âMiss Icarus!â Cazes shouted, delighted.
The two people that had just entered the room were the âHeaven's Mindâ Icarus and Cain de Harry, the first knight of the Sanders Family.
âWhen did you two arrive in Arcadia?â
âDonât ask. We would have arrived sooner if she hadnât dawdledâŠâ Cain grumbled.
âHuh?â Icarus gave Cain a death glare. âWhere is your conscience?â
âI sold it off, so I only have one heart now.â
âDo you really want to talk nonsense now?â Icarus growled.
âIâm not lying, you know. We could have used a warp gate, but you insisted on getting to Arcadia by foot. Thatâs why weâre late.â
âI told you that suspicious movements have been detected in every warp gate. The state of affairs around the continent is unusual, and a lot of people are after us.â
âYouâre with me, so why are you worried about getting ambushed?â
âGetting ambushed is the least of our problems. If the fact that weâre away right now becomes known, what would happen to Sir Ulabis? Heâs already working hard on his own! Our enemies would have so much fun!â Icarus said sarcastically.
âYouâre quite sarcastic to a person who is older than you.â
âForget it.â Icarus turned around.
Charles smiled. âYou two still get along well.â
âNo way!â Icarus and Cain shouted in perfect synch, as if they had planned it in advance.
âHahahaha!â Charles laughed out loud.
Icarus realized her mistake and immediately apologized. âI-Iâm sorry, Lady Charles.â
âDonât be. Anyhow, we also arrived just now.â
Icarus quietly heaved a sigh of relief and took a look around.âIâm sorry to everyone else too.â
âIn that case, why donât you have a drink with the Reserve Battalion knights someday?â Ranger smiled mischievously.
âPardon? Drink?â Icarus opened her eyes wide.
âItâs always good to have a drink with a beautiful woman. Much of the Auxiliary Battalion are actually bachelors.â
âNo way!â Cain shouted.
ââŠHuh?â
âNo way in hell. Over my dead body.â
Ranger stared at him in disbelief.
Icarusâ reaction wasnât different. âWhy do you get to decide that, Sir Cain?â
âAh, I donât know. You just canât.â Cain looked away.
Icarus tilted her head in confusion. âYou really are a weirdo.â
Charles realized that their conversation was never going to end at this rate.
âIcarus,â she interrupted.
âYes, Lady Charles.â
âWhat can we do to help smoothen Joshuaâs path to becoming the emperor?â
Once Charles mentioned Joshua, Cain and Icarus instantly turned serious; they thought the world of Joshua.
âAs you already know,â Charles said, âthe biggest problem is the Twelve Families.â
ââŠYes, my master has already shown enough of his power, but the nobles from the Twelve Families likely think that theyâll be executed if my master ascends the throne,â Icarus said.
âYeah,â Charles agreed. âBesides, the princes might have made an agreement between themselves, but the law is clear: the only one who can choose the next emperor is the current emperor. Since there is no crown prince in Avalon right now, the nobles have a justifiable cause to oppose him.â
âItâs more than possible for them to throw a tantrumâŠâ Ranger added. âThat was why you were worried about them fighting until the end.â
âThat is right.â Charles nodded.
âMmmmâŠâ Ranger grunted. He couldnât see a way through the situation.
âYou have a solution, right?â Charles asked Icarus.
Everyone inside the room turned to look at her hopefully.
âWe really donât have many options if we canât persuade them,â Icarus bluntly replied.
âDo-donât have many optionsâŠ? Do you mean we have more than one option?â Ranger asked.
Without saying yes or no, Icarus turned elsewhere. âIn order to do so⊠we need your help, Lady Charles.â
ââŠHuh? Me?â Charles pointed at herself.
Icarus beamed. âYes, you, Lady Charles.â
âWhat do you mean, you need my helpâŠ?â
âIf someone doesnât listen, then take it up with their superior.â
Charles was even more confused.
âOur operation is named âHoneytrapâ,â Icarus declared.
* * *
âWild King,â Joshua called.
The death knight gave him a questioning look.
âWhat would you do if I became the emperor of Avalon? You werenât just an ordinary noble of the Swallow Empire, you were the head of a respected noble family. A knight canât serve two masters, so can you really become a part of an enemy country?â Joshua asked. Having resolved to consider other peopleâs feelings, he had been worrying about this.
However, his worry about tainting the Wild Kingâs honor or dignity was useless.
-From the day I decided to be reborn, I abandoned my country and my name. Right now, Iâm not a duke of the Swallow Empire nor âWild Kingâ Altsma. Iâm just Joshua Sanderâs knight. All else aside, I genuinely admire you, my one and only master.
The Wild Kingâs answer made the last trace of hesitation in Joshuaâs heart disappear.
ââŠIâll become a master who lives up to your expectations so I can repay your trust.â
-I trust you.
