The Grand Duke had unusually little interest in any territory outside Breisburg. He’d delegated everything to the Administrative Minister, and the prevailing theory was that he’d deliberately turned a blind eye in order to flush these people out.

In any case, the Administrative Minister was a hardline royalist, and given his disposition of loyalty (neutral), the news that someone had insulted the crown prince—never mind some upstart like me—must have set his blood boiling.

"Your Grace! They committed the appalling act of calling His Highness the Crown Prince a bastard. This threatens the legitimacy of Altringen itself and could provide grounds for rebellion. It is a most dangerous act of treason!"

What my father-in-law feared most was that this incident could ignite and spread into civil war within the duchy. From that standpoint, Viscount Dumarck’s incitement was serious enough to be treated as treason.

I’d taken part in the interrogations too, but once the Judicial Minister got down to business with the professionalism of his office, the prisoners spilled things even I hadn’t pried out of them. I never wanted to witness it again, but the work of a true professional was something to behold.

The Administrative Minister snatched the scroll containing the interrogation transcripts and read through it.

By rights, the Grand Duke should have read it first, but no one in this room was going to point that out.

The Grand Duke didn’t care about such things to begin with.

"If this is truly the case... the audacity of these madmen!"

"Calm yourself, Dickmeyer."

Unlike the Administrative Minister, whose beard was practically trembling with rage, the actual subject of the rumor showed no agitation whatsoever. It was hard to tell who was supposed to be angry and who was doing the calming.

"Viscount Dumarck is a noble loyal to Prince Louis. The first priority is uprooting his faction. Lord of Feuzen, since you started this, you finish it. If they resist, you have my permission to cut them down."

Permission to cut them down?

If they were commoners, fine, but executing nobles without trial was unthinkable. It could provoke a serious backlash, and even with the Grand Duke’s permission, I had absolutely no intention of taking the fall alone.

But on the surface, it served as a threatening justification.

The Grand Duke probably meant for me to use it as leverage.

"By your command."

The real problem was Prince Louis.

Nobles were one thing, but I had no authority to arrest a member of the royal family.

"Your Grace, what do you intend to do about Prince Louis?"

"Lord of Feuzen, do not presume to speak of the prince!"

The Administrative Minister, displeased that I was getting involved in royal family matters, seemed to be redirecting his earlier rage at me. But when the Grand Duke raised a hand, the minister snapped his mouth shut.

"Louis will be placed under house arrest for the time being. Surveillance can be left to the Imperial Knights."

"But, Your Grace! This could be a frame-up. Prince Louis would never do such a thing!"

Unlike the crown prince, who had been born hale and hearty, Louis had been sickly from birth. That was why the regional princes supported the crown prince and not Louis. Those who backed Louis were of the same stripe as Dumarck.

Far from competing for the throne, Louis had to worry about his own health first. I’d heard the Administrative Minister had always taken particular care of him—which was why he was denying outright that Louis could even be a suspect, calling it a frame-up.

"As Dickmeyer says, it may well be Dumarck’s frame-up. The problem is that we have no concrete evidence either way. But there’s something you should all be watching more closely than Louis."

"The movements of the regional princes."

The Grand Duke’s words darkened the ministers’ faces.

The very movements my father-in-law was most worried about.

The real danger wasn’t some court nobles. It was the regional princes.

The thirteen princes who made up the duchy acknowledged the Altringen royal house as their sovereign, but feudal contracts didn’t carry the kind of binding force that prevented betrayal. No one could say when one of them might turn.

That was why holding the justifications was paramount.

In the world of princes, invading another’s territory without justification could bring serious blowback. But if word spread that the crown prince wasn’t of Altringen blood, that itself became a pretext.

"We made our contract with Altringen, not with a bastard."

A fine justification, wasn’t it? That was exactly what Louis was aiming for.

There were plenty of princes who’d profit from civil war.

Setting aside the west, which bordered Burgundy, the south near the Swiss Confederation, the east bordering Bavaria, and the north controlled by Offenburg were all likely candidates to make a move.

"Steiner. I received word from Ulrich, who is stationed on the eastern border."

