Suspicions

What do you mean Sion? One of the Four Dukes is involved with the Chaos Serpents? Mia asked flustered.

The Four Dukes of the Empire were the nobles closest to the emperor. They were related to him by blood and so they have the right to succeed to the throne. This doesnt mean they are automatically trustworthy, but considering their closeness to the emperor, they are more credible than the rest of the nobles. So, Sions news poses a concern.

How certain are you of this information?

Sion ponders for awhile and then answers

Well, if you think about it normally, the accuracy isnt that high. Its an information that originally came from the Wind Crows that was dispatched to the empire, but its old. This information has been neglected for a long time. If it really was important, then they wouldnt have let it sit around for a long time.

You said If you think about it normally. Is there another way of thinking about it then? Abel asked to which Sion nodded.

There are always multiple ways of looking at things. Sometimes the less obvious perspective is the most convincing one. Then he smiles mischievously. If we think about it in another way. It might be that this information wasnt shelved because it was unimportant, but rather the opposite.

Oh, I see. There were Chaos Serpents in the Wind Crows. If Jem or any of his accomplices deliberately chose to hide this information, then that makes it more suspicious.

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Thats certainly very suspicious. I think we need to find out more about this. Mia agreed.

If the information was true, then it would be a big problem since the suspects is one of the Four Dukes! They were the ones that supported the empire by rallying the rest of the nobility. And they were bound by their allegiance to stand with the imperial family to the bitter end Or so Mia had thought. Then she remembered something from the previous timeline.

Oh? But wasnt I betrayed by Esmeralda last time?

Esmeralda, who claimed to be Mias best friend, abandoned the empire early in the revolution and fled the country. That is also the case with the rest of the Greenmoons. The Greenmoon family owns sailing ships and has exchanges with foreign countries. Using that connection, they successfully escaped from the dangers in the Empire.

During their final meeting, Esmeralda had spoken to her with the same elegant smile as usual.

Mia-sama, lets have a tea party at my house the next time. We invite a lot of other nobles to make it grand. There, as proud Tearmoon nobles, well declared our allegiance to the empire together and swear to serve it with all our heart and soul. Doesnt that sound nice?

Mia was very comforted and encouraged by Esmeraldas words. Everyday Mia goes out with Ludwig to see the plight of the empire, and it has taken a toll on her psyche. Her good friend was a source of solace for her aching, despondent soul.

Then, the promised day of the tea party.

What Mia witnessed was the Greenmoon residence completely abandoned. This would not be the last of the betrayals she would experience, but it was the first, and it had left her shaken to the core.

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Uh, and I was thinking I would finally get to have some cake for the first time in a long time

It was supposed to be a reward for herself all her hardwork. This made it even more sad.

Hmm, thinking back, the Four Dukes behaved all the same way

She recalled the various times when she had gone to them for help, only to run into a brick wall. Like when she had asked one of them to aid the people who were struggling with famine, only to be turned down and when she had requested one of them to send troops to the capital to defend it, only to be ignored.

Due to the status of their pedigree, the royal family couldnt just send a messenger. So, it was Mia herself that had to make the trips to the residences of the Four Dukes to ask for help. She suffered the equivalent experience of knocking doors and being told to go away. Every such instance left a new scar in her heart.

Furthermore, there were rumors that the Yellowmoons were actually assisting the revolutionary army in secret.

All things considered, I shouldnt be shocked that there were traitors among them in fact, I should consider myself lucky! This is an opportunity! I have a one-in-four chance of weeding out one of the Serpents. If I nab the guy and hand him over to Rafina, it might please her enough to let me off the hook if my campaign pledges dont turn out so great

Mia, who became a little positive, looked toward Sion. But Sion shook his head a little,

Unfortunately, too much time has passed. Finding out more would be difficult.

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Well, thats not surprising, I suppose.

And we lost contact with the person who sent this information.

What? Then Mia was at a loss for words.

Naturally, its reasonable to think that the agent was murdered because of the information. Sion says in a heavy tone and then folded his arms. I cant say for sure anyway. As I have said in the first place, I dont know how credible this information is. But still, it should be better to be careful.

Mia heard the words as if they were from somewhere far away. Mias thoughts were already turned inward. Because if she combines the information that Sion brought with the information that Bel gave her, an entirely different picture can be formed

The Four Dukes are in conflict over the empires succession. Bel said they split into two factions and civil war breaks out. But was it really just a power struggle?

Naturally, she has such suspicions. If one of the Dukes was harboring Chaos Serpents, a ploy by them would be a far more convincing explanation for the sudden fragmentation of the empire than a simple power struggle.

It seems that I need to be vigilant against the Four Dukes.

The next day, Mia got a visit. It was no other than Sapphias Etoille Bluemoon, the eldest son of the Bluemoon family, one of the Four Dukes.

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