Banished Villainess

126 : Yello Keith Coloflare 6 - The Empire's Movements

[My dearest fiancee, his highness, the 2nd Prince, Yello Keith Coloflare,

I have been investigating the empire’s movements in the Corundum Kingdom since then. Although an investigation of a mere 12-to-13-year-old lady might not offer as much significance, I have chanced upon several suspicions.

The inheritance conflict several decades ago, the different factions have several members with connections to foreign powers. While the retainers themselves are from Corundum people, if even the most shallow ties are considered, everyone becomes a target of suspicion. One of the capture targets being a long lost survivor of the royal family was likely as I mentioned above.

I have also heard about the empire’s consecutive purchases of plot lands in the Corundum Kingdom. Of course, these transactions were not done in the name of the empire, but rather in a wealthy individual’s capacity…, but they were deliberately done in territories of nobles that have cooperative relationships with the empire. The mere thought of their invasion progressing smoothly as I write this terrifies me, sir.

The criterion for their purchases are either mountains or desolated countryside, or simply, places that people do not frequent. However, those places will become extraterritoriality upon foreign purchases and pose a risk of being used as invasion points.

Lastly, there’s a new religion that is spreading in the Corundum Kingdom recently. As you may be aware, our kingdom’s protection lies on the whims of our deity, and the ones that received its blessing were not the royal family nor a temple, but rather a family that serves as the knight commander for generations. While it does protect our kingdom, its influential strength as a national religion is rather weak, which allowed the entry of a new faith.

After looking into it, the new religion appears to have been founded in the empire. While the empire is in the region where there are still legends about dragons, not only does it not revere the dragon god, it forbids the practice of faith in its country. Does Sir Keith also feel some sort of ulterior motive in how a religion founded in such a place seems to have spread here?

…That’s what caught my suspicions sir, but in the end, everything will be treated as my needless anxieties. If sir Keith also notices some suspicious movements on his side, please exercise caution.

‘Your fiancee, Canaria Riqum.]

It was a letter that was formerly a yellow bird called ‘Honey’ that flew all the way from the neighbor kingdom. I threw the letter into the flames after reading it. While it felt rather sacrilegious to burn the letters of my fiancee, its confidential content have prevented me from keeping it. Besides, the letter was written in Coloflare’s tongue; it would’ve been grave if someone were to read it.

Now as for Canaria’s reports, our kingdom was not totally free of such concerns either. It’s also possible that my retainers are under the patronage of the empire. In actuality, we’ve received countless invitations for trade agreements from the empire, and I’ve heard opinions that push for such possibilities too. Furthermore, they came from the 2nd prince faction, who pushes for my coronation as the crown prince.

The 2nd prince faction uses the minister to the left as a medium, places emphasis on diplomacy, and seeks to open the gates of the kingdom. It also pushes for the increase of magic tools importation and the improvement of the labor conditions of magicians and practically, things that are in conflict with the church’s interest, hence, their support from the believers is hopelessly low. It’s also because of them that I’m prudent to interact with my older brother, which is incredibly vexing.

I’ve never thought about the problems of having our lands purchased by foreigners. While I do not believe that the lords who own these territories will allow such purchases, one cannot possibly be certain when money starts doing the talk.