The night before, among the towers in the central area of the royal capital.

As soon as Cornes and the others entered the basement, a figure pushed open the door and entered, it was Leonard's old servant who had already fled for his life, he couldn't rest assured of his master after all, so he came back after settling his son.

He is just an ordinary person, even powerless, and he also knows that Cornes is not a good stubble, but no matter what, he is willing to sacrifice his life for Leonard, even if it can only be fought for a moment, he hopes that Leonard will have a chance to escape from Cornes' clutches.

However, when he came to the entrance of the basement and looked into the bottomless hole, he still had a hard time, because the original platform had been lowered, and he could not go down at all.

Just as he was at a loss, a man's voice sounded in the dark corner of the hall.

"Hey, old man, do you want to go down too?"

“…… Who is it? The servant was alert.

Then the man emerged from the darkness, looking to be about twenty years old, and the old servant felt a little familiar.

"Ah, you, you...... The younger brother of Lord Leonard. ”

"Oh? So you remember me. Byron was slightly surprised.

"That's natural, I basically know all the candidates for the throne, after all, I've lived here for most of my life, but, then again, Lord Byron, what are you doing here?"

"Me? Of course, I came to save my brother. Byron smiled.

"Well, that's great, but do you have a way to deal with that guy named Cornes? He looks very strong, and what is he going to do, to dare to hold a candidate for the throne hostage. ”

"Hehe, if I say that he is the dark knight of the demons, will you be afraid?"

"Huh? This, how is this possible? The old servant's voice trembled, he had also heard of the demons.

"Nothing is impossible, we defeated the demons on the edge of the empire, and now he is the only fish left to slip through the net, now it's time to settle the score."

"Oh, I hear you say that, you have a way to deal with him."

"Hehe, that's nature, the demon kings are all defeated in my hands, what kind of storm can a mere dark knight stir up?"

"That's good, that's good." The old servant burst into tears of joy.

In his impression, Leonard and Byron have always had a good relationship, unlike the current candidates in the royal capital, and the intrigue between them has stirred up the entire royal capital.

Now that Leonard is in trouble, Byron can actually sacrifice his life to save him, which would be a good story if it was spread.

"But are you interested in helping me?" Byron said suddenly.

"Ah, I, I'm a useless bad old man, how can I help." The old servant scratched his head.

"You've lived here for most of your life, and I've heard that you've been in contact with several other candidates for the throne."

"Whereever, it's just to send some hometown fruit to Lord Agnes, or run errands for Lord Marika, or help Master John gather information, etc., in short, it's not worth mentioning."

The old servant said that it was not worth mentioning, but anyone could see that he was proud, and Byron naturally saw it in his eyes, so he continued.

"It's okay, that's exactly what I need, although you treat my brothers and sisters well and treat them like your own children, but I know that your favorite is Leonard, so you should want Leonard to be on the throne."

"I ......"

"There's no need to hide it, I think so too, if my brother can ascend to the throne, my ambition can also be realized, because the two of us will always be of the same mind."

When the old servant heard this, he was immediately moved, how many children of aristocratic families in this world are fratricidal in order to compete for family property, and in the royal family, this kind of thing should be even more cruel, just like Agnes and Marika today, but they never thought that Leonard and Byron were an exception.

“…… Well, I see, if Lord Byron has any orders, I will definitely fight my old life to complete it. ”

"Hehe, it's not that you want to go this far," Byron smiled helplessly, and then leaned into the old servant's ear and said a few words.

The old servant's eyes widened when he listened carefully, and he could not understand that Byron could have such a vicious idea.

"W-how can this work? I can't do such a thing, you better find someone else. ”

"Oh? Quitting so quickly? ”

"I'm really sorry, you just said that I treat them like my own children, how can I secretly poison them? Doesn't that make me evil? ”

Byron stared at him with a serious look on his face, then smiled slightly.

"Then what you just said about fighting for your life to help me is also false, but I don't even want to bear the name of a wicked person, it seems that it is meaningless for me to rescue my brother, after all, we have been away from the royal capital for many years, and we have not gained the support of enough nobles in the royal capital, we might as well leave this place of right and wrong, so as not to suffer the disaster of killing, and let the empire be ruled by those despicable guys."

"......" the old servant fell silent, and he also felt that Byron's words made sense.

"Only you can do this, just imagine, who else in the entire king is worthy of their trust? It's just you, but since you don't want to get your hands dirty, then I can't help it, and that's it, I take my leave. ”

After Byron had finished speaking, he walked straight out the door, seemingly not waiting for the old servant to make a decision.

