I Became the Narrow-Eyed Villain in a Dropped Novel

The Hegemon of the Black Continent.

A nickname often mentioned when referring to the Eslick Empire.

An honorable title, but one that also means it's only so on the Black Continent.

From the time it began to be called an empire, it eyed the White Continent across the eastern strait, but failed repeatedly.

In the novel's timeline, it was beyond failure, pushed into a defensive position.

Leading that charge was the Vestol Assembly.

To cut out the author's rambling extraneous settings, it was the Empire's hypothetical enemy number one.

Was this idiot asking that country to send troops?

“…That’s quite a bold decision, Your Majesty.”

“One must have this much audacity to be called a descendant of Aslan.”

I phrased it as sarcasm, but he didn’t get it.

Did he really think it was a good plan?

“But Your Majesty….”

“Ah, I understand your concern, Count. Whether we can trust the words of a country we warred with 12 years ago—that’s what you’re worried about, isn’t it.”

“Do you have some countermeasures?”

I could roughly guess what the response would be.

“Since I ascended the throne, the Empire has maintained friendly relations with Vestol unofficially but steadily.”

Friendly relations, my ass.

He just accepted all sorts of exotic items under the guise of gifts and turned a blind eye to Vestol merchants.

According to the treaty signed after the war 12 years ago, Vestol citizens were allowed commercial activities in the Empire, but with numerous caveats restricting the scale.

However, after the Emperor changed, with central oversight removed, Vestol’s influence spread quickly through the Empire.

“Werner is an excellent warrior, but he’s stubbornly old-fashioned. At this rate, war might break out with Vestol again.”

“…I take it you mean we can trust them because our interests align.”

As I chimed in appropriately, the Emperor nodded vigorously on his own.

“Have you discussed the details?”

“I did, when I met the Vestol ambassador last time. He agreed readily.”

That was strange.

There was no mention in the novel of the Vestol Assembly actively intervening in the Empire’s civil war, nor in the author’s setting dumps.

After the Emperor arrested the Chartra family, the Council of Dukes easily placed Blaiher on the throne.

If Vestol had intervened, it would have been far messier.

‘He got played.’

Promises flew back and forth verbally, but in the end, Vestol, having assessed the situation, ditched the Emperor.

It was absurd to rely on a foreign army, and even more so that he couldn’t even pull that off properly, but for me, who needed to change the flow, it wasn’t bad news.

“Didn’t you receive a written response, not just words?”

“Not at all.”

The Vestol people are merchants by nature, so verbal promises aren’t trustworthy.

They consider it a real agreement only if there’s a tangible document.

“Ah.”

The Emperor rolled his eyes, as if he hadn’t thought of that.

“How about sending a letter to the ambassador? It’s a chance to confirm his sincerity.”

“Hmm… I was already considering it, and if even you say so, Count. I’ll do that.”

The Emperor replied, trying to maintain his dignity.

No need to press further, so I bowed my head and answered quietly.

“Thank you for understanding.”

“What’s this about, haha.”

An awkward laugh echoed in the reception room.

I smiled with my head bowed.

A coup can be surprisingly easy to thwart, depending on how well the defending side handles it.

Fortunately, seeing the Emperor’s behavior, it seemed I didn’t have to worry about that.

* * *

“Stop!”

A soldier in gray uniform shouted loudly, and the person on horseback halted abruptly.

“What’s the matter?”

“Inspection.”

As the soldier approached with heavy steps, the rider sighed.

There had been no controls until yesterday.

Since the Chartra family arrived in the Imperial Capital and the Imperial Army took over inspections, their frequency and intensity had increased sharply.

But a checkpoint appearing so suddenly was unprecedented until now.

“Get off the horse.”

“I’m on my way to deliver a letter from His Majesty the Emperor.”

Normally, saying this would make the other party back off in surprise.

But today’s opponent had no intention of retreating easily.

“The order is to inspect everyone except His Majesty the Emperor.”

“Who gave such an order? Does that person have more authority than the palace office?”

“You don’t need to know. Get off the horse.”

Irritation surged.

Though he held the lowest position in the palace office, he was still a noble.

He wasn’t in a position to take orders from a mere soldier.

“You people, really….”

“If you don’t comply with the inspection, we’ll have to detain you by force.”

The soldier’s hand was already on the sword hilt.

He looked ready to draw at any moment.

With no choice, the envoy dismounted.

“I’ll formally protest this later.”

“…We’ll check your belongings.”

The soldier brusquely took the backpack.

The palace official was annoyed but had no choice but to wait.

“Where were you delivering the letter?”

“Am I obligated to tell you?”

“What’s the destination?”

Again, the hand went to the hilt.

Soldiers always tried to solve everything with swords.

“The Vestol Assembly embassy.”

“Are you sure?”

“Why would I lie? Just let me go.”

The two soldiers exchanged glances and thrust their hands into the envoy’s waistband.

“What are you doing? Let go!”

“You’ll have to come with us.”

“Do you think you’ll get away with treating the Emperor’s envoy like this?”

The envoy, struggling as he was dragged, ground his teeth.

The soldiers ignored him and pulled him under the eaves by the roadside.

“Report that we’ve caught a traitor.”

“Yes.”

Traitor? It took a moment to understand what that meant.

