looked at it, it was the same as before except for the last avoidance.

"Can I trust you?"

Carlon said, looking at him gruesomely.

"So far, I have never given a second chance to someone who failed."

The reason why Carlon has not been caught even though he has committed huge crimes without much ability so far was because he had such a thorough personality.

The fact that Robert was constantly in check while occupying the crown prince position itself also spoke of Carlon's caution.

"Trust me. I'm going to get rid of Annabelle Rainfield somehow. Even if the crown prince doesn't give me another chance. Well, then things will get harder..."

"...Lagian Velicis."

Carlon looked straight at Lagian and asked.

"What kind of resentment do you have against Annabelle Rainfield? I don't think it's moving solely on my command."

"It's..."

Lagian closed his mouth and did not answer.

In the Duchy of Edison, Carlon said, 'Ian Wade and Annabelle Reinfield are on one side.' From the moment Laigan heard that it was too burdensome for both of them to be on Robert's side, he enthusiastically rushed to get rid of Annabelle.

"Well. If you don't want to talk, fine. Instead, I'll trust your grudge and give you another chance."

Carlon did not let go of his stiff expression and headed to the place where Richard was being treated urgently.

"Crown Prince!"

Richard was lying unconscious in the separate room of the Imperial Palace.

When Carlon entered one of the palaces, Elburn, who was guarding Richard, rose urgently.

"I don't know if you heard, but fortunately, it doesn't affect his life."

The courtier spoke politely.

"The first aid is over, so I'm going to send him to Marquis Abedes now."

"I see."

Carlon responded insincerely.

"Go ahead. I'll see the Abedes off myself."

"Yes."

The courtier immediately replied to Carlon's order and left the separate room.

Now, except for Richard, who was unconscious, only Carlon, Lagian, and Elburn remained.

"Thank you, Crown Prince."

Elburn greeted quickly in the midst of a hurry.

"Thank you for coming to see him..."

"I'm not here to see Richard."

Carlon replied coldly, cutting off Elburn's words.

"Elburn Abedes, I came because you had something to do."

"You're talking about me?"

Elburn's face hardened with surprise.

He wasn't good at planning.

Elburn always thought that it was Richard's job who faced Carlon directly.

That was why he had only followed Richard's orders.

It was amazing that Carlon came to Elburn in person, but he said something more to be proud of.

"You've been manipulating your books quite a bit, so you'll have to do that."

"What?"

Elburn opened his mouth blankly.

"If an emergency audit comes in, how long do you think you can endure?"

Whenever there was an emergency, the Ministry of Finance also stole as much money as part of Elburn's authority.

It was a series of ways to spend a lot of money and fill it up again when illegal funds from black magic flowed in.

Of course, Elburn has managed somehow so that it did not cause problems.

And this time, Carlon siphoned off a large amount of money from the Treasury, saying he would bring Lagian.

In the meantime, the two "origins of black magic," which had been earning a lot of money, were destroyed.

Originally, it was money that could be filled leisurely.

However, if it was an "emergency audit," the story was different.

"With Richard collapsing, Robert's men will likely enter the administration."

Carlon said, staring at Elburn, who had become contemplated.

"There will definitely be some nitpicking and an emergency audit. I will try to cut off the tail of the administration, but if the Ministry of Finance is caught, it will be difficult to get out."

"That, that..."

Elburn was in a daze.

"About 10 days... I can endure the loss of documents under the pretext of misplacing them, but I think it'll be harder than that."

While answering honestly, Elburn could not stop thinking, 'this is not right'.

However, the relationship with Carlon was like a swamp, so trying to pull out now was like sinking even deeper.

Richard, who judged and acted on everything, was unconscious, and Marquis Abedes did not know the current situation.

For the first time, Elburn felt a great sense of frustration while secretly trying to attack Annabelle.