North x Northwest

Mireille stepped out of the cabin and looked for Jean, but neither Enzo nor Jean were in sight. Their absence forced him to take the stairs one more level down to the cabin deck.

On passenger ships, the lower the deck, the cheaper the cabin, but also the darker and colder. Enzo, Jean, the coachman, and all his other servants stayed on the dimmer lower deck. The lowest deck, one level lower than the cabin deck and right above the dock didn’t even have separate cabins. Nonetheless, because even the lowest deck wasn’t worth the price, it was considered generous for a master to pay for his employees’ accommodation on a deck higher than the lowest.

The cabin deck where Mireille’s employees resided wasn’t unpleasantly poor. After all, it was still a floor with windows and sunlight. Still, Mireille didn’t want to stay longer than necessary.

“Enzo?”

Mireille searched for his butler half-heartedly, but soon gave up and thought about returning to the luxury of his own cabin. That was until someone caught his eye. A light-skinned man from the Northern Continent who had been standing next to Lil and served as her escort. However, it was actually the guy next to the northerner that looked more suspicious. Although he was wearing shabby servant’s clothes, his body was broad, like a skilled soldier, and his standing posture was extremely upright.

Mireille couldn’t properly see his face because it was covered by a hat, but strangely enough, he appeared like someone he encountered before. Based on pure instinct, Mireille’s first guess was Ed.

‘After all, that man is known to do all kinds of bizarre things… It will not surprise me if he boarded this ship while trying to hide his identity…’

Mireille positioned himself against the pillar next to the stairs and waited for this suspicious man to turn his head. With the bottom of the boat shaking steadily as it cut through the shallow waves, Mireille held his breath until the man wearing an old-brimmed hat finally raised his head. It wasn’t Ed as guessed, but the face belonged to someone who had his own fair share of achievements.

Mireille recalled the name of the man he had seen at his mansion before.

As Maxwell pressed his hat down and took the stairs to the deck further below, Mireille quickly turned around and leaned behind the pillar, just in time to see Shail climbing the stairs leading up.

Mireille waited a little longer and then returned to his own cabin.

Not long after, Enzo and Jean entered their master’s cabin and arrived at the sight of Mireille, sitting on a chair with his legs on the desk.

He spoke, swirling a glass filled with distilled liquor.

“Do you know who I saw today?”

Enzo smiled politely, trying to match his master’s cheerful rhythm.

“Who did you see?”

“The Captain of the Prince Regent’s royal guards. The same person who was given the mission to assassinate the Marquess of Roahn and died when said mission failed.”

Jean stepped forward and asked.

“Do you mean Maxwell Farin?”

“Yes. You said you were there in Kano at the time of his death. But if someone who died so publicly is still alive, it must mean there is more to the story.”

“Who was with him?”

Mireille grinned.

“You are sharp, Jean. Very sharp. He was with a Roahn Guard. It looked like he had converted to their side. But the guard… I think that escort’s name was Shail, however, he did not seem to be friendly with Maxwell Farin at all.”

Enzo nodded his head in agreement.

“He is the one who tried to assassinate their Admiral, so there is no way he will favouraly be looked upon in the eyes of the Roahn Guards.”

“Then there is only one reason why Maxwell Farin’s life was spared…”

Jean and Mireille spoke at the same time.

“…For testimony.”

Mireille laughed out loud and took a sip of his drink.

“The Marquess intends to prosecute the Prince Regent. It is not a bad development at all. The more the two fight, the more advantageous it is to me. It would be even better if Venua gets kicked out of His Majesty’s sight because of this matter, and once His Majesty picks the other side, everything else will go smoothly.”

Enzo spoke cautiously.

“But is the Prince Regent not His Majesty’s nephew? What makes you think he will easily shun his own blood?”

“What makes me think so? If the Emperor officially turns a blind eye to the assassination of nobles, there will be no noble who will stay still.”

Jean looked pitifully at Enzo and elaborated.

“Is there an easier means of overthrowing a political opponent than assassination? If His Majesty implicitly condones assassination by ruling in favour of the Prince Regent, any nobles’ life will be immediately threatened as well. Because in Sesbron, someone is always someone else’s political opponent.”

