“This is actually an open secret within the Lande royal family. Since you aren't in Norin and rarely deal with these trivial matters, you wouldn't know the inside story.”
Seeing Lynch's confusion, Miss Valente explained in a low voice:
“Prince William is the eldest son, but Princess Sophia is the eldest princess. Theoretically, the position of Crown Prince of Lande should belong to His Highness William, but Princess Sophia becoming the Crown Prince wouldn't actually violate legal principles.”
Lynch blinked, with only one thought in his mind: What is she talking about? Is that really the Lande language?
Miss Valente gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, and pressed her forehead, sighing in despair. “Sigh, in short, both of them actually qualify to be the Crown Prince. However, Prince William has a stronger legal basis, and Princess Sophia has no interest in fighting for it. That is why he has always been the future Crown Prince, and he is expected to be officially invested with the title of Crown Prince at the end of July.”
“And so?”
“But Emperor Rudolph II is not actually satisfied with him. Otherwise, he would have invested him as Crown Prince long ago, rather than dragging it out until now. Although the decision has been made to invest him now, His Majesty is still in his prime, and Princess Sophia is also young. Who knows what might happen over the next twenty or thirty years? He might be replaced by His Majesty at any moment.”
Hiss. “So he wants to commit patricide and fratricide?”
“Of course he cannot commit patricide publicly. That would be tantamount to challenging the aristocratic order of the entire world. Doing it in secret is also very dangerous, as it would be too easy to spot the clues. Besides, Emperor Rudolph II is not someone who can be easily schemed against.”
Lynch's expression turned grim as he realized Miss Valente's underlying meaning. “Once he is invested and secures his status as the Crown Prince, he can copy his father and sister. Then, he can have the copy of the princess publicly kill the fake king. This way, he can become His Majesty William IV without any obstacles.”
Miss Valente nodded. “Yes. The mystical affairs of the royal capital are handled by the Watchers. Trying to pull off something like this with other mystery relics would easily be detected. However, based on the description of this mirror, it would be extremely difficult to trace. But this is all under the premise that the copy can actually find this manifestation grade mystery relic. It is merely a legend from thousands of years ago. Why are they so convinced, even willing to pay such a high price to look for it?”
“I'm afraid it's the other way around,” Lynch sighed. Activating his phantasmal sound, he whispered into Miss Valente's ear, “I didn't tell you before why I was investigating the railway project. I'll explain it to you in detail later. In short, I suspect Prince William and his people wanted to use this project to find that mirror. When they realized they had to rely on the replica gem, they posted that massive bounty.”
“Then it all makes sense.” Covering her mouth with her folding fan, Miss Valente also spoke softly, “You had better be careful with this princess. She isn't as honest as she seems. Although she has admitted defeat and is indeed terrified, her defenses haven't been completely broken down yet. She is still hiding things in her words.”
“Hmm?”
“Let me handle this.”
Miss Valente did not answer, merely giving Lynch a playful wink. When she turned back to Princess Chloe, her expression had already become elegant and dignified.
“You must have also realized this possibility before making up your mind to do this, Your Highness Chloe. Heh, now that we are talking business, dry your tears first. As the offspring of court ladies raised in the royal palace, if you really cried like this over such a minor grievance, you would have dehydrated long ago. If you are afraid, just be afraid. If you want to admit your mistake, just admit it. Even after admitting defeat, you still didn't forget to play your little tricks. Are you looking down on the education of our Valente family? Did you think that I, as the eldest daughter of the Valente family, wouldn't see through your little schemes?”
Miss Valente looked at Princess Chloe with an amused gaze. Her expression was indifferent, and her tone was calm, but every word she spoke seemed to hide a needle:
“Your willingness to display your grievances and fear, and your willingness to act obedient and tamed, is nothing more than an attempt to give Mr. Lynch a sense of vengeful accomplishment. You want him to stop holding your previous offense against you and prevent him from exposing what you did in a fit of rage. It seems you are truly terrified, which is why you have put away your ridiculous arrogance. But did you really think playing pitiful would work on Mr. Lynch? He only spared you because he saw that you still care about innocent people and still possess some humanity. Since you were indeed terrified, he simply didn't have the heart to scare you further. If you truly believe he couldn't see through your intentions, I don't mind helping you see yourself clearly.”
No, I actually didn't see through it at all. Who would have thought that you high nobles, even a fourteen-year-old kid, would have so many layers of schemes? You didn't even forget to play tricks in a situation like this.
As expected of you. Lynch's eyes practically sparkled as he looked at Miss Valente. I'm just a detective analyzing cases. When it comes to playing mind games and reading people, I really have to rely on you.
Miss Valente seemed to understand Lynch's gaze. Avoiding Chloe's line of sight, she threw Lynch a slightly smug look. Chloe, on the other hand, did not notice their subtle interaction. She merely looked at the two of them dejectedly, shrank back slightly, and lowered her head with all her arrogance completely drained, muttering, “I'm sorry.”
“Heh, you only confessed half of the story just now and kept the other half, didn't you? But I can't blame you. Let me fill in the details that are inconvenient for you to say directly.”
