A village near the system.

The 4th legion, currently stationed and resting there, was, under Reinhardt’s orders, indiscriminately requisitioning and slaughtering the village’s livestock.

"Bring more cows!"

"We only have the last one left…"

"I don’t care, bring it!"

"Yes…"

The butchered meat was immediately roasted over a campfire, and the soldiers of the 4th legion were having a feast, drinking alcohol seized from the village along with their meat. In the middle of it all, Reinhardt sat, tearing into bones with his bare hands.

Having spent most of his youth on the battlefield, Reinhardt no longer had the demeanor of royalty, even if you looked hard for it.

"Hey. Commander…"

"Ah, village chief! Thank you for setting this up! Thanks to you, my soldiers are eating, drinking, and enjoying themselves! To the village chief, who graciously provided the resources and food, everyone, a toast!"

"Cheers!!!"

The soldiers raised their glasses and shouted in unison.
The village chief’s voice was completely drowned out by the cheers. Already worn down, the village chief grew even more timid, his throat tightening, unable to speak.

"Now, tell me what you need."

"Well, I’ve heard that a banquet is being held at the Imperial Palace this evening in your honor, Commander…"

"That’s exactly right!"

"Although I hate to impose… considering the meal at the banquet, perhaps it would be better not to overeat like this?"

"Ho? Are you giving me advice now?"

"No, no! I was just a little concerned…!"

"You were worried about me. I see."

"…!"

Cold sweat ran down the village chief’s back as he fumbled with his words.
For a moment, Reinhardt furrowed his brow, but then a smile spread across his face, as though he found it amusing.

"Look at this loyal subject. Are you already planning to abandon the Emperor and side with me? How admirable, I don’t know what to do with such devotion. Sephiroth."

"Yes, Commander."

"Guide the village chief to the main camp. And prepare a contract. Let’s make it one and a half times the usual… no, maybe double. I won’t accept any objections."

"Y-yes!?"

"Understood, Commander."

"Wait! Commander! Double is too much…!"

Dragged away by the soldiers, the village chief’s desperate voice faded.
Meanwhile, the soldiers continued to drink and gorge themselves on meat, as though nothing had happened.

These soldiers had spent five years crawling through the barren desert, living more ascetically than monks.
There was a promise made that, once the war ended, they would indulge in all the meat and alcohol they wanted, and they were determined to keep it.

Although the palace might have plenty of meat, it would be impossible to feed every soldier to satisfaction, so they decided to have a feast here.

‘A strong army is a well-fed army.’

Unlike my sister, who believes that talents should be squeezed to the utmost, I prefer to loosen the reins on my subordinates.
A capable subordinate performs better under appropriate autonomy than under excessive control.

Thanks to this policy, the 4th legion had been able to dominate the battlefield.

"Commander. The investigation report you requested."

"Hmm."

At that moment, a stack of documents was thrust toward Reinhardt.
He casually flipped through the papers, scanning them.

While I was away, what had happened in the Empire?
Most of the report was about Aslan Vermont, the reckless man, and how he had managed to get so close to my sister.
Soon, a look of shock appeared on Reinhardt’s face.

"What? Aslan Vermont only started moving three months ago…?"

I had been wondering just how much had happened during my absence.
It seemed that the past four years and nine months had been uneventful, and all the turmoil had concentrated in just the last three months.

Count Aslan Vermont’s direct highway construction.
Count Aslan’s subordinates, including necromancers and dark knights, becoming public.
The launch and success of Count Aslan’s security company.
And even signs that he had started researching black magic…

Each of these events seemed unbelievable, yet they were all carried out by Aslan Vermont alone.
Could this really be possible?
Could this man, once called the disgrace and outcast of the Vermont family, have undergone such a drastic transformation?

‘Wait. A transformation?’

Reinhardt, with his chin resting in thought, suddenly came up with a plausible theory.

