chapter 18

“I think the god of fortune is smiling at us. Otherwise, could this happen? Offenbach’s direct line and no one else walking into Rostislav?”

bang! Yuri lightly stroked the desk and burst into laughter, then folded his fingers one by one and started counting.

“Look, Lenny. If all goes according to plan, Offenbach will lose its legitimacy. It’s not even a day or two that Offenbach and Rostislav have been at odds, so no one will ever have any doubts. There is no way for a family to openly associate with a family that has lost its cause. Then, my dear brother, Offenbach, the most supportive force, will fall, and even cut their nose with their eyes open. Perfect.”

It looked more like a village young man who was good at milling rather than a prince, but everyone who knew even a little about glass knew that this was his usual disposition.

Yuri’s hand, folded close to one hand, trembled in the air without a body.

In the first place, because he grew up playing for a long time in the Oleg family, which is his maternal house rather than the Imperial Palace, even after he grew up and settled in the Imperial Palace, the boy’s habits could not be washed away.

frivolous and furry. A good-natured young man who looks more like a mood swinger than a strategic person.

That was Yuri’s external evaluation.

Of course, this is an external story to the extent that it is.

Yuri’s hand, who looked as if he had immediately kicked the chair and rolled over on the desk, fell off and placed his hand on the paper.

A hand with calluses on the inside of the finger, wherever the pen touches it.

“So far, the theory is perfect. you know So, is this a feasible story? That’s what matters. What do you think?”

“I don’t think it’s possible if I can hide from Offenbach that I have Ekaterina.”

“I wonder if you can hide her.”

“Yes. I’ll try it as far as I can, but I can’t say for sure.”

Yuri’s eyes widened at Leonid’s words.

“I didn’t know you would get such an answer. Is Offenbach that tenacious?”

“no.”

Offenbach is not the problem.

“Ekaterina herself is the problem.”

In response to Leonid’s words, Yuri made an ah sound.

“By the way, you said she came to kill her. It’s definitely out of the ordinary.”

“It’s not enough to be out of the ordinary, so it’s an extraordinary level.”

Thanks to her, I couldn’t sleep at night.

Leonid, who remembered last night, made an impression on the already coming headache. Yuri smiled happily looking at his friend’s pain.

“What’s so bad? Is she arrogant and not listening to anything?”

“It’s far from arrogant.”

“Then does she have a bad personality, so is she a villain?”

“no. The character is extremely quiet. She’s never the type to be the first to cause problems.”

“Then what’s the matter? Could there be any problem in circumventing all of the above conditions?”

“Surprisingly, yes. Even in circumventing all of the above conditions, she is not at all cooperative and inflexible.”

What is a quiet temperament? She’s fucking stubborn.

Neither arrogant nor vicious, but Ekaterina was far from communicative.

Accidents are unpredictable, and as long as they have a conversation, he’s always being swayed by Ekaterina.

If that was the intention, Ekaterina must have been the genius of the century.

“Isn’t it more difficult to find a cooperative and generous member of the nobility? Why does she want to die in the first place? If it’s Offenbach’s adopted daughter, I know the face. I saw her once in a banquet hall. The madam took care of her like her own child.”

“Did she take care of her like her own child?”

“Yes. You know that Sergei Offenbach loves his son terribly, right? He seemed to take care of his daughter as well.”

Yuri tilted his head, merely saying that Yekaterina herself was shy and didn’t say a word to her shyness.

Leonid heard the story and remembered the last night he had met Ekaterina.

-I’ve never been through anything good. It’s been a bad thing since I was born like this.

When he heard that, he thought she had been severely bullied at home. Hearing Yuri’s words, it didn’t seem like that.

“With such care in that family, you would surely be able to live a decent life, so why does she want to die?”

Yuri expressed his doubts to his friend.

Leonid would have thought about it a little more at other times, but he had already had his head twisted a lot.

And he didn’t want to worry about this any more.

“I know There must be a reason.”

“Well, so. Are you really going to kill her?”

“Sounds crazy. People’s hearts change easily, don’t you know? She doesn’t look so gloomy, and she doesn’t look like she’s desperate, so I’m sure she’ll change her mind if she calms down during her stay.”

