Arendt reached the second floor of the main palace and soon felt a sense of discomfort.
‘It’s too quiet?’
Unlike the bustling administrative area on the first floor, this area was as quiet as a mouse. He deliberately chose a deserted path so he could sneak in easily, but it was a bit strange that there were so few people at such a late hour.
‘Did they deliberately clear the people out?’
Arendt sharpened his senses and began walking slowly down the corridor.
Judging from the fact that there was no particular presence, this area seed to be mostly filled with guest rooms, reception rooms, and studies. If that was the case, then Duke Middleton would probably be staying in this area.
It was fortunate that he hadn’t co to the wrong place, but unnatural things that weren’t visible from the outside were starting to show one by one.
‘It’s still strange.’
According to Llewellyn, Duke Middleton also made little appearance during the few days the King was out of sight.
But until then, it seed like he had been quite active.
He redeployed his troops to prepare for the invasion of the Evil Cult, and even incorporated so of his private soldiers into the royal army.
If they just looked at that, it seed like it would be safe to say that he was exercising considerable influence within the palace…
‘Why did he suddenly go quiet?’
Whether the King was dead or alive, if he couldn’t act properly, there would be no better ti to seize power than now.
However, the fact that the King had vanished without a trace just as Duke Middleton suddenly began to lay low didn’t quite add up.
‘I wonder if there’s so other ulterior motive.’
Even the fact that the King was absent was not known at all, and even those working in the palace were unaware that things were turning out strangely.
‘Then, that must an that the state affairs are running smoothly…’
Crown Prince Victor would be filling the void, but it was clearly unnatural that the King’s absence lasted for several days without anyone noticing.
‘Was the King really that insignificant?’
Arendt ca to his own conclusion.
It was the fact that, despite the presence of the queen, concubine, and even the other prince and princess, only the Crown Prince and Duke Middleton made moves.
‘Perhaps the Duke was trying to hide the King’s absence, and the Crown Prince was trying to sohow make it known to the outside world.’
It seed like the outline of things were starting to take shape.
Although most of it was still a mystery, as the two people’s intentions are unknown.
‘I shouldn’t have brushed off the talk about a new player getting involved.’
Arendt clicked his tongue inwardly.
He had already heard from Cantares a long ti ago that a man nad Duke Middleton was involved in the affair.
That was definitely a sign of sothing to co.
But he regretted that he wasn’t able to pay attention to it at the ti because his condition wasn’t good.
If only he had done so thorough research into what kind of person Duke Middleton was, things would have been a little easier.
“…!”
Arendt, who had been moving quietly, suddenly felt a presence in front of him and quickly hid behind a statue.
Before long, two attendants appeared from the hallway that turned off to the right, pushing a cart.
Clack, clang.
The sound of the cart wheels rolling over the carpet stood out sharply. Behind it, the quiet murmur of the attendants’ conversation could be heard.
“Did His Grace stay in his room today?”
“Yes, it seems so. I heard he’s been handling almost all of his duties from his room lately.”
“There have been many incidents recently. Even His Majesty has been resting and hardly ever cos out of his quarters…”
There was a fair amount of worry in their voices.
‘The King is in his quarters?’
Arendt frowned slightly as he listened. The attendants continued their conversation.
“Still, it’s fortunate that both of them always eat als.”
“He’s not said to be ill anywhere. The chief chamberlain also ntioned that it’s just a bit of fatigue…”
Clack, clang.
A cart pulled by the attendants passed before Arendt’s eyes.
‘Then does that an the King is alive?’
Arendt listened quietly, still holding his breath.
They walked down the hallway without noticing Arendt’s presence.
The young attendant asked cautiously.
“The chief chamberlain ets with His Grace in person, right?”
“Most likely. Since the aide has also taken a short leave, the chief chamberlain must be very busy.”
Soon the two stopped in front of the door. Their small talk stopped, and the older attendant raised his hand and knocked politely on the door.
“Your Grace, please excuse for a mont. I have co to clear the dishes.”
“Co in.”
A deep male voice was heard from beyond the door, and two attendants went inside.
The door closed again with a click.
‘The aide is on vacation, and the chief chamberlain is personally attending to the King… ‘
It seed like he had found so pretty good information. It was the mont when Victor and the Duke’s next target was decided.
Arendt waited a little longer, holding his breath.
After a while, the attendants ca out of the room again. The cart was filled with empty dishes.
After the attendants had completely left the room, chattering away, Arendt took action.
‘It looks like he’s still in his room.’
He told Llewellyn that he would only do so spying, but he felt he needed to be a little more aggressive.
‘He was said to be skilled with the sword.’
