Super Righteous Player
Chapter 395 - 392: Increasingly Tense Situation_1

Chapter 395: Chapter 392: Increasingly Tense Situation_1

"It seems that Her Highness Kafney has set out. Is there a problem?"

The speaker was Eugene Geraint.

He had rushed over early in the morning and asked Annan with some concern, "Did you ask her to come?"

"No,"

Annan answered definitively.

—But it didn’t matter; she was welcome anytime she wished to come.

That was Annan’s response.

Rather, Annan no longer regarded Roth Fort as a safe place, particularly as the political situation grew more tense by the day.

Especially since the Old Bread had already left.

If anyone truly wished to harm Kafney, he would be powerless to stop them.

In such a situation, it was a far safer course of action to have Kafney stay by his side and under the protection of the Paper Princess.

"That’s how you see it..."

Eugene nodded thoughtfully.

After undergoing rigorous vetting by the Paper Princess herself, she could finally ascertain that this man was essentially harmless to Annan and could even be a friend who was worth befriending and beneficial for Annan’s future.

Only then did she finally let Eugene, who visited daily, inside—

Although Annan was grateful for the Paper Princess’s extra cautious care, he couldn’t help but find her anxiety slightly amusing.

It also brought back that nostalgic and warm feeling of parents and relatives paying attention to who one befriends at school...

After discussing the political situation of the Royal Capital with Eugene for half the day, Annan decided to move out of the high-end hotel and back into the Geraint household.

This decision was partly to foster good relations with the Geraint family, partly to receive important information as quickly as possible, and partly for his own safety concerns...

Another reason was, Annan didn’t want the Paper Princess to keep spending money on their accommodations.

...The cost of staying at the hotel owned by King Noah was truly exorbitant.

Even with the Paper Princess and Annan sharing a room, just their daily lodging costs—not even counting food and the things she bought for Annan—was one hundred and thirty pounds.

That was roughly equivalent to one thousand five hundred silver coins per night.

The extravagance was enough to make Annan wince.

It wasn’t his money, but one shouldn’t squander an elder’s money recklessly either...

Better to stay at the Geraint’s.

At the very least, food and lodging were taken care of, and the security was far stronger than at King Noah’s hotel.

—After all, the Geraint family’s backyard was directly connected to the royal garden at the palace.

The security force of the Geraint household was actually the King’s royal guard.

They were a combined unit of the royal guard and the secret service, not a protection circle that could be infiltrated merely by blending in with one side. And with several layers of surveillance set up by the Cyclops Crow, it would be extremely difficult for even a Gold-tier Transcendent to sneak in.

From Annan’s perspective, moving to the Geraint household was a sound choice in many respects.

But upon seeing Annan lured to their home by Eugene within a single day, the Paper Princess immediately became anxious and followed suit.

While it gave Annan a reassuring sense of security, it also felt oddly peculiar.

It was like when staying overnight at a classmate’s house, and an aunt or sister, concerned for one’s safety, tagged along as well...

Fortunately, Lord Eugene’s diplomatic skills were indeed substantial.

His genuine, heartfelt goodwill toward others, along with his attentive listening and serious regard for what others had to say, was enough to earn the Paper Princess’s approval of him.

The Paper Princess merely required that whenever Eugene spoke with Annan, she had to be present—she stated that unless it was an emergency, she would not interrupt their conversation.

Eugene was well aware that the Paper Princess was worried that Annan had been deceived by him...

...But how could that be possible.

Lady Paper Princess was truly worrying too much out of her care.

Eugene sighed inwardly.

He knew very well that Prince Annan was no naïve child. When he talked with Annan, he felt even more pressure than when speaking with earls and marquises — he always had the sense that he might have unwittingly revealed some intelligence to Annan.

Of course, this was also because of the disparity in their statuses.

Annan, as the soon-to-be Duke of Winter and a future deity — even very likely a vassal to some True God, was far superior in status.

This meant that Eugene Geraint, the future heir of the Crow family, had to always maintain the proper social distance with Annan, daring only to linger in the position of ’friend’, never allowing himself the slightest discourtesy, nor daring to overstep even by an inch.

After all, it was not just "Annan" he needed to accommodate and please.

The power held in the hands of the Geraint family must be the power of the future King.

If his relationship with Annan became too close, the King would grow wary of the Geraint family.

"If you, as the head of the supreme intelligence agency, have such a good relationship with the highest ruler of a neighboring country... might I suspect there’s a problem with you?"

If it was a typical noble, being so feared by the King would actually be advantageous.

Because it meant the King wouldn’t easily trust their words, yet wouldn’t ignore them lightly — this naturally elevated their status in the noble circle, even making them a social focal point. For instance, being part of the "Geraint family social circle."

But the Geraint family’s stance doesn’t allow them to be close with other nobles.

An intelligence agency that does not obey the King, is not trusted by the King, but instead has murky relations with the nobility, loses its reason to exist.

And when that time comes, the Geraint family’s "loyalty to the royal family" used in the past to stab many nobles in the back, would turn into leverage forcing them to cough up their advantages.

The same applied to Kafney and the other Princes as well.

Eugene maintained politeness and distance.

——This was the way of survival for the Crow family.

Crows can only stand atop the crown.

And Eugene’s elder brother, Ferdinand Gerant’s... act of decisively choosing to serve one of the heirs before the successor was selected, and attempting to increase the likelihood of that choice, was actually something the King deeply disliked.

Therefore, Ferdinand never realized that the more he supported Prince Philip, the less likely the King was to choose Prince Philip...

However, what surprised Eugene was that Philip didn’t realize this either.

Unlike his elder brother who only seemed very steady on the surface.

Although Philip was always chewing candies, appearing jovial and frequently going out to play with his friends and subordinates, seemingly only a fun-loving person of taste who didn’t pay much heed to these interpersonal or political matters.

But Eugene had many secret reports at his disposal.

He could easily recognize that Philip was a rather intelligent man.

He was actually much smarter than the Eldest Princess. Just by observing the traceless nature of his actions, one could tell — this tracelessness didn’t mean others couldn’t detect his involvement, but rather that even if others were aware of Philip’s presence, they couldn’t clearly apprehend what he wanted or what goals he sought to achieve through the act.

Eugene even suspected that his elder brother might himself be a pawn of Philip’s.

And speaking of Philip...

He had to mention to Annan the competent new right-hand Philip had recently acquired.

Eugene then asked Annan, who was deep in thought, "That person called Delicious Wind Goose, was he sent by you?"

Because the other party’s acting was too good, even Eugene couldn’t be sure. Was Delicious Wind Goose truly a traitor to Annan, or a spy sent by Annan...

Upon hearing this, Annan merely offered a slight smile.

Without giving an answer.

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