The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

Humans, by nature, become complacent with familiarity.

I suppose I’m no exception.

Fooled by the familiarity of thinking I could handle it, I might have momentarily forgotten her true nature.

Kaeram is a cursed sword.

Not a benevolent holy sword that aids its owner’s complete achievements and desires, but rather, a malevolent weapon prone to leading its owner to chaos and destruction, never doing anything beneficial for its master.

It’s an entity that, if anything, brings hardship to its owner, never easing their path.

Due to an anti-eavesdropping barrier, I was unable to hear the conversation between the prince and Aschel, meaning I had to take Kaeram’s words at face value and act accordingly.

The prince’s plan, as she described, roughly goes as follows:

Creation of a squad-level team of assassins using the forbidden summoning spell ‘Marionette’, initially infiltrating as simple musicians, then commencing the operation in conjunction with additional assassins pre-planted at the banquet, and with the addition of Hellhound-like summons, causing turmoil in the imperial palace, and using pre-placed ‘Daze Stones’ to eliminate designated targets.

It was more absurd than surprising.

Would people believe it if this was the work of the prince, poised to be the future ruler of the empire, and a prince known as the second guardian of the continent?

The Daze Stone is an artifact whose use and even creation are strictly forbidden by the Imperial Magic Academy.

Of course, the prohibition doesn’t apply to everyone.

If one has the performance and usage of the Daze Stone guaranteed, along with a status that can cover it even if discovered, then it’s not a prohibition but a usable artifact.

Our almighty First Prince of the Empire must have fulfilled all these conditions.

But, setting everything aside, a question arose.

Why exactly are Prince Luinel and Aschel causing such chaos in the imperial palace?

Aside from the chaos in the palace, why go through the trouble of giving us the stones to plunge us into hardship?

Do they see us as a threat?

That seems far-fetched.

Though there were some suspicions, I hadn’t done anything yet to pose a definite threat to Aschel.

I had never met Prince Luinel before, and Princess Airen had done nothing but diligently attend the academy.

Could it be they intended to use us as scapegoats for some ulterior motive?

That seemed quite plausible.

The youngest of the royal family and the youngest of a ducal family.

Though not powerful or influential, we still hold titles of nobility, making us perfect excuses for whatever they planned.

Assassinating us amid the chaos, then shifting the blame onto someone else, seemed somewhat plausible…

But that’s just speculation, nothing certain.

It would be difficult to grasp their true intentions in the current situation.

But then, I made a mistake.

Thinking back, shouldn’t I have first understood the intentions of the cursed sword by my side, rather than theirs?

“What are you plotting, Kaeram?”

As I asked with a raised eyebrow, she let out a snort of amusement.

[Hey, anyone would think I gave you false information. Didn’t I tell you? They decided to deliver the Daze Stones through an unknowing third party. One to that young princess, and one to you!]

Right, she did say that.

Indeed, Princess Airen had a Daze Stone embedded in the pendant she wore around her neck.

If Kaeram’s words were to be taken at face value, it was sent deceptively as a gift from the prince’s side.

And in my case?

Coincidentally, I received nothing.

Or rather, it was never delivered to me.

When I first heard her words, I immediately knew who was supposed to deliver the Daze Stone to me.

It was unmistakably Emily.

However, not only did I not receive a Daze Stone, but she also hadn’t given me anything at all.

Did she intentionally not give it to me?

From what I see, she probably forgot about it.

Being overwhelmed by her visit to the imperial palace, she must have forgotten to deliver it to me.

It was just like her to do something like that.

Sure enough, inside Emily’s pocket was a Daze Stone disguised as a bowtie, which I immediately destroyed on the spot.

Had their plan gone as they wished, they would have turned the blame on Emily.

Was that their intention from the start, to see my face and hand it over?

It was clear they had brought her along with a purpose from the beginning.

Though they hadn’t anticipated her to be such a naive and clumsy maid…

Anyway, I didn’t mishear Kaeram.

If there was a problem, it was that she hadn’t spoken.

Both the princess and I, through an unknowing third party, were to receive those stones…

Wait a minute.

Suddenly, a thought struck me sharply.

“The third party?”

As mentioned before, the Daze Stone is an artifact whose creation is impossible and prohibited by law in the Empire.

Even if a prince decided to use it, the item has been banned from commercial use long ago, so the stone does not exist within the Empire.

So, what should be done?

It’s simple.

The stone can be obtained or received from a place where it is still available, from the only group on this continent that has no reservations about making and using Daze Stones.

This group is not bound by any restrictions or limitations regarding magic.

The Garam Kingdom’s Magical Society.

For them, making one or two Daze Stones is not a big deal at all.

