She had no idea what he could possibly want to bargain over.
No matter how she turned it around in her mind, there was simply no reason for the Tower Master to have sought out Riersha specifically to discuss a “deal.”
If anything…
I thought we’d be the ones going to him first.
What on earth was Sion Senuart thinking?
Riersha hugged Yong-yong close and settled onto the sofa across from him before asking.
“What kind of deal are you talking about?”
“Hmm. For instance — if our little miss tells me what else she’s hiding, I’ll be on her side when she needs me. Something along those lines.”
“You don’t have to ask me for something like that.”
“So you’re refusing?”
That wasn’t it at all.
It was an incredibly tempting offer.
Which was precisely why she found it so suspicious.
As far as Riersha could see, siding with the Empress would have been the far more advantageous choice for Sion Senuart. It would have been easier to make the evidence of black magic use disappear, and dealing with the Temple would have been far simpler. If the Imperial Palace exerted a reasonable amount of pressure, the Temple couldn’t simply ignore it — they would at least pretend to get along with the Magic Tower.
And yet, despite all those advantages, he had come to find Riersha instead. That meant…
He’s interested in something else. Something that has nothing to do with any of that.
But what?
Riersha studied Sion Senuart with narrowed, suspicious eyes.
“There’s no need to be so guarded. I only have one thing I’m curious about.”
“And what’s that?”
“Where the hidden prince is.”
“…”
“And whether that prince was truly born with divine power in its proper form. Those are the only two things I want to know.”
Sion Senuart’s questions were straightforward enough. There was nothing particularly dangerous about answering them on the spot. They were truths the entire world would know soon enough anyway.
…But why does he want to know whether Isierd was born with proper divine power?
Sion Senuart smiled pleasantly.
“I was wondering who our little miss takes after — turns out it’s the young Duke, quite a lot. You’re far too suspicious.”
“You’re the suspicious one, mister.”
“…Hm?”
“Mister.”
Riersha gave a small “hmph” and turned her head away sharply.
Sion Senuart appeared to have been struck by the word. He went still for a moment, and she could hear him murmuring faintly between barely-moving lips — “Mister… me?” — as though it had dealt him a genuine blow. Riersha watched the Tower Master from the corner of her eye, expression flat.
“If I tell you the truth, then you have to be just as honest with me. No hiding things.”
“That goes without saying.”
“Everything. Not a single thing left out. And no pretending you didn’t mention something just because I didn’t think to ask.”
Sion Senuart’s lips curved into a slow, deep smile at her bold demand.
“My, my…”
It was a strange feeling, realizing that she had already figured out his habits. Because she was right. Sion Senuart was not a man who was straightforward about anything. He had a rather unpleasant tendency to twist every piece of information he gave, no matter what it was.
“All right. I promise.”
But he decided, here and now, to be honest with her.
“…Really?”
“Having at least one person like that isn’t so bad. Besides, Riersha, I find myself looking forward to seeing where you go.”
He was genuinely curious about what she would be like when she grew up.
Riersha, entirely unaware that she had somehow won the Tower Master’s favor, gave a small nod.
“Okay. Then I’ll answer your first question. There is another prince in the Imperial family besides the Crown Prince. That’s right.”
“…I had already suspected as much, but hearing it said aloud is still a shock. Why hasn’t the Emperor made the prince’s existence known?”
“That part I don’t know either.”
Riersha shook her head.
Sion Senuart seemed to turn something over in his mind before asking again.
“Then what is the level of this prince’s divine power?”
“Hmm. He seemed strong.”
“What makes you say that?”
“He healed someone who had been poisoned — all at once.”
Truth be told, the only time Riersha had ever witnessed divine power being used was when she watched Isierd. So she decided to relay the actual incident to the Tower Master.
“He purified a poison in one go?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting. So he possesses divine power at least on par with the Pope, perhaps higher?”
Sion Senuart’s pale eyes glimmered with keen interest.
“Does that matter?”
“Of course it does. That’s the only way the authority to command the Temple can be transferred to the Imperial family. Aside from purifying the poison — was there anything else?”
