---

91. Beggar Siblings – Baron Monarch

‘Why is this name coming up here?’

Leo straightened his posture and asked.

“Is the surname incorrect?”

“What do you mean…?”

“There’s a Count named Gustave Peter in Belita Kingdom. It’s such an unusual name that it doesn’t feel like a coincidence.”

“Well, I’m not sure. But the Gustave I mentioned is indeed Baron Monarch.”

“Can you describe his appearance?”

Jenia Jaqueri thought of ‘Baron Gustave Monarch.’ The Baron she met had…

“He didn’t have any prominent features, but his hair color was a bit unique. He had dark silver hair and was quite tall.”

After hearing Jenia’s description, Leo nodded.

‘It must be Count Gustave Peter.’

He felt a sense of foreboding and asked, “Can you elaborate further?”

“Of course. As you may know, I am…”

Jenia Jaqueri was a knight of the First Knight Order of Conrad Kingdom.

Born as a legitimate daughter of the Jaqueri family, she lived an unremarkable life.

She faced ordinary discrimination, couldn’t inherit her family’s estate, and had no prospects of an impressive husband lined up for her.

It would have been better had she been born a legitimate son. Legitimates in noble families usually leveraged their family connections to set up businesses, become grand officers, or take positions as bureaucrats in the kingdom.

But Jenia was not one of them. Her fate was to marry a wealthy man who would bestow a hefty dowry upon her family.

Like most legitimate daughters.

Since it was such an expected future, she didn’t feel unhappy about it, but fortunately, Jenia had a talent.

When she half-jokingly received a sword, she became captivated by its cold metal. She discovered the violence and talent buried deep within her and devoted herself to swordsmanship, quickly earning recognition as a skilled person among the knights of her family.

Then one day, feeling confident enough to protect herself, she ran away from her family. After spending years as a mercenary honing her skills, she joined the First Knight Order of the royal family.

Jenia, now a young and promising knight, thought her life was dull.

Her married life was also terrible.

She had married once, but after failing to conceive, she was divorced for that reason.

She didn’t feel ashamed or unhappy.

She craved adventure, and marriage felt like shackles to her.

– I don’t want to be a tool for giving birth. If I must be a tool, then let it be a sword…

Perhaps reaching the heavens with her wish, Jenia Jaqueri had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A friendly senior invited her for a drink, and without much thought, she followed him to meet a noble person.

Prince Leo de Yeriel was alive.

Overcome with excitement, Jenia forgot even the etiquette of a knight and bowed, while the prince didn’t bother to ask, “Will you swear your loyalty to me?” Instead, he instructed, “It’s too late for today. Come at noon tomorrow.”

Last night, Jenia was restless.

Finally, a tempest was about to sweep through her mundane life.

And today, she disguised herself and cautiously sought the prince, careful not to be seen.

The prince asked, “If you have any knowledge related to nobles, please share,” and she spilled everything she knew.

Perhaps bored, the prince listened with a hint of disinterest until suddenly straightened at her words, showing interest.

Unable to hide her joy, Jenia smiled broadly and began to speak.

“…As you may know, I am a legitimate daughter of the Jaqueri family.”

Leo nodded, indicating he was already aware.

“Our Jaqueri territory in the northern part of the kingdom is close to Baron Monarch’s domain, and so we’ve maintained a friendship for a long time. That’s why I know a few tales about the Monarch family.”

Before starting her story, Jenia moistened her lips with her tongue.

“There was a successor named ‘Bailey Monarch’, a lady named ‘Grinen Monarch’, and a legitimate son named ‘Barik Monarch’ in the Monarch family. This happened nearly forty years ago, but a huge commotion arose in that family. Lady Grinen fell ill and couldn’t go outside.”

Leo sensed that this was going to be a long story and called for tea from the knights outside.

“However, strange rumors circulated among the maids. It was rumored that the lady wasn’t sick but rather pregnant. Since she was a noble lady without any marriage or engagement, it was dismissed as mere gossip, but there were suspicious points.”

Jenia lowered her voice to a whisper.

“At that time, the whereabouts of Barik Monarch became unknown. The Monarch family claimed he had gone to the monastery to become a priest, but the timing was rather odd. Sending a legitimate son to the monastery when the lady fell ill… If her illness wasn’t anything serious, that would be one thing, but she couldn’t even move for over a year.”

The requested tea arrived.

Jenia gratefully accepted the tea Leo poured and continued.

“Even more suspicious, the Lady Grinen never married. She lived her whole life in the Monarch residence. I believe she’s still alive. I once met her when I was young, and she was quite lively for her age.”

“I see. You should drink this tea. It’ll taste better.”

“Oh, thank you, Your Highness.”

The two added flower pollen called ‘Canela’ to the tea.

Clink, the sound of the teacups stirring echoed, and as the pollen dissolved, Jenia continued her tale.

“Back then, the missing Barik Monarch was rumored to have slept with his half-sister… The Monarch family vehemently denied it, and since the rumor that the lady was pregnant had not been confirmed, it soon faded from memory.”

“I see. But how is this related to Gustave?”

Jenia smiled sweetly and calmed the prince’s impatience.

“Baron Gustave Monarch is an adopted son. Since Bailey Monarch, who inherited the title, had no son. And I saw him when Bailey baron passed away, and Baron Gustave came to the king to inherit the barony. It must have been about a year before the king fell ill.”

Passing on the family legacy is something noble families resolve internally, but they formally needed the king’s approval in a ceremony called ‘Banun’.

Banun was the name of the first subject revered by Todler Akiunen, who founded the Achaia Kingdom. He was also known as the first noble.

