“Impossible. Do you also think that would be the only consequence? Even a whisper of this, and you would be sent off to marry someone immediately. Probably someone from the nobles’ faction as well, considering that they have the ear of our eldest brother.”
“Of course, older brother. If eldest brother inherits the throne, it would probably be the first thing he does. I think all talks about it have already concluded. There are nobles who always look at me as if I am theirs.
“I already knew that the Noble Faction was offering their support in exchange for the marriage, Princess.”
“But don’t you think Climb is pushing it too far? ...Even if he receives a title, Baron would be the most he can achieve. Even if he does receive a higher title as a special case, marriage would still be out of the question.”
“I know that myself, older brother. It would be impossible with the Kingdom’s current situation.”
Zanack smiled at himself. This could be a useful opportunity.
“Why don’t we make a trade then? If I become the King, I’ll marry you and Climb myself.”
“I accept.”
“Really? There is no going back on your word.”
“Is there any reason for me to reject it? It’s a gamble with the highest chance of winning. Ever since you came into my room with Marquis Raeven, I wanted to talk to you about it.”
"...You mean you already predicted everything?”
Zanack smiled bitterly, but his thoughts and expression did not match. He knew she was smarter than him, but he never guessed he would have been dancing on top of her palm the whole time. Logically, Renner didn’t need to tell them about her plans and thoughts. But if it was to draw out the proposition from him, it was understandable. Zanack hurled all sorts of insults at her inside his head. She truly was a monster.
“And older brother… no, Marquis Raeven. I have one request for you.”
“What would that be, Princess?”
“I believe you have a child, Marquis Raeven.”
“Yes, he just became five.”
Marquis Raeven barely held his face from becoming relaxed just by thinking about his lovely son. He wanted to brag everything about him, but saw Zanack’s wary face and held back.
“Please make him my fiance.”
“Never! I will never hand him over to someone like you.”
Marquis Raeven screamed out. However, looking at Zanack narrowing his eyes and Renner smiling the same as ever, his face reddened at his outburst.
“I have no excuses, your highnesses! I was just caught off guard…”
Marquis coughed once before looking at Renner again.
“Your highness, excuse me, but can you tell me the reason?”
“You would already know.”
“Look, younger sister. If you mentioned the subject…”
“You would marry my child, and actually make a child with Climb. My child would have a child with whomever he actually wants and that child would be his legitimate heir and you would go around pretending to be the mother. Is that what you are suggesting? It’s truly not a bad suggestion. Her highness can have a child with whoever she wants, and our house would be connected with the royal family, even if it’s all a lie.”
“I have no interest in titles or bloodlines. If you would just let me inherit a reasonable amount of wealth for my child, I won’t try to take over your household or anything.”
“I trust you on that.”
“...If it’s someone like Marquis Raeven, even father will be unable to stop it. The Marquis marries into the royal family, you can be with someone you love and I gain an additional supporter. Nobody loses anything, and if anyone betrays the others, all of us will go down together… It’s a perfect plan. But is this the kind of proposal you should be making to me…?”
“My, my, I already promised that I am going to help you. Plus, I think learning about this later would be even worse.”
Zanack could not answer because Renner was right. As long as they held on to each other’s weakness, it was an irrefutable proposal. Even if she was a little off in the head, a person with her abilities would be vital in ruling the Kingdom.
“Then your highnesses, I think it’s enough talk about ourselves… I heard you had a run in with the Eight Fingers? Even arresting the head of Slave Trade Branch.”
“Yes, it is just as Climb said. That’s why I want to launch an assault before they go underground. I managed to obtain information about the Eight Fingers’ hideouts around the Kingdom, so we will strike today. But there is one problem, we do not have sufficient manpower, so I was hoping you would be able to lend us your strength.”
Zanack and Marquis Raeven looked at each other. The first to speak was Zanack.
“Then where’s the place?”
Renner passed around the translated message she intercepted.
“Has this information been verified?”
“Of course, Marquis. I requested Lakyus to investigate it. I just received a report that it is indeed a hideout for the Eight Fingers. The problem is that the territory belongs to another noble.”
Calling it a policing act would be stretching it. If one moved troops inside another noble’s territory, it would be same thing as picking a fight with him.
“But I don’t expect any problems from it. Once we find the evidence that it is linked to the Eight Fingers, we can apply pressure on that noble.”
“Even if we don’t find the evidence, we can use that letter. Seems like everything is lining up.”
Three people smiled at each other, but there were no warmth in those smile.
“My sister, I have a small request as well.”
Zanack looked around. It was the first time he checked if there was anyone else around in the room. It meant that this was truly the important and secretive information.
“Truthfully, our older brother has been receiving some money from the Eight Fingers as well. I wanted to use this as leverage against him, so I went ahead and investigated if they had a safe house in the capitol. It seems they indeed do. I want to squeeze this place into the hit list as well.”
“It’s fine. This is the time to clean them out once and for all, and if we miss this chance, who knows if it will come once again. By the way, which Department is it operated by?”
“The Drugs Trade Branch.”