* * *

The next day, Fersen sent someone to the nobles’ mansions early in the morning. He was annoyed as he had been delivering goods smoothly so far but didn’t know what was going on this time.

“Young lord Fersen!”

Meanwhile, Seira sought Fersen. Lately, Fersen’s temper had been very sharp, so she visited a little earlier than usual.

As expected, Fersen seemed no better than yesterday. Seira handed a calming black tea to a servant and took a seat next to Fersen.

“Did you get some sleep? You look tired.”

“…I did. But I woke up early.”

“How about closing your eyes for a bit? Even for just thirty minutes. I will wake you up.”

Seira gently grabbed Fersen’s hand and smiled. She tried to lighten up the mood, but it didn’t help Fersen who had a series of unfortunate events.

‘It’s because I couldn’t sleep that I woke up, how does she expect me to close my eyes now?’

He felt annoyed and irritated as if she was preaching without knowing the situation.

“It’s alright. There’s no time for that. Shouldn’t we also deal with the remaining business partners of Antares Merchant Guild?”

He had managed to secure quite a few big merchants, yet the Antares Merchant Guild was still holding up.

And he thought it was due to Luna’s gold mine, which infuriated him.

Fersen picked up the documents again. If he couldn’t snatch the merchant, destroying it would suffice. And for that, he needed information.

“Young lord Fersen…”

Seira tried to comfort him, but seeing that it didn’t work, she felt dejected. She wanted to be helpful, but right now she had no means to assist him.

The atmosphere suggested that Fersen might get angry if she tried talking to him again, so she just quietly watched him, hoping he would return to his former self soon.

“Young master Fersen!”

A few people whom he had sent to the nobles’ mansions early in the morning returned.

Thinking they might have returned due to no helpful findings, Fersen started to feel relieved, but they brought unexpected news.

“We went to the mansion but no one was there!”

“…What?”

He couldn’t understand what they meant. At Fersen’s bewildered reaction, the man explained the situation again.

“Not just me, but those who went to other people’s mansions also said they met no one! Even the servants were gone, we couldn’t ask what was going on!”

“What?!”

What nonsensical talk was this! Fersen hurriedly stormed out of his office.

“Young lord Fersen!”

Seira hastily followed, but chasing Fersen’s shadow was difficult with her pointed shoes and voluminous dress.

Leaving Seira behind, Fersen alone rode to the nearest mansion of Baron Kotn and was faced with a truly empty, eerily silent mansion.

Given that not even the shadows of the servants were seen, it definitely seemed like a planned situation.

“What on earth, what on earth happened here!”

Enraged, Fersen kicked the outer wall of Baron Kotn’s mansion and shouted. It would be nice if someone showed up upon hearing this, but unfortunately, in the mansion where everyone had hidden, only Fersen’s voice echoed.

‘I, I need to check other places…!’

He had heard reports that other nobles were also absent, but it was an uncertain matter. Fersen hurriedly headed to Viscount Gamay’s mansion.

But again, no one was there. Not a shadow of a person was seen in Viscount Gamay’s mansion either.

Nonsense. Fersen’s legs gave way and he slid to the ground.

* * *

Afterwards, Fersen visited all the nobles’ mansions. But as if they had planned it, all the mansions were vacated, and he could meet no one.

Eventually, he even inquired at their private warehouses, but as if they anticipated this, there also was no one, nothing there.

He couldn’t just sit idle, so Fersen sent people out to look for anything.

It took a whole day, and the next day, an official from the Imperial Palace visited the Duke’s residence.

“You came from the Imperial Palace?”

In response to Duke Rodrian’s question, the servant bowed and answered.

“Yes. Young master Fersen hasn’t returned to the mansion since yesterday…”

Suddenly mentioning something about a royalty, given the hastiness of the decision, Fersen hadn’t reported anything to the Duke, who was unaware of anything.

“He is waiting in the reception room.”

Although the Duke didn’t understand the situation, it was improper to keep ignoring the visitor from the Imperial Palace who was waiting. The Duke, frowning for a moment, dusted off his seat and headed to the reception room.

“I apologize for visiting suddenly. Young lord Rodrian hasn’t delivered the goods even on the delivery deadline today, so I had to visit like this.”

“Goods?”

