I Became A Hidden Powerhouse Of The British Empire [EN]: Chapter 405

About three days after the secret meeting with Bismarck.

“Why don’t you try smiling instead of frowning with that pretty face? You’re meeting him again tomorrow, you know.”

“How can I possibly improve my expression more than this? Can’t you see this smile blooming like a flower?”

Buckingham Palace’s evening banquet.

Originally, the family should gather together and chat, but tonight, Adelaide and I were separated to talk alone.

Victoria was taking care of Alfred and the other children and didn’t nag Adelaide at all, but her face was still sullen.

Actually, it wasn’t like this at first.

Even though it was a matchmaking meeting destined to fail, she seemed to have found something fun to enjoy in her own way.

Victoria, unable to contain her curiosity, asked for her impressions in advance, and Adelaide’s reaction was clearly not unpleasant.

Besides Victoria, there were many others all over London who were curious about the outcome of her matchmaking.

Especially those who didn’t know the truth of this matter were even more deeply engrossed, and even her own siblings were no exception.

Just look at Alfred, who has been glancing this way while talking to Victoria since a while ago.

Even when her mischievous younger brother asked, his eyes sparkling, if his older sister was finally getting married, Adelaide didn’t lose her composure.

Until just a moment ago.

“Isn’t the food especially delicious today? The person who grilled this steak is a chef who trained in France and Italy for seven years and receives requests from all sorts of gourmets. Should I send him to the banquet you’ll be attending next time?”

“Is there really a need for that? I think the Crown Prince will have even stranger delusions. Won’t he think that I asked Dad to bring in a skilled chef because I wanted to impress him more?”

“Well… he might think that way?”

“Sigh. No matter what, delusions are free, but still.”

I had a slight hope, but my daughter’s reaction was as expected.

To be honest, when Bismarck came back and said that Adelaide seemed to have fallen for Friedrich, I wondered if this guy had gone senile.

When she was young, it was with her dad.

When she grew up a little more, it was with someone as cool as her dad.

And until recently, she said she would meet someone who could at least be compared to her dad. Who did she fall for?

I almost reflexively retorted, asking if the Crown Prince had a delusional disorder, but I suppressed it with superhuman patience.

And pretending to be happy, I asked why he felt that way, and the answer I got left me in a daze.

“Ahem, but if you think about it carefully, isn’t it possible for him to misunderstand? You could see that as her being innocent like a child.”

“If someone in their mid-thirties is like a child, that’s a negative factor. Don’t worry, I’ll adjust accordingly. I’m not so young that I’d show that I’m upset about something like this. Unlike some people, I’m an adult.”

“Right? Our daughter isn’t swayed by such trivial things after all.”

“But no matter how much I try to bear it, it doesn’t make sense. What did I even do to make him misunderstand that I’ve fallen for him….”

Since she analyzed him in detail at their first meeting, wouldn’t the other person take that as interest?

Originally, men who have some confidence in themselves basically think that women have feelings for them.

In fact, if you’re the Crown Prince of Prussia, there would be women lining up to try to even hold your hand, so it wouldn’t be strange to be in a state of excessive self-consciousness.

Besides, this marriage proposal was first made by the British Empire.

“Adelaide, the truth is, if a man thinks that someone like you is treating him intimately, he’s bound to be somewhat drawn to you. So, he might be trying to save face by pretending that you fell for him first to hide his own feelings.”

“But according to Dad, shouldn’t he also not be serious about this marriage? Especially the Crown Prince, even more so.”

“I thought so too, but things are flowing differently than expected?”

According to Bismarck, if Crown Prince Friedrich sees that Adelaide is expressing her feelings even more actively, he would be willing to accept.

So, I didn’t understand. What is that guy thinking, trying to accept this situation? Is there some other backstory to the incident that I don’t know about?

The thought that the other party might be hiding something made me feel a little tense.

“What if this really leads to a sudden marriage? I really can’t go to Prussia.”

“Don’t worry. You won’t be going to Prussia.”

“…Then what should I do from now on? Is it right to keep narrowing the distance like now?”

“Yes. If he’s misunderstanding, then just use that to your advantage. Of course, if you don’t feel like it, you can keep a little distance.”

At first, I thought of him as just a disposable pawn to be used and discarded, but Crown Prince Friedrich wasn’t someone completely without value.

It’s said that his military talent is surprisingly outstanding, and if he’s manipulated well, he’s someone who has the potential to play a useful role here and there.

So, it doesn’t seem like a bad idea to look for a way to handle him more usefully.

Because the other side is making a huge misunderstanding, the range of choices we can make has widened accordingly.

Knowing that Friedrich’s goal is to push out Bismarck and strengthen the royal authority, I will never be in a disadvantageous position.

Then, it suddenly occurred to me that I haven’t had conversations with my children on this kind of topic very often.

“Adelaide, Edward says that his goal in life is to inherit this empire and protect and further develop what he received from me and your mother. What about you?”

“Me? I’m similar. I’m going to grow what I received from Dad much bigger than it is now. Does Dad perhaps want me to live a more ordinary and comfortable life?”

“Of course, I want you and all the other children to live happy lives. But I have no intention of defining what that happiness is, and I don’t think I should.”

“My happiness is watching the business I’ve grown prosper day by day. Thanks to Dad, I’m in a position where no one can touch me and I can do everything I want, so how could ordinary kinds of happiness catch my eye?”

Not only Adelaide and Edward, but also the second son, Alfred, has been showing signs of that lately. The strong desire to prove themselves seems to be my genes after all.

