Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 152: The Other Side’s Aim
Several days passed after the attempted kidnapping of Aeris.
After hearing the report, Count Connoen doubled her Royal Guard protection. Two knights remained close to Aeris as before, while two more watched the surrounding area from a distance.
The additional surveillance revealed that someone was observing Aeris and Tauro from afar.
Because [Presence Detection] had failed to find the watcher, Tauro concluded that at least one observer possessed [Presence Concealment].
A Royal Guard knight eventually noticed the surveillance through a combination of experience, sharp perception, and [Gaze Detection]. He could feel someone watching him without seeing the watcher. By moving between locations and comparing where the gaze could and couldn’t be sensed, he gradually narrowed down the most likely observation point overlooking Tauro and Aeris’s inn.
“I arranged for several colleagues to support me and approached without revealing that we’d noticed him, but he escaped by the narrowest margin. We also caught other people observing from farther away with [Hawkeye], but they were merely hired adventurers. They told us to ask the Adventurers’ Guild who had commissioned them.”
That answer was exactly what a hired adventurer would give. The Guild also had a duty to protect its clients’ confidentiality, and simply watching someone wasn’t illegal.
Even so, the person who had escaped the Royal Guard concerned Tauro.
The watcher might have been the same highly skilled individual previously detected by the adventurers monitoring the Van Dyne residence. Anyone capable of escaping trained Royal Guard knights had to be dangerous.
Tauro had begun to think that the opposing side was poor at choosing its people after the amateurish kidnapping attempt. The hidden observer proved that assumption was premature.
The nobles who had agreed to support Aeris reported that the Marchioness’s faction had also begun distributing money and favors in an attempt to win them back.
However, rumors of the Marchioness of Van Dyne’s misconduct were already spreading widely through noble society. Once trust was lost, recovering it would be difficult.
To reverse the situation, the opposing side needed Aeris back under its control and needed a child who could be presented as the next legitimate heir of House Van Dyne. Aeris would never cooperate willingly.
Reports from the adventurers watching the Marchioness offered a disturbing clue.
The Marchioness had remained secluded inside the Van Dyne residence and hadn’t been seen publicly for more than half a year. She wasn’t dead; members of her natal family still visited from time to time.
One of the adventurers had suggested that she might be pregnant.
Recently, a member of that family had brought baby equipment into the residence concealed among other luggage.
The likely plan became clear.
If the Marchioness was about to give birth to Uwaakin’s child, they could abduct Aeris and falsely claim the infant was hers. Aeris was still a minor, but childbirth at her age wasn’t unheard of in this world, making the lie plausible enough for outsiders.
Once the child had been publicly declared Aeris’s, Aeris herself could be made to die in an ‘accident’ – perhaps an illness supposedly caused by childbirth.
The dead couldn’t contradict the story.
The Marchioness and Uwaakin could then pose as the infant heir’s grandparents and guardians, controlling House Van Dyne through the child while hiding the fact that the baby carried no Van Dyne blood.
The other side’s objective was now clear.
Everything depended on bringing Aeris back to the Van Dyne residence. That meant they were likely to make another move soon.
With four Royal Guard knights protecting her, a direct attempt should have been difficult. But if the enemy had hired someone capable of evading the Royal Guard, they might already have another plan.
Tauro considered what he would do in their position, but no decisive answer came to him.
“Tauro, isn’t today the day you’re meeting Prince Fleue?”
Aeris entered his room while he was still thinking.
“You’re right. I have something important to report, so I should leave.”
This time, Tauro decided to go alone.
He and the Royal Guard had agreed that moving Aeris unnecessarily would create an opening the enemy might exploit. With the knights guarding her at the inn, Tauro felt able to leave for the royal palace and meet Prince Fleue.
Tauro is still a child, despite having a previous life. Only that can explain such a stupid decision.
No, there are offsetting considerations. Namely, that it is not trivial to bring her guard to see the prince (it’s possible, but the procedures necessary would take time and telegraph the schedule and intentions to the opponents). Tauro has seemingly judged that the opponents aren’t currently prepared to move immediately. If that assumption is true, a quick, low-complication meeting with the Prince would be a good choice. Even if it’s false, a truly competent enemy would avoid moving against Aeris while she’s under Kingsguard protection, as an attack would both ruin their intended “story” and would likely create friction between the Marquess and (at least) the fifth prince, or possibly more widely among the royal family. An attack on the Kingsguard (even working offduty) is indirectly a challenge to the royal authority. Further, it could be seen as an implicit challenge to the royal family, implying that even the royal family could be attacked by by the Marquess’s faction, who had the ability and willingness to defeat Kingsguard personnel.
It’s possible that Tauro is overestimating the opponent’s strategic sense. The most troublesome isn’t a strategic genius, nor even a total naif, but rather someone with plenty of ability but not much smarts. They’re prone to choosing to do dumb-for-them things without even realizing the hazard, while having the power to actually pull them off.