Joshua marched forward to the faraway palace of the Avalon Empire.
* * *
After Kaizen walked into the black hole, a pool of light surrounded him.
âUgh!â Kaizen frowned. âWait, there is a place like this behind the palaceâŠ?â
The only thing he could see was a cave in a very dense forest.
âWelcome, Second Prince Kaizen.â
Kaizenâs eyes widened. There were other people standing with the man that had introduced himself as Marco.
Kaizen stayed on his guard. âYouâreâŠâ
There were three people in total. One was a beautiful man with impressively long blonde hair wearing snow-white clothes.
âThank you for accepting our invitation,â the blonde man said.
âWho⊠are you?â Kaizen asked.
âIâm Jabel, the second apostle.â
âWhat in the world are these apostles? Why donât you explain anythingâwhy do you keep getting on my nerves?â Kaizen growled, using bravado to shake off his own fear.
âYou donât have to be on alert,â Jabel replied. âYou just need to deliver this to your sisterâŠâ
Kaizen froze as something floated in the air on its own and slowly flew toward Kaizen.
âA mageâŠ? No, he looks more like a knight,â Kaizen thought.
Kaizen wasnât a talented swordsman, but by using an endless supply of mana elixirs in the imperial palace and the most advanced mana training techniques, he had become a Class C knight long ago. Which was probably why Kaizen finally realized why something felt really off.
âHeâs at a level I canât even imagine reachingâŠ! Where did such monsters come from?â
A drop of sweat rolled down Kaizenâs back.
âTake it,â Jabel urged.
âWhat⊠is this?â
âWe need this to execute our plan, so you need to deliver this to Princess Serciarin,â Jabel told him.
Kaizen stared, mesmerized, at the finger-sized black crystal that was floating right before his eyes. Even in Kaizenâs eyes, the crystal buzzed with extraordinary power.
âItâs dangerous!âÂ
Kaizen knew it instinctively, so he slowly took a few steps backward.
âIâm not good at lying, so Iâll be honest: If you take this to your sister, sheâll die without a doubt,â Jabel said.
Kaizenâs face flushed red. âHo-how dare youâ!â
He now wondered if he was dealing with a mad man right nowâor else how could Jabel say he was going to kill a member of the Imperial Family right in front of Kaizen?!
âWhy are you shocked? Havenât you already done something similar to the same person?â
Jabel was talking about how Kaizen took Sersiarin to his palace on the day she was dying.
Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original.
âHo-how do youâŠ?â
âWe have eyes and ears around the entire palace,â Jable nonchalantly revealed.
âAre you⊠demons?â Kaizen asked.
âDemons?â Jabel repeated disbelievingly.
âI know that there is an evil group within the imperial palace that is capable of controlling the undead. Are you part of that group?â
ââŠWell, we did try to use the undead, but donât you already know that he took them all away?â
âHeâŠ?â Kaizen blankly repeated.
âJoshua Sanders, that son of a bitch.â
Kaizenâs eyes widened.
âDo you know why weâre going through all this trouble when we could just kidnap the princess?â Jabel asked.
ââŠWhy?â
âWe wanted to give you a chance.â
âA chanceâŠ?â
âThe man I served ordered me to not harm the princes, which means only one thing: even if we take the throne, the nobles wonât accept us since they donât even know who we are. In other words⊠â Jabel looked straight into Kaizenâs eyes. â...he decided that this country will always belong to the Britten Family.â
âY-yes! I donât know who you serve, but heâs smart.â
âProve yourself by doing this. Take our hands and weâll make you the next emperor.â
Kaizen thought hard about the offer. It wasnât bad for him at all. Besides, he could use all the help he could get right now, butâŠ
âHow would I know you wonât betray me?â Kaizen asked.
âBetray you?â
âI donât know who you all are or what your goal is, so how am I supposed to trust you enough to work together?â Kaizen eyed the man that was standing silently behind Jabel and Marco. âReveal your face.â
ââŠI have no other choice.â The man wearing a robe sighed quietly and grabbed his hood, very slowly revealing his face.
ââŠHuh?â
Kaizenâs doubts had been piling up, but the manâs face blew it away like a punch in the face. He really couldnât believe his eyes right now.
âHo-ho-howâŠ?â Kaizenâs voice trembled, but his body shook even harder.
âItâs been a while, Kaizen. Has it been around three years?â
âHup!â Kaizenâs knees gave out and he collapsed to the ground.
The manâs voice seemed familiar to Kaizen, but that was all heâd thought about it because the possibility of it being the same person was too ridiculous to be true.
The man standing in front of Kaizen should never have been there. He was the worst tyrant in the history of the Avalon Empire.
Kaizen finally muttered, âFa-fatherâŠ?â
Sponsored Content