“Ahem… Hmm! I see.”

“Furthermore, as threatening as this may sound, it also makes it easier to eliminate political opponents by the imperial family. It is not like there is no history of doing so. So, unless the nobles are fools, there is no way they will accept His Majesty’s ruling.”

With a nod, Mireille emptied his glass.

“No one can afford to tolerate something that sets a precedent of what can happen to them. In most cases, it is the only advantage of a crowd that is in a state of ignorance. When they speak as one voice, the ripple effect is huge.”

“That is a reasonable statement.”

“Yet I cannot let my opponent use his hand, which I barely know about now, only to his own advantage… I had been annoyed before, but I feel like luck is on my side once again.”

“What else happened before?”

“Do you remember the deal I made with the Admiral?”

Enzo furrowed his brows as he traced his memories.

“Yes, you didn’t tell me the details, but… I remember him visiting the mansion, but he did not look very pleased with Your Grace.”

“Yes. He ended up breaking the deal.”

“…What? How dare he?”

“Our deal was to bring ‘her’ to me, but he took her for himself instead. It is a miracle that he succeeded in bringing her to the Empire though, seeing how he has been so blinded.”

“…”

Out of habit, Mireille’s hand drew a circle with the glass, swirling the remaining content around. It wasn’t long before the glass stopped and he came to a conclusion.

“Since he didn’t meet our set conditions, I should get back what is rightfully mine in the first place, am I correct?”

“Yes, yes. That makes perfect sense.”

Nodding his head, Mireille turned his eyes towards Jean.

“Jean. Go and meet Maxwell Farin.”

“What do you suggest?”

“After his testimony at Sesbron, tell him that you can further reduce the punishment he has to originally serve. If you do that, he will keep his promise to testify but also receive a reduced sentence, so he will only benefit.”

Enzo was truly impressed by his master’s strategy.

“It is the perfect plan!”

Mireille himself was satisfied as well and smiled slightly.

“After all, it will be easier to commit a small act of theft than to betray someone like the Admiral.”

***

The lower cabin deck rarely received any sunlight. And due to the waves hitting high, even the remaining windows had to be closed, causing a damp smell to permeate all the wood that made up the deck.

In the darkness, Jean, holding a lantern, began to look at the faces in the hammocks and the people sprawled on the floor. Even though he only saw Maxwell when he was basically a corpse, he was confident he could still recognize his face. And if he had covered his face with an old hat again, it wouldn’t be too difficult as his size was noticeable as well.

Eventually spotting him, Jean looked closely to see if there were any Roahn guards around and then approached Maxwell, who was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.

“Maxwell Farin?”

A blade was pressed against his throat in seconds. Jean didn’t even see how it got there.

A voice full of caution asked.

“…Who are you?”

“The Duke of Mireille sent me.”

“…”

“Are you here as a servant?”

“I am Baron Farin of Obernyu.”

Jean’s mouth twisted at the introduction with clear intentions.

“I was rude, Baron.”

“I see that the Duke is interested in me, but I have nothing to say to him, so go back.”

“Please hear me out, we do not mean any harm to you, Baron.”

“…”

Maxwell closed his eyes again.

As the boat shook on the waves, the lantern that Jean was holding swung back and forth like a pendulum. The light momentarily illuminated the area around Maxwell’s face before moving out of the way.

Jean guessed easily.

‘He didn’t say he wouldn’t listen at all… So it was just a gesture to save face…’

“All you have to do is grant my master this one favour.”

“…”

“If you do that, he will commute the punishment you deserve after you’ve given your upcoming testimony.”

Maxwell slowly opened his eyes and muttered softly.

“…How can I trust him?..”

“It is the Duke of Mireille. In his hands are both the Council and the Supreme Court of Sesbron.”

“And what does he want from me?”

“The lady of Obernyu has a necklace with a red jewel the size of a fingernail. It originally belonged to the Duke, but she took it when she left his residence. The only thing the Duke wants is getting this necklace back…”

***

– – – – –