NOVEL NEXT Chapter 214
Chapter 214. The Beggar Siblings – Night Sky
“Have a good night, Your Highness.”
Leo nodded to Galren, who had been drinking with him, and sent him away. However, Leo did not go to bed immediately. Instead, he sat in the quiet and very humble church guest room, finishing the remaining liquor and snacks. His thoughts were consumed with investigating Lord Bart.
A knight blinded by revenge with no mercy in his actions, yet extremely loyal. But when it came to Duke Tertan, Lord Bart displayed an indescribable hostility. This was evident even after he met me, indicating that his desire for revenge was not solely because he lost his lord due to the duke.
His comrades.
Whatever the reason, many of his comrades, who had shared hardships with him, lost their lives while being pursued by the army raised by Duke Tertan. This was all Leo knew about Lord Bart’s inner thoughts.
I simply don’t understand.
Having run out of alcohol and even picked clean the crumbs of the snacks, Leo tidied up the messy table. He opened the window to ventilate the now warm early summer night and was about to go to bed when—
*Knock, knock*
Xenia Zachary was at the door. She knelt with courtesy in the dark hallway.
“I apologize for the late hour. Princess Lena has requested your presence.”
It was indeed quite late. However, Leo simply replied, “Lead the way.” He pulled his hood over his head and followed Xenia without further comment. He only asked for the reason after they left the church and boarded the carriage Xenia had brought.
“What is this about?”
“I’m not sure. She only mentioned that there is something to celebrate.”
…Lena must have told her not to say anything.
Xenia Zachary was once again Lena’s guard. The illegitimate daughter of Baron Zachary and a knight of the First Order, she excelled in swordsmanship and etiquette. Being a woman, she was assigned to stay close to Lena.
Although Leo would feel more at ease if Lev were by Lena’s side, Lev lacked a knighthood and was too young to be a suitable escort for a princess. As a result, Lev, having suddenly become unemployed, was spending his days leisurely hovering around Lena.
According to Lev, people saw him as a mercenary who expected rewards after occasionally helping a prince, to which Leo had laughed heartily.
Realizing that his sister intended to surprise him, Leo refrained from asking further questions.
Instead, he asked, “Is guarding Lena difficult?” and “Any interesting events recently?” He had already heard everything he needed to know from this woman in the scenario, so he asked trivial questions.
Xenia began,
“Actually, the princess went out for an outing the day before yesterday. She seemed to enjoy it very much.”
She continued to share that the princess had spent a long time staring blankly at the royal palace and that she bought a set of cosmetics from the Kingdom of Belita, only to find they were defective, which made her furious.
Ha-ha.
Could this be an {event}? One that occurs whenever Xenia meets Lena?
But nothing special happened this time either, so Leo simply nodded lightly. Eventually, the carriage arrived at the Marquis of Arne’s mansion.
The mansion of Marquess Arne, the northern margrave of the Kingdom of Conrad and a promised supporter of Leo, was located on Moritz Avenue, where the mansions of the nobles were concentrated. It was directly opposite the mansion of Duke Tertan, which Leo found to be quite coincidental.
He stared at the duke’s mansion, which was shrouded in darkness, and then turned and entered the mansion.
The mansion of Marquess Arne was unique compared to other mansions.
First, the building was constructed of stone.
Given the characteristic scarcity of stone in the Kingdom of Conrad, where houses are usually built with bricks and wood, this was quite an unusual sight. This was because his territory bordered the Kingdom of Eisel, known as the Magic Kingdom. The stones used to build this mansion came from Aisel.
In fact, importing rock from the Kingdom of Orun, which is mostly mountainous, would have been cheaper.
However, due to a peculiar rivalry between the Kingdom of Orun and the Kingdom of Conrad to flaunt their wealth, luxury goods like stone were only offered for sale, not purchased.
Marquess Arne capitalized on this. He accumulated great wealth through trade with the Magic Kingdom and proudly built his mansion out of stone. The interior was also filled with exotic items from the Kingdom of Eisel.
However, underestimating Marquess Arne as a lucky merchant would be a mistake. He was a nobleman who possessed the most powerful fleet on the continent.
This fleet typically covered its maintenance costs through whaling operations, except for the fleet owned by Count Oscar of the Jerome Holy Kingdom, which had no rivals.
Honestly, Leo thought, what does the sea have to do with us? He shook hands with the slim, tanned Marquess Dennis Arne. Although the marquess had spent his youth with rough sailors, he often did not practice proper etiquette despite knowing it.
“Welcome.”
“…It wasn’t my sister who summoned me but you, Marquess.”
Despite his tanned skin, the marquess had a very refined appearance and smiled warmly. Shaking his head, he dismissed the formality.
“That would be impossible. How could I dare summon the prince? This way, please. The princess and a very welcome guest are waiting.”
Marquess Arne led Leo to a small banquet hall. A long table was set, candles more than half burnt, and empty glasses and dishes indicated they had already celebrated among themselves. And there, still holding a glass, was Lena and…
“Let me introduce you. This is Listad Jungeon Doroff. Lord Listad, this is Prince Leo de Yeriel.”
“…Please, just call me Listad Jungeon Doroff, no need for titles.”
A wizard was present. The middle-aged, unshaven man whom Leo vaguely remembered from the past insisted on being addressed by his full name even in his inebriated state. Marquess Arne shrugged, and Lena giggled, making it clear that his request would likely go unfulfilled.
