“Ludwig. I thought we had an agreement,” Henry frowned, as he sat on the main seat of the Regency Council’s meeting room. “Why is Her Highness still running around freely?”

  “Henry,” the old statesman politely narrowed his gaze. “What do you think you are doing right now?”

  “I took the most comfortable seat,” Henry answered. “Hey, do you have some good wine?”

  “Of course. But why? Do you feel so bold about your position now that you do…all this?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “I see.”

  Ludwig smiled widely, before clapping.

  “Let’s have a toast then!”

  After a bunch of servants entered the room, food and wine were arrayed in front of the two, as they sat on opposite sides of the table. For a while, they just stared at each other in pure silence, their eyes warring silently.

  Until Ludwig blinked. Henry grinned.

  “Old man, your age is catching up to you,” Henry pointed out.

  “Henry. You’re too young to throw it all away,” Ludwig replied.

  “You make a good point.”

  “You sit there precariously.”

  “And your time is limited.”

  “Seems like we’re both hanging on a thin thread, no?”

  “How will life be so exciting if that’s not the case, old man?”

  “If my life is half as exciting as yours, I wouldn’t have reached this far.”

  Henry had a shot of the fine wine. Then, he leaned back in his seat.

  “How’s August doing?” Henry asked.

  “Recuperating.”

  “Has the news gone to the public?”

  “Of course not. Still, you played your cards well, don’t you think?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “But, on the other hand, my cards aren't all out yet,” Ludwig leaned forward. “The Imperial Diet will not work for a government they have not appointed.”

  Henry frowned. Indeed, this elder statesman was right. Henry couldn’t act so rashly. He had no political power that he could wield, outside of course of his influence in the Imperial Army.

  He had the sword, yes, but a sword was hardly enough to govern. That little brat running around had both the sword—mostly in the form of the saintess—and legitimacy to rule, he didn’t. He was supposed to get that by popular revolution, but that was now off the table.

  Instead, he wished to have it by an internal coup, which was on the table, but for now, he couldn’t act too rashly…yet. Ludwig here may have no sword, but he was still too useful to be let go.

  How am I going to extract legitimacy from this man?

  He needed to corner Ludwig. Not in the sense that he would kill him, well…that could happen later, but in the sense where Ludwig would have to step down peacefully to appoint a new Grand Regent.

  And it had to be in a way where the Imperial Diet would…at the very least, tolerate such a change. Luckily, Henry was still a noble, even if he was a bit of a minor one. That was a bit of a complication, but one that could be easily circumvented as Ludwig here makes him a ‘natural successor’.

  A noble, from the noble class, whom the Imperial Diet—made up mostly of nobles—believes would best represent them. That was who Henry wanted to be.

  “Ludwig. Why say all of that?” Henry restored his lazy smile. “That’s why we’re talking. The brat’s never stopping anytime soon.”

  “She sure runs around a lot these days. I knew her crippling sweet addiction would lead to a burst of energy one day,” Ludwig said.

  “That kind of energy is the type of energy that’s less than ideal for you, no?”

  “And it’s no different for you.”

  “So why can’t you do your part?”

  “That’s rich coming from borderline mutineers.”

  Henry shook his head.

  “She’s gaining too much momentum,” Henry pointed out. “Who kills that momentum decides how this goes.”

  “And you think you’ll be the one to do it?”

  “Damn right, old man.”

  The two men stopped again, their back-and-forth now settling into another round of cold silence. Henry had been trying to threaten and blackmail him, but Ludwig was simply not the same as the rest of the Regency Council.

  If this man’s going down, he’s going to take something from me first.

  A stubborn Duke, that was who he was. But Henry knew he could crack him too, at some point. Boldness beats any prepared defenses, as he’d seen when he cracked the three other regents.

  Still, even when Ludwig knew that Henry could kill him here right at any second, he sat there with a neutral gaze. This only meant one thing—Henry faced a slightly higher wall than the last.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Still, he would scale it soon.

  I wonder how that brat is doing though? While he’s here doing all these, she still hasn't gone to Ostend. Strange…

  “I see…” Ludwig suddenly nodded to himself, gaining Henry’s attention. “Say, what do you think of…”

  +++

  “Yuck! Ew! Ew! Why did it have to hit me?!”

  “It’s just a bit of blood—”

  “Wilhelm! You peasant! I refuse to be sullied like this! Why is it so gloopy…ew, ew, ew…”

  As Alexa panicked to wipe off the blood on her dress, Wilhelm sighed and facepalmed, while the adventurers finished the batch of monsters that charged in on them.

  “Pick yourself up,” Wilhelm grunted. “Even Adele over there doesn’t mind a bit of blood.”

  “It’s not about being scared of blood! I wanted to perform the ritual well-dressed!”

  “Why so?”

  “Because I am a fine princess, Wilhelm. You wouldn’t understand!”

  Alexa pouted, while Wilhelm stared at her eyes blankly.

