MLIIWTFL Chapter 193

193

"Let’s hope this is just a misunderstanding. Otherwise, it would deeply disappoint the Marquess of Eskis, who trusted you with his daughter, and the Western nobles who respect your family. If you also had to write an apology to my family, it would only cause more pain for everyone."

“…As the Countess of Sharon says, since such an incident occurred within my estate, I, as the mistress of the house, cannot be absolved of responsibility. However, we must also make clear who exactly did such a thing to my niece. I, too, sincerely hope the culprit is not Lady Sharon.”

"And I also hope that the responsibility of the Wallace family ends merely at a lapse in oversight."

The tension-filled standoff between the two ladies concluded with these carefully chosen words.

However, the stiff atmosphere, thick with tension, did not lift. Suspicious glances and hushed whispers continued at the surrounding tables.

In such a situation, even if someone tried to spread unfavorable rumors about Camilla, Letticia, or the House of Count Sharon, it would be completely ineffective.

Letticia was already viewed as a victim of biased investigation. Audrey was cast as a young lady unfairly protected by her father, the head of the knights, and painted as a future villainess driven by inferiority toward her cousin. The attempt to change that narrative had failed.

As Countess Wallace *stewed in her feelings of defeat, a Viscountess who had been watching noticed that the conversation between the two had ended and quickly changed the subject to shift the mood.

"Speaking of which, Countess Sharon, I heard there's a dessert that will debut at the Founding Festival in Faymont? Are you planning to serve it at the tea party first?"

The mention of Faymont brightened the mood again. Dishes from the capital’s most popular dessert café were always a welcome topic at gatherings like this.

"Well, I haven’t yet decided whether brie or ridere tea would pair better with it." 

Camilla replied with a smile. With that, the murmuring stopped. Everyone quickly turned their attention to her words. Camilla’s tea parties were so popular that everyone vied for an invitation.

Although the Countess of Wallace and her close associates didn’t join in Camilla’s conversation, they occasionally chimed in when the topic changed. On the surface, the two-hour event passed smoothly without issue.

Then, just as the gathering was coming to an end, Camilla turned her gaze to Baroness Bright as if she had just remembered something.

“Oh, by the way, Baroness Bright. I heard that the Baron’s health has been deteriorating lately? I also heard he recently retired from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.”

“What? Oh, yes, that’s right. I suppose it’s due to his age…”

Startled, the Baroness glanced around anxiously, then nodded. Camilla replied with a look of sympathetic concern.

“Oh dear. If that’s the case, then holding a formal marriage meeting might be too much, no? Besides, trying to schedule such a meeting when you’re already so busy preparing for the succession ceremony would be burdensome.”

“Ah, so Ezkhiel must’ve told you about the succession ceremony?”

The Baroness’s expression briefly brightened—but then immediately stiffened again at Camilla’s next words.

“Yes. Since it’s being arranged in a hurry, I heard it’ll be a small, simple event with just close relatives attending?”

“…Pardon? Oh, no, not quite—”

“Given the Baron’s health, that size sounds just about right. If he had to rush his retirement, it’s better he starts convalescing properly. Still, it must be a relief that you have a healthy and capable heir ready to take over.”

Before she knew it, the Baroness had missed her chance to correct the statement.

Now that Camilla had made such a remark at a formal gathering, any attempt to expand the scale of the succession ceremony would come across as absurd.

Under normal circumstances, such a comment—interfering in another noble house’s succession—would be a serious overreach and grounds for protest. However, because of something David had said about how much more prestigious the event could become with the cooperation of House Sharon, the Baroness had no choice but to endure it.

'It can’t be helped. And besides, it’s the Countess who said it.'

If it had come from a nouveau riche count or a daughter of mixed blood, it would have been offensive. But coming from a countess of high and noble blood, a true aristocrat, it wasn’t as damaging to her pride to follow along.

Having collected herself, the Baroness smiled and responded to Camilla.

“Yes, thankfully our eldest son has grown up well, so my husband feels comfortable preparing to hand down his title. Please don’t feel pressured—just let us know a date that works for you, and we’ll be ready for the formal meeting anytime.”

“Ah, as for that matter, could you please discuss it directly with my daughter, Letticia? In our family, we give the final say on marriage matters to the daughter herself.”

Just as Letticia had asked her to, Camilla firmly redirected the discussion to her daughter, then stood up to leave.

The Baroness looked like she still wanted to speak further, but Camilla had no reason to humor her—so she turned away without hesitation.

***

Ezkhiel stepped into the knights’ building and headed straight to the commander’s office.

