Arc 5 Chapter 4 : Boyar's Cospiration

[Raul PoV]

The capital of the Tsardom of Slavia—Herminsky...

The city was located at the heart of this northern nation. With a total population of around 300,000 people, it had the largest population among all the cities in the Tsardom of Slavia.

I had now reached the administrative center of the country. However, as usual, the carriage couldn't enter because the roads were still covered with piles of snow that were being cleared away.

Earlier, I had met an envoy from the Romanov family's palace. He was accompanying me on foot toward the palace where the ruling family of this country resided.

He wore a butler's uniform, had white hair, and possessed golden eyes.

“Your name is Leon, right? You're Princess Alisha's butler who also accompanied her to the academy?” I asked, starting a conversation as we made our way toward the palace.

"That's correct. Her Highness ordered me to pick you up,” Leon replied flatly.

“Ah, I didn't know she was this considerate toward her future husband.”

I deliberately threw out the remark.

Leon’s expression became even gloomier when he heard the words future husband coming from my mouth.

In the game, Leon did indeed have feelings for Alisha. However, after her death, he lost his sense of direction and purpose. He eventually quit his position as a butler in the Romanov Palace and wandered around as a mercenary, seeking death in the hope that he could meet Alisha again in the next world.

Instead, he met Brian, and our protagonist convinced him to become the protector of the Tsardom of Slavia, safeguarding the place where he could preserve his memories of the woman he loved.

“Listen to me, Raul de Garcia.” Leon's tone suddenly became far colder than before. “Don't ever think that Alisha has any feelings for you just because she's willing to marry you. She's only doing this because she's being forced to in order to save her country.”

He said that as though I were Brian, who had never been perceptive about the things happening around him.

Besides, I wasn't expecting anything from our marriage either. From the beginning, this development had never been part of my predictions.

All of this had happened because of Duke Alvaro's plot.

After walking for quite some time, we finally reached the gate of the palace grounds. The guards allowed us to enter.

The place consisted of a complex of buildings that reminded me of the Palace of Versailles on Earth.

This time, we could ride a carriage because there were no piles of snow blocking the roads within this area.

Although the entire place was covered in snow, the beauty and aesthetic value of the palace grounds were no less impressive than those of the Aragon Empire's palace complex.

There were numerous statues and monuments commemorating past struggles, as well as fountains that hadn't frozen despite the temperature here undoubtedly being well below freezing.

Not long afterward, we arrived at the Romanov family's residence. The guards and servants welcomed us and began carrying my belongings into the palace.

“Follow me,” Leon said before entering the palace.

I nodded and stepped into the magnificent building.

The bitterly cold air outside was replaced by the temperature inside. Although it was still somewhat cold, it was tolerable enough for me to move around comfortably.

“Would you like to rest first, Lord Raul, or would you prefer to meet with Princess Alisha immediately?” Leon asked. His attitude had changed completely when we were in front of other people.

“I'm not particularly tired,” I answered him. “I can meet Princess Alisha today to discuss the purpose of my visit here.”

“Very well. Please follow me, Lord Raul.”

Leon and I then climbed the stairs to the upper floor.

As we passed through a lobby, I could see a garden outside the window. It was strange to see so many different trees and plants growing in a place this cold.

A short while later, Leon and I arrived in front of a door guarded by two Knights.

“Knitaz Vladimir, Knitaz Giorgy, is Her Highness inside?” Leon asked the two Knights.

“Her Highness is still inside and hasn't come out for hours, Special Butler Leon,” one of them replied.

“I see. May I enter to inform her of our arrival?”

“Very well.”

The two Knitaz then opened the door. Leon began walking inside and told me to wait here for a moment.

Only the two Knitaz and I remained outside.

The two of them stared at me as though analyzing something.

To be honest, in the game, the title of Knitaz Knight from the Tsardom of Slavia never received much attention. The Knight groups that appeared most frequently were the Grand Espada and Holy Knights.

That was without even considering that the exploration of the Tsardom of Slavia in the main storyline only consisted of around six Quests, and those took place after Princess Alisha had died from her illness.

After waiting for a while, Leon came back out with a gloomy expression.

He approached me and said, “Princess Alisha wants to speak with you privately. If you do anything suspicious inside, don't expect to leave this country.”

His tone suddenly changed again.

It seemed the reason he had been inside for so long was because he had been arguing with Alisha over his disapproval of the woman he loved being alone in the same room with another man.

I then entered the room after the two Knitaz checked my body for any suspicious objects.

A refreshing fragrance filled the room. There was a fireplace that kept the place warm. The only sound I could hear was the crackling of wood slowly turning into embers.

“Raul, are you there? Come inside.”

I heard a woman's voice from behind a door within the room.

I approached it and opened the door.

A white-haired woman was sitting in a chair behind her desk. Her ice-blue eyes stared at me as I stood silently in front of the door.

For some reason, the impression she gave me now was completely different from when she was at the academy.

