The talks continued over several days.
It was the first ti Luke truly realized just how many subjects there were to exchange between two allied nations during such a delegation. During that ti, he stayed close to the Foreign Minister and kept a careful eye on Prince Heath—but nothing particularly suspicious had surfaced.
To an uninford outsider, Heath seed the very image of a gentle, flawless prince.
Several days had already passed since arriving in Welharun, and with no aningful results to show for it, a growing sense of unease led Luke to the annex dining hall.
Since this annex had been entirely prepared by the Welharun side for the Hainern delegation, at least here, he didn’t have to force a mask onto his face.
Even so, Luke always remained cautious—one could never know when or where hidden eyes might be watching.
As soon as he stepped inside, his gaze t Paul’s.
It was only for a mont, but Luke instantly caught the signal in Paul’s expression. Casually gathering a modest portion of food, Luke carried it with him and sat down at their table, keeping his deanor relaxed.
"This dish is actually pretty good today."
Paul pointed to the plate Luke had brought. The four of them began chatting about mundane, everyday things.
"Maybe it’s the change in sleeping arrangents, but I still feel tired. Anyway, what about the investigation?"
Luke continued the casual small talk as if nothing were out of the ordinary—while smoothly steering the conversation toward the real topic.
He’d been on edge all day, but judging by the current occupants of the dining hall, ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) it seed only mbers of the delegation were present. That ant this was a good opportunity.
Calling the team mbers to his room like before would raise suspicions—having delegation mbers constantly coming and going from each other's rooms could easily appear suspicious to Welharun palace staff. Unless absolutely necessary, Luke wanted to avoid such risks.
"I’ve been pretending to be a local, poking around with the people here. But everyone seed completely clueless when it ca to the group called Nox—no one’s heard of it, let alone knows anything."
"Is that so?"
Luke had thought that if the leader of Nox really was hiding in Welharun’s capital, so rumor or trace would’ve leaked out.
No matter how perfectly they tried to conceal themselves, there was no such thing as a 100% flawless cover.
Besides, it was likely the Nox leader would be accompanied by enforcers like Benzie and Hays.
Those two had half of their faces blackened by corrupted magic. Anyone who’d seen them—even once—wouldn’t easily forget it.
So then, had they truly hidden themselves that perfectly?
Or... were they simply not in the capital at all?
Luke still believed that the most effective way to prove Welharun’s violation of the treaty would be to capture Nox’s leader himself.
If they could catch him—or even just grab his tail—the entire web of Welharun’s sches could be unraveled down to its rotten roots.
"What about the prince?"
If that proved impossible, their next best bet was the prince.
Investigating him might lead them directly to concrete proof of collusion with Nox.
"Ah, well..."
Oddly, Paul and Levi exchanged glances.
"When it ca to Prince Heath, everyone seed strangely reluctant to talk."
Luke tilted his head.
"Reluctant?"
"Yes. Even when we asked, they’d just repeat information we already knew. So even walked away altogether, as if they didn’t want to talk at all."
Why?
Could it be that Prince Heath’s rule had beco excessively oppressive, suffocating the people?
But if that were the case, the citizens would usually vent their frustrations, not hold back.
The fact that they "chose not to speak"—that stuck with Luke.
While he was still deep in thought, a genuine Foreign Ministry official—one who was actually part of the ministry, not undercover like Luke and his team—tapped on their table.
"If you’re finished eating, get up. The Foreign Minister’s summoned everyone to the audience chamber."
The audience chamber?
Why now?
If they wanted to catch any leads, they had to investigate. But now they also had to fulfill delegation duties—there were so many things to juggle.
Luke hastily finished the rest of his al and followed the official.
He waited in front of the audience chamber until the Foreign Minister arrived with his usual dignified stride.
"Was it Prince Heath who summoned us?"
"Who else would it be?"
The Foreign Minister responded brusquely to Luke’s question, giving him a sharp look.
He cleared his throat and glanced sideways at Luke, as if unsure how to explain.