It was well known that the Vermont family had learned how to summon demon gods and form contracts with them.
Demon gods usually inhabited only those with strong enough vessels to contain them, but sometimes, greed would cause the vessel to break.
That’s when the practitioner would lose their sanity and fall to madness after engaging with the demon god.

Taking it a step further,
If the mind didn’t just crack but completely shattered, what would happen to the body?

‘Could Aslan Vermont now be controlled by a demon god?’

The lazy, violent, foolish, and dim-witted Aslan Vermont was dead.
And his body had been taken over and manipulated by a demon god.

Reinhardt shuddered involuntarily, even as he dismissed the thought as absurd.

‘Of course, a man who would raise common orphans to fit his own taste and train them as brides couldn’t be a human being.’

If this theory were true,
The present world would no longer be safe.
While the demon gods were always easily identifiable by their grotesque forms,
A demon god disguised as a human would be a nightmare.

‘Was my sister finally blinded, or did she knowingly turn a blind eye?’

Now it made sense why the Emperor kept Aslan Vermont by his side.
My sister was certainly more aware of Aslan Vermont’s sinister aura than anyone,
But for the sake of immediate gains, she had chosen to ignore it.

Right. My sister wouldn’t be so naive.
With Aslan Vermont running rampant, I had been worried that the Empire I was going to conquer was already fading into irrelevance.
But now, that worry could be cast aside.

Behind the Empire stood a demon god.
To seize the Empire, I would have to defeat both my sister and the demon god.
The difficulty was rising, and Reinhardt felt his heart pounding.

"Wrap it up! The event is about to start!"

"Yes!!!"

Wiping his mouth, Reinhardt immediately stood up.
It was time to set out.

"Everyone, I think I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it once more. We’re not going to the banquet for fun. As the Emperor’s secret bodyguard, we are responsible for ensuring the Emperor’s safety if the guard is incapacitated. I trust everyone understands the seriousness of this role?"

"Yes!"

"Of course. …Yes."

Inside the carriage heading to the Imperial Palace,
I gave one last briefing, and Charlotte and Yuria responded confidently,
While Yuria, wearing a mask, nodded in response.

‘In the worst case, we might have to face the entire 4th legion.’

If Reinhardt really plans a coup,
The 4th legion, entering the system with a warm welcome, will suddenly turn into rebels.
If the 4th legion causes an incident while inside the palace, there would be nothing the palace could do.

Now I understood why the palace had been devastated and burned in the original work.
No matter how many elite guards were stationed at the palace,
If a legion overwhelmed them with sheer force, there would be no way to hold them off.

This was the most serious crisis I had ever faced.
Perhaps because of that, even the usually noisy children were quieter than usual.
Had they been scared?

"Sir! So, why did you tie up Yuria’s hair earlier?"

"Huh!? Charlotte! We agreed not to ask about that…!"

"But no matter how much I think about it, I don’t understand! I can’t stand it anymore, I’m really curious!"

"…"

And just like that, the commotion started again.
It seemed the kids hadn’t been scared at all.

Good. It’s better to be curious and active than to tremble in fear with pale faces.
They must have already gone through enough rough situations to not get easily shaken.

"Why did I tie her hair? Well, it was tangled from running, so I just tied it up. If her hair were messy while attending the palace event, it would be embarrassing."

"It’s not that, though. You could have had one of the maids do it, but you did it yourself. I thought that was surprising. You’ve never tied up the Lady Knight’s hair when it was messy, have you?"

"...Huh?"

Charlotte puffed her cheeks and said with a mischievous smile.
Realizing my mistake, I was at a loss for words.

Thinking about it, if all I had to do was tie her hair, it would have been more reasonable to ask a maid to do it.

After all, the person involved was just an employee of my company.
For a count to do it himself would be like advertising, ‘I’m very interested in this girl’.

I had made a mistake!
And I got caught by Charlotte and Yuria.
I regretted not doing it in a more discreet place.