“Really…”
“Oh! Are you going to get angry again? Don’t forget that the penalty is to show some magic. Brother, you’re here? Sit next to me.”
Leo greeted the wizard and then sat beside Lena, not wanting to spoil the relaxed atmosphere. However, he didn’t like how his sister was teasing the wizard by lightly tapping his hand.
It wasn’t the first time he had seen this.
Lena adjusted her speech to match whoever she was with and managed the atmosphere as she desired. But rather than being proud, Leo, as her brother, felt uncomfortable. He had an idea why his sister had changed so much…
[ Achievement: Twenty Photographs – Occasionally, Lena faintly recalls the past through dreams. ]
The small banquet hall flickered with candlelight.
Leo felt a sense of guilt that was out of place in the jovial conversation between the marquess, the princess, and the wizard. Tormented in a world detached from theirs, Leo thought to himself:
‘You’re living too comfortably, Leo de Yeriel.’
Taking a small breath, he swallowed his lingering regrets and held his sister’s hand under the table. Despite her bright smile as she turned to ask, “Why?”, Leo couldn’t discern if the smile was genuine.
“How did this happen? Why is the wizard here?”
“It’s a bit of a long story.”
Before answering, Lena subtly lifted the necklace around her neck, a white necklace with embossed droplets and engraved characters, the same one the brother and sister wore at the start of the scenario.
“I got curious about what this was.”
“Is it not our mother’s necklace?”
“Yes, but I was also curious about the engravings and characters. I knew nothing about our mother. These droplets are indeed my mother’s personal symbol. However, the characters have a different meaning. Marquess Arne told me it stands for Isadora royal family, Cornel Tower, and the Jae-gan School.”
“Ah…”
Information from {Noble Society} helped Leo comprehend.
Their mother, Ainas de Yeriel, who died giving birth to Lena, was a princess of the Kingdom of Eisel. Before marrying into the Kingdom of Conrad, she was known as ‘Ainas de Isadora’ from the Isadora royal family. The political structure of the Kingdom of Eisel was incredibly complex.
The kingdom was founded by the runaway royals of the Archean Empire through numerous strategic marriages. The nobility, bound by blood to the royal family, wielded significant power, and the Cornel Tower, the first-ever magical tower instrumental in Aisel’s independence from the empire, exerted strong influence in politics.
The royal authority was weak, and the intricate entanglement of the relatives and nobility connected to individual royals made the political landscape even more complex. On top of that, the rivalry between the two prominent schools of the Cornel Tower, the ‘Lydia’ school and the ‘Jae-gan’ school, made Aisel’s political scene fiercely competitive.
In other words, their mother, Ainas de Isadora, had ties to the Jae-gan School of the Cornel Tower.
Lena realized this and brought in the wizard, Listad ‘Jae-gan’ Doroff, who had come to earn money at the Rutina Royal Palace.
“No, it wasn’t me who brought the wizard; it was Marquess Arne. I didn’t know Uncle Listad was here… may I call you Uncle?”
“I, uh, the name is not the problem… sigh, yes. You may call me that as you please, Princess.”
“Thank you. I wouldn’t have known Uncle Listad was here if the marquess hadn’t told me. I wouldn’t have known you were from the Jae-gan School either.”
“But it was the princess who asked which wizard had a contract with the royal family. I didn’t do anything.”
“It’s Listad. Jae-gan. Doroff, Marquess. Please call me by my full name.”
“But why do wizards use two surnames?”
Lena suddenly asked, laughing brightly, and the three resumed their conversation. Leo neither joined in nor focused on their chatter, lost in thoughts of the 12th iteration’s ending, where his sister had become an enraged duke.
– Lena, born in the Rutina royal palace… (omitted) …merged the dukedom and ascended to the title of Duke of Yeriel. Lena strategically got engaged to Vivian de Isadora, the first prince of the Kingdom of Eisel, to reclaim the throne. However, on her way to the Kingdom of Eisel, she lost her life to assassins sent by the Grand Wizard of the Kingdom of Eisel, ‘Angelica Lydia Kyrgis.’ –
I didn’t know why that Angelica ‘Lydia’ Kyrgis woman assassinated Lena. But if both Lena and I were connected to the Jae-gan School, and so was Vivian de Isadora… it somewhat made sense.
Sigh.
None of that really matters.
Shaking off his thoughts, Leo sincerely praised Lena for another remarkable achievement. His sister modestly shrugged it off, but it was indeed an extraordinary accomplishment.
Prince Eric was finished.
With a plan to counter Oriax, and even in their current state, losing his knights left no way for him to survive. Now that the wizard responsible for the royal palace’s magical defenses was on their side, the rebellion was practically a success.
Bart and the necklace?
Sir Bart would soon return to Rutina. Galren had sent a messenger to the Noyar Port months ago to contact him, so once Bart arrived, they could ask him then.
Leo lifted his head.
His sister had covered all the gaps left by her fumbling brother. The day after tomorrow, no, since it was past midnight, tomorrow, he and his sister would safely reclaim their bloodline. And
…with this, the beggar siblings’ scenario would finally end.
‘……’
With his head held high, Leo stared into the void. Despite it being a moment of triumph, he did not feel joy.
Lena. My dear sister, I’m sorry.
As Lena got up to go to bed, he saw her coldly pass by her attendant, Santian Rauno, who had been waiting outside. On his way back to the church, Leo prayed to the heavens that this wasn’t the end, that it must not, absolutely must not end this way.
The night sky was pitch black, but…