An heir inherits the family title and swears loyalty to the king. The validation of this is managed by the royal knights, and Jenia, a rookie at the time, first entered the royal palace and saw Gustave.

“At that time, I didn’t think much of it since it was my first attendance at a Banun, but looking back now, it wasn’t a grand ceremony at all. Normally, all the nobles we knew would be invited, but Baron Gustave came alone, spent a few days in the palace, had the ceremony, and quietly left. He didn’t even bring a few knights along.”

Jenia set her teacup down elegantly and continued.

“Regardless of how tanned she was, her courtesy, having grown up as a legitimate daughter of a noble family, was sufficiently good.”

“The problem starts here. I met Cardinal Berg. After joining the knight order, I happened to run into him when I went to the Rutina Church to have my sword blessed. The moment I first saw Baron Gustave, I thought he resembled Cardinal Berg astonishingly. Both had no notable features, but they shared the same silver hair… their aura felt oddly similar.”

“So what you’re saying is…”

“You seem to be anticipating this. Yes, I believe the Barik Monarch who left to become a priest is Cardinal Berg. And I think it’s very likely that the rumor about Lady Grinen being pregnant is true. Perhaps she conceived after sleeping with her half-brother, Barik Monarch.”

As Leo fell silent, Jenia concluded her reasoning.

“If my deduction is correct, Baron Gustave Monarch, who is adopted, is likely the son of Cardinal Berg and Lady Grinen. Then everything aligns perfectly with the circumstances and rumors.”

“Wait. It’s an astonishing and bold deduction, but isn’t it too far-fetched? Just because the lady was rumored to be pregnant and the legitimate son went missing doesn’t mean they slept together. And there’s no proof that Cardinal Berg is Barik Monarch. You have never seen Barik Monarch… Perhaps it’s just a coincidence that Baron Gustave resembles Cardinal Berg?”

Jenia nodded at the prince’s question.

“That’s correct. Excellent point. So I did a bit of investigation into Cardinal Berg.”

She rubbed her left wrist and leaned forward.

“Cardinal Berg was appointed as our kingdom’s cardinal about fifteen years ago. This was before I even joined the knight order. Before that, he was said to have been a very prominent figure at the monastery.”

The cardinal held a position in the Cross Church.

It was the second-highest position after the Holy Woman, and he was practically responsible for running the church.

The monastery in the Holy Kingdom has four cardinals, but only one cardinal is assigned to each kingdom, supervising all churches in that kingdom.

Jenia wetted her lips again with her tongue. By now her teacup was empty, and Leo had nothing left to pour.

“Although he was previously a holy knight, he became renowned for presenting innovative theological theories as a high-ranking priest. However, when I looked into the official records of the church, Cardinal Berg went on a pilgrimage to the north every year after arriving in Conrad Kingdom. And he always visited the Monarch territory, which is located at the very northern edge of the kingdom. Isn’t that suspicious?”

“…”

“Of course, Cardinal Berg is said to have been born in the Holy Kingdom, but that could easily be fabricated once he joined the monastery. And it’s… well, silver hair certainly isn’t very common, is it?”

Leo drummed his fingers on the table, organizing his thoughts.

Count Gustave Peter, met in Belita Kingdom… According to this female knight, he was the same person as Baron Gustave Monarch of Conrad Kingdom.

It was almost certain. There couldn’t be two nobles with such an unusual name and similar appearances.

‘Right. Count Gustave did mention ‘our’ Conrad Kingdom…’

When Leo was caught by Count Peter, he had whispered in a manner respectful to the prince that if the prince was alive, ‘our’ Conrad Kingdom would be lively.

He might have thought of it as some sort of spy. But it wasn’t the case… he must be a noble with two territories.

It was illegal for a noble to hold two territories.

Only one territory was permitted per family, thus if one family absorbed another, whether through territorial wars or otherwise; depending on the situation, they had to either dedicate it to the royal family or consolidate the two territories.

The only way a family could own two territories was by holding the title of ‘Border Duke’.

A Border Duke had the formidable responsibility of ruling an additional territory near the border, and during times of war with another kingdom, he had to establish defenses with his family’s forces until reinforcements arrived.

Marquis Tatian of Belita Kingdom, Marquis Gaidan of Orun Kingdom, and Duke Tertan of Conrad Kingdom held the title of Border Dukes while owning two territories.

But Gustave… he held both the title of Baron Monarch in Conrad Kingdom and Count Peter in Belita Kingdom, maintaining two distinct territories.

‘So that’s why Marquis Benard Tatian referred to Count Gustave as a friend?’

Marquis Tatian must have been aware of this. Not only did he introduce Count Gustave Peter as a friend, but he also mentioned beforehand that “an old friend who broke his plate early” implying their friendship.

Given the status of the Tatian family, it made sense to understand Baron Gustave’s unique position.

A person who owned territories in both kingdoms… It would be hard for anyone other than Marquis Benard Tatian to be his friend.

‘But now there’s one more added to the mix…’

The cardinal.

That was an extremely high position. It oversaw all churches in a kingdom. Considering that priests took care of all communications, medical matters, and certain educational aspects while leading numerous believers, the position of cardinal was far above.

If what this female knight said was true, then the father of Count Gustave Peter was indeed that person.

‘But no matter how you slice it, can a priest have a child even before becoming a priest?’

The Cross Church strictly prohibited the marriage of priests.

The reason Leo and Lena could not marry in the childhood friend scenario was solely because Lena wished to become a priest.

Leo tiredly lifted his head.

Such matters were of little concern.

However… Gustave, this person bothered him.

A chilling sense that he might have overlooked something essential for advancing the scenario wrapped around him.