After leaving the orphanage and returning to the palace in the Royal Capital of Rithson, Dylan intended to send a telegram immediately. The recipient was Lawrence—who was both his older brother figure and lord.

Considering what Lynn said, it seems unlikely that Lawrence sent Avril to the Kingdom of Clauhgton just to have her act as a villainess…

As Chris had been left with Avril, Dylan ran up the stairs of the castle alone. When he arrived at the telegraph room, he found the telegrapher looking surprised.

“—You! Perfect timing. I’ve just received a message addressed to you from His Highness Crown Prince Lawrence of the Kingdom of Branwill.”

“For me?”

Thinking, “Impossible,” Dylan quickly read the paper handed to him.

Written on it was: “Praying for your success on the national exam.”

…He got me.

Such was the first thought that came to his mind. When Dylan had first gone to the palace to hear the details of this mission, Lawrence had said, “You know I love surprises, right? Everything’ll be fine, this is a mission only the two of you can handle. By all mean, you should definitely go.”

He should’ve been more suspicious at that moment.

However, Lawrence’s requests were often unreasonable. Recently, Dylan had even been asked to infiltrate a masquerade ball. So, he assumed this time would be something similar. He had been careless.

It can’t be… He sent us without revealing the main purpose of this visit!?

The unexpected revelation made Dylan tighten his grip on the paper.

However, even though he was angry, he knew he couldn’t win against Lawrence. Lawrence must’ve chosen this method after considering all the others.

Dylan calmed down and reorganized his thoughts.

But why would Lawrence want to have Avril take the national exam? He can’t simply just be trying to meddle in the affairs of the Kingdom of Claughton…

“The national exam…”

Upon inadvertently muttering that out loud, the telegrapher became curious. He probably had some time to spend now that he no longer had to deliver the telegram to Dylan’s room.

He leaned forward with great curiosity to ask, “Will the envoy take our kingdom’s national exam?”

“No, there is no way such a thing could happen…” Dylan shook his head.

The telegrapher spoke in a suggestive tone. 

“If there’s anyone in the delegation who is confident in their intelligence, it might be worth trying to take the exam.”

“I wonder. If there’s anyone who desires employment in this kingdom, we could recommend them through Prince Lawrence, but there’s no way they’d be allowed to take the national exam, right?”

Thinking the telegrapher was joking, Dylan answered casually, but the telegrapher grinned.

“That’s not the case. Our country’s national exam specializes in recruiting talented individuals. Even foreigners can take it. Whoever passes with the highest score even receives a special bonus. I very much recommend the bonus.”

“A bonus?”

The telegrapher gave Dylan a proud smile at his repeating the unexpected word. “Whomever passes at the top will be granted a wish by king.”

“…Huh?”

Dylan let out a strange sound at being caught off guard by the answer. However, the telegrapher, delighted at having caught Dylan’s interest, became more talkative.

“Naturally, requests like ‘hand me the throne,’ ‘kill someone I hate,’ or ‘bestow me a city’ won’t be granted, but most other requests are fulfilled. In the past, there have been cases where people have taken the reward and fled the country. I believe your delegation consists of elites? If anyone is confident in their intelligence, I highly recommend it.”

At that moment, Dylan recalled Avril’s special talent.

She’d have a great chance of passing with the highest score.

So that’s what this is about…

Dylan wanted to clutch his head. Still, it was obviously too late. Knowing Lawrence, he must have been working toward this goal since the very beginning, since the new king had ascended to the throne. Lawrence most likely intended to gain influence over the resources of the Kingdom of Claughton.

Assuming that this was Lawrence’s final conclusion, then there was no choice but to proceed with it. Moreover, Lawrence was sure to be confident that there wouldn’t be any danger involved. The fair amount of trust Dylan had in this judgement left him with mixed feelings.

Avril… would probably be delighted to take the exam…

Dylan found himself gazing off into the distance as the image of his wife innocently laughing with Lynn at the orphanage came to mind. With an exhale, he tried to steady his emotions.

The Kingdom of Branwil also has a national exam for appointing civil officials, but passing it isn’t that simple. It should be the same in this country.

The top position would probably be a contest by those who not only graduated from an academy with outstanding grades but had also devoted themselves to relentless study day and night.

When he thought of it like that, even Avril with her incredible talent was far from securely claiming first place. Moreover, this was an unfamiliar foreign land she was visiting for the first time. There were probably many fields of study she was unfamiliar with.

Releasing a sigh and closing his eyes, he could picture his wife’s carefree smile. It was one that lacked any sense of tension, as if she would happily tackle even the most difficult of missions.

Lawrence has no doubt that Avril will pass with the highest score. More importantly, this whole visit will be deemed a failure if she doesn’t.

Just as he had come here immediately after hearing Lynn’s story, Avril must’ve realized Lawrence’s true intentions as well. In that case, there was no way his enthusiastic wife, so determined to make the visit a success, wouldn’t take the exam.

Dylan could picture Avril’s gentle smiling rising up as his head hung in dismay.

…I don’t want to burden Avril.

He thought of her soothing personality, which was too mismatched with her exceptional talent.

Vowing to protect his wife, Dylan resolved to explore other strategies.

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