Was he being arrested on suspicion of treason?

“O, oh, there must be a misunderstanding—treason? M-my identity is clear. Ask the palace office!”

The envoy stammered in confusion, bewildered by the situation.

Treason!

Regardless, the soldier carefully opened the letter stamped with the Emperor’s seal.

The envoy stared at the soldier as if witnessing something unbelievable.

“How dare you open His Majesty’s letter….”

“Shut up. You Vestol dog.”

The soldier’s tone changed.

He tossed the letter at the bewildered envoy.

“According to you, this means His Majesty requested troops from Vestol?”

“What?”

Despite knowing it was disloyal to the Emperor, the envoy’s gaze turned to the letter.

In elegant handwriting, the sentence was clearly written.

‘Considering the relationship between your country and Us, We request the dispatch of troops.’

“I don’t know anything about this! The palace office just told me to deliver the letter!”

The envoy shouted desperately, but what came back was a kick.

Struck in the abdomen, the envoy collapsed without a sound.

“Save your voice. You’ll be screaming a lot soon.”

The envoy nodded unconsciously while trembling.

Even so, he kept asking himself.

‘What went wrong?'

* * *

“What is this….”

“Didn’t I say a scoop was coming?”

As I smiled faintly, the newspaper president’s eyes trembled behind his round glasses.

The content of the note just delivered by the secretary was obvious without looking.

‘It’s probably about someone requesting troops from the Vestol Assembly in the Emperor’s name.’

Several hours had passed since I positioned the Imperial Army on the path to the Vestol embassy through Joseph, so it was about time for news to arrive.

It was a bit unfortunate for the letter carrier, but he was a small fry who’d be released soon anyway.

The blade would soon turn toward the palace office.

Of course, that alone wasn’t enough.

My target wasn’t the palace office or anything like it, but the Emperor himself.

“This alone isn’t enough for a scoop.”

“What more is there?”

The president’s eyes sparkled.

The information he’d just heard would have spread to most newspapers by now.

It was a stretch to call it exclusive.

“A contact in the investigation bureau leaked something more interesting. About who wrote the letter.”

“Then, isn’t that still under investigation? Publishing that would be burdensome….”

“Of course. If an internal writer did it and something happened later, it’d be troublesome. So, leave it to an external contributor. As a submission.”

If issues arose, it wasn’t an internal piece but an external one, so liability was reduced, while still securing the scoop.

The president scratched his balding head and rolled his eyes.

“An external contributor. Would someone submit something like that?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve arranged it. Do you know Stunner Morrison by any chance?”

“The one who writes travelogues from the Northern Federation, and, ahem, those low-quality exposés?”

“Exactly. As expected from someone seasoned in publishing, you know well. That friend will submit it under his own name.”

Stunner’s books were somewhat known in the Empire.

He didn’t have a broad readership, but he definitely had fans.

If such a writer submitted under his name, it would draw attention.

To the president, torn between the chance to outshine other newspapers and the potential investigation fallout, I threw the final bait.

“If you’re uneasy, this Valheit will guarantee the submission’s safety. I’ll even write a memo.”

“Really? Then… Yes, we’ll run it. Where is Mr. Stunner?”

“He should be waiting outside. I’ll send him in on my way out.”

“Ah, please do.”

“That’s my line, haha.”

After a firm handshake, I stood and left the room, where Stunner was fidgeting.

“You heard everything, right.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“I trust you’ll write it as I said. But don’t cross the line. It’ll be hard to help if you get arrested.”

I pushed the grim-faced Stunner into the president’s office.

The president’s warm voice was heard.

He had decent writing skills, so he’d handle it well.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Humming to the imagined whir of the printing presses, I left the newspaper office.

Whether aware of tomorrow’s uproar or not, the night streets were quiet.

* * *

“Did you see the paper? Someone requested troops from Vestol through the palace office!”

“You, slow on the uptake. That was settled at dawn. This is the real deal now.”

“What’s this, an op-ed: Who Sent the Letter? What’s it say?”

“Buy it and read it yourself. It’s worth the money!”

In every corner of the streets, people gathered in groups of three or five, whispering over newspapers.

Some raised their voices in anger, others lowered them, glancing around.

What they all had in common was holding or tucking under their arms the 「Empire Current Affairs Daily」.

“I heard soldiers raided the Current Affairs Daily this morning.”

“Trying to silence them, huh? Somehow, His Majesty is, well, it’s awkward to say, but involved….”

“There’ve been rumors for ages about him being chummy with those Vestol bastards. I heard from someone I know that the money Vestol merchants offered to the palace was enormous.”

Rumors spread swiftly from mouth to mouth.

By the time Werner summoned Joseph, the entire Imperial Capital was abuzz with the letter news.

“What is Valheit doing?”

Werner barked immediately.

Sighing inwardly, Joseph answered calmly.

“Yes.”

“I’ll get that bastard right now!!”

A furious roar echoed.

But it was impossible to scoop up rumors that had already spread far and wide.

“Summon the newspaper presidents. I’ll explain personally.”

It was exactly as Valheit had anticipated.

‘Just how far does his plan go? He’s someone I absolutely don’t want as an enemy.’

Joseph clicked his tongue inwardly as he relayed his father’s orders.

The plan had already begun.