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Chapter One: The King’s Orders
The day before the party where Leo would announce his fiancée, King Kobyak of the Lionel Kingdom met with Marquis Nete Deltraute to brief him on the situation.
“Turgis... My fool of a son...!” the grand commander spat, veins bulging at his temples. He was so furious, his red hair and beard stood on end in a way befitting of his battlefield nickname, the Red Lion. The anger of such a powerful swordsman was an impressive sight, and Kobyak couldn’t help but grimace.
“Compose yourself, Nete,” Duke Notorld Langley, Kobyak’s cousin and chancellor of the kingdom, urged. His features looked strikingly similar to those of his son, Shizolda. He didn’t have a beard, or much body hair in general, for that matter, but the deep wrinkles between his brows lent his face a perpetually fastidious, solemn air.
“How could you tell me to calm down?! My son is being accused of high treason!” Nete bellowed, bolting from his seat in anger.
Kobyak raised a hand to stop him from leaving the room. “I wasn’t finished. Nete, I’m sorry for carrying this out behind your back, but Notorld, Turgis, and Shizolda have already consented to tomorrow’s charade.”
Е̌nūmа̂
“What?!”
Nete, Notorld, and Kobyak had been classmates at the noble academy. Though the Langleys—a lineage of civil officials—and the Deltrautes—renowned for their military prowess—had been on bad terms back then, that hadn’t stopped their sons from becoming fast friends. Together with Kobyak, they had maneuvered to mend the rift between their houses.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Over the course of their plan, Notorld had fallen in love with Nete’s younger sister, a straightforward and easygoing young lady. The pair had faced some resistance from their respective families, but the royal family backed the two lovebirds, keeping their relatives in check. In the end, seeing as there would be no drawbacks to either party, their parents ultimately agreed to the union.
Because of their friendship, Kobyak had insisted that they speak with no regard for etiquette, which was why Nete had no qualms about acting without restraint despite being in the presence of the king.
“Why did you exclude me?!” he exclaimed.
“You would have stopped listening halfway through to go give your son a beating,” Kobyak retorted.
Е̌ň úm.а̌
“You bet I would have!”
“And that’s exactly why we didn’t tell you.”
Nete was an impulsive man, renowned for being especially harsh on his heir, Turgis.
Just like Tygrim, the kingdom’s second prince, Turgis was a twin. His brother Adams—older by only a few minutes—was sunnier, a better swordsman, and far more popular. However, he was also a wanderer with no sense of responsibility whatsoever.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
By contrast, Turgis had grown up into a serious and persevering young man, though he struggled with expressing his emotions—a product of his natural seriousness and his father’s ruthless education. Nete often complained about it, but his two friends were quick to shut him down, pointing out that it was his own fault his son had turned out that way. Still, Nete refused to mend his ways.
He had actually been considering making Turgis inherit his position in the near future. To think that he was involved in such a case now...
Ẃ.е̃ḃṅ о̊ v еl̇ Еn̈u m ӑ
Kobyak once again raised a hand to tell his friend to curb his anger. “There’s a possibility Baslam is involved in this matter. There have been rumors about magic items that can manipulate people, remember?”
“I heard about those, yeah.”
Kobyak set a bracelet on the table with a metallic clank. “This is one such item.”
According to the analysis carried out by the Ministry of Magic, the bracelet was imbued with a special spell that stole the wearer’s ability to form independent thoughts.
“Someone put this on Turgis. He remembers everything he did while he had it on, but claims none of it was of his own volition.”
“He was manipulated, you say...?” Nete asked.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
While he excelled at the military arts, his understanding of magic theory was rather subpar. He only ever used his colossal magical energy to perform sword magic—the fighting technique he used—and crude offensive spells. He knew next to nothing about magic items.
“It’s all Shizolda’s fault,” Notorld explained with visible reluctance, the creases between his brows deepening. “Turgis is besotted with Lady Darristea. Someone took advantage of his feelings and his forbearing nature, and twisted them for their own ends.”
Rumors also spoke of a perfume that dulled the thoughts of whoever smelled it. Fortunately, Aides had already raided the manufacturing facility where it was produced.
Kobyak told Nete as much, then added, “The workshop was hidden in what appeared to be a warehouse in a certain dominion.”
“Whose territory? Who’s the bloody traitor? Don’t tell me it’s Duke Abaccum?” Nete asked, glaring at Kobyak with bloodshot eyes.