“Ah, that…”

At the Duke’s question as to what exactly was being talked about, the official from the Imperial Palace explained the situation. The Duke finally realized that something went wrong with Fersen.

Unless otherwise, there’s no way Fersen would hide since the day before the delivery deadline.

“…I will convey to contact you as soon as he returns from his outing. It seems that there are quite a lot of quantities which made transportation difficult. I saw him moving busily, so he will deliver the goods today.”

“That’s a relief, understood. Since the supplies are starting to run low, please hurry up.”

Relieved by the Duke’s assurance, the official from the Imperial Palace went back. And once the Duke confirmed the disappearance of his carriage, he unleashed his pent-up anger and looked for Fersen.

“Where on earth did this crazy bastard go! A large supply to the imperial family! Deciding on such a difficult task in such a short period?!”

It was just a few months ago when it started to look good for snatching away a considerable number of customers from Antes, yet such a ridiculous mishap occurred again.

“Find him quickly! And check if he can deliver whatever the goods are by today!”

At the Duke’s shout, the servants hurriedly disappeared to look for Fersen. Among them, some knew that Fersen couldn’t deliver the goods to the Imperial Palace, but they kept their mouths shut fearing unnecessary backlash.

* * *

At the same time, Crown Prince Callion met an unexpected visitor.

“I never thought the day would come when you’d look for me, it’s as if the Empire will perish.”

Callion spoke, addressing Antes who sat on the sofa without permission. Hearing the words  of the Empire falling for the second time, Antes wondered if he would say the same in front of the Emperor.

“Yes. Upon reflection, playing with you seemed the most enjoyable.”

“If it’s about beating you up, it was somewhat enjoyable.”

It was right before Antes left the capital that he discovered Callion’s identity. Until then, every time they met for about two years, memories of repeatedly beating up Callion, who teased him, floated up.

“Ha ha ha!”

Not knowing what was so funny, Callion burst into laughter. Antes felt very disillusioned about himself looking for Callion.

No matter how much it was for handling work perfectly, he wondered why he had to meet that guy specifically.

“So, what’s the matter? You surely didn’t come to see me.”

After laughing for a while, Callion sat across from Antes with a composed expression. Glancing at the time, despite his casual behavior, the Crown Prince seemed busy.

It was the same for Antes, so he got to the point without delay.

“Either today or tomorrow, a problem will arise. I came to tell you to contact me for resolution.”

Huh? What on earth was he talking about? Callion tilted his head for a moment at Antes who seemed to foresee causing a problem.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ll find out soon enough. Now, I have to go as I’m busy.”

Leaving a brief message, Antes left the office without hesitation. In case Callion held him back, it was a very quick and prompt departure.

“What, is this really the end? Then why did you visit? Just a notice in writing would have been enough.”

Unlike other friends who would visit to convey brief messages and see faces, why did he specifically visit to leave such an ominous short message and leave? It wasn’t his personality.

Curious, Callion immediately called his aide.

“Anything, just search thoroughly to find out if there’s any problem in the Imperial Palace.”

“…!”

What kind of broad directive… where to start and where to end?

The words came up to the tip of his tongue, but as this wasn’t the first absurd directive, the aide bowed in acknowledgement and left the office.

It was urgent to check the entire palace for any problems, so time was of the essence.

Fortunately, as the problem was big, the aide could report to Callion the next day.

“The goods contracted with the House of Rodrian have not arrived by the delivery deadline. They are mainly spices used in the kitchen, and it’s almost dawn as the goods started to run low when contracted. The biggest problem is this, and besides…”

It seemed that there were multiple issues, as the aide was trying to meticulously report while looking at the notes.

“Ah, enough. That will suffice.”

With that, Callion cut him off, because it was clear that the issue was due to Antes’s nagging.

‘So he came in person to deliver that brief message, instead of writing it down.’

He might have feared leaving any evidence had it been in writing.

As a child, he couldn’t contain his anger and would just take it foolishly, but now he had realized how to make the other party eat their words.

“Ha!”

Callion let out a chuckle unknowingly. What on earth had happened to cause a delay in the delivery deadline? Although he didn’t know the specifics, it seemed very interesting.

“Convey this to the department in question. Contact Antares Merchant Guild.”

He wanted to see how this fascinating fight would end by following Antes’s instructions.