The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

10 seconds.

That’s how long it took for me to see her face and start speaking.

It wasn’t so much that I was stunned, but rather, a myriad of thoughts flooded my mind.

Eventually, feeling that pondering was pointless, I asked her directly.

“What is it?”

To my short and concise question, she responded with a dark, unfocused gaze.

“It’s as if you’re looking at someone who should be imprisoned and interrogated in the imperial palace.”

She knows well.

I didn’t expect her to have been tortured, but I thought she wouldn’t be in her right mind,

Yet, she looked no different from when we first met before the banquet.

Luna Rainriver.

She, who should at least be in the imperial palace’s underground investigation room, was facing me with steaming hot food between us.

“Please sit down. You should eat.”

It had to be the seat directly across from me.

Having no choice but to sit, I took a seat.

“You must be curious why I’m here?”

“Would you tell me if you know? Don’t tell me you’ve escaped from prison?”

“Yes.”

“Cough!”

Suddenly, Emily and Brian started coughing violently.

“It’s a joke.”

Of course, I didn’t believe her.

If she really had escaped, the surroundings wouldn’t be this calm.

“Don’t worry, I’ve undergone all the necessary investigations and was officially released. Our Garam Academy has been cleared of any involvement in this incident.”

That seemed unlikely.

The current Crown Prince’s faction is handling the resolution of this incident.

It would be too convenient for them to release someone who could potentially cover their corruption so easily.

They wouldn’t make such a foolish mistake.

“You don’t seem too happy?”

As if she was slightly offended, her cheeks puffed up a bit.

“It’s not about being happy or not. Are you sure everything has ended safely? After all, the Daze Stone did come from your side, right?”

“It’s true that someone from our side brought it, but the academy had nothing to do with it. It was all orchestrated by one person, and no one else knew about it.”

“The empire accepted that?”

“They decided to focus the investigation on that suspect first. It wouldn’t be too late to deal with us afterward. However…”

Luna continued, her expression unchanged.

“Apparently, he’s dead. It seems like he bit his tongue and committed suicide…”

The moment I heard it, I couldn’t help but let out a disbelieving laugh.

Was this another case of cutting off the tail to escape blame?

The Garam Academy must feel even more wronged.

Especially since the prime suspect capable of clarifying everything died without saying a word.

“But how were you cleared of all charges? Under such circumstances, it would make more sense for the investigation to focus more on you.”

“I’m not sure, but I heard that there was an order from the royal family to release us without charges. Both the empire and the kingdom have promised not to publicize this incident.”

The royal family ordered your release without charges?

It’s unlikely that the First Prince, holding all the power, would issue such an order.

If someone did, it would have to be someone above the First Prince, and there’s only one person like that in the empire.

The Emperor.

If what she said was true, then Emperor Dione was the one who ended this incident.

“So, I was released. And I came to see you as soon as I was.”

“How did you know I was here?”

“I just felt like you would be here, eating with a maid and a knight. So, I randomly searched for restaurants in the imperial city. Luckily, I found you quickly.”

She’s quite carefree.

Instead of rushing back to her homeland, she came to see me.

I couldn’t understand her mindset.

“I should go before the academy people start looking for me. Enjoy your meal, senior.”

She stood up, gave a brief wave, and turned to leave.

Despite appearances, she didn’t seem to cling too much.

“Sir~?”

Emily stared at me intently.

Awkward smiles and uncertain eye movements.

It was clear what she wanted to say.

She was suggesting I should see her off.

Quite bothersome.

Yet, I naturally got up and moved.

“……?”

The moment I stepped outside, her half-closed eyes opened about 0.5 cm wider.

Was she somewhat surprised?

“Don’t misunderstand. It’s just a simple farewell.”

I walked with her for about 300 steps.

“That should be enough. Thank you for seeing me off, senior.”

Her voice was lively, as if she was genuinely happy to have been walked home.

“Alright, take care then…!”

Just as I was about to send her off with those words,

She suddenly hugged me tightly.

“It seems… your wound is okay now.”

While saying that, she gently rubbed the wound on my shoulder.

I lightly pushed Luna’s body away, as if I was setting aside a burden.

“The wound is fine, so don’t worry about it. There’s no need to check like this.”

“You hugged me tightly back then…”

She pouted her lips, expressing some inexplicable dissatisfaction.

“I’m really going now. See you at the academy, senior.”

With a brief final goodbye, I simply waved my hand without saying anything, and soon Luna had completely disappeared from my sight.

[Whistle~]

As she left, I heard Kaeram’s mischievous whistle.

[Isn’t this just like a prince on a white horse? Shouldn’t you be thanking me twice for this?]

I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.

Anyone would think she had planned it all herself.

[Anyway, you’ve ruined that guy’s plan that you hate so much, haven’t you? In the end, they didn’t gain anything from it.]

“That’s right. They’re probably frowning about it right now.”

I’m somewhat disappointed that I can’t see their faces myself.

[But aside from everything else, what kind of power did that prince have to use a marionette? That’s not a magic that even a highly skilled human can easily control.]

“It wasn’t the prince. And it wasn’t Aschel either.”

[Then who was it?]

“There is someone. Unlike me, who did dirty work behind the scenes, he dominated everything from the forefront, the devil’s greatest henchman…”

I had momentarily forgotten.

It must have been around this time.

Marionette, summoning, necromancy, black magic, etc.

The strongest black magician who had mastered all realms of magic that a human could reach.

