Chapter 52

I stood with my saber held in both hands, quietly observing the intruder.

There was no moonlight tonight, and there were no lights in the room. It was pitch black. But my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, so I could barely make out a silhouette. They were small.

The intruder was trying to move quietly, but they couldn't hide completely. Their footsteps weren't those of an assassin or a soldier. The sound was more like they were walking in a hesitant, wobbly manner. They didn't seem to have any knowledge of martial arts or swordsmanship. And the intruder was alone.

This was strange. When conducting covert operations in enemy territory, acting alone is very dangerous.

You need companions for vigilance and to secure an escape route. It's normal to work in pairs or groups of three. I learned this at the Imperial Military Academy.

Since something was off, I decided to observe a bit more. The intruder was peering into the sofa. Were they really here to assassinate me?

But they seemed to be taking their time observing. Just get it over with.

Feeling impatient, I hid in the shadows. The intruder eventually approached the reception table without doing anything. Maybe they weren't an assassin after all... I was losing confidence.

The intruder placed something on the table and slowly walked towards the door. They were planning to leave.

I thought about letting them go, but I couldn't. This was the room where the aunt of the head of the Medilen family was staying. Uninvited guests must be given death.

...But I hesitated to kill them outright, so I called out.

"Freeze!"

"Kyaa!?"

It was a young woman's voice. I had a feeling it might be.

I stood in front of the intruder, still holding my saber.

"Did you know this is the room of the Commander of the Medilen Regiment? Are you prepared?"

"U-U-Uh, wait! Please wait!"

They seemed genuinely panicked. But I couldn't let my guard down.

I closed the distance with a steady stance and questioned the flustered intruder.

"If you don't want to die, tell me your affiliation and purpose."

"Affiliation! Affiliation, um, that! I'm a housekeeper! Look at the color of this ribbon! Ah, you can't see it!"

She seemed to be a maid from this palace, but it was too dark to tell.

"Purpose?"

"To bring this! No, that! I was ordered to bring a blanket!"

A blanket...?

I don't remember requesting one, but it was hard to confirm in the dark.

Suddenly, the room lit up.

"What's all the noise?"

The door to the bedroom opened, and Colonel Altsa, holding a candlestick, appeared. She was wearing a see-through negligee, but I ignored that for now.

"Sir, be careful. There's an intruder. They had a spare key."

"I'm not an intruder! I was just following the head housekeeper's order to bring a blanket!"

Her loud cry caused another door to open, and soldiers started to file in.

"What's going on, Chief of Staff!?"

"Ugh, I'm sleepy..."

"Hey, what's the situation here?"

"Is this a lovers' quarrel?"

"Ah, so it's something between the maid, the colonel, and the chief of staff... I'm sleepy."

No, it's not.

With more people and light, I felt a bit more at ease and observed the intruder again.

She was indeed a maid. The girls in military uniforms who had entered made her even more frightened.

She didn't have any unnatural bulges in her clothing, and there was no sign of a hidden gun or knife.

"Are you really a housekeeper? How did you get the spare key?"

"The head housekeeper borrowed it from the head housekeeper. She said to bring the blanket quietly without waking anyone. You wanted a blanket, right?"

"I don't remember requesting one."

It didn't seem like an attack, but something was still off.

I left the intruder to the soldiers and looked at the colonel.

"Sir, what's going on here?"

The colonel thought for a moment, then smiled wryly.

"Ah, I see. That makes sense."

I felt a bit frustrated that she figured it out on her own.

The colonel called out to the self-proclaimed housekeeper.

"Did you come here on the head housekeeper's orders?"

"Yes."

"Do you know who gave the head housekeeper the order?"

"No, I have no idea..."

Seeing the confused maid, the colonel sighed.

"Of course not. That woman probably used intermediaries."

I tilted my head.

"Is this part of the Duke of Retra's scheme?"

"I think so."

But what was the point of sending a housekeeper to deliver a blanket in the middle of the night?

Wait, I get it.

"Was the plan to make us suspicious during the day and then send a suspicious person to cause a commotion?"

"Yes. That woman understands that a half-hearted assassination attempt wouldn't work against you. Especially since we weren't prepared, it would be difficult to use a proper assassin."

The colonel looked at the maid with a slightly sympathetic gaze.

