I left Lawrence, thoroughly weakened after narrowly escaping assassination, in the care of his son, Linus.
Had I arrived even a little later, he would have died right then and there. But because their method was designed to mimic a natural death without leaving external injuries, my arriving in the nick of time meant that while he was exhausted, he was unharmed.
As long as he survived, all he needed was quiet rest.
Leaving Lawrence to his son, I headed off to make Pascal pay his dues.
Pascal's estate was located in the heart of Nisir, a reasonably impressive mansion.
Naturally, there were gatekeepers posted out front, but I paid them no mind and strode right up.
"Halt! Who goes there?!"
Faithful to his duty, the gatekeeper leveled his spear at me, demanding my identity.
"Is Pascal in?"
"Calling the magistrate by name without honorifics?! Who do you think you are?!"
"Noah Ararat."
"Noah or whoever—w-wait, Ararat?!"
The gatekeeper, full of fight just moments before, froze. The color drained from his face in an instant.
Even if he didn't know my face, he certainly recognized the imperial surname of Ararat.
And judging by his reaction, he knew I had recently arrived in my fief.
"C-Could you be... the Thirteenth Prince...?"
"Is Pascal inside?"
"Y-Yes, Your Highness! Inside the mansion!"
"Right."
I nodded, brushed past him, and walked through the gates.
Leaving the dumbfounded guard behind, I marched straight toward the main building.
Near the front entrance, I ran into another man—judging by his attire, the butler.
Unlike the guard, the butler seemed to know my face; he dropped to his knees before I could even introduce myself.
"I had no idea Your Highness was visiting! Please forgive my—"
"Where is Pascal?"
Cutting him off mid-apology, I kept moving as I spoke.
The butler scrambled to his feet and scurried after me.
"H-He is in the inner quarters. I shall summon him at once, so please wait in the parlor!"
"No need."
I pushed forward into the mansion, heading straight for the quarters the man had mentioned.
I passed several servants and maids along the way, but seeing the butler frantically trailing behind me with the deference reserved for the highest nobility, none of them dared stand in my way.
When I stepped into the inner chamber, I found Pascal fooling around with a prostitute-like woman whose robes were half-undone.
Drinking wine, gorging on delicacies, and dallying with women.
He was indulging himself in typical fashion.
Pascal scowled with irritation as I entered.
"Didn't I say not to let anyone in until tomorrow mor... ning..."
He trailed off as he turned to face me.
The instant he recognized who I was, his jaw dropped, utterly lost for words.
"W-Well now, Lord Noah. Forgive me for such an unsightly—"
"Save the excuses. You tried to silence him, didn't you?"
"Wh-Whatever do you mean? Why on earth would I need to silence Lawrence?"
"I never said it was Lawrence. Even stretching the truth, your current relationship with him is that of magistrate and criminal. That is hardly the kind of dynamic that immediately screams 'silencing.'"
"Guh..."
Pascal choked on his breath.
He began to tremble violently where he stood.
"...Bahamut."
"By your command."
"Punish this man."
With those words, I channeled the Ring of Armor and materialized Bahamut.
With his arrival, the spacious chamber inside the magistrate's mansion suddenly felt stiflingly cramped.
Such was his colossal size; such was his overwhelming presence.
"Make it harsh, but don't break his mind."
"And his life?"
I shook my head.
"People are treasures... and hope. Even someone like this might amount to something in the future."
"As expected of my master. Forgive me for failing to grasp your profound intent."
"I leave the rest to you."
"Understood."
Leaving Pascal—who shook uncontrollably to the end, completely incapable of even lashing out in defiance—in Bahamut's hands, I turned and walked out of the estate.
Behind me, an unbroken chorus of screams echoed from the mansion, sounding as if all the agony in the world had been condensed into a single voice.
☆
Night had fallen over the estate's inner court.
Back in my quarters, I was quietly reading.
To accomplish great things, knowledge was indispensable. Whenever I had a free moment, I lost myself in books.
Sitting across from me was Audrey.
I had given her permission to sit whenever she wasn't actively attending to me.
"Lord Noah."
"Hm?"
Audrey spoke up softly.
Wondering what it was about, I set my book aside, looked up, and met her gaze.
"There is a matter of great importance I would like to discuss."
"Go on, let's hear it."
"My grandfather asked me to petition you. He wishes for you to take my younger sister, Anya, as your concubine."
"I see."
I put the book down completely and looked straight at Audrey.
Among the nobility, this was hardly an unusual request.
In fact, under certain circumstances, it was standard practice.
Marriages between noble houses bound lineages together, but they also served the vital purpose of continuing the bloodline. When a legal wife struggled to bear children, taking her biological sister as a concubine was a common measure to increase the chances of pregnancy—in other words, securing an heir.
It was an everyday occurrence.
"Very well. I have no objections."
"Truly?!"
"Yeah. Having a sister you're close with among the concubines will probably set your mind at ease too, won't it?"
"Thank you so much..."
Overjoyed, Audrey blushed shyly and lowered her head.
"When is this supposed to take place?"
"Grandfather said as soon as possible, provided we have your consent, Lord Noah."
"He really seems determined to ensure my firstborn shares the bloodline of the Thunder Imperial Prince, doesn't he?"
Right now, Audrey was my only legal wife, but as a member of the imperial family, the number of concubines would steadily increase over time.
Unlike the Emperor, the succession of an imperial prince was not subject to such strict constraints; the prevailing sentiment was simply that as long as a direct blood tie existed, it was fine. Consequently, it was far more common for the eldest son to inherit an imperial prince's title than it was for the imperial throne itself.
"When I read Grandfather's letter, I could feel it."
"Feel what?"
"Grandfather is extremely fond of you, Lord Noah. He truly acknowledges your worth."
"Does he now?"
"Yes! I've hardly ever known anyone Grandfather held in such high regard..."
Audrey looked at me with flushed cheeks and eyes shining with complete devotion.
"Lord Noah... you are truly incredible!"
☆
The Emperor's summer residence was called a villa in name, but when factoring in the imperial consorts, the eunuchs who attended them, the chefs, the servants handling miscellaneous chores, and the garrison of guards, the total easily exceeded a thousand people. In practice, it was the size of a small town.
On the road leading through the outskirts back to his fief, Thunder Imperial Prince Indra sat in a carriage, sitting upright as he gazed toward the horizon.
His mind replayed the conversation he had shared with the Emperor at the villa.
"Three of them, eh..."
Though couched in roundabout terms, Indra had gathered from the Emperor's tone that the contenders for the succession—the candidates for the next Emperor—had been narrowed down to three.
Fourth Imperial Prince Henry.
Eighth Imperial Prince Oscar.
And Thirteenth Wise Imperial Prince Noah.
He understood why.
Even in Indra's eyes, out of the nearly twenty surviving imperial sons, these three were exceptionally gifted. Indra was certain the next Emperor would undoubtedly be chosen from among them.
And among the three...
The Thirteenth Wise Imperial Prince was one step—no.
He had taken a massive lead, Indra thought.
"You're something else, kid. That was the first time I've ever seen the Emperor praise an imperial prince like that—not with the face of a father, but with the face of the sovereign."
In the race for the throne, Indra saw Noah as the overwhelming favorite.
That was precisely why he had dispatched a courier on a fast horse with a letter to his granddaughter Audrey, moving swiftly to have his other granddaughter, Anya, taken as Noah's concubine as well.
The old man named Indra had the instincts of a gambler.
When he spotted the right opportunity, his nature was to go all in to seize victory.
And right now, Indra was certain.
He was absolute in his conviction that the next Emperor would, without a doubt, be Noah.