"...Ulrich contacted you, Your Grace? But that..."

My younger brother-in-law Ulrich had sent word to the Grand Duke instead of his own father? My father-in-law looked genuinely caught off guard, his expression bewildered. It was possible Ulrich was also a member or collaborator of Hoenir.

If I hadn’t known about them, I would have found it strange too.

"He didn’t report to you because of a private order I gave him myself."

"...I see. In that case, there’s nothing to be done."

"Ha, you look hurt."

It was the way a team lead might feel after learning that a subordinate had gone over his head to the CEO. The Grand Duke seemed to be enjoying my father-in-law’s discomfort. There was no doubt he’d brought it up deliberately.

"Johannes has assembled a coalition of eastern princes and is conducting large-scale training exercises."

A coalition of eastern princes?

Under these circumstances, large-scale training by a princely coalition could be read in a very different light. The ministers, who understood the danger better than anyone, all went pale.

Even the Administrative Minister couldn’t defend Duke Radensdorf.

Unless he was a fool, the implications were too obvious.

No matter how close the two brothers were.

"He’s citing increased border incursions from the Duchy of Bavaria as his justification, but who knows? What do you think?"

"R-rebellion could break out, Your Grace! This is no ordinary matter!"

"Calm yourself, Steiner. Your son is keeping watch. If something moves, word will come."

Despite the rising risk of civil war, the Grand Duke seemed entirely unconcerned, unlike the rattled ministers. That bothered me. Was there something hidden that the rest of us didn’t know?

And the most important question hadn’t even been raised yet.

"Your Grace, isn’t it possible that Prince Louis has been colluding with Duke Radensdorf?"

Adelbert had cut right to the heart of the matter.

If Radensdorf launched a civil war, what would his justification be? Naturally, he’d recognize Prince Louis’s legitimacy and frame it as removing an illegitimate crown prince from the throne.

And if Louis, with Radensdorf’s backing, won the civil war, he could ascend to the position of crown prince. Or, alternatively, Radensdorf could eliminate both the Grand Duke and Louis and take the throne for himself.

The Administrative Minister scolded Adelbert.

"Adelbert, this is not your place to speak!"

"I am the proxy for the Finance Department. Can I not even offer an opinion?"

"You are merely a proxy. If you want to offer opinions, do so after you’ve formally inherited the post."

Adelbert’s face twisted in anger at the Administrative Minister’s blatant dismissal.

"Enough. Being present at this table is qualification enough to offer an opinion."

"If Your Grace recognizes him, this old servant will hold his tongue."

The moment the Grand Duke held up his hand, the minister reversed his position on a dime. That was exactly why, unlike the Finance Minister who was confined to his home, the Administrative Minister was being punished by being assigned to clean up the embezzlement mess. The Judicial Department was overseeing things, of course.

"Adelbert, as you suggest, collusion between Louis and Johannes is the most likely scenario."

"Then shouldn’t we focus our investigation on that relationship?"

A reasonable judgment. The most pressing task was to investigate the connection between Duke Radensdorf and Prince Louis, yet the Grand Duke gave no order to do so.

It was almost as if he was allowing civil war to happen.

A meaningful smile played at the corner of the Grand Duke’s mouth.

"I’ll handle that investigation myself. For now, all of you focus on tightening things up internally. Adelbert, you will assist the Lord of Feuzen. Unlike the Finance Minister, I’ll be counting on your cooperation."

The Grand Duke clearly wanted to gloss over it.

But his final words were the heart of this meeting.

"Franz is my son."

He drove the nail in, daring anyone to question it.

In the end, the meeting wrapped up with a focus on internal control.

The ministers were worried about the duchy’s future. Just as I was about to leave, the Grand Duke’s chamberlain caught me. Being quietly summoned to the garden meant the Grand Duke had something to discuss with me in private.

The Grand Duke was standing with his hands clasped behind his back.

"There’s a separate task I need you to undertake."

"...What is it, Your Grace?"

"Once the internal matters are settled, I want you to carry a personal letter from me to the north."

The north? Did he mean Offenburg?