And at that time, he would be able to tell her about this plan.

At first, Leonid didn’t even consider the possibility that Ekaterina would want to die.

“No matter how much people say they want to die, people want to live when they see the possibility. Ekaterina Offenbach is also human, so she must be. I don’t know if I hit the sword directly with the enemy. I can’t let her die like this.”

Because she didn’t look desperate for death, nor was she sinking into melancholy.

I don’t know why she wants to die, but he will be able to change her mind in no time. Leonid had no doubts about it.

So the problem lies in the present rather than the future.

“When she said she’d return to Offenbach, I asked her to stay with me because she would suffer hardship, but she tried to repay me somehow. If I want her to work as a mercenary, or to stand guard? … .”

“Isn’t that a good thing? For Offenbach, she seems to have quite a conscience. After all, if you use her for a bit, no one will criticize you.”

“Ekaterina Offenbach is a guest of Rostislav. There is no such thing.”

“Why? You’re not forcing her to do it, so is there any reason to stop her? Accept it as it is.”

“If I accept it. It seems like I hired her for that purpose from the beginning, so I said no. I owe Ekaterina Offenbach enough to use her in our plans.”

“It’s savvy. You have nothing to blame for that woman. The lack of flexibility seems to be the same for both you and that woman.”

You met your match.

Yuri grinned as if it was a funny thing to say, then raised his index finger and flicked it as he continued.

“Lenny, you always want to be a good person. I have no intention of reproach Because I like that side of you.”

“what. What are you trying to say?”

“They say you can’t always be a good person to everyone.”

Yuri smiled brightly. At first glance, the face of the young man, who seemed young and innocent, took on that of an old man.

“Sometimes things get a lot easier when you’re not a good person. If the situation turns in your favor, you have to use and trample on everything that is available. Same goes for Ekaterina Offenbach. She is reaching out her hand to use her, so why not hold it?”

“So, I don’t like it.”

“Sounds innocent. If your opponent doesn’t bend, you should know how to bend.”

Leonid frowned at that passage. There was no answer.

Yuri glanced at the stern and inflexible face of his friend, then smiled brightly as if nothing had happened.

“If it’s really hard, Ekaterina Offenbach, can you hand her over to me? I think it would be better to lock her up in a suitable villa.”

“Don’t be crazy.”

“Then what are you going to do? As I said before, failure is unacceptable. Ruslan’s eyes are open to slit my throat.”

Ruslan Pavel. It was Yuri’s half-brother and the name of the person he was vying with for the right to the throne.

“Of course, I have no intention of handing over Arlan. I want to hang his neck on the wall.”

Yuri added that and smiled calmly.

The struggle for succession to the throne is often referred to as the ‘Arlan War’.

Those unfamiliar with it might think it was due to the civil war of the Arlan imperial family, but in fact, there is another reason.

This is because only those who ascend to the throne can use the imperial saint Arlan.

Unlike other empires, which commonly give imperial names to all descendants of the Arlan family, only the emperor is entitled to own Arlan’s surname.

Arlan is the proof of the emperor, and at the same time, only those who have Arlan are recorded as the imperial family.

Therefore, all members of the imperial family, not the emperor, follow the surname of the matrilineal family.

In the case of Yuri, Oleg, the family of the first empress. In the case of Ruslan, it is Pavel, the family of the second Empress.

In the end, in the Arlan War, the Arlan imperial family was completely lost, and it was nothing like a war between noble families.

Of course, these half-brothers don’t always write bloody histories.

It just wasn’t the case with Yuri and Ruslan.

So Leonid should not fail.

“Of course, I’m sure you’ll do just fine. There must have been a time when something you touched had gone wrong.”

Saying that, Yuri roughly organized the paperwork, then came to Leonid’s side and patted his shoulder and smiled.

“I believe you will continue to do so. Yes?”

Leonid was silent for a moment.

However, it was such a short gap that anyone would not have noticed.

“… … Yes, I see. Say hello to my aunt. How is she?”

“Mom, she’s still the same. See you in a month.”

Saying that, Yuri smiled and left the room.

It was as light a step as his external evaluation.

Leonid looked at his cousin as he was moving away, and then left a beat later.