The welcoming ceremony was brief.

Not only had it been designed to be simple from the start, but there was too much to discuss to waste time on formalities.

As soon as they entered the White Palace, William dismissed the others and spoke directly.

“You must have had a tiring journey, Sir Aizen. And I sincerely thank you for saving my retainers.”

“Haha, this old man is just glad to have been of some help to Your Highness. No, I suppose I should say Your Grace now.”

Aizen regarded William with an expression of nostalgia.

Not long ago, William had merely been the third son of a noble house.

Now, he was a Duke—a Marcher Lord—and people were addressing him as Your Grace.

“Truly remarkable. You always seem to surpass my expectations.”

“You flatter me. None of this was achieved by my own ability—it was only through the generosity of His Majesty.”

“A man may own a feast, but if his throat is too narrow, he will choke on it and die. The Emperor must have believed you capable of swallowing what he gave you. And Duke Sigmund surely…”

Aizen’s words trailed off, his face darkening.

The one who had united them all was now gone.

As the weight of that reality settled over them, William turned to Hans.

“Hans.”

“Yes, my lord—ah, I mean, Your Grace.”

“What exactly happened? Did Jordi really commit treason?”

Hans hesitated, then nodded grimly.

“I had my doubts at first, but… yes. He actually did it. However, I don’t know exactly how it unfolded.”

“What do you mean? You weren’t at the estate when it happened?”

“No, I fled before it all began. At first, they let me leave without issue, so I thought everything was fine… But then, suddenly, they chased after me and captured me again. I was imprisoned until Sir Aizen managed to rescue me.”

William’s expression twisted.

They let him go, only to recapture him later?

To Hans and the others, it must have seemed bizarre and senseless.

But to William, the reasoning was clear as day.

That bastard… He only decided to use Hans as a hostage after I received Asagrim.

It wasn’t strange.

As the third prince of House Hern, William would have lost everything had he been exiled from the family.

From Jordi’s perspective, successfully executing the coup and blocking William’s return was more than enough.

However, things changed when William became the ruler of Asagrim and the Duke of Grimaldi.

Even if he had been cast out of the family, he could still reign as a legitimate lord.

And there was much more to plunder from him now.

‘I expected all of this. None of it surprises me. Except for one thing—the time it took him to learn the truth.’

When Jordi first released Hans without resistance, William had already received Asagrim.

Naturally, Hans, believing himself to be safe, had breathed a sigh of relief after successfully escaping the family estate.

But just as he arrived in Asagrim, Jordi’s men were sent to capture him again.

‘If Jordi had known about the imperial decree immediately, he wouldn’t have let Hans go in the first place. On the other hand, if he only learned about my appointment after I arrived, Hans would have been too far gone to catch.’

Yet, Jordi had received this information at an oddly in-between moment.

It was fast, undeniably so, but not quite real-time.

And in contrast, his coup had been launched the moment Grand Duke Siegmund drew his last breath.

‘The timing is all wrong. How could he learn about my appointment to Asagrim so much later, yet know about my father’s death the instant it happened?’

“Your Highness, is something troubling you?”

Aizen’s voice pulled William from his thoughts.

Unable to find an answer on his own, he decided to consult the others.

“It’s Jordi. His actions make no sense.”

“How so?”

“If you examine the timeline of his movements, the timing of his information is completely inconsistent.”

William calmly laid out his reasoning.

Jordi had access to information that was astonishingly quick yet not instantaneous.

Hans had been released and then suddenly recaptured, while the coup had been initiated with almost supernatural speed.

The lack of consistency made it difficult to pinpoint the source of his intelligence.

“Isn’t it strange? We can guess why he acted, but how exactly is he receiving information that varies so wildly in timing?”

“Hmm. I think I understand.”

“…What? You do?”

William and his retainers turned to Aizen, stunned.

The Sword Saint chuckled at their astonished expressions.

“This sort of thing happens often on the battlefield. Sometimes you receive news long after an event has occurred. Other times, you learn of something the moment it happens. Usually, the reason boils down to the capability of the informants.”

“…You’re saying the two events had different sources?”

“Not quite. More likely, the discrepancy comes from the rank of the informant.”

Aizen continued, his tone calm but firm.

“The death of the Grand Duke was something anyone could have learned about immediately. But Your Highness’s appointment to Asagrim—that was a decision made almost unilaterally by the Emperor.”

William froze.

The Emperor wielded absolute authority, provided he didn’t interfere in the internal affairs of noble houses.

Assigning an unclaimed imperial territory to a new ruler was entirely within his discretion.

Naturally, only a select few would have been informed at first, with the news spreading only after the fact.

It was inevitable that word of it would travel far more slowly.

“In other words,” Aizen mused, “this person isn’t one of the Emperor’s closest confidants. But they’re high enough to learn things sooner than most. After all, Your Highness’s appointment wasn’t formally announced after your return to the capital—it was revealed right in the middle of a battlefield.”

“Then do you have any suspects in mind?”

“There are a few possibilities. But fortunately, we can narrow it down further. The Second Prince left behind a few clues before I departed.”

Jordi… left clues?

Everyone blinked in confusion.

Aizen let out a heavy sigh and slowly lowered his gaze.

Then, in a voice laden with gravity, he began to recount what had happened on the day he left House Hern.