Chapter 52: The Ladys Identity (2) (1/2)
Chapter 52: The Lady’s Identity (2)
uard down just yet
From Princess Leila’s perspective, Milton did have a point She hesitated as she knew there could be no benefit to be had once she was in the public’s eye
Milton’s next words were the decisive blow
“All things considered, if you silencedwhere your identify was leaked,Your Highness Does that still sit ith you?”
Princess Leila sighed and restrained her knights
“Taylor, Richard, both of you stand down”
“Yes, hts unquestionably obeyed and returned to the back This tih of relief as any ier to his life disappeared
‘That was real close’
It was like crossing a single-log bridge between two sheer cliffs Princess Leila questioned Milton
“How much do you know?”
“I know of your identity, Your Highness”
“And?”
“And that you sowed discord between the First and Second Princes in the capital froe”
Truth be told, this last part was his personal inference, a hypothesis he made from what he knew of the capital’s state of affairs once he discovered the lady’s identity – only, there was no way for Princess Leila to know of this
“Astounding Hoere you able to get your hands on such information, from these Southern outskirts so far removed from the capital?”
“I’ht s all the chips on this table
“I figured as much If that’s the case… what do you say, shall ork out a deal, Count?”
“A deal?”
Her tone beca on her finger, and her appearance returned to that of Charlotte the merchant chairwoman that Milton had seen in the past
She for sht Let us have ourselves a deal”
“……”
‘If one thing’s for sure, her looks are just not fair’
Milton felt his resolve wavering Deal or sca she desired… whether that be liver, spleen, or whatever else she wanted fro would turn out fine
‘Co but a fox… no, a wicked beast’
Milton recalled the Special Trait known as Seduction that was in her repertoire
Seduction LV9 (MAX): Utilize one’s innate beauty to teender and create situations that are advantageous to the user Able to shake the opponent’s cognitive judght about it, he would have uncovered her true identityher era of involvement in the Charlotte Merchant Co that It was true that he hadn’t learned to properly utilize his ability back then, but now that he thought about it…
‘My mind must have frozen at her looks damn it…’
She was likely well aware of what a brilliant weapon her looks were Why else would she return to this forentlelady derip’
The trickster beast complimented Milton
“You are the first person outside of my circle to uncover my identity I must say I am impressed, Count Forrest You may be the most competent person I have faced thus far”
“Thank you”
‘Have a load of her singing praises about me I would be an idiot to be flattered’
“Which is why I wish to propose: how about we have an exchange of infore of inforhness?”
“Indeed it is There is just so ree that we need to get familiar with one another?”
“…Yes, of course”
Milton becae which left plenty of roo him out of his senses
‘She’s a fox A fox No, she’s a nine-tailed demon spirit An absolutely evil nine-tailed deuard, on GUARD’
“Then shall I start?”
“Before that, what shall we do about the information we cannot reveal to each other?”
“Ah… that slipped my mind”
Milton was sure that she most certainly had not let it ‘slip her s in a haze, to force a spur-of-the-moment confession of vital information out of him
“Then we can leave those stones unturned Whoever says they cannot answer three tiame”
“Game? Did you not say this was a deal?”
“I tend to enjoy both”
“……”
“Now that I think about it, there should be a reward for the winner Urants one of the winner’s requests, whatever that may be?”
“Grants a request to the winner?”
“Yep Whatever That Is”
“……”
‘Could you please not say it so suggestively with that dizzying smile?’
Milton physically felt like his heart had turned into a punching bag – but he wasn’t about to cave in to this dangerous deal
“Let us leave that part out”
“Goodness, are you scared?”
“Yes I am”
Milton firmly deflected Princess Leila’s provocation A look of disappoint as quickly as it was noticed
‘That’s right, I won’t be so easily swept up in your looks’
“There will be no gae of information”
“Very well Thenhow coolly she accepted his conditions, all that drivel about playing a gauest”
Princess Leila softly looked at Milton and fired ahead
“How many are there who know of my identity?”
“I cannot say”
Milton could not answer a question that so abruptly attacked at the core of their standoff out of the blue He was truly the only one who knew of her identity – and he was not so foolish to come honestly and say that
Now the ball was in Milton’s court
“What is your objective, Your Highness?”
“Hh already? My objective is the throne”
“……”
The princess replied as if it was so obvious, and Milton somehow felt like this was his loss
“It’s my turn now What is your aim for the future, Count Forrest?”
‘My aiue question for Milton Unlike the straightforward answer that she gave, Milton’s goals were not as clear-cut Though he had first wanted to enjoy his life with the silver spoon of being born as a noble, he could not do that now even if he wanted to after being entangled in this and that If anything, this was a bloody and chaotic age where if he let loose, some unforeseen event could lead to his untimely death
So Milton’s aim was…
“It is to unite the South as one”
“Oooh… unite the South? Why so?”
“By gathering the South, I hope to form a power that can sufficiently stand up to Central and the Capital, lest they decide to oppress us”
This was Milton’s current challenge It had always been Milton’s way to set a reachable goal post and concentrate on achieving that, rather than looking towards the far future