"Did you learn anything from the history of the Pawoo Empire?"
"Yeah."
I gave a clear nod.
At the same time, I wrapped an arm around Audrey's shoulder and patted her head affectionately.
"It might not lead directly to anything, and it could easily end up being a waste of effort. But there's one thing I'd like you to do, Audrey."
"Yes. Please, give me whatever command you wish, Your Majesty."
Audrey smoothly stepped back.
Leaving my embrace, she turned to face me squarely, looking straight into my eyes.
The atmosphere around her shifted in an instant.
I was impressed by how swiftly she could switch gears.
"Starting tomorrow is fine, so long as it's while I'm still in the imperial capital. I want you to host a tea party gathering the legal wives and concubines of the imperial princes and high-ranking officials, including Oscar's legal wife."
"...What sort of information should I try to draw out?"
Audrey was a clever woman.
From that alone, she instantly deduced that this was no mere social gathering.
"Pillow talk would be best, of course."
"Naturally."
Audrey nodded in complete understanding.
Pillow talk—the intimate chatter between a man and a woman in the bedroom.
"It's a curious thing, but throughout history and even today, most men have a habit of blabbing endlessly to the women they sleep with."
"They surely want to show off and impress their women."
"Makes sense."
I gave a small nod.
I figured that certainly played a part in it.
"In that case, wouldn't it suffice to deal only with Oscar's legal wife?"
"If he's planning something..."
I kept a straight face as I continued.
"Oscar can't pull it off alone. He'd have to bring quite a few high officials into the fold."
"...Indeed."
"Besides, during the preparatory stages, someone is bound to let their guard down and let slip, 'The Eighth Imperial Prince has been visiting my husband quite often lately.' Since no definitive move has been decided yet, he can't very well swear them to secrecy either."
"True. Doing so would only arouse suspicion."
"Exactly."
"As expected of Your Majesty. Understood, please leave that matter to me."
"Think you can manage it?"
"It is only idle chatter between women; I can handle it however necessary. Though, I might occasionally use Your Majesty as a scapegoat—"
"Ahahaha, no problem at all. Criticize me as much as you like."
I looked up toward the ceiling and let out a hearty laugh.
It was women's gossip; I had a pretty good idea of what it would entail.
Whether dealing with an emperor or an imperial prince, things probably didn't differ all that much.
If I could secure intelligence simply by having her tear me down behind my back, it was a cheap price to pay.
"I'm counting on you, Audrey."
"Yes..."
Audrey smiled gently. Her demeanor softened once more, and she nestled back into my arms.
☆
The next day, at Alice's teahouse.
With the personal campaign drawing near, this was my last day to head out into the city.
Once tonight passed, preparations would ramp up drastically, leaving me with no free time at all. So, I came here to catch my breath while I still could.
Up on the stage, Alice was singing.
I was bringing her along on this personal campaign to serve as a decoy, which was all the more reason I wanted to listen to her perform now.
I wanted to hear her sing purely, without any distractions on her mind.
It wasn't as though her technical skill would change, but singing—music itself—was something that laid a person's raw emotions bare in the moment.
I believed that Alice's finest singing could only ever be heard in this teahouse.
Lost in such thoughts, I listened to her song from the prime seat the familiar shopkeeper had set aside for me.
"E-Excuse me..."
"Hm?"
Someone addressed me from the side.
Turning my gaze, I saw a timid-looking young man standing there.
The youth glanced around anxiously, looking down at me with hesitant, frightened eyes.
"Hey, you—"
He had spoken right in the middle of Alice's song, nearly interrupting it.
Noticing this, the shopkeeper waiting a short distance away approached the youth with a furious scowl, though he exercised enough restraint to keep his voice hushed so as not to disrupt Alice's performance.
"It's fine."
I raised a hand, stopping the shopkeeper.
Seeing that I gave the word, the shopkeeper bowed quietly and retreated back to his post.
Even though he was the proprietor, whenever I was here, he personally stood on standby like this.
That way, if anything happened, he could react immediately—just like now.
Having dismissed the shopkeeper, I turned my attention back to the young man, observing him closely as I spoke.
"What is it? Do you have business with me?"
"Um! I-I'm... a servant at Lord Oscar's mansion."
"Oh?"
I gave a slight nod.
I couldn't be entirely certain yet, but judging by his manner of speech, he seemed to know that I was Emperor Noah.
Still, I couldn't openly bring that up here.
The Thirteenth Imperial Prince, longtime patron of Alice and current Emperor.
It was an open secret in this teahouse, but making it public would cause a massive scene, so everyone kept quiet about it.
An open secret was still, formally speaking, a "secret."
