After greeting the representative of the envoy from the neighboring Kingdom of Branwill, King Listeard Kunzendorf returned to his study. He was confused.

“Different from what I heard.”

“…hm…”

The one who replied in a silly voice was Prime Minister Alois Herzfeld. There were several other aides in the room beside him, but he was the one Listeard valued the most.

Alois is the man who became Listeard’s right-hand man.  He had acted proactively during the coup two years ago. Unfortunately, there were many aspects to him that couldn’t be fully trusted, but he was still better than some of the civil servants who were openly hostile toward him.

Above all, without Alois’ backing, the young Listeard wouldn’t have been able to succeed the throne.

After ruminating on the events that had taken place in the throne room, Listeard leaned back against his leather office chair, looking up toward the sky.

“Alois, as per your advice, I abruptly summoned the two to the throne room without any advanced notice and had them take a winding path. However, nothing happened. In fact, the woman accompanying him genuinely seemed happy and delighted. Claims that she is a wicked woman are laughable.”

He was aware that summoning them to the throne room as he did wasn’t in line with diplomatic etiquette.

It was a trap based on Alois’ advice, “We need to verify whether the envoys from the neighboring country are suitable for our kingdom to negotiate with.”

The necessity for it all began on a day when he was preparing to receive an envoy from a neighboring country. At that time, he received information that a certain infamous figure was among the envoys.

She was the so-called Avril Allingham. A pink-blonde, blue-eyed, incredibly wicked woman. However, not many details were known about her.

After all, every man she had involved herself had been tossed aside upon surrendering their tribute for her. Their pride shattered, they remained tight-lipped.

On the other hand, he also knew that Alois had a different reason in mind for proposing the trap. Alois was an extreme conservative who was utterly against any relations with other nations.

He and Listeard didn’t agree on this point, but they shared the same interest of not wanting to invite trouble to the kingdom. For that reason, the two of them cooperated.

At Listeard’s complaint, “We implemented your plan, but nothing happened.” Alois wiped the sweat from his brow and told him.

“Plenty of incidents have already happened, and the woman accompanying him is just the rumors claim. She wasn’t upset at having to walk such a distance but instead showed an unusual interest in the paintings being displayed around the castle. She was just the stories describe—a villainess who takes men by the hand, makes off with his belongings and jewels, and strip him bare—both physically and mentally.”

“Did she say she wanted our paintings? Does she not know her place…?”

“She didn’t explicitly say that she wanted anything, instead she expressed her interests for expensive things.”

“…”

Listeard slumped back into his chair as his body weakened once again, this time at the slightly off-topic answer. But Alois, unaware of this, continued.

“She said she was accompanying the delegation for her vacation. I let her know I’d prepare anything they’d need, to which she replied she’d let me know if anything expensive she desired came to mind. In other words, she plans to rob our treasury.”

“…That’s…”

“I pray it is only that, but the envoy doesn’t seem dull-witted. He might even use that villainess to steal something irreplaceable from our country. I’ve issued a notice to those who hold important positions in our kingdom not to go out at night for a while.”

“…You have a rich imagination.”

It was a bit far-fetched, or rather, no matter how he looked at it, it was a strange interpretation. However, Alois, who didn’t realize that his impression of Avril differed from Listeard’s, went on.

“Truly, people from other kingdoms are quite barbaric and incomprehensible! Those envoys are no different! Please reconsider. Even if it’s for medical treatment, accepting foreign aristocrats and allowing them interact with the royal family isn’t beneficial for our kingdom.”

“That’s irrelevant now.”

Alois was referring to a certain foreign noble who came to their kingdom a few weeks ago for an extended stay.

That time as well, Alois had offered Listeard his open advice, to which they had a massive dispute. Listeard is put off by the memotry, but Alois didn’t seem to pay it any mind.

“Your Majesty, if you have time for interest in foreign lands, why not settle down?”

“This talk again?”

“My daughter, Jeanne, is twenty years old, yet still unwedded. As her father, I can vouch for her. She’s beautiful, intelligent, and will be of great use to Your Majesty.”

Although Alois clearly expressed his displeasure on his face, Alois continued to press him.

Listeard had no choice but to ask Alois to help him depose his father, the fool king, so he could take the throne. Now that his foundation was beginning to solidify, he was trying to come up with a way to distance himself from Alois.

However, it seemed that Alois was aware of this as well. Recently, he’d been insisting that his daughter became queen in order to strengthen their bond.

I’m grateful to this man, but it’s starting to be time I distance myself from him.

Ignoring Alois, he reached for a glass of water. As expected, Alois seemed to sense Listeard’s discomfort.

“My apologies… Getting back to the point, that villainess, Avril, behaved without regard for manners even during the audience. What an outrageous woman.”

“…”

Those words also applied to his sister, who had coughed during the greeting.

At that time, he wanted to help her sister.

However, as their positions had yet to properly solidify, calling out to her wouldn’t have been in Emilia’s best interest. On the contrary, it’d only humiliate Emilia who had come to that occasion in formal attire.

So, for Listeard, who could do nothing but watch, Avril’s behavior which stole the attention from Emilia and brought them all into her own pace was a godsend.

She clearly had the intention of helping Emilia. But for some reason, things were going in a strange direction. Listeard couldn’t help but laugh, her ability to pull off such an accomplishment in an audience chamber, a place supposedly filled with tension, was amusing.

Just remembering it made him want to laugh again, but he managed to hold it in.

“…I don’t believe that’s the case.”

“Huh?”

“No, nothing. Anyway, I have to find an opportunity to let my sister Emilia meet Avril Allingham.”

“Hm?”

Alois seemed to have a different interpretation of Villainess Avril than Listeard—which was understandable. Due to his extremely conservative views, the man was trying to cut off relations with other countries, and even abolish the tourism industry, which was the kingdom’s main source of income.

Listeard, growing ever more doubtful of his aide’s preconceptions, rested his chin atop his hand as his expression returned to one of an elder brother, one with a wry smile.

“—Contrary to her brother’s worries, my sister is a big fan of Villainess Avril.”

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