Virgin Knight Who Is the Frontier Lord in the Gender Switched World - Chapter 202

A clap of hands rang out.

Not applause in admiration, but rather a gesture indicating the end of idle talk, as if to say, “enough, enough.”

Duchess Astarte, with a slight smile, announced the end of the trivial conversation.

“Well, that’s it. I thought to let the conversation go on a bit longer, but…”

She showed me her enchanting neck.

Duchess Astarte, tilting her head towards me, asked:

“You must be bored, right, Faust?”

“I am indeed bored,” I answered honestly.

Because Princess Anastasia was speaking of matters quite inconsequential.

It might have been different if the listener was Martina.

For me, the fact that the Emperor was killed with the help of someone from his own family, and that it was done by the founder of Anhalt, is honestly trivial.

I have already reached the limits of my understanding.

The things I cannot comprehend will remain so to the end, a manifestation of Socrates’ “knowing one’s own ignorance” and “know thyself.”

It’s not just that I told Lady Nahid, “I will pretend I didn’t hear. I have no right to ask questions.” It’s not merely about rights but about knowing that I cannot utilize such knowledge.

I am curious, but if it’s going to be a hassle to explain, then it’s trivial.

If Martina were here and demanded understanding, I would strive for it, but she is not present.

“There’s more to it, though. Like the true details of the Emperor’s death. The ancestor of Cardinal Mainz, who was in charge of his protection, was so eager that he shouted, ‘Let’s kill him quickly! It will be dark soon!’ Or how Virendorf’s ancestor dragged the armored Emperor into a river shallow enough to reach his waist and drowned him with the help of Lady Nahid. It’s strange that no one noticed anything odd about the Emperor, who was supposed to be heavily guarded, but everyone turned a blind eye.”

“Yup, I’ve pretty much got it.”

Or rather, I’m thinking that I don’t need to hear anymore.

I don’t want to hear such things.

I fancy myself as a person full of the spirit of chivalry, and I don’t particularly like stories of people ganging up to kill their lord during a campaign.

It’s like, I don’t want to know about the desperate actions of people who were just driven to go home.

I, too, was part of the hellish Virendorf campaign and just wanted to go home, after all.

Well, I didn’t do it, though.

“Anyway, Faust, my ancestor was so infuriated that he ended up killing his lord, the Emperor, but well, it was unavoidable,” Princess Anastasia said, with eyes like a snake that seemed capable of devouring human flesh, asking for my understanding.

I got the reason.

I can somewhat understand the emotions involved, and it’s pointless to blame the princess, a descendant, for something that happened 400 years ago.

So?

“Let’s align our knowledge about whether Lady Nahid is genuine or not. Whether she really is ‘the Old Woman of the Mountain’ and a direct descendant of the Wesperman family. My family’s stories’ authenticity and Lady Nahid’s intentions in approaching me were what I tried to probe slowly.”

But since you, Faust, dismissed it as nonsense, let’s keep it short.

Princess Anastasia declared with snake-like eyes, turning her gaze to Lady Nahid.

“Now, Lady Nahid, let me tell you what I expect from you. You must already know, but the situation with the Wesperman family, a branch of the royal Anhalt family, is quite dire. It has been tough deciding to cut off the Wesperman family after 400 years of service to the royal family.”

“It’s no longer necessary, right?”

“It’s not needed. When a part is rotten, it must be cut off. My patience has long been exhausted.”

The circumstances are unclear, but it seems the Wesperman family is to be cut off.

For a moment, the face of Marina, Sabine’s sister, comes to mind, but she’s practically a stranger.

I’m not close enough to care.

If it were about Sabine, I might have defended her, but she’s clearly severed ties, so it has nothing to do with her.

“Because there was no substitute, I endured. But in the last few years, my mother, Liesenlotte, has created her own intelligence agency. It doesn’t match the former Wesperman family, of course. There are still deficiencies.”

“You want to recruit me to make up for those deficiencies?”

“That’s the discussion.”

The conversation flowed smoothly, as if the previous idle chatter had never happened.

It seemed that both Princess Anastasia and Lady Nahid were already aware of the situation to some extent.

“Are you seeking an assassin? Do you want the superhuman unit I lead?”

The lolibaba said, opening her hands quietly in front of her chest.

So, what will you ask for?

“I do want it, desperately. I plan to kill the Pope, and if there’s a reason, I intend to kill the Emperor as well. Of course, you must want to kill your most despised enemy too.”