"If the maid was mistaken for an assassin, she would be killed without question. A man like me, who has been through many battles, would immediately strike down a suspicious person."

"But if it was an unarmed maid, it would cause a big commotion."

If I had acted rashly and killed the intruder, there would be an unarmed maid's body on the floor.

Even though she was just a housekeeper, she was still an imperial servant. There would be enough reason to arrest me.

And during the interrogation, an unfortunate accident could happen, and I would die.

That was the plan.

In other words, it wasn't an assassination attempt but a plot to bring me down. This way, there was no need to bring an assassin into the imperial palace. Her own resources were enough.

"Such a despicable scheme."

"But it's effective. I'm impressed you didn't kill her. I would have struck her down without hesitation."

The colonel looked thoroughly impressed, but it was thanks to the 'Scythe of Death.' I could predict if a situation was fatal, so I could hold off on making a decision until the last moment.

I sheathed my saber and tried to look nonchalant.

"Even if it was an unprovoked attack, a sword fight in the palace would be bad. I would at least consider that."

"Good judgment. That woman didn't see your calmness coming."

The colonel looked pleased, while the regiment's soldiers looked bemused.

The maid, meanwhile, was terrified.

"What will happen to me...?"

"I am Aunt Altsa, the aunt of the head of the Medilen family. Entering my bedroom without permission is a serious offense."

"I'm so sorry!"

The maid bowed deeply, and the colonel in the see-through negligee responded calmly.

"But I can't punish an imperial servant. You should ask your superior for an explanation. The head housekeeper can explain the situation. If we understand the circumstances, there's no need to make a fuss."

Showing her broad-mindedness, the colonel continued.

"The method was questionable, but I did receive the blanket. You can go back and rest now."

She gently placed a silver coin in the maid's hand. It was a generous tip.

"This is..."

"It's a tip. You brought it at such a late hour, so it's only right to show my appreciation."

The colonel, in her see-through negligee, smiled bravely.

After the maid bowed repeatedly and left, the soldiers who were good at sewing inspected the blanket.

"Chief of Staff, it's just a blanket. There doesn't seem to be anything hidden inside."

"The stitching doesn't seem to have any hidden messages either..."

I thought as much.

"Stitching a secret message into a blanket is a common tactic, but if that were the case, they would have brought it during the day. At night, it would be easier to slip a note under the door."

There was a slight possibility that it was a message from someone other than the Duke of Retra, like the Duke of Zihitberg, but that seemed unlikely.

I turned to the colonel.

"It seems to be the Duke of Retra's doing. What should we do? Should we really question the head housekeeper?"

"I plan to, but it will be futile. As I said, such requests are usually made through intermediaries. If even one of them disappears, it becomes impossible to identify the mastermind."

She's a member of one of the Five Royal Families, so she's used to dealing with conspiracies.

The colonel, still in her see-through negligee, crossed her arms.

"I believe the head housekeeper and the head housekeeper are innocent. The Duke of Retra's subordinates must have intervened in the housekeepers' command structure and issued a non-existent order. But those subordinates have likely disappeared without a trace."

"That's helpful."

"You're good at flattery. You must have learned this at the military academy, right?"

"Um, yeah."

I know about the tactic of infiltrating an enemy's command structure to cause confusion. I'm not sure I could do it, but I've learned a few ways to deal with it when the enemy uses it.

...I'm not sure I could do it.

The colonel suddenly looked at me with a gentle expression.

"Thanks to your calm judgment, the innocent maid didn't die, and I didn't lose my valuable chief of staff. You were faced with a much more dangerous trap than you realize, but you handled it brilliantly."

"Thank you for your kind words."

If I had acted rashly and killed the maid, it would have been a disaster.

The Duke of Retra is a ruthless villain. She's capable of sacrificing thousands of civilians, just like she plotted to assassinate the previous Duke of Zihitberg.

The colonel, looking concerned, stroked my arm.

"Don't look so scared. On the honor of the Medilen family, I will make that woman pay for her sins, even in hell."

"Thank you."

I nodded and then stared at the colonel.

"Sir?"

"Hmm? What is it?"

I handed her a blanket with a sparkling look.

"You'll get cold in that outfit. Stay warm."

"..."

She puffed out her cheeks and took the blanket.