"And what business would you have with me?"
"Um! T-The other day! Master—no, Lord Oscar was saying something alarming!"
"Something alarming?"
My brow twitched.
In that instant, my head turned ice-cold. Alice's singing voice rapidly faded into the distance, slipping right past my ears.
I couldn't hear a thing except the voice of the youth before me.
"Yes! A person who, um, used to serve at Lord Oscar's residence and has now become a high-ranking official came back!"
"A retainer, you mean?"
"Yes! Th-That's it!"
"Hmph. And what about him?"
"He was having a secret conversation alone with Lord Oscar, so I hid outside the window and listened. I could only catch a little bit, though..."
"...What did you hear?"
"Um... if I remember right... 'We shall accompany you. Accidents happen on the battlefield.' Or something like that."
"..."
I offered no response.
I judged that this was the sort of matter where silence served better than a clumsy reply.
"Th-Then after that, the person who used to serve at the residence said, 'Please make your decision. This is the perfect opportunity to ascend the imperial throne.' I-I barely understood the rest of the conversation, but from those final words, I knew it had to be bad, so, um..."
The young man pleaded desperately.
He wasn't articulate, but that gave his words all the more credibility.
"I understand the situation."
"Y-Yes!"
"However, I have a question."
"Huh?"
"Why tell me this? You're Oscar's servant, aren't you?"
"That's..."
The young man's expression changed.
Though he had been timid and almost frantically desperate just moments ago, his face transformed in a flash.
Determination—an unyielding resolve that wouldn't waver no matter what happened.
I could read that exact emotion across his features.
Carrying that sheer resolve straight into his voice, the young man spoke:
"I'm from Dosso."
"Dosso..."
I'd heard that name before.
Where was it again...? Ah.
Zoe's hometown, the land devastated by a flood about ten years ago.
Back then, after the flood struck, Zoe had offered her resignation.
Her family had needed money for all kinds of relief expenses following the disaster, so she felt she had to leave the imperial prince's residence and sell herself into the red-light district.
A maid at an imperial prince's residence earned reasonably well compared to ordinary work, but it was still far less than what a young woman could make in a brothel.
For Zoe back then, boasting the pedigree of a "former maid of an imperial prince's residence" meant she probably could have commanded an even higher price.
Naturally, I couldn't allow that.
Having a maid from my own residence carted off to a place like that irritated me to no end.
So, I took action.
I pressed the relevant ministries to prioritize Dosso's reconstruction.
I even muscled through bureaucratic red tape to make it happen.
While the ministries were still dragging their feet, I threw in my own private fortune and bought up the land in Dosso.
It was an all-too-common story for opportunistic merchants to buy up disaster-stricken land to reap exorbitant profits, so I stepped in early to secure and preserve it.
That move paid off, and I had heard that there were no secondary economic disasters afterward.
And this young man felt indebted for that very act.
―――――――――――― Name: Noah Ararat Emperor of the Empire Gender: Male Level: 17 + 1 / ∞
HP: C+B MP: D+C Strength: C+S Stamina: D+C Intelligence: D+A Spirit: E+B Speed: E+B Dexterity: E+B Luck: D+C
Fire: E+S+S Water: C+SSS Wind: E+C Earth: E+C Light: E+B Dark: E+B ――――――――――――
My status flashed at the edge of my vision.
I wondered if this youth was counted among those pluses.
Since he wasn't standing before me when he pledged his loyalty, I couldn't say for sure.
...Still, well.
Reflecting on past experience, I figured he was trustworthy.
"I see, Dosso. At your age, the flood must have been rough on you."
During a catastrophe, being young was difficult enough, but there was an age where the burden grew even heavier.
Calculating backward, the youth would have been in his mid-teens at the time.
An age when one had physical strength and drive, but also when a sense of duty began to take root.
When struck by a disaster, he was likely at the exact age and position where heavy responsibilities and expectations were thrust onto his shoulders.
Countless were the stories of a teenage boy forced to shoulder the entire livelihood of his surviving family in the wake of a calamity.
This young man was probably no exception.
"Um! Thanks to Em—to Lord Noah, we were saved! It's thanks to Lord Noah that we're alive today!"
"Is that so?"
"By the time I came to the capital, the Thirteenth Imperial Prince's residence was already gone, so I had no choice but to enter the service of the Eighth Imperial Prince... but even so!"
The young man leaned forward, speaking with fierce conviction.
"I've always felt indebted! That's why I couldn't just stand by and overlook talk like that!"
"I see..."
I gave a small nod.
To think that what I did back then would come full circle in a way like this...
I was honestly a little surprised.