An Unexpected Proposal - Chapter 16

“Did you investigate what I asked for?”

“Yes, I found out as Your Grace ordered.”

Gazeff handed over the envelope he was holding to Cabellenus.

Cabellenus immediately opened the envelope and checked the paper inside.

The paper contained information about Neinstein’s youngest princess, Alicia.

“There’s less information than I thought.”

While reading the paper, Cabellenus’s gaze stopped.

He did not have to read long.

Even considering the short time to investigate, the amount of data was too small.

“I’m sorry. I tried to gather as much information as possible, but for now, this is the limit.”

Gazeff hurriedly lowered his head at his lord’s comment.

The lack of information found was a disgrace even to Gazeff, who pursued perfection.

“I didn’t think the information about her was so confidential.”

“The other princesses are, but that slave, no…… the Neinstein’s youngest princess is a little special.”

Gazeff looked at Cabellenus with a troubled expression.

Slaves were treated like objects, so there was no need to address her properly. However, Alicia was a woman who was publicly considered as his lord’s woman.

As long as his lord cared for her, he had to be careful.

“What do you mean by special?”

“The princess is not pure Neinstein, but mixed blood.”

“That much can be inferred from her appearance alone, right?”

Cabellenus raised an eyebrow.

The Neinstein Kingdom was a closed state.

The Neinsteins valued pure blood and persecuted people who looked different from themselves.

Alicia, who did not have the appearance of a Neinstein, was bound to look quite disparate.

It was not too difficult to notice that she was not a pure-blooded Neinstein.

“I didn’t just say that because of it. I told you about the princess’s bloodline because it’s suspicious.”

“What’s suspicious? Illegitimate children of the royal family is a common problem.”

“It’s not about the illegitimate child. The princess’s mother is the problem.”

Gazeff took a quick deep breath and then continued speaking immediately.

“She was one of the immigrants that King Neinstein brought from another country when he was young. It was a well-known fact of the youngest princess’s mother. However, when I did an investigation, no one knew anything else about her. There were various stories about women selling their bodies on the street, mercenaries, dancers, and so forth, but it was just a rumour. Besides…….”

Gazeff narrowed his eyes.

When Cabellenus ordered him to find out about Alicia, he thought it would be finished quickly.

But, no matter how much time passed, the investigation on the princess of the ruined country was progressing slowly.

It was not because he could not do his job properly.

Even though Alicia was a poorly treated princess, there was little information about her, and in particular, her mother had no information at all.

As if someone had erased her existence.

“Do you have any stories that will interest me?”

Cabellenus scratched his chin.

“On the day the princess was born, all the people related to her mother were annihilated.”

“That’s a little interesting. Tell me more. Were they killed?”

“At first glance, it looked like suicide, but from the situation, it seems to be a murder.”

Maybe they should have realised something was peculiar from the beginning when they first met as she did not look like a princess.

Neinstein’s youngest princess was just as suspicious as her unusual first impression.

It was almost like, the more you tried to dig out about her, the more information you could not find.

“It’s a murder that looked like suicide. Meaning someone deliberately covered it up.”

“Yes. That seems highly likely.”

Gazeff nodded softly.

“Was it Queen Neinstein?”

The crumpled paper fell from Cabellenus’s hand.

In the end, there was not much information that was found, and the information that was discovered made him realise that he knew nothing.

Rather than learn anything about Alicia, it was more of a record of the atrocities that Queen Neinstein had committed to her.

For example, what caused the scar on Alicia’s thigh, why she was fascinated by the word “star palace”, roughly those things.

Cabellenus had a calm look on his face, but his sharp gaze was burning.

If Queen Neinstein had not been on the guillotine, Cabellenus might have torn her today with his bare hands.

“I checked separately because the queen was suspicious, but it wasn’t.”

Gazeff who was conscious of Cabellenus’s mood hastily shook his head and ignored the strange feeling he had.

Recently, the lord showed a lot more emotion. But there was no reason to ponder about it.

“Then who is the hidden person?”

“It seems to be King Neinstein.”

“King Neinstein?”

Cabellenus tried to recall the face of King Neinstein and eventually gave up.

He was not the type to remember people’s faces well.

He could only vaguely remember the king’s howl as he pleaded for his life.

“I will give you all of my kingdom, my treasures, my daughters…”

“King Neinstein wasn’t from an orthodox royal family, but rather was Daryl’s son-in-law. He married the queen, who was a princess at the time and inherited the throne. So, naturally, he was under the queen’s gaze, and it seemed that he was intimidated by her.”

“A king who couldn’t even hold his position, how pathetic.”

Cabellenus clicked his tongue.

“Yes, that’s right. But, what’s interesting is that the king’s actions were completely different from one point.”

“What was different?”

“Originally, King Neinstein was under the queen’s gaze. So it was natural that both the royal family and the major nobles were on the side of the queen. However, at one point, it became the opposite. The king, not the queen, became the leader of the kingdom.”

Gazeff held out the Neinstein Dynasty’s historical record that he was holding to show Cabellenus.

There was still more research to be done. But some speculation was possible just by connecting the suspicious points.

“Is it the same as what I think it is?”

Cabellenus’s eyes flashed like a beast that had found its prey in the darkness.

“Yes. King Neinstein came to power only after the mother of the youngest princess entered the castle.”

“It’s certainly a shame to pass it as a coincidence.”

“So I’d like to investigate further.”

Gazeff handed the book to Cabellenus.

“What is this?”

“This is a history book that describes the history of the Neinstein Dynasty.”

“Is there an answer here?”

Cabellenus’s eyes narrowed.

“Every time I get any other information about the princess, I’m going to compare it with the history of King Neinstein. Although currently nothing can be made clear due to the lack of information, it can be speculated that Princess Neinstein may be different from what we think.”

“What do you mean by different?”

“That, I’ll tell you when everything becomes clear.”

A slight smile spread across Gazeff’s mouth.

Gazeff had thought that the investigation of the princess of the ruined country was just an extension of his work.

However, the tight secrets about her were enough to arouse his interest.

“So, is there any other information?”

“……Sorry. Apart from what I’ve mentioned so far, I will need to investigate further about the other information.”

Gazeff lowered his head even more.

Even if there was a clue, it was meaningless if they could not reach the truth.

He had yet to achieve results.

But instead of criticising his subordinates, Cabellenus was temporarily lost in thought.

Gazeff was a competent man who had been handpicked, and he had been by Cabellenus’s side for a long time.

If he produced unsatisfactory results, it meant that this was indeed quite difficult.

Alicia may have had a bigger secret than Cabellenus imagined.

“Well, it’s okay. I still have time. Instead, don’t let me down next time.”

“Yes, of course.”

“You can spend as much money and time as you require. It doesn’t matter what method you use.”

‘Just bring what I want, that’s all.‘

Cabellenus slowly stroked his chin, with an arrogant expression.

From Alicia’s attitude alone, it was possible to infer that she had lived a very rough life.

But that was not enough.

What he wanted was neither Alicia’s identity, nor what her mother was like.

In order to keep Alicia from thinking about other things, it was necessary to know her better.