Chapter 1.4

“Prillance.”

When she returned to the Weiand mansion, a man called out to her.

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

It was the Marquis, Jack Weiand. In addition to his middle-aged look, his eyes and hair color resembled Prillance. But the atmosphere around him was much sharper. He gave off a frightening impression even though he was handsome. Jack and Prillance sat on a sofa in the office.

“Is it true that you went to visit Viscount Grant?”

Jack looked at Prillance with sharp eyes.

Viscount Grant had a lot of eyes watching him because his family was currently in a dangerous position. Prillance slightly nodded. He had heard she was sick for the past few days and couldn’t even eat soup properly. She looked too thin. The sight made Jack weak and he sighed.

“I don’t know what you were thinking, visiting that place, but you have to be careful in the future. There are still a lot of eyes in that place.”

Prillance looked at Jack. Wasn’t Marquis Weiand behind the Grant case? Wouldn’t it be Jack, the one in front of her, who had ordered it?

She tried to remember the content of the novel she had read. However, at the end of the novel, the section where the deeds of Marquis Weiand was revealed and their downfall was shortened in one chapter and not explained in detail.

Her guess was that the life of the falling supporting characters were not important. At the time, she remembered that even she read the section quickly as it was uncomfortable to read.

“Father…Do you really think Marquis Grant did it?”

Jack thought he’d hear a quiet question as usual, but Prillance asked a rather sensitive question. Furthermore, it was so unexpected that Jack thought she must have heard something from Ver.

“Is that what Viscount Grant told you?”

It was a house in the center of sensitive matters. Jack thought he should not let Prillance and the Viscount meet. No, it was questionable why the meeting with Viscount Grant happened in the first place. They were in the same position as them before but they never had interactions.

“The Viscount didn’t say anything. This is just my personal belief.”

Jack was surprised by the unexpected answer. There was certainty in Prillance’s eyes.

However, he could not understand where Prillance’s confidence was coming from. He thought she only knew how to socialize, but not much else. Her only other interest was Duke Tonz, but otherwise she was usually just interested in socializing with other women in society.

“What are you saying so suddenly?”

“…He’s never done anything offensive against anyone.”

She said, avoiding Jack’s eye.

“I will not deny that Marquis is not the kind of person who would do that. But everyone changes. Marquis Grant is no exception.”

Jack asked Prillance to be careful. He thought she was only going by her feelings but knew nothing.

He knew why Prillance would think so. Even the emperor and other nobles were surprised to hear the news. But baseless belief doesn’t help. Even Prillance could get the wrong idea.

“If he was really innocent as you thought, the Marquis would have already been cleared from the charge. But there was a witness that saw how his military forces were gathered, and that alone constitutes a crime.”

Jack thought it was a common error Prillance could make only because she didn’t know much about politics and the real world.

“All aristocrats are potential rebels. Even if you swear allegiance, it only takes a moment to turn away. In the imperial court, gathering soldiers is only allowed to protect the territory and the border. All other military gatherings are considered treason.”

“Then…”

“Furthermore, disobeying the imperial family’s decision without a valid reason is also a betrayal of loyalty. Do you understand now?”

Jack made sure Prillance would not misunderstand again. Prillance tried to understand the novel’s worldview which he talked about.

In her previous world, the law was that one was innocent until proven guilty with solid evidence or witnesses.

However, in this world, one can be disposed of just by way of circumstances, and it was governed by very strict rules, especially if it involves knights, soldiers, and treason.

So it could be that Jack took advantage of the Marquis family’s weakness, who came from a family of knights. Perhaps Jack, of the same title, knew and used it better than anyone else.

The problem was that there was no way to prove it.

“Be careful from now on.”

Jack thought that Prillance, who was troubled and speechless, was aware of her mistakes. She always cared about her reputation. He thought she would handle this properly as well.