The Crown Prince Who Raises a Side Character-Chapter 46: Servant Cedric (12). Anxiety and a Handshake

The lord’s residence was in an uproar.

After all, assassins had made it all the way to the lord’s bedroom—there was no way the place wouldn’t be thrown into chaos.

“...It seems some of the guards, disgruntled over the deputy lord being dismissed, cooperated with the assassins. Once the attempt failed, they tried to flee, but we captured every last one of them and locked them in the dungeon.”

Bestian, the head butler, reported with a grim expression.

“My lady—no, my lord. This is not something that can be taken lightly. The guard must be held accountable to ensure nothing like this ever happens again.”

At his words, the guard captain’s face darkened.

Even so, he didn’t utter a word in rebuttal. In truth, he couldn’t.

It was already a serious matter that the guards had failed and the lord’s life had been endangered—but to make matters worse, the cause was treachery from within their own ranks. There was no defense for that.

As Claudia looked at the guard captain bowing his head like a criminal awaiting judgment, she made her decision.

“Dock the pay of everyone who was on duty tonight for a month. As for the captain—three months, unpaid. Make sure that’s clear.”

The guard captain’s eyes widened, and the other retainers looked visibly shocked.

Given the gravity of the situation, the punishment was shockingly light.

There were nobles who would execute every member of their escort if their charge so much as got a scratch. By comparison, this verdict was more than lenient—it was downright merciful.

“My lord, however—”

“It’s already decided. I’m not accepting any arguments. And don’t mistake this for leniency. There’ll be no mercy whatsoever for the ones who collaborated in the assassination.”

Overcome with emotion, the captain fell to his knees before Claudia, and the trembling guards behind him also bowed their heads in unison.

“Thank you, my lord! I swear my life to your service!!”

“““We pledge our loyalty!!”””

“Alright. I’ll be expecting that from now on.”

Claudia replied with a bored expression, but inwardly, she was genuinely surprised.

‘...Honestly, I was ready to destroy them all.’

She had been trying to carry herself with more dignity and mercy these days, but that didn’t mean her core nature had changed.

Especially when, in this case, she had every justification to come down hard.

And yet, the reason she had reached this conclusion was because of Cedric’s advice.

Claudia had believed that if something like this wasn’t dealt with harshly, her subordinates might come to take her life too lightly. But Cedric’s idea—to elicit loyalty through mercy rather than punishment—had been unexpectedly refreshing.

The guards, moved by their lord’s "compassion," interrogated the traitors and assassins with bloodshot eyes. But unfortunately, the results were disappointing.

It wasn’t that the traitors were unusually resilient or had taken poison to protect secrets.

In fact, they talked quite easily.

The problem was that the information they gave was useless.

“The request was ‘Scare them as much as possible without killing them.’ The client wasn’t even part of the same group—they were from a different criminal organization. If we press that group, they’ll probably point us to yet another organization. A commission of a commission of a commission, so to speak.”

At Cedric’s nonchalant shrug, Claudia frowned.

“Still, they gave us something. If we shake down the group that hired them, and then shake down the one that hired them, won’t we eventually find the real culprit?”

“Anyone going to such lengths to obscure the trail likely made up a few of those intermediaries entirely. The reverse-tracing will fizzle out before long.”

“Tch.”

Claudia clicked her tongue in frustration.

Cedric turned to her and said,

“Besides, it seems you already have a good idea who’s behind this, don’t you?”

“My siblings, probably. They always break out in hives whenever something goes right for me.”

She called them her brother and sister, but there wasn’t the slightest hint of familial warmth in Claudia’s voice.

Not even a complicated mix of love and hate—just plain and unfiltered disgust.

At this point, it would be more accurate to say they were family only on paper—less close than strangers in truth.

Claudia let out a deep sigh.

“I figured they’d try something eventually, but this is fast. And it’s probably not the last time either. Maybe I should recall some of the blood beasts for my personal guard?”

Cedric shook his head.