"He said he wanted to introduce soone."
Before he’d even finished speaking, the grand doors to the audience chamber began to slowly open.
Passing the ever-stoic Dante, Luke stepped onto the long carpet he’d walked down once before.
"Ah, there you are."
This ti, Heath wasn’t seated in the throne—he was standing at the base of the stairs.
The Foreign Minister greeted him with practiced ease.
Heath turned toward the retainers behind him and gave a slight nod.
Following his signal, those retainers opened the door reserved for royal family mbers. A mont later, a young man slowly entered the audience chamber.
In stark contrast to Heath, this man had deep blue hair. He looked young—very young.
His snow-pale skin and strikingly balanced features drew imdiate attention.
"Brother."
The mont he entered, he bowed to Heath.
"Yes, you’ve arrived. Co here."
Heath smiled warmly and led the young man forward himself.
"Allow to introduce him. This is Kyren Ferid, the second prince of Welharun, and my younger brother."
Luke had already guessed as much the mont the boy called him brother.
Before coming to Welharun, they’d looked into the royal family.
The forr emperor had one other son besides Heath—but due to his frail health and lack of exceptional abilities, he’d long been ruled out as an heir and placed after Heath in the succession order.
"It’s an honor to et you. I am the head of the Foreign Ministry and lead this delegation representing the Hainern Empire."
The Foreign Minister bowed, and the other delegation mbers followed suit.
Kyren responded with polite language and greeted the Foreign Minister.
Luke watched from the side, pretending to look elsewhere while subtly observing the second prince.
For brothers, they didn’t resemble each other much.
And it struck him as odd.
With the forr emperor bedridden and unable to rule, the regency naturally fell to the first prince.
Barring any surprises, Heath would likely beco the next emperor.
But he hadn’t been officially crowned yet.
And with the emperor incapacitated, there was no guarantee that Kyren wouldn’t seek the throne as well.
Surely, there must be a faction supporting him.
Typically, when a regency begins, any possible rival is removed from the palace to prevent unrest.
The sa was true in Hainern.
When Cedric Roelard’s father—the forr emperor—temporarily stepped down due to personal reasons, Cedric took on his duties.
One of Cedric’s two brothers left the palace of his own accord to avoid being seen as a threat. The other eventually caved under the pressure from Cedric’s supporters and left as well.
So why was this second prince still living inside the palace?
Surely the faction supporting Heath wouldn’t look kindly on Kyren’s continued presence here.
While Luke was lost in thought, Kyren made his way down the line, greeting each delegation mber with a handshake.
Soon, a pale hand extended toward Luke.
Luke bowed slightly and accepted the handshake.
The hand was ice cold.
"Welco to Welharun."
"It’s an honor to et you, Your Highness."
The touch was like holding ice—just like soone whose blood wasn't circulating well due to nerves.
After greeting everyone, Kyren moved to stand naturally beside Heath.
"I had intended for my brother to greet you with on the day you arrived, but his health is rather delicate, so the introduction was delayed."
It was clear just from looking at his face—Kyren looked truly unwell. There was no color in his cheeks at all.
Only the soft, gentle smile he wore gave his appearance a bit of warmth.
"With such fine princes as the two of you, His Majesty must feel quite reassured."
"Haha, is that so? I always enjoy hearing that I resemble my younger brother."
"The honor is mine, brother."
Kyren smiled warmly.
At first, his pale skin had been surprising, but when he smiled, his eyes curved like crescent moons—giving him a gentle, handso look.
And judging by their conversation, the brothers seed to have a close bond.
Could that be why Heath hadn’t sent his brother away from the palace?
"You seem very close."
To Luke’s surprise, it was the Foreign Minister who asked the question—sothing genuinely helpful, for once.
"Of course. I treasure my brother dearly."
Heath smiled at Kyren and slowly took his hand.
The gesture was full of affection.
Just as Luke was thinking, Their bond must truly be special, sothing suddenly caught his eye.
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