Then, if we talk about a third party related to them within the imperial palace at present?

There was only one person.

“…Luna Rainriver?”

[It seems our master has finally noticed.]

Kaeram was looking at me with an irresistible devil’s smile.

It’s not that she’s the main culprit.

Kellin, who visited me before the banquet, clearly mentioned it.

There is some kind of scheme being concocted by the First Prince and Aschel involving Luna.

In other words, the target of using the Daze Stone is not only me and Princess Airen.

Luna.

She was also included in the target.

* * *

After the man in the black mask had annihilated the attackers, the situation was finally resolved with the arrival of reinforcements from within the imperial palace.

“It’s truly a great relief! The only member of the royal family who couldn’t make it to the shelter was the princess, and His Majesty the Emperor was very worried about you!”

“Is Father alright?”

“He had a fit due to his chronic illness while escaping, but he is now safely resting.”

“What about Teacher Silica?”

“Oh, you’re referring to the eldest daughter of the Nigriti family. She is also safe.”

Alice let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that Silica was safe.

“It’s hard to say it’s fortunate, but surprisingly, the casualties from this incident are very low.”

Alice asked, surprised, “Is that true?”

“Yes. Before the palace forces even reached the Great Chamber, all the masked assailants had already vanished without a trace. They were likely ‘marionettes’ created with magic, so it’s possible they disappeared over time, but upon investigation, most of them were found to have been destroyed after sustaining injuries.”

This meant that someone had artificially dealt with the attackers and their summoned creatures.

Naturally, a certain figure came to mind for the three women.

“Still, it’s not yet safe to relax, so it would be best for the princess to head to the shelter. We will escort you, would you come with us?”

“Yes, I will.”

Airen readily agreed to the escort.

A disturbance caused by attackers during what should have been a joyous banquet.

Even though the situation itself had ended, Airen and Alice’s minds were far from at ease.

Who could have orchestrated such an unbelievable event, and for what reason?

Regardless of how things would proceed, the aftermath of this incident did not seem to be straightforward.

“……”

Unlike the two women, Luna’s gaze had been fixed on one thing for a while.

It was the broken pendant that had been around Airen’s neck until a moment ago.

She felt a faint mana emanating from the red powder.

Then, Luna took something out of her pocket.

It was a splendid silver bracelet adorned with various jewels.

“What are you doing, Luna? If we don’t go now……”

Airen stopped in her tracks as she approached her.

In the center of the bracelet was a red gemstone the size of an adult’s fingernail, which bore a striking resemblance to the one that had been set in Airen’s pendant.

“Tha- that looks very similar to mine? Where did you get it?”

“I- I received it from a fellow member of the association who accompanied me to the imperial palace…”

She too had received it from an acquaintance, suggesting it would be nice to wear to the banquet. However, thinking it didn’t suit her, she had simply kept it in her pocket.

Since she had only seen Airen’s face during their first meeting, she had no idea that her pendant contained the same gemstone.

Luna realized.

This was no mere gemstone.

Just as she began to sense the familiar aura of magic she had often encountered at the academy,

“…?”

She heard the sound of footsteps rushing through the flower garden.

Without needing to decide who would look first, they saw a man urgently running towards them from not too far away.

“Senior Cyan?”

The man both women had been searching for throughout the banquet.

It was Cyan.

He was sprinting towards them with the intensity of a superhero trying to avert a tragedy.

His speed was so unexpectedly fast that the distance between them closed in an instant.

“…hey Luna!”

Caught off guard by the situation, Luna couldn’t quite catch what Cyan had shouted.

“What?!”

“Get out of the way!!”

It was clear he was telling her to dodge.

While she was momentarily puzzled by his sudden warning,

Luna quickly felt a murderous intent rising behind her and turned around.

“…!”

It was an unhandled assailant wearing a white mask.

The assailant had raised a gruesome sword above his head, as if ready to slash Luna’s body at any moment.

Luna instinctively closed her eyes tight.

-Swish!

“Ahh!”

A heavy weapon was swung with tremendous speed.

However, the sword cut through nothing but the ignorant air, hitting nothing substantial.

“Ugh…”

Hearing a groan from someone else, not herself, Luna cautiously raised her head.

She could feel his profuse sweat and warmth against her skin.

“Senior…?”

The moment Luna opened her eyes, she realized.

Just before the assailant could make the slash, Cyan had thrown himself to save her.

Her body was safely enveloped in Cyan’s arms.

-Drip

A trail of blood ran down the back of her hand.

Of course, it wasn’t hers.

Glancing up, she saw a vivid slash wound on Cyan’s shoulder, as if it had been cut by a weapon.

(To be continued)