*****

''The newspapers are out, Your Highness.'' An attendant said, bringing the newly published newspaper to the man sitting on the working table.

''Good.'' The man takes the newspaper and opens it.

After reading it for some minutes, he nods in satisfaction before putting it back onto the table.

''This will be devastating for the crown prince, I'm sure.'' William said, his gaze on the front page of the newspaper.

It is now Monday, William and his allies have submitted the story about Duke Forbes to most of the major news companies. And the companies have simultaneously published the story on their front pages today.

The bottom line of the story is that they had found out about Duke Forbes's inhumane act, which was slavery, so they raided his estate to capture him. However, he retaliated against two imperial family members in the process, so he got executed on the spot.

''The trial for Jack Forbes will begin soon, right? Do we have his victims with us?''

''We do, Your Highness, they're ready to testify against him anytime.''

''Good, might as well use this chance to erase the trash altogether.''

*knock* *knock*

''Come in.''

The door opens with a click, then, a maid walks in.

''Your Highness, His Majesty the emperor is calling you.''

''Figured. Let's go.''

-----

William sits down on one of the chairs inside the meeting room. Today, everybody seems restless, they're whispering to each other while looking intently at William. Probably because two major nobles died in just a few days, and this time William is directly involved as well.

Present are the usual members, the emperor and his two sons, Duke Spencer, the ministers and a few more high nobles.

The emperor this time has an even more annoyed face than the previous meeting, and the crown prince Jeremy has lost his usual friendly smile as well.

''Silence!'' The emperor said furiously, veins started to appear on his forehead.

The meeting room plunges into silence, nobody wants to enrage the emperor even more.

''...William.'' He said, glaring at his son.

''Yes, Your Majesty.''

''Why did you do that?!''

''It was just the right thing to do, Your Majesty. I couldn't ignore it anymore.'' William receives the glare confidently, his eyes filled with determination.

''You messed everything up! You just killed the one who managed our force for the conquest!''

''I had no choice, Your Majesty, he would have killed me and Christina back then.''

''And who told you to just went in and raid his estate?! Not only did we lost our best Swordmaster, but now we have to fill up his work as well!''

''I have no excuse.''

William is confident, he got the backup of the only politically active Duke and five Marquises, compared to the other side, he is sure that the scale has tipped over to his side.

''You know what? For your punishment, I will have you replace Duke Forbes and go conquer Oplus yourself.''

''Please wait a moment, Your Majesty.'' Duke Spencer said. ''I personally think that the conquest should be canceled, we need to fill the work of the late Duke Forbes first, and I don't think His Highness the second prince did anything wrong. It was Duke Forbes's fault for trying to harm members of the imperial family.''

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

''I agree.'' Archbishop Henry said.

''I'm in favor too.''

''Me as well.''

''I also think that that punishment is unreasonable.''

A few people immediately jumps on William's side.

''Whatever the cause, he DID kill a Duke, mind you.'' Jeremy said with cold eyes, devoid of any emotion.

''Yes, you can't just kill off an important noble like that.''

''Exactly.''

A few others tried to fight back.

''What nonsense, are you saying that he should be alive after attacking His Highness and Her Highness?''

''I dare say that this is His Highness's fault for suddenly raiding him like that!''

''What blasphemous-

-----

The meeting ultimately ended in William's victory, without Duke Forbes, he clearly had more support. For his 'punishment' , he will only be grounded for 10 days, which is basically a free vacation at this point.

Walking out of the meeting room in high spirit, William was thinking of how many ladies should he bring to his estate for his vacation, when he is suddenly stopped by someone pulling his right shoulder.

Turning around, he could see an unusually cold Jeremy staring at him.

''...You shouldn't have done that, William.''

''I don't need you to tell me what to do, brother.''

''You will pay the price.'' Jeremy said, walking pass William.

''...Heh, this is satisfying.''