As if she had seen through everything, yet opened her own heart as well, my lord stated her terms to Lady Nahid.

“I want to kill Toktoa Khan, preferably before a war breaks out. If we can assassinate the crazed Emperor of the Mongol Empire, might it not prevent the war against the Holy Gusten Empire altogether? For me, who holds such hopes, I sincerely wish that you would join me in this cause.”

“Indeed, such a thing is impossible, is it not?”

“Of course, I know. To assassinate an emperor of an empire requires various conditions: the winds of the era, a powerful assassin, and clear flaws in the emperor. All these elements must align. The royal house of Anhalt, with experience in regicide, knows this.”

It is not easy to assassinate an emperor unless the situation is broadly desired by many, regardless of their status.

I thought I’d touch on that point, but Her Highness succinctly asked:

“Nahid, I must inquire. Surely, you have already attempted to assassinate Toktoa Khan?”

“As you imagined. I thought it impossible, but felt it had to be tried.”

Lady Nahid closed the hands she had held open at her chest, forming fists with both hands.

“It was for the survival of a dynasty, for the sake of my homeland, and to maintain the power of my clan. I understood the slim chance, but I tried and, as expected, failed.”

Our clan had exhausted all its efforts.

One could say we had deployed all our assassination skills and tricks.

But still, Nahid explained,

“The Mongols were too strong. Overwhelmingly so. It seemed only natural that the dynasty I served would perish. If it was to be destroyed by that powerful emperor’s great might, I even thought it might be unavoidable, if there is such a thing as the winds of the era that Princess Anastasia spoke of. I even believe that those winds blow for Emperor Toktoa Khan rather than for an outdated assassin like me.”

Princess Anastasia paused, swallowed something as if a snake gulping down its prey, and then continued.

“Then why resist? Toktoa Khan was intensely recruiting superhumans. You, Lady Nahid, should not be an exception. Whether it’s because you’re an assassin, belong to another religion, served under another dynasty, or even because of your skin color. Indeed, I can hardly believe that you were shunned. If I were the Emperor of the Mongol Empire, I would desire your service.”

“What are you trying to say?”

Originally, Princess Anastasia showed signs of planning some manipulation but paused, glanced at me momentarily, and with a playful smile, turned her gaze back to Lady Nahid.

“Here, well, actually, Lady Nahid, are you an assassin hired by Toktoa Khan, plotting to kill the Emperor, the Pope, and of course, me as an Elector? Are you just performing a belly dance to infiltrate us for now, with your true intentions different? I could have provoked you with such words, checking your reaction. But let’s stop here. Let’s show some sincerity. To doubt the woman you brought before me, Faust, would be to doubt you as well.”

Princess Anastasia stood up.

I immediately considered seizing Lady Nahid and forcing her to the ground as a precaution.

But Her Highness’s look told me this was not necessary.

“No need for malice. Let’s also stop the belly dancing here. If you entrust me with the clan that has fled to me, I will trust Lady Nahid. Let us adhere to the secret agreement we once made. If either ‘the Mountain Clan’ or ‘Anhalt’ faces peril, we shall help each other based on the premise of mutual benefit, even if our religions differ, even if we come from different homelands. We made this contract when we jointly assassinated an emperor.”

Princess Anastasia extended her hand.

Lady Nahid paused momentarily, not taking her hand immediately but instead, as if trying to read her heart, her eyes shimmered.

“Well, I hear it was just a verbal agreement.”

A casual contract, yet she laughed.

“Lady Nahid, shall we not undertake another regicide with Anhalt and the Emperor? Well, this time, the target is not my lord but the Mongol Empire, clearly our enemy. For now, it would be good if you joined the plan to kill the Pope.”

“…Very well. If you despise belly dancing, and since you, a descendant of Anhalt, show sincerity, I feel no need to sway any further with words.”

Lady Nahid took her hand, quietly responding.

“Let’s kill the Emperor of the Mongol Empire. Let’s commit regicide again. By cooperating with you, and you with me, let’s plan to kill Toktoa Khan. My dynasty was destroyed, our clan’s lands taken, and all my dearly held kin led to death. On top of that, not a single promise of restitution was made, but still commands were uttered to submit everything to him. He thinks all land a horse can run on is his own. Let’s kill that arrogant, infuriating, most powerful emperor.”

Lady Nahid’s eyes were tinted a bloodshot red.

I knew those eyes.

Not due to racial or national differences, but as something anyone human could exhibit.

They were the eyes of a woman who had endured unbearable insults, filled with the color of vengeance.