“That would just mean you’re playing right into their hands. It would also mean undermining the driving force behind Eched’s growth.”

“...Really? I suppose that’s true. Then in that case, how about you stick close and guard me instead? Maybe move your room next to mine?”

It was a serious topic—her assassination prevention plan—but Claudia’s tone had a faint hint of excitement.

She figured this would be the perfect excuse to keep Cedric nearby.

“I have no objection to protecting you as your servant. But if I move rooms and devote myself to guarding you alone, the guards will likely feel left out. They might think I talk about forgiveness but don’t actually trust them.”

Cedric declined her suggestion, saying there was no need to throw away the trust and respect he had just earned by acting magnanimously.

“Hmm.”

Claudia puffed up her cheeks.

She wanted to say, “Who cares if a bunch of failures get disappointed?”—but she couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud.

She was worried Cedric might think less of her if she acted that immaturely.

“So you’re saying you won’t be paying attention to my protection?”

“I will, of course. And if anything happens inside the estate, honestly, it won’t matter whether I’m beside you or not. If you call for me, I’ll be by your side right away.”

“R-Really?”

All of Claudia’s irritation vanished in an instant, her face lighting up again.

The way he said, “If you call for me, I’ll come to your side immediately” sounded incredibly sweet to her ears.

It even reminded her of a line from Rose and the Pocket Watch.

If she remembered correctly, that scene had led to the two characters embracing in a villa while rain poured outside...

“My lady? Lady Claudia?”

“...Huh? Oh? What?”

“You went quiet all of a sudden. I suppose I’ve been inconsiderate. After dealing with something like that in the middle of the night and jumping straight into cleanup, you must be exhausted.”

“No, I’m fine. Really, I’m totally fine.”

Claudia cleared her throat repeatedly to shake off the awkwardness and quickly changed the subject.

“Anyway, fine—so you’ll keep guarding me like that. But is there anything else I can do? Should I just go ahead and hire an assassin myself and send them?”

“You still don’t know which sibling is responsible, do you? And moving recklessly when your base of power is still unstable might backfire.”

“Tch. So you’re telling me to just sit here and do nothing?”

“You’re not doing nothing. You’ve got to expand the blood beast forces and continue managing the territory well.”

“That’s so boring.”

“Boring is good.”

Cedric grinned.

“Keep doing that, and they’ll be the ones burning with frustration.”

***

News of the criminal organizations dispatched to Eched falling silent didn’t seem to faze Ervin and Mira.

After all, the ones who had actually moved on the ground had no idea who their real employers at the top were.

Even if they were captured alive, it meant Claudia would have no way of finding any solid evidence.

A one-sided attack with no real risk—success would be ideal, but failure didn’t matter.

Thus, the conversation between the two siblings had a tone that could almost be called congenial.

“How did Claudia react?”

“She’s quiet. She hasn’t recalled her blood beasts or gone on any rampage promising revenge.”

“Hmm. That’s odd. With that temper of hers, there’s no way she’d stay quiet after getting hit first.”

“Maybe she’s just being stubborn? Let’s give it a little more time. We’ve already got new ones lined up.”

“This time, I’ll send my own. If we keep her on edge night and day, even that venomous bitch will break eventually.”

They sent a new assassin with sly smiles.

Naturally, it ended in failure.

“Huh. She blocked it? Looks like her guards are at least semi-competent.”

“Seriously? They took the money and couldn’t even pull off a proper threat? This is why I hate dealing with trash.”

“Next time, we’ll only pick ones ranked third-class or higher. No matter how well-trained ordinary soldiers are, they’ve got limits.”

“We should probably equip them with extra scrolls, too.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

They tried again, this time with better gear and carefully selected personnel for their third assassination attempt.

Once again, it ended in failure.

“...Is she being protected by some powerful knight?”

“So someone at least fourth-class is sticking to her? What the hell does anyone see in that vile woman?”

“Well, she’s still a Redvell. Maybe she’s duped some idiot with the family name. Either way, we’ll need a new approach.”

