Chapter 80: ???
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After consuming, only God knew, how much food, Benjamin finally stopped. He rubbed his stomach satisfyingly, almost burping.
Such a mystery that his appetite today was unusually great.
It was often said that people who got heartbroken put on weight easily. So it turned out to be true after all.
Sigh......
Wait! What could this have anything to do with being heartbroken?
Benjamin rubbed his head confusingly. How did he come to relate his appetite to a heartbreak? He was not lovelorn as his appetite had nothing to do with Elizabeth at all.
Oh well......whatever.
After having a feast, the strange feeling Benjamin experienced eased a lot, thus, he put aside what had happened and refused to care about it anymore.
He wiped his mouth with a napkin, and walked into the crowd to proceed with his mission tonight and pricked his ears up.
Even though he already knew about the plan of action of the Church, hearing more of these secrets amongst the noblemen would not be bad for his mission.
One step, two steps...... Benjamin walked aimlessly.
After a short while, he heard someone speaking.
"Right, I’ve heard the royal family has been unpleased with the bishop. The attack a few days ago, it is said that an actor that the Queen loved was identified as a mage and cleansed. The Queen was depressed, and argued with the King because of this."
This was a female noble gossiping softly with another female noble.
Benjamin immediately stopped walking.
With his back facing them, he held his glass of champagne and pretended to drink it, but in reality he was focusing on their conversation.
He heard the other female noble responded. "Argue, how could this be? The King is a kind person, even when facing a criminal he would maintain his kindness, how could he argue with the Queen?"
"Yes I was in disbelief too when my female servant told me about this. But her sister is one of the Queen’s own servants, and she saw it with her own eyes. She also said that the King was extremely terrifying when he was angry, and even gave the Queen a slap."
"My goodness!"
"Oh indeed, the King’s devotion to God is unquestionable. No matter who, as long as you slander God before him, he would go into a rage."
"Sigh, oh well, let’s not talk about this anymore and go to the second floor and see if anyone would ask us to dance."
"Alright, alright..."
The two noble women left.
He looked as if he was absorbed in thought with his glass in hand.
The relationship between the royalty and the Church had always been stable. Only the kings with recognition from the Pope would be a real king. Thus, the royal family had always treated the Church well.
But, the Queen started an argument with the King because of the Church......
After some thought, Benjamin felt that the underlying crucial part about this piece of news was how it managed to leak out and not the content of the news itself.
Scenarios like the King slapping the Queen in private, even if witnessed by a servant; would the royalty let this sort of news leak out, especially in a royal ball of this sort?
Benjamin did not think so.
But the news had leaked out.
What did this mean?
This proved that the royalty wanted it to leak out.
Benjamin raised his eyebrows as he came to think about it.
This was how the royalty wanted to prove their loyalty to the Church!
But.....
But seriously, did the royalty really need to do this?
When considering this from another perspective, to show their respect for the Church, to the point of disregarding the honor of the Queen ----- since when did the royal family have to stoop so low?
Unless the Church had stopped trusting the royal family?
There must be a catch behind all this.
The royal family must have done something to cause distrust from the Church. And it must be something serious, or else the royal family would not panic and employ a strategy like this.
Benjamin gave some thoughts and came up with a theory.
It had to be related to mages.
Something enough to trigger the Church; other than conspiring in secret with mages, what else could it be?
If the royal family was like the Fulner family, having alliances with the mages; this meant that the kingdom that seemed peaceful had grave problems hidden within, and would be hard to repress them any longer.
Interesting.....
Benjamin raised his glass while he was in his thoughts and finished the half of champagne that was left.
He looked at the empty glass and had a sudden thought.
Was his alcohol tolerance this good?
He had drank quite a huge amount of alcohol, but did not feel tipsy at all; this was surprising. In the previous world, his alcohol tolerance was not this good, and he would always be the first to pass out in gatherings.
But.....
Drunkenness was not a problem; the problem was the call of nature to clear his bladder.
Benjamin had to put this huge issue aside and settle his other "larger" problem.
He stopped a passing steward and asked him where the toilet was. The steward told him that the toilet was in between the ‘corridor leading to the balcony from the second floor’.
Benjamin was stunned to hear this.
He suddenly remembered that, before Elizabeth left, she said something bizarre, ‘There are a few rooms connecting the second floor to the rooftop, please don’t go to the sixth room.’
To not go there?
At that moment, a flame of curiosity started burning in Benjamin’s instinct.
The sixth room in the corridor; what was inside?
She would not say this without any reason.
After letting the steward leave, he went to the said corridor very quickly. After he was done with the washroom, he walked to the front door of the sixth room, and stopped there.
The door was shut, on the door hung a sign which read ‘Storage Room’.
In this small storage room, probably hid something more than food and tools.
Should he take a peek?
Benjamin smiled in a self-mockery response at the thought of stealing a peek.
He realised he already decided what to do when such a thought chanced upon him. He should not be hesitating any longer. He could not hold his curiosity back anymore; he had to look what was beyond the door.
Even if the System were to appear out of nowhere and lecture him now, he would defend himself against the System and open the door without any hesitation.
As he was still in his train of thoughts, Benjamin put his hands on the doorknob, and slowly turned it.
The door was not locked.
He took in a deep breath, silently opened a small gap between the doorframe as a faint light was let out from the gap.
Benjamin confirmed his suspicions upon seeing this.
Who would light an oil lamp in a storage room?
Thus, he held his breath and braced himself, and put his eyes between the gap, looking into the room.
In the storage room, there were stacked tables and chairs. Beside the stacked tables and chairs, there was a small space, where a sixteen, seventeen year old aristocrat boy was hugging another sixteen, seventeen year old aristocrat boy, passionately making out.
"...."
Benjamin was stunned for a while, then, he rubbed his eyes, and looked again.
He saw, that one of them, was his own younger brother, Grant Lithur.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"???"
Benjamin quietly shut the door.
After closing the door, his face remained emotionless, and without uttering a word, he left the corridor. He reached the second floor, then, with heavy steps, he went to the first floor.
He did not heed the steward that greeted him, and walked out of the main entrance of Ross’.
After taking a few steps, he got himself seated on the carriage which brought him here.
The driver turned around and asked, "Sir, leaving this early?"
Benjamin’s eyesight remained straight ahead, as if staring into some unknown space and spoke with a calm and serious voice.
"To home, I want some solitude."
The driver made a weird expression in response to Benjamin. But he did not say anything, and moved the carriage to leave the place.
"Damn! What did I see, my Lord, I’m about to turn blind!" At this moment, the System that had been silent for a long time suddenly popped out, and shouted at Benjamin, "It’s all your fault! Why were you so curious? Why would you seek your own death! It’s all over, I’m no longer that super naive artificial intelligence!"
"Shut Up!" Benjamin repeated this to the System, "I have already removed the scene just now from my memory, the storage room was empty, no one was in there. I did not see anything, neither did you, got it? I did not see anything, I did not see anything..."
"..."
After some silence, the System finally spoke, "You know, I would store things in my hard drive. If you really did forget about it, I can replay it to let you reminisce that scene......"
"Go away." Benjamin interrupted him immediately, with a tone of great disdain.