*****

Today is Monday, but I don't want to learn from the professors, so I sneaked out to meet Stephen. I'm rarely alone this time, because I told Emy and Liana to spend some time on their own, usually we cling to each other too much, like, 24/7.

Anyhow, I need to ask Stephen to teach me portal magic this time.

*knock* *knock*

''Come in.''

As I open the door, a familiar scene of Stephen sitting at the table greets me.

''Hi there.'' I said while walking towards the table.

''Oh, Princess Sylvia, what made you come here?''

''I have a little present for you.'' I said, pulling out the pizza box that I made this morning.

''Present? For what occasion?'' Stephen seems confused.

I use mana to make a chair to sit down, and then cast a fire spell to heat up the pizza in the metal box.

''Here.'' I said, removing the lid of the box.

''!!'' Stephen's eyes widen, he then looks at the pizza and me alternatively.

''Nice to meet you, fellow Saint.'' I said with a smile, pulling out two cups of coke, just for the full experience.

''...Hah~ Why didn't I expect this.''

''That means I hid it pretty well.''

''You are right, and it was probably a good decision.'' Stephen chuckles.

''Well, enjoy the pizza, I made this one myself.''

''Sure thing, I've been missing out on these for so long.'' Stephen takes a slice and eats it deliciously.

''So, Stephen, or should I call you Saint Lucas?'' I said, taking a slice as well.

''Stephen is fine, I've abandoned my old name.''

''Alright then, I want to ask you a few things.''

''Go ahead, helping the new Saint is my duty as the former Saint, too.''

''What buff did you get?''

''Infinite mana. The two gemstones on my rings are just decorations.''

''Wow~ it must be nice not having to recharge your gemstones.''

''It is, though it was a total gamble on my side, I didn't have a clue on how much my brain could take back then.''

''It worked out though, so that's good.''

''Rather than that, what's your?''

''Ah~ I can go onto the Internet.''

''...Excuse me?''

''I can go onto the Internet.''

''How does that work?''

''Ask the goddess, not me.''

''But what do you get out of that?''

''This.'' I pull out the Desert Eagle.

''!!'' Stephen widens his eyes again. ''I see... Guns, huh. And probably a lot of other things as well.''

''Yup, it's super convenient.''

''So then I'm assuming these are in production already?''

''Not this one specifically, but yes. For now, it's exclusive to our country though.''

''I could see that... With how the emperor is right now, revealing the technology might not be a good idea.''

''It's not too bad now, I think.'' I said, picking up the newspaper on the table for him to see. ''You see, I shot the guy who's in charge of the whole conquest the other day already.''

''... I'm speechless, I was doubting the second prince's force could kill Duke Forbes, so that was you, huh.''

''Well, he was a scumbag, so.''

''You are not wrong.''

''With this, we can build up the pressure to eventually force the emperor to stop the war, if not, I might need to blow up his entire palace.''

''Please don't do that, we still need the empire intact to fight the demons.''

''That's the last resort, but talking about demons, how was your experience fighting against the demon king? What was he like?''

''In my time, it was fairly easy. We fortunately had your dad, which was and still is the strongest mage in the world, and other very talented individuals as well.'' He said. ''As for the demon king, I felt like... He was too weak.''

''Huh?''

''Don't get me wrong, he's still very strong, but compared to other demon kings before, he seemed... lackluster, I think. It's almost as though he was not a complete version.''

''That sounds very ominous.''

''Yeah, and this time... The demons are advancing suspiciously fast, I think there's something wrong here.''

Don't set up a flag, dude...

''Well, we just need to do our best, I suppose.''

''That's true, I will help you to the best of my ability.''

''Teach me portal magic then, I want to learn it.''

''...Couldn't you have asked your dad?''

''He said that he didn't need to teach me, which at that time I was confused, but now I think I understand why, seeing you here.''

''...On one condition.''

''Go ahead.''

''...Update me on the Otome Isekai stuff, you have Internet, right?''

So that was you who infected the theatre, you bastard.