“We held back because she might actually die, but not anymore. Poisoning, sniping, bribery—we’ll use whatever we have.”

This time, they took the assassination attempt seriously.

And just like always, it failed.

“......”

“......”

No matter how they changed their tactics, how carefully they selected people, how much money and equipment they threw into the plan—not one of their operatives returned with success.

No, forget success—none of them even came back to report failure.

Whenever they checked up on Claudia through spies, the reports were always the same.

The number of blood beasts patrolling Eched hadn’t decreased. Claudia hadn’t avoided risky public events—if anything, she was actively participating in more. Her reputation and influence were rising by the day. There were even reports that many of her subjects didn’t realize there had been assassination attempts at all.

That’s right.

The assassins they sent didn’t even manage to frighten or threaten Claudia—instead, they were being treated as if they didn’t even exist.

As if they weren’t even worth acknowledging.

“We can’t rely on other people anymore.”

When Ervin muttered this with a hardened face, Mira flinched.

Both Ervin and Mira...

They had their own “true blade” for dirty work—operatives far beyond the caliber of hired thugs.

They hadn't used them until now for a reason.

“B-But if we act directly, the risk is too high. If they get captured...”

Having nameless clients hire criminal syndicates to act independently was one thing. But for the Redvell family’s actual forces to move—that was an entirely different matter, both in meaning and weight.

If they failed, there’d be no way to cover it up.

Even so, Ervin didn’t back down.

“Other territories neighboring Eched are starting to reach out to Claudia, asking her to send those damned mutts to them too. If we leave this alone, she’s going to end up at the center of a [N O V E L I G H T] massive power bloc.”

“W-Wait a second. Sure, if you lower the individual strength of blood beasts, it’s easier to increase their numbers—but there are limits, right? Maybe she can handle one territory, but no way she has the numbers to manage other lands too. She’ll fail if we just leave her be!”

“Eched’s internal security is already stable. If she relocates some of the blood beasts to other territories, it’d be enough to make a show of it. It’d still be a result worth bragging about.”

The two of them refused to believe Claudia could really be increasing the number of blood beasts.

Or rather, they were deliberately ignoring that possibility.

They had access to blood beasts themselves—but not even close to the scale Claudia wielded.

Admitting they were outdone by that thieving woman and her mother in any area would’ve been unacceptable to their pride.

“We can’t afford to keep being soft with this ‘if she dies, oh well’ attitude. We need to move with the resolve to kill her. Before Father starts taking an interest in that woman.”

Though Mira still looked hesitant, she eventually gave a reluctant nod at Ervin’s insistence.

***

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

The two of them thought they’d been careful—taking every precaution to stay hidden.

But all of it was meaningless. Their every move was being reported directly to the true ruler of the Redvell family.

And the Marquess, upon hearing the details, gave his judgment.

“They’re finished. They’ve already lost.”

“...You think so?”

His closest aide looked puzzled.

It was true that Claudia had started building up her own power base.

But the two siblings had been doing the same thing long before she had.

Until now, they’d hesitated out of fear of risk and kept things subtle—but if they decided to go all in, their power would far outstrip Claudia’s.

Even so, the Marquess casually declared her victory.

“They’re not approaching this with thorough preparation, measuring the enemy’s strength and exceeding it. Nor are they striking with beastlike instinct at a critical moment. No—they’re underestimating her, throwing in their forces bit by bit, and now that it’s not working, they’re scrambling in desperation. It’s utterly foolish. They’re going to get eaten alive.”

It wasn’t exactly pleasant to witness the incompetence of the children he had raised so expensively.

But at the same time, he found it intriguing.

“I wonder how far ahead she’s seen all this. If she’s been playing them in the palm of her hand from the start... then she’s far more of a monster than I imagined.”

The Marquess felt curiosity.

And he was a man with the power to indulge it freely.

“Wouldn’t be so bad to have a little family reunion after all this time.”