Duke Middleton was said to have considerable personal strength and magical talent.
In that case, rather than wasting ti scheming and testing with empty words, it would be quicker to have a more genuine conversation.
‘And…’
Adding a bit of levity to the overly stiff stage that was the Lucain Palace might not be a bad idea.
A sly, wicked curve appeared at the corner of the mouth hidden under the robe.
“…What do you an by that? Brother, if you’re talking about your uncle, you must be referring to Duke Middleton, right?”
Llewellyn, barely regaining his composure, asked. Victor, who had been staring down in apparent inner conflict for a while, slowly spoke up.
“My uncle is hiding His Majesty… he even prevents from eting with him, and has blocked almost everyone from entering the vicinity of His Majesty’s quarters.”
“Brother, you are the Crown Prince of the kingdom. Even if he is your uncle, how could he possibly stop you in this palace?”
Llewellyn asked in disbelief. Victor then nodded heavily.
“That is certainly true. This is all because of my shortcomings.”
“I understand that the Duke has only recently entered the palace… but does he have enough influence to overtake your authority?”
No matter how well-established he was in his own domain, this was the royal palace.
“He is His Majesty’s blood relative and your uncle, but that is nonsense. Since he has received a title, isn’t he soone outside the royal family?”
“That’s certainly true, but…”
Victor hesitated for a mont and then continued speaking slowly.
“That he has a claim to the succession remains unchanged. And as for , I’m just a weak Crown Prince unfit to overco these turbulent tis.”
“…”
Llewellyn remained silent for a while.
It was because he couldn’t readily deny it.
The reason the Duke entered the palace in the first place was because it seed that the Crown Prince alone would not be able to properly deal with the Evil Cult.
Llewellyn grew sowhat troubled.
‘Outwardly, they called it support, but…’
In the end, no one was unaware of the fact that the King was displeased with the Crown Prince.
Everything had been fine until now, but with the crisis, the royal power structure was beginning to creak.
‘For Crown Prince Victor, it was like a bolt from the blue.’
As Llewellyn reached that realization, a sudden understanding dawned on him.
‘That could very well be the motive.’
The once unchallenged right to the throne was now at risk of being shaken.
In that case, killing the King before he changed his mind and framing Duke Middleton and the Evil Cult would be entirely plausible.
Within the Kingdom of Lucain.
‘Crown Prince Victor is not a man who is particularly greedy for power, but…’
But since there was always a chance, he felt like he shouldn’t let his guard down easily.
“You are saying that the Duke is hiding His Majesty. Please tell more.”
Llewellyn pretended to believe him and urged Victor on. Victor wet his dry mouth with a drink before continuing.
“…Since the Duke entered the palace, His Majesty has kept him close. I thought it natural, given they were eting as brothers after a long ti… but you can probably guess what happened next.”
The atmosphere in the palace began to flow strangely.
It was never a good sign for a King to keep his younger brother closer to him than the Crown Prince.
“And then one day, he stopped eting . We had only talked about work-related things, but I felt that he was gradually distancing himself from .”
The Crown Prince continued speaking slowly.
“From then on, I thought sothing was a little strange. But still, since he was my uncle, I believed that nothing bad would happen. However, at so point, His Majesty began to avoid private conversations with .”
It seed extrely embarrassing to bring up such things to a foreigner, but he did not stop talking.
“And then we ended up arguing in front of my uncle. It was just a minor difference of opinion, but it greatly angered His Majesty.”
From then on, the King did not et the Crown Prince.
“In the end, I went to His Majesty’s residence to apologize again. But that day, my uncle prevented from entering the residence.”
Victor’s face grew increasingly miserable. His expression did not seem fake at all.
“He said His Majesty wasn’t feeling well and needed to rest, and that it would be better not to disturb him until His Majesty personally requested it. But I couldn’t accept that.”
“So what did you do?”
Victor hung his head deeply at Llewellyn’s question.
“I shook off my uncle and went into the residence.”
“Did you see His Majesty then?”
Growing frustrated, Llewellyn urged him on. Victor pressed his lips together for a mont, seeming conflicted about whether it was okay to reveal more after sharing this much.
But his worries didn’t last long.
“Can I really say I ‘saw’ him?”
As if he had finally made up his mind, Victor continued speaking while rubbing his face.
“His Majesty was lying in bed. I was stopped by my uncle shortly afterwards, so I couldn’t see him properly, but I can be sure of one thing.”
After a long pause, Victor added painfully,
“His Majesty no longer looked like soone who was truly alive.”
A stunned sound escaped from Llewellyn’s lips.
“…Yes?”
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