Well, it would probably be faster to ask Isierd directly about the details.
Still, the phrase authority to command the Temple caught Riersha’s attention. She had been wondering how Isierd could fully seize power once he became Crown Prince.
The Temple. I had forgotten about the Temple.
Gaining the Temple’s oath of loyalty would be far quicker than rallying the support of the nobility.
But is the current Pope’s divine power really that formidable?
Was it stronger than Isierd’s? That was something Riersha couldn’t be certain about.
“…But what if the prince’s divine power turns out to be weaker than the Pope’s?”
“Then my plans would need to change, naturally. And our deal would fall through.”
“…”
“I have no interest in the well-being of the Declair Empire. Whether the Imperial Palace crumbles or not is none of my concern.”
…Sion, having promised to be honest, was laying bare his intentions with almost startling bluntness.
Riersha glanced around the room out of reflex. There was no one listening, of course.
Yong-yong, watching her do this, looked around the room in exactly the same way before tilting their head with a soft “kyung?”
Well. The Tower Master probably has plenty of reasons to resent both the Imperial Palace and the Temple.
The Temple had relentlessly treated the Magic Tower as something impure and corrupt, while the Imperial Palace had simply looked the other way. The Imperial Palace would call upon the Tower when it suited them, offer just enough help to get what they needed, and then conveniently forget the Tower’s existence once they no longer had use for it. That had been the nature of their relationship all along.
Sion Senuart’s expression became detached, almost bored.
“I know it’s dangerous to say this in the Declair Empire, which reveres the Goddess… but I would very much like to push the Temple somewhere out of sight. I think I’d be able to breathe a little easier that way.”
“Oh.”
Riersha understood immediately what the Tower Master was getting at.
In short — if Isierd’s divine power proved greater than the Pope’s, he could claim the authority to command the Temple outright, and Sion intended to use that to cut the Temple down to size. That was what he was hoping for.
“So… for this deal to work, the prince’s divine power is what really matters?”
“Exactly.”
“…But when the Crown Prince’s condition is eventually exposed, the leak of black magic will come to light as well. Is that really fine with you?”
After all, hadn’t he secretly crept into the Arachrene Ducal House’s underground prison trying to conceal exactly that?
Riersha was, honestly, a little baffled.
“As long as the end result is good, I don’t mind if the path there is a little rough.”
Sion smiled pleasantly.
He was, it seemed, a firm believer in ends over means.
Of course, she couldn’t forget that this deal of his was contingent on one thing — it would only hold if Isierd’s divine power surpassed the Pope’s.
“Well then, I’d like to meet this prince myself. When might that be possible?”
“Three days from now.”
“Sooner than I expected.”
“You’ll be able to see him at the capital courthouse.”
“…Hmm? That’s an unusual venue.”
Sion stroked his chin, and then looked at Riersha with a dawning expression, as if a thought had just struck him.
Could it be…
“You intend to reveal the prince’s existence there?”
“It’s the surest way.”
“The Emperor as well?”
Riersha gave a small shrug.
Sion stared at her for a blank moment — then burst out laughing. He doubled over, shoulders shaking, one hand pressed against his stomach, laughing for a good long while. When he finally composed himself and looked back at her, his eyes were bright.
“Then I suppose I’ll find out there whether our deal holds.”
“Yes. But listen.”
“…?”
“Aren’t you trying to get away with a little too much? If the prince’s divine power isn’t strong enough, you’ll just go running off to the Empress’s side?”
“…”
“I’m your client, you know?”
She fixed him with a look of weary, unimpressed judgment — the kind of look reserved for truly hopeless adults — and quickly pulled open a drawer, retrieving a single sheet of paper.
“…So what exactly do you want from me?”
“Even if our deal falls through, promise me you won’t side with the Empress. Write it down before you leave. Otherwise I’m telling my father everything I heard today.”
Sion’s expression went slack again — utterly blank.
“Oh, and one more thing.” Riersha added. “Write down that you won’t bother our Yong-yong anymore either.”
