"Why did Grand Duke Babatod want to harm Princess Sails?"
"I don't know. The butler only told me to take care of that one thing, so I went to Socrates."
Annan knew what had happened after that.
"Didn't Grand Duke Babatod tell you to corrupt Reynaldo?"
Reynaldo looked grim but said nothing. His innocence was at stake.
"He did, but I never went through with it."
Call Hunter clever or loyal, but as long as he followed Babatod, no matter how capable he was, he would remain a man expected to die for him.
Hunter might once have accepted that. But now he was the Minister of War's Guard Captain. Fewer than ten nobles in the entire Kingdom held more power than Reynaldo. Why should Hunter still be the Grand Duke's loyal hound?
Babartod's enemies wanted him dead most of all. Hunter came next.
So Hunter had deliberately stalled. Whenever the Grand Duke sent The Faction to ask, he said progress was slow.
Grand Duke Babatod's network was vast, and Reynaldo was hardly the only noble he had failed to corrupt. He suspected nothing, merely planting more spies around Reynaldo over time. Some were obvious, others hidden, but Hunter had found them all and arrested them just now.
In that respect, Hunter had done well.
"I'm sorry, Lord Reynaldo. I lied to you..."
Reynaldo's expression darkened, but he waved a hand. "It wasn't your fault."
Once they had asked Hunter everything he knew, they left the Dungeon and returned to the Study.
"Do we make our move?" Reynaldo asked.
"Let me think."
The person they were about to move against was no underling or peripheral figure. He was a true heavyweight. At least five councilors stood with him, perhaps as many as ten.
Annan was not afraid of that. The