Seeing that Chloe had behaved herself completely, Miss Valente smiled and said casually:
“You must have realized the possibility I mentioned just now, and you might have even consulted the Salter royal family, who demanded that you lend the replica to His Highness William. On one hand, it was to ensure the smooth progress of the railway project; on the other hand, who knows how much they want Lande to fall into chaos. But you didn't dare. That is a struggle for royal power. Any slight misstep would drag others down. The Russell family is far away in the New Continent, so they certainly wouldn't be affected, but you are here in Lande, and you would definitely be the first to suffer.”
Princess Chloe crossed her arms and leaned back further, her head hanging even lower.
“You didn't dare disobey your royal family's orders, nor did you want to offend Prince William and ruin the cooperation. You were also worried that the Rose family would secretly target you if the truth came out, and you feared that if the manifestation grade mystery relic really caused a massive disaster, you would bear the souls of countless innocent people and become a sinner of the entire world. That is why you came up with this plan to deceive everyone, am I right? But I don't understand. Why did you and the Count of Lorand treat Mr. Lynch that way the night before last?”
Princess Chloe kept her head lowered and remained silent for a moment. She cast a timid glance at Lynch and Miss Valente before speaking honestly: “I didn't know what plans they had. I simply wanted to cause some trouble for them and kick out the candidate they recommended.”
“So that is why I don't like you, Your Highness Chloe,” Lynch sighed. “It is not because you provoked me, but because of your attitude. Perhaps you have very legitimate reasons and a noble goal, but in the process of moving toward that goal, you don't consider the lives of others at all. You didn't consider whether the method you used to kick me out would cause me irreparable damage. To put it bluntly, you do whatever it takes to achieve your goals. In my eyes, you are no different from Prince William and his people.”
“Dying while riding a horse, dying while eating, dying while sleeping, dying while bathing, dying while climbing mountains, dying while fishing...” Princess Chloe said self-deprecatingly. “Living in the royal family, one can encounter a new way to die at any moment. Those who worry about their methods rarely live to adulthood.”
“I can understand, but I cannot accept it,” Lynch shook his head. “But focusing on the matter at hand, I don't oppose your goal. Moreover, whether you were acting or being genuine just now, you showed an attitude of admitting your mistake and apologizing. Even though I forced you into it, my anger has already dissipated by half. So, at least this time, I don't plan to expose this matter and ruin your plans. We'll deal with future matters in the future.”
Princess Chloe bit her lip and nodded slightly in agreement. “Thank you. And you are right, my actions were indeed inappropriate. I'm really sorry.”
“Good. Since we have reached an agreement, now it's a Q&A. Is the replica currently in your hands?”
“Yes.”
“Does the Count of Lorand know?”
“Only I know.”
“Very well. Keep it safe and don't let anyone know of its existence. As of now, this thing is the real replica.”
Lynch picked up the Flaming Red Lips from the table and said with a sinister smile:
“And I will handle this. I am considering how to let the Rangers and Howard's people naturally seize it. I originally wanted to sell it to them at a high price, but that might arouse their suspicion. It is safer to let them steal it themselves. No matter the method, it must eventually be returned to them. Since this thing is so important to them, we might as well let them use it to carry out their plan. After all, I'm no demon. I don't like to ruin other people's dreams. As for whether they can eventually find what they want, or if the price they paid will all go down the drain, that is none of my business.”
Miss Valente immediately shifted to the side, moving further away. Lynch suspected that this girl was planning to have the coachman call the police.
“This is for the best of everyone. However, Princess, you should still inform Alice and the others. The item must not be handed over to them until at least the end of July. Otherwise, being targeted by Prince William and his people is also a massive hidden danger for them, the Deep Ones.” Lynch thought about it, then sighed and said, “If neither of you has any objections, let's decide on this for now. It's just a bit of a pity.”
“Why?”
Lynch leaned close to Miss Valente's ear and said, “We should have had an opportunity to figure out what conspiracy they were brewing in advance, and confirm whether their target was indeed that mirror. Unfortunately, the important documents of the railway project were completely burned to ashes in that massive fire. The photographs were also destroyed along with Mr. Klin's twisting transformation. We can only think of other ways to investigate. But without being able to confirm it in advance, I feel uneasy about giving this gem back to them.”
Miss Valente's expression turned somewhat strange, and she looked at Lynch in confusion. “Are you referring to those railway project documents and accident files in the archives of the Hall of Order?”
“Yes. You know of their existence too?” Lynch suddenly realized something and asked in surprise, “That day you went to the Hall of Order in disguise... could it be that you went to look up those files?”
Miss Valente nodded.
Lynch's eyes immediately lit up, and he asked with anticipation, “Did you record the contents inside? Like taking photos or something?”
Miss Valente shook her head. “No, I didn't record anything.”
The hope that had just risen dashed again. Lynch let out a deeply disappointed sigh, but then he heard the girl continue speaking.
“I found it too troublesome that day, so I used some connections to have all those documents delivered to my house before leaving the Hall of Order.”
What?
“The things I've been looking for for half a month have actually been in your hands this whole time?”
Lynch felt his head spin for a moment, but thinking back to the timing of this girl's appearance that day, it was surprisingly reasonable.
“Yes.” Miss Valente tilted her head, resting her chin in her hand, looking equally surprised. “You didn't say you were looking for those things. They are in the library right next to your guest room from last night. You even slept right next to them for a whole night.”
???
Holy shit!
Rate on N.U.