This time, she truly looked like a princess from a frozen northern nation.

“Sit down, Raul,” Alisha said.

“Thank you, Princess Alisha,” I replied as I sat down in front of her desk.

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There were countless documents scattered across Alisha's desk. It seemed she had been extremely busy handling the country's affairs lately.

“Welcome to the Tsardom of Slavia, Raul,” Alisha said with a smile. “What do you think of my beloved country?”

“It's quite impressive, Your Highness. I can see that your country has already recovered from the disaster caused by the monster attack,” I replied.

Hearing my answer, the Ice Princess gave me a bitter smile.

“Everything is thanks to the assistance we received from House Garcia. For that, as the ruler of this country, I am deeply grateful to your family, Raul.”

I could feel that Alisha's gratitude was completely sincere, coming from the depths of her heart.

However, the fact that her family hadn't been honest about the terms of their agreement couldn't simply be erased.

“By the way, what happened to your eye?” Alisha asked me.

I touched my closed left eye.

“I lost it during the war.”

“I see. If you want, my younger sister, Anastasia, might be able to restore it,” Alisha offered with a smile when she mentioned her sister. “She's quite talented with healing magic.”

Anastasia, huh?

If I remembered correctly, she was Alisha's younger sister who had failed to become a Saint last year.

However, even though her healing magic was remarkable, I didn't think she was yet on the level of a Vicar or Saint capable of regenerating a missing limb.

“I would gladly accept your offer,” I replied. “However, I came here to discuss the deaths of our parents and our marriage, Your Highness.”

Hearing my words, the smile disappeared from Alisha's face and was replaced by a serious expression.

“We performed an autopsy earlier, and my father's death was caused by a curse commonly associated with Warlocks,” Alisha revealed. “As for your father's death, it was caused by demonic magic.”

It was true.

Duke Alvaro could use curse magic in the game because he had begun studying it when he was very young.

However, this information wasn't known to the Magic Tower, which was why Duke Alvaro's name wasn't included among the Warlocks being sought by the Magic Tower.

“I have already consulted people from the Magic Tower. They said your father's corpse wasn't a body created through magic,” Alisha revealed.

Hooo...

It seemed Duke Alvaro's magic could even deceive the mages of the Magic Tower.

If I remembered correctly, he possessed a spell called Duplicate thanks to his Shadow Nature Mana.

In the game, I had never set him up with the ability to create a perfect corpse.

That meant Duke Alvaro had combined his Nature Mana with one of his Profound Codex abilities to create a perfect replica that could even surpass a Necromancer like Puppeteer.

Honestly, even his vast knowledge of magic had surpassed me—the person who had created him.

I might be able to remember the original spells that existed in the game, but I didn't always possess knowledge of the spells that people had combined and modified after entering the world I had created.

“Nevertheless, there are still several Boyars who suspect that your family is responsible for this incident, Raul.”

I suppose that was only natural.

In my opinion, Duke Alvaro's preparations for the assassination weren't perfect if his goal after completing the plan was to make the people of this country unsuspecting.

The proof was that some people still suspected him of being the mastermind behind Tsar Feodor's assassination.

I suspected that his reason for doing this was as a precaution in case I actually came to the Tsardom of Slavia to investigate the fake death he had fabricated.

If the Boyars became suspicious of my actions in this country, I would become increasingly isolated and have less freedom to do anything to stop whatever plans Duke Alvaro had prepared to throw this country into chaos.

“Did the death of Boyar Lenin's daughter make their suspicions toward me worse?” I asked Alisha.

“Of course,” the Princess answered. “Given the circumstances, you're the sole suspect in this case. Some of the Boyars, especially Boyar Lenin, want me to detain you and investigate your involvement in Misha's death as well as your connection to my father's death that night.”

I never expected that the moment I arrived in this country, my enemy would already make a move against me.

If I didn't act quickly, there would be no one left to stop the Snake Duke and the Demon King's daughter from tearing this country apart.

---

[??? PoV]

Today had been utterly exhausting.

Not only did I have to deal with everything following the disaster caused by the monster attack, but now another problem had emerged regarding Tsar Feodor's assassination.

I hoped everything could be resolved quickly.

This country had already grown too exhausted from one problem after another.

I was currently riding in a carriage to meet Boyar Lenin, who had asked me to meet him at a restaurant in one of the cities near the capital.

In his letter, he said he wanted to discuss something important concerning the future of the country.

I had no choice but to accept his invitation because his family had often helped my family whenever we were in difficult circumstances in the past.

Not long afterward, the carriage I was riding in came to a stop.

The cold night wind became painfully noticeable as I stepped down from the carriage.

“Come pick me up here around nine o'clock, understood?” I asked the coachman.

He nodded before leaving.

The three guards accompanying me and I then entered the restaurant.

“Good evening, sir. How may I help you?” a waiter approached and asked.

“Private Room Number Nine. My associate has already reserved it for a private meeting,” I told him.

“Of course. Please follow me, sir.”