Strictly speaking, I think I had that kind of disposition from my previous life as well.

Even though they can live a life of luxury and be praised by everyone just by not squandering what they inherited, they still want more.

In a way, there was no more definite proof that they were my children than that desire, so these traits of my children looked even more lovely in my eyes.

* * *

Exactly two hours after the royal banquet ended.

A luxurious mansion in London.

“Is it about time?”

“Yes, Chairman. Everything is ready.”

James put on a thick coat, pulled his hat down low, and stuffed a bundle of documents into his bag.

“Are there any guards outside?”

“Yes. But if we make it obvious that we’re on guard, it might arouse suspicion, so I only took a quick look around, so I can’t be sure.”

“I see. It doesn’t matter. Anyway, those guys can’t run rampant in London, and even if there are guards, they won’t be able to follow my tail here.”

After hearing that the Prussian side wanted to change the meeting place to London, James immediately revised his plan and returned to the mansion he used.

And he informed them of the place where he was and coordinated the detailed schedule of when to meet.

But before that, it was necessary to share what he had found out so far and his future plans.

James left the house through the secret underground passage that he had built when he built this mansion, and came out of a secluded building two blocks away.

He turned off the gas lamps that had been on until two hours ago, so even if there were people watching the mansion, they would just assume he had gone to sleep.

Since they would think that no one had left the mansion in the first place, who would suspect him?

James got into a carriage far away with the attendant sent by the palace and entered Buckingham.

To prevent anyone from identifying him, he had two more carriages enter in front and behind, so no one would recognize him.

This was always the way James secretly entered the palace, not through official procedures, so he had never been caught by anyone until now.

Sometimes he thought Killian was being too cautious, but he had always been like that since he was young.

His motto was to build a bridge after testing every stepping stone.

If that’s the case, the question of why bother testing it in the first place naturally arises, but Killian pathologically hated anyone following his trail.

In other words, in a way, this incident was like touching Killian’s reverse scale [a dragon’s weak spot; provoking his wrath].

The person who committed the crime probably didn’t know, but James could roughly guess why Killian was making the incident so big.

His plan was to make the incident as big as possible and cut off the heads of all those involved.

Even though he had found out the culprits—Bakunin and the South, Friedrich and Prussia—he wasn’t satisfied at all, so wasn’t that exactly the calculation?

Still, what should I say….

James, wearing a hat, was guided to the drawing room and walked to the sofa that he used as his exclusive seat and sat down with stiff movements.

“······.”

“······.”

Awkward.

Even though no one pointed it out, James smiled wryly at the extremely awkward atmosphere and took off his hat.

“Ahem. Have you been well?”

“It hasn’t been long since I left my position, so how could anything have happened?”

He made such a show of saying a touching farewell here before, but who would have thought he would come back to London again.

As expected, Killian had set up the tea that James had drunk that day on the table as it was.

I’m already feeling self-conscious, and he’s bringing this up again?

“Your Majesty. To be honest, I’m extremely embarrassed right now because I said such a refreshing farewell a while ago. If I could, I would have sent an agent or just sent a report instead of coming here myself.”

“I guess so. You said you wouldn’t be coming to London again, but you came back right away like a ghost? I thought you were a salmon [fish known for returning to their birthplace]. ”

“Instead of comforting a loyal subject who led his old body across the Atlantic for Your Majesty, you’re teasing me like that. You’ll definitely pay for it someday.”

“Who said I was teasing you? I’m just that glad to see you. I thought I wouldn’t see you for at least a few years, but I’m seeing you in just a few months? Don’t be like that and cheer up. And in a way, isn’t it fortunate that you came back to London? Because you can see the whole story of this incident and retire.”

“That’s true. Things are flowing more interestingly than I thought, and it’s true that I would hate to miss out on this spectacle.”

Tomorrow, he will probably face Friedrich directly and have a conversation, and he is actually looking forward to what absurd facts he will learn there.

“Then shall we start organizing things? What additional facts did you find out while coming here from the South?”

“As Your Majesty also expects, the real mastermind is not Crown Prince Friedrich. Strictly speaking, he is in a position corresponding to the waist, and we should see that there is someone else who is the head.”

“What’s the reason for thinking that?”

“The commission I received in exchange for digging into Your Majesty’s background. The money laundering was thorough, but since I’ve already caught the two tails, Bakunin and Friedrich, it’s not difficult to trace the relationship backwards. No matter how complicated the maze is, if you know where the exit is, finding the way is not a problem. But even with Pinkerton [Pinkerton National Detective Agency] and McParlan [James McParland, a Pinkerton detective], and all the detective agencies in the British Empire, I failed to find any traces.”

“In other words, the source of the money wasn’t Friedrich.”

In fact, if he, who is not a king but a crown prince, had moved that much money, there must have been traces left through some route.

Nevertheless, the fact that it was completely clean is proof that the money did not come out through Friedrich.

Then there are only two people on the suspect list now.

“Is it Russia or France?”

“I’m suspecting Russia by about 8 to 2. And tomorrow, it will be clear which side it is. But even so, it may take a little more time to extract perfect evidence.”

“Well… things might get easier than you think.”

Whether he had received new information that he didn’t know.

Killian closed his eyes tightly, muttering meaningful words.

James, who had been watching him since he was young, knew exactly what that expression meant, even if it was someone else.

This is clearly the expression he makes when he discovers a new toy.

If he had just stayed still, he would have at least gone halfway, but why did he stir up trouble by digging into this human’s background?

James sincerely mourned for the pitiful victim who was not even aware that he was already tightly bound in a spider web.