The Retired Supporting Character Wants to Live Quietly-Chapter 204

Chapter 204 – If It Works, It’s a Revolution (2)

“A game…?”

“Don’t you like playing with dolls?”

The Second Princess held the doll in front of her face and shook it, as if performing a puppet show.

“You’ll be the doll.”

“Me…?”

“Mhm. How about it? Doesn’t it sound fun?”

“Playing dolls…?”

Color returned to the Fourth Princess’s face.

The Fourth Princess had been born lacking.

Not metaphorically—she truly had a low level of intelligence. Despite being an adult, her mannerisms and speech were like those of a six-year-old child.

Due to bloodline preservation through intermarriage within the family, it wasn’t uncommon for such offspring to appear every few generations.

Because of that, and her age and other factors, the Fourth Princess had already been excluded from the line of succession.

No one in the capital sought her favor. They merely assumed that, like others of her kind, she would someday die an early death.

Thanks to this, the Second Princess was able to enter the Fourth Princess’s chambers late at night without any interference.

Along with her Special Forces operatives.

The people guarding the doors now were operatives of the Esto Trade Company.

The Esto Trade Company was a long-distance trading firm established not long ago—of which the Second Princess held partial ownership.

But in reality, it wasn’t a trade company at all. It was a front—a base for collecting intelligence and conducting operations on a continental scale.

The name “Esto Trade Company” was simply a disguise.

“So, what do you say? Want to play with your big sister? No one plays with you these days, right?”

“You’re going to play with me?”

“Why else would I be here?”

Forgetting the First Prince’s warning to be wary of her older sister, the Fourth Princess nodded vigorously.

“I wanna play!”

“Good. Then let’s assign roles now.”

Sitting beside her, the Second Princess spoke sweetly.

# # # #

Much later—

The Second Princess exited the Fourth Princess’s room.

“Did the conversation go well?”

“I achieved my objective.”

She answered her adjutant.

“Assign guards to the Fourth Princess for the time being. Prepare for the possibility of poisoning.”

“Understood.”

At this point, the Second Princess had revised her original plan.

Her initial idea had been to take the throne by force.

She would mobilize the elite units under her command, storm the capital, and crown herself Emperor.

But that plan had been scrapped after Dian’s visit.

All because of Dian’s cryptic comment about “two pieces of fried chicken.”

For days afterward, every cryptography expert in the security office had been mobilized to analyze that phrase. Based on their conclusions, the Second Princess changed her strategy.

No matter how she ascended, if she took the throne directly, the issue of legitimacy would inevitably follow.

So instead, she would put a legitimate heir on the throne.

But who?

The Second Princess had decided to use the mentally lacking Fourth Princess as her puppet.

Because of her limited cognition, she could be easily swayed. She would do whatever she was told.

That was the typical trait of such types.

Unable to act on their own, but obsessively obedient when directed by someone with authority.

The Fourth Princess would become Emperor.

“You’re going to make the Fourth Princess Emperor? Not a bad move.”

The Second Princess stopped in place, her eyes widening.

Right beside her, Dian was walking casually.

“Your Highness! Get back!”

The adjutant threw herself forward, knocking the Second Princess to the ground and rolling with her.

The Esto operatives following behind drew their blades and moved to strike Dian.

“Everyone, stand down!”

The Second Princess shouted from beneath her adjutant.

“Step aside.”

“My apologies, Your Highness. I was just startled…”

The Second Princess rose with her adjutant’s help, smoothed out her clothes, and asked:

“How did you get in here?”

“Same way I did last time.”

“Do you not understand the concept of using the front door?”

“They wouldn’t let me in at this hour. Maybe set something up with the guard post so I can register as a regular visitor. Climbing walls is getting tiresome.”

“…Alright, I’ll arrange it. So, did everything go well back then?”

“It did.”

“You could’ve given me a proper report, you know.”

“I’d rather not.”

The Esto operatives exchanged confused glances.

At this point in the Empire, no one else could reject the Second Princess so openly to her face.

“It’s a very personal family matter. Doesn’t feel right to be gossiping about it.”

“Is that so. Odd, considering the Grand Chief Administrator of the Church went with you.”

The Second Princess had agents scattered all over the Empire.

Something as big as the Grand Administrator moving could be tracked from her office.

“If you trust your intel network that much, I’m sure you’ll figure everything out on your own. No need for me to say anything.”

In truth, the Second Princess already knew quite a bit.