The desk there, like his own, was buried under mountains of paperwork, giving him a strangely familiar feeling.

“Deputy Commander, I apologize for not greeting you properly the other day.”

“Greeting me? Didn’t you already greet me properly?”

Deputy Commander Achilles looked slightly haggard as he responded. Ezkhiel answered with a trace of confusion, wondering if he hadn’t even been noticed.

“Ah, no—I meant when you were speaking with your brother and sister the other day, on your way out.”

“Oh, that time… Wait, you were there too?”

“Yes. There wasn’t even a chance to say hello—you jumped straight into the argument.”

“Ah, I apologize. When I fight with my brother, I sometimes lose sight of everything else. I didn’t mean to ignore you.”

Achilles looked sincerely embarrassed. Ezkhiel was stunned—he hadn’t even considered that the man hadn’t realized he was standing there at all.

“Well… anyway. How is the personnel restructuring plan His Highness requested for the knights’ order coming along? He’d like to receive it as soon as possible.”

“Huh… Has it even been that long since he gave the order? He’s already asking?”

“It’s just the first phase, so a general outline will do. What we need now is an estimate of how many personnel changes are necessary—we don’t need the full deployment details yet.”

At that, Achilles opened a drawer and handed over a report in an unmarked folder.

“Honestly, with the people we currently have, it’s not going to be easy. The influence of the Wallace family has been embedded for so long, it’s rare to find a knight who’s completely free from their shadow. If we’re not careful, we may end up needing to replace the entire order.”

“…It seems that way. Especially since about half of the senior and mid-level knights are staunch supporters of the commander—it would be difficult to dismiss them all.”

Ezkhiel, quickly scanning the list Achilles handed him, nodded in agreement. Dismissing all of them would leave a huge vacuum in manpower.

“Then we’ll need to identify which individuals we can remove from this group. Can the vacancies among the senior and mid-level knights be filled with those who were previously demoted?”

“Frankly speaking, that would be difficult. The commander only assigned major tasks to those loyal to him, so the rest lack experience. You know what happens if you promote people solely based on faction loyalty—things fall apart.”

“I’ll be sure to report that to His Highness. He understands well that a complete purge would be unrealistic.”

During the previous emperor’s reign, many reforms had been made—but those reforms also left behind considerable aftereffects.

The knight order was one such consequence. In the process of disbanding the private militias of capital nobles, the emperor had overly empowered the national knights. He had even turned a blind eye when the commander passed down his position to his own son.

But inherited power tends to rot. When loyalty to the crown becomes vague, it’s only natural that fear and loyalty shift toward the immediate superior—and the house behind them.

That’s why the royal family had long wanted to purge the knights of corruption, but they lacked the proper justification to take action. Issues like this, if mishandled or approached without preparation, were bound to meet fierce backlash and ultimately fail.

But now, a scandal had erupted within the knight commander's own mansion. And the victim? None other than Seraphina Eskis. Meanwhile, the one wrongfully accused was Letticia.

This was a situation the entire noble society couldn’t ignore. And with Count Sharon’s house publicly raising suspicions of a fabricated case, the tide was shifting.

There was no way Matthias would let an opportunity like this slip away.

“I didn’t expect them to even challenge the issue of inherited positions… The timing may be a little early, but we’ll need to push forward decisively.”

It was this very situation that triggered the activation of the long-planned reform and purge of the knight order that had been coordinated with the Emperor.

Just yesterday, Ezkhiel had felt relieved that things were finally settling down—and now he found himself busy all over again. He let out a quiet sigh.

Still, he couldn’t afford to show any signs of exhaustion. He knew that Achilles had it even worse. The man probably hadn’t even gone home for several days.

“Also, since Sir Averil will likely become the next Knight Commander, I recommend that you take this opportunity to properly consolidate your control over the order.”

“I thought that wouldn’t happen for another ten years. Isn’t this a bit rushed?”

“Opportunities like this don’t come often. Even His Highness agrees that the timing may be a bit early.”

Achilles openly frowned.

When he had first been appointed Deputy-Commander, he never imagined he’d rise through the ranks this quickly. All this change seemed to be benefiting Matthias, while he himself felt like he was being ground down.

“His Highness said he will spare no support to ensure the order runs smoothly after the restructuring.”

“So that’s why there's suddenly a special recruitment exam included in the plan? As if I didn’t already have enough to do! I’m supposed to manage an investigation, carry out a factional purge, prepare for personnel changes and oversee special recruitments? Am I supposed to work myself to death? Especially when we’re already short on people!”

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🍓; *She was silently but intensely upset and couldn’t stop thinking about her failure or loss.