A smirk curled on the king’s lips. “Sharp as ever, Nete. But no, it wasn’t Duke Abaccum’s doing. The workshop was found in Olbran.”
E n u̇ m̂а̂ . і d̃
Nete’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What...? Habbey turned traitor?!”
Marquis Habbey Olbran, the man in charge of the nation’s grain storehouses, was a year younger than the three of them. Though they weren’t as close, they had still gotten into plenty of mischief together in their academy days.
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“I made that same exact face when I first heard the news. I refuse to believe a man like him, who fell head over heels for the Baslam emperor’s niece and went as far as to snatch her away to marry her, would betray Lionel. My family has done nothing but support him.”
Habbey had eyes only for his wife. After their wedding, he became a recluse, reluctant to even show his face at the capital. He was so infatuated with his wife that he disliked even the idea of letting her see her family in the empire. There was no reason for him to get implicated in a scheme that could destroy the kingdom—he likely found the very idea too much of a hassle.
“Maybe the empire is threatening him?” Nete suggested.
“Why would they do that? They’re the ones who will suffer the consequences if they anger him.”
Ẃёb̀ ń о v̀ е́l̊ Еñ û m а
The empire had once suffered a severe shortage of food after an insect plague, and it was House Olbran who had come to their rescue, selling them grain at subsidized price. For that reason, Habbey and his relatives were well-liked in Baslam. He still sold them good grain below market value, so if the empire’s ruling class were to make an enemy of House Olbran, they would antagonize the entire populace.
“I did consider the possibility of Habbey and his wife being manipulated, so I covertly investigated them but found nothing suspicious,” Notorld slowly explained, narrowing his eyes. “Lord Ormirage doesn’t believe Habbey to be the mastermind behind this case either.”
“Why’s that?” Nete asked.
“According to him, the culprit is likely Habbey’s son. Much like your own son, he’s probably acting alone.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“What? He thinks Zumiano’s behind it?!”
Zumiano was a cheerful and friendly young man, much like his father, with striking features from his mixed heritage. However, he was carefree and nonchalant to a fault, as if nothing ever concerned him.
Ŵ e b̃ńo vѐĺ Е̃ n̆ ümа
“It’s all perfectly logical, isn’t it? He and Shizolda are the ones who took Turgis on a trip to the empire. The one who had the easiest opportunity to put that bracelet on Turgis, as well as access to turn one of Habbey’s warehouses into a magic-drug-producing facility...”
“...is Zumiano. Is that what you’re trying to say?!” Nete finished the sentence in Kobyak’s stead, flashing the man a glare. “Then why don’t you arrest him?!”
“For one thing, we don’t have proof. Turgis doesn’t remember who put the bracelet on him, nor who taught him how to use the perfume. His memories of the events must’ve been blocked by a spell.”
Notorld took over the explanation. “The other reason is that we want to truly investigate the situation in detail to determine whether the empire is involved. To that end, we have decided to make it seem like we are only punishing Turgis for his foolish feelings and Shizolda for pushing him in the wrong direction. That way, if Baslam truly orchestrated this to cause a rebellion in our nation, we should at least be able to avoid a war.”
Kobyak and Notorld seemed to want to proceed with caution this time around, but Nete wasn’t convinced.
“What do we have to be so scared of? If they came to pick a fight with us, we should just meet them head-on and crush them!” he said.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“That would be fine if we could ensure we would be the only ones to suffer the consequences, but we all know it’s the common folk who pay the price. Listen, for once,” Notorld admonished him with a sigh. “If we get proof, we can take the necessary measures to sanction them—in secret. We’re currently all working toward that goal.”
Had Kobyak been prepared to go to war against the empire, he would have come to find Nete first.
“You won’t attend the party tomorrow,” Kobyak said to Nete. “Instead, you’ll be in charge of security. I also plan on making a little change in personnel in the near future.”
“I don’t mind handling the security, but what’s this about a personnel change? Whose head’s on the line?”
“Our foreign secretary. He was perfectly adequate in times of peace, but things are a little tense these days. There was, of course, this mess with the empire, but the grand duchy has been making some rather bold moves too. That mild-mannered, mediocre foreign secretary isn’t going to be able to handle a potential diplomatic crisis.”
“Who will you replace him with?”