The old servant thought for a moment, then rushed out the door, and Byron was waiting for him outside.

"What? Changed your mind? ”

"Yes, I'm willing to be a villain for you, no, Lord Leonard, but please don't tell him about it, I don't want to make him feel ashamed."

Byron couldn't help but want to laugh, it turned out that in the memory of this old servant, Leonard had always been that upright and kind child, but he never thought that Leonard had already become a guy who would do whatever it took to achieve his ends.

"Of course, my brother won't know, after the matter is completed, I will give you a large sum of money, and then let you go back to your hometown to live in your old age, as for the title, I don't think you will be interested, what do you think?"

"Hehe, you're so thoughtful, so be it."

After the two had settled, Byron handed him a packet of powdered substance.

He watched the old servant walk away, and then sat leisurely on the couch where Leonard had sat before, and another man stepped out of the shadow in the corner.

The other party was dressed in knight's armor, about twenty years old, and had a handsome appearance.

"It's cruel to let that old man do such a despicable thing, it can't help but worry me, if you are put on the throne, what will become of this empire, it will definitely be worse than now."

"Don't tease me here, Cohen, if someone who doesn't know hears you, they'll really think you're a decent knight."

"Oh?" Cohen walked up to him and said with a mocking expression, "Aren't I?" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, a woman's voice sounded outside the door.

"Hehe, I can hear it, neither of you are good people."

Cohen, who has a sense of magic, wasn't too surprised by the arrival of this uninvited guest, he just didn't know what this person meant.

"It's amazing, this tower is so lively today." Byron couldn't help but sigh.

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in what you want to do, my name is Cosette, and I found it by following the traces of Cones' magic, have you seen that guy?"

"Oh?" Byron was a little surprised, he thought that he was the only one looking for Cornes here, but he didn't expect that guy to have other enemies.

"Since you have traces of magical power, you should know the location of the other party, so why bother asking us?" Cohen said casually.

"Well, yes," Cosette nodded, and then she seemed to remember something, and then looked at Byron, "It's rude to eavesdrop on other people's conversations, but unfortunately I overheard it, so you're Byron?" ”

"You've heard of me?"

"Hmm......"

Cosette was hesitant to tell him the truth, and after a few seconds of reflection, she gave up.

She had heard about Byron from Ophelia before, and how upright and ambitious he was, and even Cosette believed that this Byron was a very good man, and that it would be easier for humans to re-establish relations with the elves.

But now it seems that this Byron is also an unscrupulous person to achieve his goals, although for candidates for the throne, he sometimes has to do things against his will in order to seize the throne, but poisoning his opponent or something is still too despicable, and she looks down on this guy from the bottom of her heart.

So she wasn't going to tell Byron that she knew Ophelia, and likewise, she wasn't going to mention it to Ophelia.

Just let it rot in her stomach, Cosette thought, and then said to Byron.

"Hehe, there are only a few candidates for the throne, most people in the empire have heard of it."

"Well, indeed," Byron nodded, and then added, "by the way, since you also want to find Cornes, aren't we all in this together?" So are you interested in joining us? ”

"Hmph, forget about this kind of thing, I don't have the habit of being in the company of despicable people." Cosette refused, and jumped into the hole that led deep underground.

Byron and Cohen hurried over to look, but Cosette was nowhere to be seen.

"Ouch, this girl is really amazing, how can this hole have hundreds of meters, and she actually jumped down like this." Cohen couldn't help but sigh.

"Hehe, it seems that the people Cornes provoked are not simple." Byron smiled wryly.

"Then you're still working with that guy, I don't want to fight such a powerful person."

"Uh, when did you find out about this?" Byron was surprised.

"Of course the crystal ball told me," Cohen said, smiling, "my master, you've hidden so much that you almost tricked me." ”

“…… Cohen, the more you know, the more dangerous it is, and you shouldn't speculate on my mind. Byron's face changed visibly.

"Haha, do you want to kill me? Come on, you should know that it's easy for me to kill you, but that would be too boring, don't worry, my mouth is quite tight. ”

"Of course I know, but what if you get caught, tortured, and finally confessed?"

"If I think too much, no one in the entire empire can catch me."

"Indeed, I believe in your strength, but it is better to be cautious, otherwise it will ......"

"Yes, yes, whatever you say, who told you to be my employer now."

Cohen said casually, perhaps thinking that Byron would be nagging any longer, so he left the tower.

Byron watched him leave and didn't say much, just lay down on the couch and continued to think about his next plans.