“Boris L’Hellem…”

Now, he must be by Aschel’s side.

* * *

A space in the imperial palace permitted to only one person, the Emperor’s office.

In the Emperor’s eyes, filled with deep thought, a multitude of emotions could be glimpsed.

Dozens of documents were scattered messily across the desk, but there seemed to be no intention to tidy them up.

-Step step

Someone was slowly approaching the office.

Their quick pace suggested that they had urgent matters to attend to.

The Emperor, unbothered, did not even glance at the person who entered.

“I’ve heard that you released the people from the Garam Academy.”

“……”

“Why? They are prime suspects who insulted the empire and dared to cause a blasphemous riot in the imperial city where you reside!”

The Emperor still did not respond.

“Even if the Garam Academy itself was not involved, this could have served as an important political pretext to bring up with the Garam Kingdom…”

“Luinel.”

The heavy tone was enough to silence the air, and Prince Luinel found himself speechless.

Though he called upon Luinel, the Emperor struggled to continue speaking.

Luinel had no choice but to wait silently until the Emperor spoke again.

“I will not ask why you did it. Nor will I ask how you did it.”

“What do you mean?”

Cold sweat trickled down Luinel’s cheeks.

“This is your last warning. Do not cause any more turmoil for the royal family, no, for the empire.”

“……!”

Luinel desperately tried to control his expression, preventing his eyes from twitching.

“Father, I regret to say that I do not understand what you are trying to say.”

“Don’t even think about dodging the issue. You might deceive everyone else in the imperial palace, but not me.”

“Are you accusing me based on unfounded suspicions?”

“Sometimes, those suspicions are so certain that one must inquire.”

The Emperor continued, his expression dark.

“Luinel. You possess many talents. Not only the leadership to guide others but also strong decision-making skills. You are fully qualified to be the next Emperor after me. However, you lack one thing.”

“And what might that be?”

“Tolerance.”

The Prince’s brow furrowed deeply, unable to hold back any longer.

“You treat those with talent with endless favor, but you ruthlessly discard those you deem worthless. Do you not think so?”

Luinel could not respond.

“It’s good to appoint talented individuals. However, a ruler who looks down on and does not embrace others will eventually be rejected by all and face ruin.”

It was the only advice the Emperor, as a father, could offer him.

“It doesn’t matter if the Nephelis family schemes against us. The throne will definitely go to you. So, you should also embrace them, not reject them. That’s a virtue of a ruler.”

The Emperor had directly promised his succession.

However, no joy could be found on Luinel’s face, which was bowed down.

“I hope my current feelings will continue in the future.”

After briefly trembling with clenched fists, Luinel raised his head, accepting the Emperor’s advice with a very calm face.

“……I will firmly take your words to heart.”

Walking out of the office and heading to the east annex where his room was located, Luinel forcefully suppressed his bubbling emotions.

And the moment he reached his room and closed the door,

-Bang!

His patience finally exploded, and he forcefully punched the table.

“Huff, huff……”

Without uttering a word, Luinel only repeated his heavy breathing, with a fierce killing intent filling his eyes.

* * *

Aschel’s eyes cautiously opened as he was sitting in meditation.

Beside him was not his servant Kellin, but another man.

“How is the prince doing?”

“It seems he was very enraged during his conversation with His Majesty the Emperor. He said not to look for him for a while and has not come out of his room.”

Aschel stared blankly at the ceiling.

“The marionettes and summons were annihilated by a mysterious entity, the plan to kill my brother and the Fifth Princess using the Daze Stone failed, and the plan to blame everything on the Garam Academy also fell through due to the Emperor’s command. Truly, nothing was accomplished…”

It was almost surprising that he was still alive.

Aschel felt a humiliating sense of failure, the first he had ever experienced.

“Though the plan failed, I discovered something interesting.”

“An interesting fact?”

“Would you take a look at this?”

The man pulled out a small orb from his possession and showed it to him.

“While analyzing the corpse of the marionette, I felt a strange energy, so I hurriedly captured it in this.”

As he rubbed the orb a few times with his finger, what looked like a transparent glass ball soon turned black, and then mysterious black smoke rose from within.

Aschel doubted his eyes.

“What kind of energy is this? It’s not magic, nor even the energy of a demonic beast, is it?”

It seemed like the peculiar power of a spiritual entity.

The only certainty was that it was not an energy that a human could produce.

“This is the energy of a demonic sword.”

Aschel’s question was quickly answered.

“A spiritual weapon that has inherited the power of the high gods. The marionettes and hellhounds I summoned all lost their power due to this energy.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am certain.”

It was clear through the orb that it was not merely a bluff; such vile and dark energy could not be feigned by anything less than a demonic sword.

Aschel could immediately accept this.

“So, the owner of the demonic sword was present in the imperial palace at that time, we can conclude.”

“Do you have any suspects in mind?”

Aschel, with his arms crossed, fell into thought once again.

Someone capable of handling a divine weapon had ruined their plans.

It could have been a member of the imperial palace or possibly an attendee of the banquet.

Could it be a noble, then? Who would bring such an abomination into this sacred imperial palace?

“By chance, does controlling a demonic sword relate to attribute levels?”

“Of course. Considering the characteristics of a demonic sword, it is likely related to the dark attribute.”

Upon this, Aschel gave a meaningful smile.

“Boris.”

“Yes, Aschel.”

“How about we visit the academy?”

(To be continued)