Right after Dian visited the capital and learned the location of the Black Forest, the Emperor had sent out a tracking team to follow him. The Second Princess, picking up on this, had also dispatched her own large-scale unit.

They caught up with and eliminated the Emperor’s squad, then proceeded to scout the Black Forest themselves.

They observed a large-scale internal conflict involving both external parties and a faction within the clan.

From the signs, it appeared to be a power struggle over clan leadership. Nemara, Drebren, and Kirrin survived.

It was believed that Professor Dian had played a major role in resolving the conflict.

Nemara had been critically injured but was saved by the Grand Administrator’s divine healing.

That was the extent of the Second Princess’s knowledge.

The exact details of what had happened within the forest remained unknown.

Right now, only Dian knew everything. But asking would get her nowhere.

“So, there’s something else I wanted to ask you—how should we proceed?”

At her signal, the adjutant and the other attendants quickly stepped away.

Now alone, Dian strolled slowly as he spoke.

“Mr. Nemara wanted to make a request to Your Highness.”

“Nemara?”

“He said he’d like to send his son and daughter—one each—to you.”

“I see.”

The Second Princess stayed quiet, turning it over in her mind.

If this meant that Nemara was fully entrusting his children to the security office, then it was a huge deal.

Right now, Nemara’s clan was the only group of dark elves still doing business with the Empire—and he was classified as pro-Emperor.

Securing pureblood dark elves was near impossible.

Sure, you could hire them short-term for contracts, but that was all.

And now two purebloods were coming to the security office?

“Did he give a reason?”

“No idea. I’m just the messenger.”

Dian spoke plainly, but the Second Princess already understood Nemara’s intent.

He was hedging his bets between the Emperor and herself.

Nemara, who had the foresight to predict the Demon King’s defeat, was now placing a wager on her.

Not bad. A promising sign.

“So when are they arriving?”

“Dunno. Just… take good care of them when they do.”

“Of course.”

“…By the way, are you really going to make the Fourth Princess Emperor?”

Dian asked again.

The Second Princess didn’t answer right away—instead, she threw back a question of her own.

“What makes you think that?”

“You just came out of her room. And from what I’ve heard, your siblings don’t exactly get along.”

“What a ridiculous rumor. The reality is quite the opposite.”

“Is that so? In any case…”

“What led you to such a suspicion?”

“I just had a feeling. Is it true?”

Judging by his past behavior, Dian didn’t seem very interested in politics.

Unless he’d had some private conversation with Nemara.

This was getting complicated.

The Second Princess dodged the question and asked instead:

“Would your attitude change depending on the answer?”

“Me? No. As long as it doesn’t interfere with my daily life, I don’t care.”

“Then why do you ask?”

“In case it does interfere.”

The Second Princess fell silent.

She couldn’t decipher the meaning behind Dian’s words.

It felt like he was trying to convey a message, but the exact nature of it was unclear.

For now, go the official route.

“The line of succession is already set. The First Prince comes first, and the rest follow by seniority. Besides, the Fourth Princess isn’t even a consideration.”

“Then why were you in her room?”

“Can’t an older sister visit her younger sister?”

“…Fair enough. But you’re the daughter of a concubine. Where does that put you in the line?”

“I’m excluded.”

“That’s unfortunate.” freēnovelkiss.com

“Bloodline is important. It comes before ability.”

“Then… if something unfortunate were to happen to those in the line?”

The Second Princess stopped walking and looked at Dian.

“What do you mean by that?”

“No hidden meaning. Just curious.”

After a pause, the Second Princess replied.

“Then I’d be next.”

“I see.”

Dian nodded.

“Well then, I’ll be going now. I came in through here.”

He pointed to the wide-open window.

“Good day, Your Highness.”

And with that, Dian jumped out the window.

The adjutant ran over.

“Your Highness! What did he say to you?”

“Summon the cryptography team.”

“Pardon? At this hour…? Was there some sort of coded message?”

“Hurry!”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!”

The adjutant rushed off.

The Second Princess stared out the open window, lost in thought.

Could it be… is the reason he’s sending me those two dark elves…

So that I’ll use them to eliminate the direct bloodline heirs?

# # # #

Elsewhere—

“God damn it!”

Once again, in the dead of night, the Empire’s cryptography experts had been summoned.

“Why the hell does that lunatic always show up in the middle of the night?!”

They spent the entire night trying to decode everything Dian had said on his way out.

Unaware that every single one of his questions had simply been blurted out to ease the awkward tension as he walked toward the window in the Fourth Princess’s room.