I then ordered my three guards to remain on watch around the area.

Only Boyar Lenin and I would be inside the room.

After we arrived at the designated room, the waiter opened the door.

Boyar Lenin was already inside, smoking a cigar.

“If you need anything, simply activate the summoning artifact, sir,” the waiter said before leaving us alone.

“Good evening, Boyar Makarov,” Boyar Lenin greeted me. “Sit down and enjoy the food that has been prepared.”

“Good evening, Boyar Lenin,” I returned the greeting as I sat down on a sofa opposite him. “My condolences for the death of your daughter, Lord.”

“Of course. Our meeting is also related to Misha's death, Boyar Makarov,” Boyar Lenin replied, his voice sounding as though he were holding back his emotions. “However, before we discuss that, have a drink first to warm yourself. The weather has grown colder lately.”

I accepted Boyar Lenin's offer and downed a bottle of the famous Rodka.

The warmth produced by the drink made me feel more relaxed than before.

“Khuhh... This new drink really packs a punch, Boyar Lenin,” I said in satisfaction. “It seems the import and export activities at Windhowl City's port are improving, aren't they?”

Hearing my words, Boyar Lenin's expression became displeased.

Could he have thought I was praising the Garcia family's assistance to the country?

“That family is only doing this to make it easier for them to destabilize our country,” Boyar Lenin muttered. “I already sent a letter to Her Highness, but she still hasn't taken any action.”

“Although I agree with you, Boyar Lenin, we don't have enough solid evidence to actually take action against Raul de Garcia,” I said to him.

“Solid evidence? My daughter was last seen with him and was then found dead in a filthy sewer in the city! If I don't make the person who murdered her pay for his crime, then my daughter's spirit will never rest in the afterlife!” Boyar Lenin said emotionally.

It was true that if we conducted a more thorough magical investigation, sooner or later everything would become clear.

However, seeing Boyar Lenin like this, I didn't think he would stop even if the investigation later proved Raul de Garcia innocent.

“Help me, Boyar Makarov. Come with me and several other Boyars to the palace and convince Princess Alisha to detain this murderer!”

To be honest, I didn't want to involve myself in this political matter.

However, I had a debt that needed to be repaid.

“Very well, Boyar Lenin. I will support you in convincing Princess Alisha.”

Hearing my answer, Boyar Lenin smiled and thanked me.

He said that he and four other Boyars would depart for the capital tomorrow.

He also asked me to come to the capital as soon as possible.

After speaking with Boyar Lenin, we ended the meeting.

The three guards I had brought with me and I left the restaurant and headed back to Turov City—the territory I controlled in this country.

Let's see how successful we can be in convincing Princess Alisha.

Including myself, there would be five Boyars heading to the palace to push this agenda forward.

Although Princess Alisha possessed absolute authority over the final decision, the influence of five out of the eight Boyars governing different regions of the country could not simply be ignored.

Under the Romanov family's rule, the family still required the support of the Boyars.

Otherwise, whenever a nationwide problem or conflict arose, such as the monster attack crisis last year, the Romanov family would have difficulty dealing with it.

At present, the condition of the Tsardom of Slavia was already poor following Tsar Feodor's assassination.

Although the situation had not yet reached a state of emergency, it was certain that someone was currently targeting the country.

If Princess Alisha couldn't consolidate the Boyars' power under her control, the country would descend into chaos as its stability weakened.

If neighboring nations realized this, they would take action, and the collapse of the Romanov family would only be a matter of time.

Crash!

Suddenly, the carriage I was riding in came to a halt as though it had collided with something.

“Gimly! Igor! What happened!?” I shouted, demanding a report from my guards.

However, instead of an answer, I heard what sounded like someone engaged in a fight.

“Arrghhh!”

“Lord Makarov, run! Save yourself!”

I heard the dying screams of my guards from outside.

My heart began beating faster.

I drew my sword and stepped out of the carriage to confront whoever had ambushed me.

However, all I saw outside were my three guards lying on top of the snow, their bodies drenched in blood.

“Where are you, bastards!? Come out if you're after me!” I shouted while searching my surroundings.

There was no sign of anyone nearby.

The snowy wind made my body begin to tremble.

The only thing I could hear was the silence of the night.

“Where are you!? Face me!” I shouted again.

“Here...”

I instinctively performed a spinning slash when I suddenly heard someone behind me.

However, my sword merely cut through the air.

There wasn't a single person visible as far as my eyes could see.

“...”

My body began to weaken, and my vision grew extremely blurry.

A sword had suddenly pierced me from behind, its blade passing completely through my chest.

This time, I could feel someone's presence directly behind me.

“For the sake of my plan, it's a shame that you have to die, Boyar Makarov.”

I tried to turn around and see who was behind all of this.

However, I was shocked when I saw the attacker's true identity.

“You... are...”

Before my consciousness faded, the last thing I remembered was the face of the man who had killed me.

A young man with black hair and one blind eye.