The Saintess and the Villainess

Chapter 97

Grand Duke Marshal was feeling rather smug.

For a moment there, it was as though all his avenues for action had been suddenly cut off. Every one of his well-laid plans and contingencies for those plans and contingencies for those contingencies... Corvina had systematically dismantled them, one by one. And to add insult to injury, she even broke off their engagement, that bitch.

But then, when the Church of Coris realigned itself with the imperial family, the balance of power began to shift... and when the balance of power was shifting, there were always opportunities to maneuver one's self into a more favorable position.

In this case, it had been almost too easy. The Emperor still didn't fully trust the church, and with Corvina out of the way, Grand Duke Marshal had become his primary confidant.

As the Emperor worked to consolidate his power and pull his own allies closer, Grand Duke Marshal's influence was only growing.

When the news of the kidnapping came through (of course that fool of a prince would get himself kidnapped, although Marshall suspected the elves were not working alone on this), the Emperor had initially wanted to stop all military activity in the region altogether. The traditionalist old fool was so concerned with having a blood heir that he wasn't even willing to risk the possibility of Sebastian being killed.

But Marshal, with careful words, had been able to persuade the Emperor that doing nothing was, in fact, the most dangerous course of action, and that the only way to guarantee his son's safety was by taking the fight directly to the elves, as quickly as possible.

Bishop Geist had, of course, been strongly opposed to sending a major military detachment to Longren, which was an important church stronghold. But the Bishop's opposition had only brought the Emperor further onto Marshal's side.

Duke Marshal actually began to whistle while he tied on his cravat, preparing for a state luncheon with various ministers.

As soon as he was in Longren, Marshal would begin consolidating his military power even further. Marshal had seen Marquess Ormen at the occasional social function, and the man seemed a bit of a pushover. He also had no legitimate heirs, which made his position as Marquess... precarious, at best. It would not be difficult for Marshal to take de facto control of the region and its armies.

And if the increased military activity actually did convince the elves to kill off Sebastian...

Marshal paused briefly, staring into the mirror but not seeing himself at all—instead, the images that ran past his inner vision were all of childhood days spent laughing and playing with one of the few people who ever smiled when they saw him.

Marshal shook his head, dislodging the inconvenient memories. If the elves killed the prince, well, that was for the best, really. That would mean one less person between himself and the imperial throne.

Now, if only he could receive news that the Saintess had been properly taken care of, he would have nothing to worry about.

There was a knock on the window.

Marshal felt a flash of anger that ruined his good mood as he turned to find the assassin waiting for him, glaring through the window.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the day?" Marshal hissed, unlatching the window. "Anyone could have seen you, you fool!"

The assassin didn't respond and didn't even bother climbing all the way into the room. Instead, the Unseen Rain merely tossed a bag of coins through the open window and onto the floor. "I'm returning your money," said Rain. "The contract cannot be fulfilled. Good day." Rain turned to leave.