Escorting the carriage, we returned to the royal palace.
The three of us—His Majesty, Indra, and I—made our way to a study that resembled a grand library.
His Majesty turned toward his confidant, Cruz.
"Wait outside. Admit no one unless summoned."
"Understood."
Cruz bowed deferentially and withdrew from the room.
Inside the study remained the three of us and a single young eunuch.
"Is this fellow fine?" Indra asked, pointing at him.
"Mm. He is an exception. We keep one here who is deaf, mute, and illiterate."
"I see. Perfect for discussing confidential matters, then."
Satisfied, Indra looked at the eunuch with an amused expression.
Meanwhile, His Majesty fixed his gaze straight on me.
"Now then, you have given Us a fine idea. We intend to proceed with it."
"In that case, Your Majesty." I stepped forward, lowering my head slightly as I spoke. "You ought to reclaim full military command back under Your Majesty's authority."
"Military command?"
"Yes. Brother Henry's position as Imperial Prince Minister of Military Affairs, my post as Governor-General of the First Imperial Guard Army, and the like."
"...I see."
"Not bad, kid."
His Majesty nodded in understanding after a moment's thought, while Indra smirked with amusement.
"Indeed. If an imperial family member dissatisfied with the Emperor's final decree holds military command, things will get messy. There's a real possibility they might forcefully eliminate the other princes to seize the imperial throne."
"Yes. It would essentially amount to a coup d'état, but amid the turmoil following Your Majesty's passing, whoever controls the military can force their way through."
"True enough. Still, to think that suggestion would come from you, kid."
"He is well suited to be your grandson-in-law, is he not?"
"Yeah."
His Majesty set his pen to paper.
In no time at all, two imperial edicts were drafted.
He handed one of them to me.
Reading through it, it was an edict that formally relieved me as governor-general while expressing appreciation for my service.
Which meant the other one was for Brother Henry.
His Majesty made a gesture to the attending eunuch.
The eunuch nodded, took the edict out of the study, and returned almost immediately.
His movements consisted of broad, simple gestures.
I figured he had likely been trained to carry out only a handful of fixed commands.
"What shall We do regarding the Crown Prince's disinheritance?"
Here came the heart of the matter.
It felt as though the temperature in the room instantly dropped by two degrees.
"That can be handled however you see fit," I replied.
"Hm?"
"The appointment and disinheritance of the Crown Prince is a national affair of the Empire, but it is also an internal matter of the imperial family. How you choose to appoint or depose an heir is entirely at the Emperor's discretion."
I stated my stance as the Imperial Prince Minister of Justice.
"I see."
"However."
"However?"
"Unlike Gilbert, Brother Albert has not committed an outright crime. Therefore, I believe it would be best to let him remain an imperial prince even after his disinheritance."
"Hm. Then how about this? 'Albert bears no duplicity toward Us nor toward the realm, yet he lacks the competence to be entrusted with the world. Therefore, We depose him as Crown Prince and return him to an imperial prince'—how does that sound?"
"I think that is fine."
"Yeah. And Emperor, do you have any intention of making Albert the heir again in the future?"
"None."
His Majesty stated flatly.
He really had... completely given up on him.
"Then it's best to make that clear."
"Hm... Make it clear, you say?"
"How about granting him a character? The 'Final' Imperial Prince, perhaps, carrying the implication that everything ends there."
Granting a character was an honor, but it also served to make that imperial prince's standing known throughout the Empire.
That was why I proposed it.
"Mm. That is good. Well suggested, Noah."
His Majesty praised me, then set his pen to the fresh sheet of paper laid out by the returned eunuch.
However, whereas he had written smoothly earlier, this time his hand hesitated and stumbled. When he raised his head after finishing, his face was clouded with conflicted emotion.
"Phew... This will not do."
"What is the matter?"
"What on earth is this? The handwriting is dreadful, it's riddled with errors, and the phrasing makes no sense unless you read it closely. What an atrocious piece of writing."
"It is effectively passing sentence upon one's own child. Even if it is merely disinheritance, We cannot bear it."
"Makes sense. Well, you can just rewrite it."
"If I may speak, Your Majesty."
"What is it, Noah?"
"I believe it would be fine to issue it as an edict just as it is. Official edicts remain in the historical records. Your Majesty's feelings will also be preserved alongside this decree. Naturally, they will reach my brother as well... If he senses Your Majesty's heart through it, perhaps he will strive to serve the Empire as an imperial prince from now on."
"Hm..."
His Majesty stared intently at the error-laden edict he had written, where his raw emotions had bled through onto the page.
After a moment, he raised his head, looked at me, and—
"If only you had been born earlier... No."
He started to say something, but shook his head and took it back.
"A fine counsel, Noah."
"I am deeply honored."
I bowed my head.
His Majesty drafted a clean copy of the edict on another sheet of paper.
His handwriting returned to its usual steady elegance; otherwise, the authenticity of the edict might be brought into question.
However, he kept the phrasing intact. He adopted my suggestion that the wording should remain as it was since it would be recorded in history.
After finishing the clean copy, His Majesty summoned the eunuch with a gesture and handed him the edict.
The eunuch received it, looked blank for a brief moment, then turned and began walking out of the study.
"—! Wait."
I caught up to the eunuch and seized his shoulder from behind, holding him in place.
"What's wrong, kid?"
"This eunuch reacted upon seeing the edict."
"What?"
"His Majesty's handwriting on the clean copy was his usual hand. Yet he hesitated because he could read that the phrasing was unusual."
"—!"
His Majesty and Indra's expressions shifted at the same time.