Е n ù ṁå
“Aides. He’s the most qualified candidate for the job right now.”
Nete paused. “What about the Ministry of Magic?”
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“I’ll have Malefident take over. He’ll handle it just fine.”
“Abaccum’s brat, huh? I suppose he’s not as bad as his dad, but... Who will run the Special Operations Department, then?”
“I was thinking of putting Leoniel in charge for some time. It’ll toughen him up a bit.”
Nete let out a deep sigh at this. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Е̃ n̈u̇m̊а
“Well, Aides and Leoniel both have remarkable fiancées. Girls like them aren’t a dime a dozen, you know?” The two sisters might have been young, but there was no one more suitable to handle the kingdom’s foreign and internal affairs.
Wellmy Liroud, the younger of the pair by a month, had a natural talent for disenchanting due to her lineage. On top of that, she could identify brilliant individuals at a glance, had a talent for acting and a silver tongue that allowed her to lead even the royal family by the nose, and such diplomatic finesse that no one even realized they were being steered toward her goals. She was also a compassionate, strong-willed young lady.
Iora Ernest, her sister, was a once-in-a-century genius and a magic prodigy, as proved by her purple eyes. It had taken her only months at the International Magic Research Institute to achieve the rank of elite mage. Her talent for administrative tasks left other nobles astounded, and she possessed a deep understanding of magic theory.
But most importantly, she had cured Kobyak’s beloved wife of the illness that had plagued her.
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“Our nation will become even grander when the next generation takes over,” the king continued. “Aren’t you looking forward to seeing what Aides and Leoniel will do now that they have secured these brilliant fiancées?”
“You want to use your son’s fiancée and her sister? I see you’re as wicked as ever, Kobyak,” Nete commented.
W_е́ bn оv ёl Е̄n u ḿ а̂
“What’s so wrong with that? It’s not like anyone is going to suffer because of it,” the king replied nonchalantly.
Nete shook his head in exasperation, then turned to Notorld. “What will you do with Turgis and Shizolda?”
“For a time, we’ll pretend to have them stay under house arrest while we put them to work under new identities. It would be a shame not to make use of their abilities, after all. Whether they manage to come back from this depends entirely on them,” Notorld replied calmly. He likely felt some sort of way about his son’s blunder, but being the chancellor of the kingdom, he kept a perfectly neutral face as he spoke.
“In other words, they won’t have to pay too high a price for their mistakes,” Nete said.
“Well, now that we know they weren’t planning high treason, their offenses are quite minor. All Shizolda did was spread rumors, and Turgis just temporarily lost his mind. Things should sort themselves out.”
Attorney General Kilrane strictly followed the law, but as long as something stayed within the bounds of legality, he wasn’t so inflexible as to kick up a fuss about it.
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“As for the rest, it all depends on how His Majesty decides to punish our families,” Notorld said, turning to Kobyak.
The corner of the king’s lips curled upward. “Just go pay indemnities and consolation money to those your sons offended—the Aulgim boy, Lady Darristea Abaccum, and Lady Theresalo Traff. Ask them if they want anything in particular, and grant whatever they request. That should do the trick.”
“Are you sure that’s enough?” Nete asked.
“In the story we plan to tell the public, your sons haven’t done anything to warrant a more severe punishment. Charging them for criminal insurrection would only threaten the peace, not to mention the sheer talent we’d be losing in the process. But perhaps the pope will be of a different opinion.”
The Holy Church’s base was located in the Baslam Empire, but there were believers all over the central continent. For that reason, the pope was known as the “landless monarch.”
The cornerstone of the Holy Church’s faith and influence was the saints—women with strong healing magic. The church constantly welcomed new saints into the fold, sending them far and wide to help people all over the continent. That was how the Holy Church had cultivated its influence.
Eńu m̌ ȧ
Legend said that, among all saints, the Pink-Haired, Silver-Eyed Maiden was the strongest of all, capable of defeating even the demon king. As Theresalo fit that description, she was particularly important in the eyes of the Holy Church. If they were to take advantage of the situation to forcibly move her to their base of operations, the king would reconsider the way he dealt with the situation.
“I’ll have Aides and Lady Wellmy Liroud ascertain the Holy Church’s intentions. If I tell them it’s for Iora and Leoniel’s sake, they won’t be able to refuse,” Kobyak said with a smirk, caressing his chin with his fingertips.
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