  She knew she was being unreasonable, but Wilhelm could have stopped that spurt of blood from ruining her dress. Instead, it was as if he purposely allowed that small dungeon goblin to get close first, then cut it with wind magic right when Alexa was close.

  Unbelievable…

  Then, she noticed the right side of his lips curling upward.

  I-I knew it! He was making fun of me again!

  He truly didn’t know how to treat a lady properly!

  “Wilhelm…” Alexa grumbled.

  “Alright, fun time’s over,” Wilhelm turned his back on her. “Let’s keep moving, Lady Alexa.”

  “And you say my name sarcastically. Sometimes I wonder if you just hate me…” This time, Alexa sulked instead. “My knight hates me…”

  She felt Adele pat her back as the two followed the rest of the team deeper into the dungeon.

  “Worry not, Lady Alexa. I’m sure Sir Wilhelm just has a strange obsession with disliking everything about the world,” Adele cheered.

  “My…that sounds quite edgy.”

  “‘Edgy’, Your Highness?”

  “Nothing.”

  “I love whiskey,” Wilhelm suddenly interrupted, as if he were defensive.

  “Nobody asked,” Alexa harrumphed.

  “I did.”

  “Why do you have a response to everything?”

  “Hey!” the adventurer knight called out to them. “We’re here.”

  Alexa, Wilhelm, Adele, and the rest of their team entered the ritual room, which had indeed been fixed according to Helene’s reports. Though the adventurers maintaining the perimeter must have eventually abandoned it, the ritual room was now pristine.

  There was no dust, no cobwebs, no dirt inside. Even the mana condenser was now cleaned, among others. It was, in general, a more pleasant room than the last one that Alexa saw.

  So, she nodded to herself, satisfied.

  “I see. While my dress is ruined, this seems fitting for achieving my 2nd magic circle,” then, Alexa clapped. “Wilhelm, hand me the elixir, please.”

  “Be careful,” Wilhelm said, as he gave it to Alexa. “If you feel that anything’s off, step out of the runic circle.”

  “Wait,” Alexa narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t warn me back then.”

  “...”

  I knew it, he really did just use me as a pawn back then!

  “We really need a long talk later, Wilhelm,” Alexa sighed.

  “I hope it’s about my pay raise,” Wilhelm smiled.

  “Most likely, you’ll get a pay cut.”

  “...Life sucks, I guess.”

  “Hmph.”

  Alexa turned away, before sipping all of the elixir given to her. Within seconds, she felt its effects, a cool sensation around her chest forming. Most of all, she even felt invigorated.

  Four hundred percent?

  That was nearly double the one she consumed back then. Wilhelm really did cut corners back then. Now she felt extra bad. The fact that Wilhelm treated her as nothing more than a disposable girl to get what he wanted that day stung her a bit.

  It stung a bit too hard that this time, she just bit her tongue and she didn’t scold him.

  Instead, she channeled her annoyance into bravery, and she stepped into the runic circle driven by the need to prove herself worthy. She’d get that water magic, she swore!

  Here I go.

  As golden magic surrounded her, Alexa felt the air turning extremely heavy. A familiar knot began to form in her chest, and she knew what it was. It was her second magic circle forming, while the mana condenser drew magic around her to help it form.

  All I need now, is to reach…and finish forming it!

  She remembered the searing pain from doing this back then, but this time around, all she felt was a rapidly worsening fatigue. It wasn’t pleasant, but unlike having her heart literally crushed due to its weakness and the low-quality elixir Wilhelm made for her, this was easier.

  No…in fact, she even felt excited by it.

  A grin appeared on her face, as she reached the mana condenser, her gloved hand easily touching it. The knot in her chest intensified for a brief second, as a burst of mana was expelled by the mana condenser, her magic circle absorbing it wildly.

  Then, she collapsed on her knees.

  I did it! Again!

  A sense of wonder grew on Alexa’s face as she looked at the slew of notifications coming her way.

  Finally, I can cast both water, fire, and combine the two for…

  Her eyes shone as she looked at the ceiling with both madness and childlike delusion.

  That’s right, ice magic!

  “So…does she really need to use an ancient mana condenser for this?” the boy mage asked from the side, before the cleric beside him shoved her shoulder to his side. “Ow! I was just asking questions.”

  “Our job here is to guard the princess, not make fun of Her Highness.”

  “Her heart’s weak,” Wilhelm said plainly.

  “Wilhelm!” Alexa turned to him. “Why’d you say that out loud! Now they know my weakness!”

  “Your Highness, your condition is literally public record.”

  “B-but, still—”

  “Everyone,” the knight adventurer called out from outside. “I think we have to get out of this place now. There are more monsters coming our way. This is quite deep in the dungeon after all.”

  “He’s right,” Adele shakily called out too, as she peeked outside, her wand ready. “There’s minotaurs too! And we don’t have the shieldguards this time!”

  “No need to panic just yet,” Wilhelm said, as he took out his spell book. Then, he turned to Alexa. “Stand up. I think you should get some practice with water magic early.”