The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 102: Invitation (Part 2)

Since he had already decided to use the County of Whitewolf as his base, the title of Count was necessary.
Above all, he couldn’t afford to miss out on unlocking the Management Mode function, which was listed as a reward.

‘Because I need to take Serapia with me.’

Transportation: carriage.
It would take roughly two weeks to travel from the county to the kingdom’s capital.
A round trip would take a month.

“Understood. Prepare the carriage and let’s depart.”

There was quite a bit to prepare.

“Then may I inform them that you’ve accepted the invitation as well?”
“…Invitation?”

Not a summons?

“Ah! I must have forgotten to mention it. I’ve been so dazed by the cold…”

He, the herald, scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

“It’s just that—Her Majesty the Queen said she would very much like to meet you.”

“…?”

What’s that supposed to mean?

“Her Majesty wishes to meet me?”
“Not exactly…”
“Don’t tell me… Serapia?”

He, the herald, gave a small nod.

“The Lady of Whitewolf is about to celebrate her birthday, is she not?”

…Was she?

“And so, Her Majesty suggested that the Lady of Whitewolf make her debut in the social season.”

“A debut?”
“That’s right.”

The royal social season was different from the noble one.
The Battenberg Kingdom enforced monogamy.
In other words, marriages between noble houses were strictly observed.

Thus, when noble daughters reached marrying age, they would hold a debut to formally introduce themselves to society—that was the royal social season.

It involved an audience with the Queen and making their first formal appearance.
This was referred to as a “debut”.

“Her Majesty also announced that this year’s social gathering would include a special ball.”

Meaning she was even arranging a debutante ball.
Simply put, this year’s social season was going to be a big deal.

“But isn’t it too early for the season to start?”

The royal social season typically began in May.
But it was currently mid-January—just past the harshest part of winter.
Still a ways off.

“This year, it’s scheduled to begin early, in February.”

It wasn’t unheard of.
When there were major national circumstances, the season was sometimes held early.

“Her Majesty specifically asked me to extend the invitation to the Lady of Whitewolf.”

But then came the herald’s follow-up.

‘Something’s up, isn’t there?’

…Something was off.

After all, those of low status weren’t allowed to attend the royal social season.
Of course, Serapia didn’t have low status.
But even high-ranking nobles weren’t allowed if they were scandal-ridden or the subject of rumors.

Even the daughter of a duke had been thrown out once for wearing shabby clothes.
There was a reason it was called the pinnacle of high society.

But now, Serapia—an adopted daughter from a frontier county—was being personally invited by the Queen?

There had to be a reason the Queen wanted her at the royal court.
To push it further…
It almost felt like this entire social season was being held just to bring Serapia in.

That made this early social season… a divergence from the original future caused by new variables.

And that ‘certain reason’ the Queen wanted to summon Serapia to the palace—

It was just a guess, but…
Could it be related to The Chosen One?

‘Then that would mean the Emperor is involved in this social season.’

…That’s the conclusion it pointed toward.

‘Is the Queen a puppet of the Empire?’

He figured he should check the list he had taken from Iratum.

The view of the county from beyond the window.
He sat alone in his room, scanning the names on the list.

It was the list he had deceived Iratum into giving him back in Baoless.

It included key figures from various kingdoms who had been recruited by the Dark Merchant Group.
As he skimmed through the entries—

[Marceline Charlotte de Battenberg]

—he found the name of the Queen of Battenberg Kingdom.

“There’s no reason to doubt the list is genuine.”

At the time, Iratum thought he was Avarus.
Which meant—

“It’s certain that Queen Marceline was bought out by the Empire.”

That was information he hadn’t uncovered in his previous life.

“…So that’s why.”

Pieces of the puzzle from his past life were finally starting to fit.
Why the Battenberg Kingdom had fallen into disarray and become a forgotten name.

“It was because of the Queen.”

More precisely, it was because of the Worshippers of the Corrupted Soul who had manipulated her.
Even more precisely, the real culprit was the Emperor pulling the strings behind it all.

“With this…”

The puzzle was nearly complete.
But there was one problem.

…Something was wrong.

“Why didn’t I know this information?”

Why hadn’t he known that Queen Marceline had been bought off?

Sure, in his past life, he had lived like a vagrant around this time.
So he didn’t know much about major events from that period.

But he had eventually become a Predator of the Allied Forces, serving as commander of a special operations unit.
He had investigated every last piece of information related to the Empire.

Even if it was from the past—
To not know that the Queen had been corrupted by the Empire?

“Did I just… not investigate it back then?”

That was the only logical explanation but—

“That can’t be right.”

…No, it really couldn’t be.

The Monarch of Frost was affiliated with that kingdom.
There’s no way he wouldn’t have investigated it.

More importantly—

“Even Leon didn’t know about this.”

Leon Battenberg.
First prince of the Battenberg Kingdom.
Later known as the Lion of the Allied Forces.

Even he had been unaware that the Queen was compromised.

At this point in time, that was understandable.
But even after everything happened,
Even as the Lion of the Allied Forces? That didn’t make sense.

Now that he thought about it—

“All the information I have on Battenberg Kingdom is unusually lacking.”

Strangely, only his knowledge related to the Battenberg Kingdom was lacking.
Specifically, there were clear gaps.

The royal summons hadn’t occurred in his past life, so that could be excused.
But the royal social season? That had happened every year.

Especially with Serapia’s birthday tied to it, he would’ve been invited back then too.

And yet he had no memory of it.
No information on such major events.
It was as if his memories had been erased—

“…Wait.”

A sudden thought crossed his mind.
This feeling of missing memories.
The eerie gap in information.

“Could this be…”

…Something he had experienced before.

He had investigated vast amounts of information on the Empire.
He hadn’t uncovered all of it,
But he had gotten close enough to claim he approached the truth.

Like when he discovered that the Vicarious, the papal-tier figure among the corrupted soul worshippers, was actually an Avatar of the Monarch of the Abyss.

But there was one…
No—one thing that had plunged him into total darkness.

A being who could erase all records and memories related to them.
Who made it impossible to even recall their existence.
One who possessed the power of Memory Erasure—

Among the six Monarchs who served the Emperor.

The Monarch of Darkness.

So these gaps in his memory—
If they were caused by the Monarch of Darkness—

“Then the Monarch of Darkness is involved in this affair?”

That’s where the trail led.

Translatin_Otaku

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