The eunuch's face drained of color. Tearing away from my grip, he bolted.
"You won't get away!"
Using Leviathan, I projected an intimidating aura to halt his movements.
His sprint lasted only an instant; he immediately went limp like a puppet with cut strings, collapsing face-first onto the floor.
"Hey, hey, Emperor, isn't this guy a spy?"
"...So it seems. Cruz!!"
His Majesty shouted for Cruz in a booming voice.
It was a thunderous roar laden with fury, loud enough to be heard several rooms away.
Moments later, Cruz hurried in.
"Did you call, Your Majesty?"
"That one over there could read."
"Eh...?"
Seeing the fallen eunuch, Cruz turned ashen in an instant.
"I-It was my carelessness! Please, please forgive me!"
Cruz prostrated himself on the spot, slamming his forehead against the floor.
It was the first time I had ever seen him so utterly disgraced.
"How should he be punished, Noah?"
The prostrated Cruz flinched.
"The eunuch should be sentenced to death, to be executed immediately."
"Your reasoning?"
"He feigned illiteracy despite being able to read and took up duties in this study. That is essentially no different from feigning to be a eunuch when one is not. For the crime of defiling Your Majesty's inner sanctuary, death is the only fitting sentence."
"That's all well and good, but wouldn't it be better to make him talk first?" Indra asked, but I shook my head.
"If we do that, we will be forced to punish the mastermind as well. Depending on who it is..."
I cut off my words there.
There was a saying that silence is golden.
Having said this much, His Majesty would understand.
Yes—what if, by some chance, this eunuch was someone sent by Brother Albert?
Or perhaps one of the other imperial princes?
"I see."
Indra seemed to understand as well.
"Well said, Noah. Truly splendid. Continue to serve Us as Imperial Prince Minister of Justice."
"As you command."
"What shall We do about Cruz?"
Cruz flinched.
He timidly raised his face, which remained deathly pale.
I let out a soft chuckle.
"Cruz was merely negligent in his supervision. A six-month reduction in salary should suffice."
"Indeed. So it shall be—a six-month pay cut, and We leave the disposal of that thing to you."
"Yes, Sire!"
With an expression of pure relief at having been spared, Cruz knocked his forehead against the floor with a loud thud, then dragged the eunuch out of the study as if fleeing for his life.
☆
That night, in the Emperor's study—where all eunuchs had now been dismissed.
The Emperor and the First Prime Minister were holding a private audience with just the two of them.
The Emperor recounted the day's events to his trusted First Prime Minister.
Upon hearing what Noah had proposed, the First Prime Minister nodded with deep admiration.
"As expected, Lord Noah is truly magnificent. I would never have conceived of such an idea."
"Mm."
"Furthermore, though likely a coincidence, it aligns with Your Majesty's own thinking... of deciding only after observing your grandchildren. That plan cannot function unless the final decision is delayed for as long as possible, after all."
"Indeed."
"Truly worthy of the Wise Imperial Prince—an idea befitting the title."
"Mm."
Perhaps because he had been forced to punish another son with his own hands earlier that day, the Emperor was in high spirits upon hearing his child praised.
That lasted only a moment, however, and his expression soon turned solemn once more.
"So, did the eunuch talk?"
In the end, though he had heeded Noah's advice, the Emperor had secretly subjected the eunuch to torture.
He had entrusted the task to the First Prime Minister, his most reliable confidant, whom he knew would never let the results of an interrogation see the light of day.
"Yes, I carried it out personally, all by myself."
"How was it?"
"...Lord Noah is extraordinary. It is enough to make one wonder if he can read minds."
The First Prime Minister was sharp as ever; even with all the eunuchs dismissed, he still avoided stating the name explicitly.
Even so, the truth was conveyed clearly enough to the Emperor.
The one who had planted the spy was Albert.
Were it not for Noah's proposal, the Emperor would have been forced to mete out an even harsher punishment upon Albert.
"What will you do?"
"We knew nothing."
"..."
"He may not be fit to be entrusted with the realm, but he remains Our child nonetheless."
"..."
The First Prime Minister said nothing, offering a slight nod of acknowledgment instead.
There had been several prime ministers throughout the Emperor's reign, but this First Prime Minister had served the longest, having never once been dismissed.
Knowing when to hold his tongue at times like this was his greatest strength.
Meanwhile, as if eager to disperse the heavy atmosphere, the Emperor changed the subject.
"Tell me, do you know the name Leviathan?"
"That would be... if I recall correctly, one of the Four Sages who lent their strength to the Emperor of that era during the Silver Age."
"Mm."
The Emperor nodded.
He then told the First Prime Minister about what had occurred in town before he approached Noah and Indra.
Having been present on the scene, the Emperor had also heard the voices of Noah's subordinates.
"You mean to say... one of them, Leviathan, is lending its power to Lord Noah?"
"Yes."
"Good heavens! That is incredible! Moreover, if that account is true, does that not mean his forces exceed even the Four Sages?"
"That is correct."
"How extraordinary... This means Lord Noah may well surpass even the Silver Age."
"The potential is certainly there."
Both the Emperor and the First Prime Minister nodded with a hint of excitement.
Yet these two were not men to let themselves get carried away.
The Emperor of the Empire, the supreme ruler on earth, and the man who had served as his right hand for many years.
They were men who maintained absolute composure.
"Then let us watch Lord Noah's potential with great anticipation."
"Mm. Let Us observe closely to see how he grows."
Though the two spoke with practiced restraint, Noah's standing in both of their estimations had undeniably soared through this series of events.