Darius let out a chuckle and didn’t deny it.
Eoryun was stunned.
After a long pause, he hesitantly spoke, "...No way. That’s actually true?"
"More or less." Illiya sifted through his mory for records about the Areuseon Kingdom and found sothing to support the claim. "There was once a king who was excessively indulgent, which led to heavy taxation and widespread famine. Eventually, a rebellion arose. Unfortunately for the rebels, the very day their leader ascended the throne, the kingdom was struck by a drought. On the second day, a sudden snowstorm hit. On the third day, torrential rains followed... And you can imagine what happened next—disaster after disaster. In the end, they had to bring back the previous king’s child to take the throne in order to save the country."
Eoryun: ???
I don’t get it, but I’m completely shocked.
Darius could feel the stunned gazes directed at him, and he, too, felt exasperated.
"As Illiya said, the Areuseon Kingdom does have this ridiculous passive trait. The throne can only be held by soone from the Jinmu family. And that’s not all—the next successor must be the firstborn child of the previous king. Only if the firstborn dies does the right pass to the second child. When Seoryun told about this, I was just as shocked as you are now."
Eoryun’s jaw dropped. "This... No way, this has to be fake, right???"
Darius gave a bitter smile. "That’s what I thought, too. Then they suggested I try it out for myself. Ah... truly, ’try and die.’"
Illiya expressed his sympathy.
There was no need to ask—this particular swordsman must have nearly beco the infamous ’destroyer of a nation,’ soone whose na would be recorded in the history books.
Darius reached a conclusion: "First, the previous king had only one child—Seoryun—so he was the sole heir. Now, we’ve already confird that the king we t today is a fake. Yet, the Areuseon Kingdom is still intact. That ans we can guess what happened to Seoryun."
"Seoryun is not only alive, but he’s probably doing just fine," Illiya followed up. "In fact, it’s likely that Seoryun has been interfering behind the scenes. Otherwise, there’s no way a fake Seoryun could have ruled as king for over a decade while the kingdom remained stable. I refuse to believe there’s no manipulation involved here."
Darius: ...
He was at a loss for words and even took a mont to consider Illiya’s possibility.
He hesitated before speaking, "Maybe, probably... Based on what I know, there’s a high chance that Seoryun did sothing like this."
At that mont, everyone present fell silent.
So why had they rushed to the royal capital in such a hurry?
Just to see what the fake king looked like?
Suddenly, they weren’t sure who they should be sympathizing with.
Should they feel sorry for the imprisoned Seoryun, or for the "Seoryun" being played like a clown?
After analyzing Seoryun’s situation, Illiya’s group realized that the real king might actually be living quite well, and suddenly, they didn’t feel as concerned anymore.
The reason they had rushed to the royal capital was to confirm the king’s safety.
Now, aside from not being able to find him, everything else was fine.
There was no longer any need to be so anxious.
With this reassurance, everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had finally been lifted from their shoulders.
Eoryun yawned.
After keeping his nerves tense for so long, it was only natural to feel tired once he relaxed.
"So if Seoryun is safe, does that an we’re free? We can finally take in the sights of the royal capital, wander around, and, most importantly, stock up on souvenirs before we head back."
Illiya nodded in agreent.
Eoryun’s idea gave him inspiration—this was a great opportunity to buy so souvenirs and send them back to the Elven Forest.
He had been away for a long ti, and naturally, he missed his elders.
It was ti to send sothing back to show his appreciation.
Just as they were dreaming of a beautiful future, a low, hoarse voice broke through the room, pulling them back to harsh reality.
"A foul presence."
Drow raised his head and looked forward, but his gaze had no clear focus, as if he were seeing sothing far beyond the room.
"This presence is making the elf in uncomfortable." Drow’s expression was grave. "It’s fragnted—like a mix of rot and decay, but at the sa ti, there’s a trace of life in it. As if it’s half-alive and half-dead."
Illiya suddenly realized sothing.
He had been feeling like he’d forgotten sothing important, and Drow’s words triggered all his mories to return at once.
"It’s corruption." Illiya sighed in frustration. "How could I have forgotten sothing this important?"
Seeing the confusion in the others’ eyes, he quickly explained, "You all know about the elves’ racial traits—we’re particularly sensitive to auras. Back when I was near that black-haired knight called Narae, I already sensed sothing off-putting about his aura."
Darius’s expression darkened. "So you’re saying Narae is in danger?"
At this thought, he could no longer sit still.
Back when he was still the captain of the Royal Knights, Narae had been one of his n.
Aside from their forr connection as comrades, Narae had always had a weak presence in the knight order, his face practically screaming ’easy target’ for bullying.
If he was really in danger, this was bad.
And now that Narae was the fake king’s personal knight, wasn’t that even more dangerous?!
Illiya shook his head, rejecting the idea while also reassuring Darius.
"No, it’s not Narae. Narae is fine. He just has traces of corruption on him. It’s more like he was contaminated after long-term exposure to corrupted beings rather than sothing coming from within him."
Hearing that Narae was fine, Darius let out a breath of relief.
However, before he could finish exhaling, he heard the second half of the statent—and it caught in his throat, nearly choking him.
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