It's Too Late for Regrets - Chapter 13.0

June 24.
Stayed for two hours in the Archbishop’s room on the top floor.
Discussed the scripture titled “The Fifteenth Miracle: Deliverance from the Temptation of Evil” with the Archbishop.
Afterward, had a brief meeting with His Majesty the Emperor at the scripture archive and attended mass together.
Couldn’t hear the conversation clearly due to the distance, but it seemed the names of His Highness the Grand Duke and the young master were mentioned from time to time.
There was no personal contact.

June 26.
Said she wanted to learn horseback riding and personally chose a well-bred mare.
The horse is gentle and calm, so there should be no difficulty handling it even for Her Grace.
She did not give the horse a name.

June 28.
Access to the entire top floor with the priests’ rooms and the underground scripture archive has been restricted.
Unable to observe.

July 1.
Direct escort knight must be closely monitored.

July 2.
Contact confirmed.
Awaiting Your Highness’s orders to take action immediately.

July 3.
Understood.
Will continue surveillance.

Early July, when summer heat fully settled in.
The front of the Lezan Imperial Castle was crowded with carriages of high-ranking nobles arriving for the Round Table Meeting.

Since last month, the castle had never known peace.
The chaos caused by the disappearance of Lady Irope, daughter of the Count, and the second prince of Jenaire and his envoys during the founding festival hunting competition had been enormous.

First, the emperor’s engagement announcement was postponed indefinitely.
To find the missing prince of Jenaire, the imperial knights had to scour all of Lezan.

Fortunately, the prince was found soon—though not in one piece.
What the knights found in the forest of Rosram was only part of him.
His limbs and torso had been eaten by beasts, with only one ring-bearing ring finger left.
The symbol on the ring proved that the finger belonged to the second prince of Jenaire.

His mysterious death must have been shocking and enraging for Jenaire, but for Lezan, it wasn’t exactly a bad thing.
Jenaire had already lost the war, and during this founding festival, they had planned to discuss how to divide Jenaire’s land and colonies.
The prince had come as a final envoy to negotiate with the emperor.

But instead of sitting in the designated seat set by Lezan, he had secretly entered the forest of Rosram—the same forest where the emperor’s fiancée had disappeared.
That alone was enough to accuse the Jenaire delegation of harboring sinister motives.

So, even if he had survived, it would have been hard for him to escape punishment.
The fact that the prince was found dead only saved Lezan the trouble.

It was still unclear why the prince and envoys had been found deep in the forest far from the imperial castle, but the outcome was unnervingly clean.
No one from Jenaire was present at the post-war negotiation table.

Instead, the meeting focused on which of Lezan’s allies would take which part of Jenaire.
To renew the alliance treaty, noble meetings were held several times a week.

“The southern specialty export restrictions will be finalized here.”
Leaning back against the chair, the emperor lifted his head.
His brown eyes, usually warm, looked cold today like dry land.

“Since a distinguished guest has finally appeared, we can now discuss the long-delayed issue of rewards.”

Though Lezan had negotiated with allied envoys several times after the founding festival, they couldn’t reach an agreement without the main party who had signed the original pact.
Worse, that person hadn’t appeared during the entire festival and had even ignored repeated summons from the emperor.

The Grand Duke hadn’t attended any of the dozen Round Table Meetings held since the festival.
Yet he was often seen near tailors and theaters in the capital—it was outrageous.
He clearly had no regard for the emperor’s orders.

Even now, it was the same.
Sitting at the opposite end of the emperor’s throne, receiving sharp stares and sarcastic remarks, the Grand Duke remained expressionless.
Dressed impeccably, with his hair neatly swept back, he still exuded a raw, wild energy that dominated the room.

Normally, the emperor’s gentle tone and calm manner of speaking might have softened that intensity a little.
But today was different.
The emperor’s voice, as cold as the Grand Duke’s expression, landed heavily.

“So, what are your thoughts on the proposal from Yuelm and Krine?”

The Grand Duke’s green eyes, which had been lowered and unreadable, slowly lifted.
He looked at the large map of the continent on the round table.
The lands and colonies of Jenaire were marked in different colors.

“Yuelm wants the northern part of Jenaire—farmland surrounded by the Bahel River.
Krine wants the western colonies. Do you agree, Duke?”

“If they want them, let them take them.”
The Grand Duke replied without hesitation.
The emperor’s eyes narrowed as he studied his face.
The nobles exchanged surprised looks.

The territories requested by Yuelm and Krine were core regions of Jenaire’s agriculture and military.
Naturally, they were areas where Eleanor, the alliance’s center, had first claim.
Yuelm and Krine had only asked on the chance they might get lucky, yet the Grand Duke gave them up so easily?

“…Then what remains is the capital, the southeast, and colonies by the southern coast. Which do you want?”

“The heart.”
The Grand Duke answered without pause.
“The heart of Jenaire—the entire capital including the imperial palace. I don’t care how the rest is divided. Do as you please.”

It was still a strange choice.
Though the capital was the most developed city, holding only the central inland area had little strategic advantage.
It didn’t connect to sea trade routes or include fertile plains.

At best, it had transportation value, but with surrounding areas now belonging to different countries, even that advantage was weak.
Crossing borders freely wasn’t allowed anyway.

“Any chance you’ll change your mind?”

“None.”

With Eleanor, who played the key role in Jenaire’s conquest, giving such a firm answer, the deal closed quickly.
Thus, Jenaire, once hailed as the holy land of the central region, was divided into seven parts—claimed by Lezan, Eleanor, and five other allied nations.

It was an eerily clean conclusion for something that had dragged on for so long.

After all the nobles had left, only two people remained in the empty meeting hall.

Edgar stood up from his seat and quietly watched his cousin as he ruffled his hair and turned away.

‘How far did he plan, how much did he control, how much did he expect?’

There was no doubt the Grand Duke was the one who had turned the Jenaire prince into that state.
In the heavily guarded imperial palace, who else could slip in unnoticed, lead men to the forest, and kill so cleanly?

Yet no matter how recklessly the Grand Duke moved, the outcome was always neat, with no backlash.
No one could read his moves, find fault, or catch a slip.

And now, the Grand Duke had given up many benefits he could’ve claimed from the negotiation, and chose the capital of Jenaire—
The very place that happened to be the final destination of the secretly departing pilgrimage group.

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