King Noor IV sat in shocked silence in Eric’s bedroom.
The weight of his son’s words – "I don’t rember" – felt like it was crushing him. The Queen dabbed her eyes with a fancy handkerchief, clearly very upset.
The recent visit from the Imperial Captain, plus Eric’s weird mory loss about what he did in the Roland Kingdom, created a scary mix of confusion and dread.
Suddenly, King Noor IV had a sharp, clear thought that cut through his worry. He replayed the Imperial warrior’s words in his mind, focusing on exactly what he accused Eric of and the threat he made.
The warrior hadn’t just said Eric trespassed or caused a general problem; he specifically said Eric had "broken a rule made by the Emperor." The King’s mind, which was good at understanding politics between kingdoms and the Emperor’s laws, latched onto this.
He knew, with a scary certainty, that the Emperor, Sir David, had only one such super important, unbreakable rule that all the kingdoms under him and their royal families had to follow: no kingdom was allowed to start an attack on another kingdom when the
Emperor was in charge, and most importantly, no mber of one royal family was allowed to attack a mber of another royal family outside of the official, controlled fights at the United Academy.
It didn’t matter if the attack was direct or indirect. Breaking this rule was seen as a personal insult to the Emperor, a challenge to his power as the main peacekeeper on the continent.
If the King thought carefully about the Imperial warrior’s exact words – "he attacked the Prince of the Roland Kingdom" – it all started to point to one horrible, unavoidable conclusion.
The Roland Kingdom must have officially complained to the Empire, accusing Prince Eric of Estoria of attacking one of their own princes. This would explain why the Imperial Captain showed up so quickly and acted so brutally, and why the order to co to the Empire was so serious.
But why? Why would the Roland Kingdom give such specific, and false misleading, information to the Empire? They were rivals, yes, but making the Emperor angry was a dangerous ga that could have terrible results for everyone. Then, another thought hit the King.
It was so strong, so eye-opening, that his eyes widened like he had just found a big, hidden secret. The Spider Syndicate’s main headquarters was in Roland. Eric had attacked that. Could Roland be trying to shift the bla, to fra Eric for sothing else entirely to cover up their own involvent in hiding a well-known criminal group? Or was there more to what Eric forgot than even he knew?
The King looked back at his son, who lay pale but awake in the bed. His gaze was now sharp with a new question. "Eric," he said, his voice low and urgent, "as far as you can rember, when you were in the Roland Kingdom, did you attack anywhere else besides that Spider Syndicate base? Any other place? Any other important people?"
After hearing his father’s question, Eric himself looked very confused. The trip to Roland was a blur, made possible by Alina’s power. He hadn’t even consciously known how he had traveled from his own country to another until Alina explained her teleporting ability.
He had been focused only on the Syndicate. He searched his broken mories, the parts where the System’s overwhelming power had taken over.
Then, a small, hopeful light appeared in his eyes. "Father," he said, his voice still a little weak, "forgive , I truly don’t rember the details of... of the fighting. It’s all... unclear after a certain point. But Alina... Alina was with the whole ti. The girl whose parents I found. She was there. She saw everything. She knows everything."
Hearing this, a surge of new focus went through King Noor IV. Alina. The girl who could teleport. She was the key. He imdiately turned and looked at a Royal Guard who stood stiffly by the room’s door.
"You!" the King commanded, his voice sharp with urgency. "Bring that girl, Alina. She and her family should still be in the capital, under our protection. Bring them to the throne room at once."
The Royal Guard, seeing how serious the King sounded, bowed his head sharply. "Yes, Your Majesty!" He then turned and left quickly.
A short while later, the great doors of the main throne room opened. The Royal Guard who had been sent out returned, bringing not just Alina, but her entire family – her mother, father, and brother.
They looked understandably confused and nervous.
The King was now seated back on his own throne – a temporary, less fancy but still dignified replacent that had been quickly brought in to replace the broken one.
The Queen sat beside him. She looked calr now, though her eyes still showed deep worry for her son. Eric, having been declared well enough by the magician and his wounds completely healed, now stood to the side of the platform, near his father. He looked pale but otherwise okay.
Alina and her family stood before the King and Queen. Alina was visibly nervous, her hands clasped tightly in front of her.
She didn’t understand why, just a few days after leaving the palace with promises of safety and help, the King had called them back so urgently. The mory of the Imperial warrior’s terrifying visit, which everyone in the palace must have felt, probably made her even more uneasy.
The King, not wasting ti on small talk or trying to calm them down right away, got straight to the point. His intense, steady gaze focused on Alina.
"Alina," he began, his voice echoing in the now otherwise silent hall, "my son, Prince Eric, has told that he rembers very little of what happened after a certain point during your... trip into the Roland Kingdom. I understand my son’s problem; his mory is... affected." He paused, choosing his words carefully.
"However, he also ntioned that you were with him during this entire event. You saw everything that happened. Can you tell , truthfully and completely, everything that happened from the mont you arrived in the Roland Kingdom until you ca back?"
Eric also looked at Alina. His face showed a mix of hope and a deep, almost curiosity. He had never before heard soone who was there describe what happened when his body was not under his own control, when it was completely taken over by the [System Interface], as he thought of it, the "System Window." This was his chance to understand the gaps in his own mory, to learn what had been done in his na.
Alina felt a cold wave of worry wash over her. Her eyes darted from the King to Prince Eric and then back to the King. She did not want to reveal Adam’s secret – the existence of that other, terrifyingly powerful being inside the Prince – in front of everyone, especially not the King and Queen.
It was too strange, too unbelievable, and possibly too dangerous for Adam if the truth ca out. As she looked at the King, his very serious eyes, which seed to see right through her, made Alina even more frightened.
Her breath caught in her throat, and she unconsciously took a small step back. Her parents instinctively moved closer to her.
The King, sensing her obvious fear, softened his expression a little, though the urgency was still there. "Alina," he said, his voice a bit gentler, yet still firm, "there is no need for you to be afraid. You and your family are under my protection. All I ask is the truth. Tell everything, without holding anything back, without leaving anything out. The fate of my son, and possibly this kingdom depend on what you rember."
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