Chapter 26: 25

Chapter 25: The Crown Prince's Surprise (Ethan POV)

　The information that "Viscount Zhangou has treasonous intentions" was quietly brought to only my father, the King, and me, the Crown Prince, in secret.
　Marquis Howard, the source of this information, had already finished capturing and interrogating Zhangou. He even obtained the name of the person who was going to be used as a human sacrifice for the kill, and stood there somberly.

“The target is…”

　Marquis Howard revealed the name, and my father and I both groaned.

“The target is Princess Aaliyah of the Kingdom of Xium… the fiancée of His Highness Ethan."

　Marquis Howard recounted the story out loud.

　Black magic users. The black magic used by the conjuror, so called, were originally used for inheritance problems in the family. As a matter of course, curses came to be used to eliminate political opponents or as a means of revenge, and now international law forbids their use.

　Of course, countries unofficially kept these conjurors. The practice is an open secret, a so-called deterrent aimed at preventing people from getting at each other for fear of retaliation.

　Apparently, the Viscounts of Zhangou are a family that has been secretly producing these conjurors. Black magic, which have been studied in secret so as not to draw attention, have been quietly passed down within the family as a secret ritual not to be shared with anyone outside the family.

　It seems that the Zhangou’s of the past had a rare talent.
　Eventually, as Zhangou's status as a master conjurors rose, he was able to easily handle black magic, and this drove him mad.
　He began to use the family's secret rituals to make money, but black magic was a crime. Fearing that it would be exposed to the public, he pretended to be harmless in the country and received requests from the neighboring Kingdom of Xium.

　As he completed several requests by them, he gained credibility as a rogue conjuror, and a big job came his way. This was to kill the first Princess Aaliyah of the Kingdom of Xium.

　Zhangou was overjoyed by this rewarding request, and in order to fully demonstrate his abilities, he used a criminal as a human pillar to perform the curse.
　Queen Xium, who for some reason found out about it, took on the curse that befell her daughter---this was the true events from three years ago.


　However, the request was only to kill Princess Aaliyah with a curse. The client said, "If the royal family falls one after another, it will bring unnecessary suspicion. I don't care if it takes a long time. But make sure you finish the job within a few years.”

　Zhangou, on the other hand, was eager to continue with the request because he was not convinced that the reason for the failure was the poor quality of the human pillars.

　The highest quality human pillar to use for a curse is a saint candidate, a former saint trapped by evil.
　However, saint candidates seldom appear, and they are difficult to touch because they have entered the temple.
　While he was struggling to select a human pillar, he received information that Baroness Silva had awakened her holy magic and was attending the Royal Remus Academy as a saint candidate.


　He believed it would be premature to immmediately try to kidnap and secure her. Even though she was only one girl, it was necessary to keep her for several years until she awakened. It would cost a lot of money and increase the risk of being exposed.

　The holy magic of a saint candidate is very incompatible with curses, and in order to use her as a human pillar, he had to wait until she awakened and fell into the dark path. Moreover, it was not always the case that the candidate would fall into darkness.
　Therefore, Zhangou chose to wait for the right time and made up a story to corrupt the saint candidate.

　First, once the saint candidate entered the school, he went through a number of intermediaries and reached out to the merchants in order to evade pursuit. He contacted her face-to-face and even encouraged the saint candidate with her eccentricities while attending school.

　And so the seasons came full circle. Baroness Silva, a saint candidate, will turn 16 this year. She will awaken in another year or two at the earliest, but by then security will be tight, so the plan was to carry out the operation after the school's graduation ceremony, but Marquis Howard sensed this and led to his capture before that could happen

　The plan was to …

　First, they would kidnap Rebecca and harm her. Then, using a merchant he knew, he summoned the saint candidate and brought her together with the battered Rebecca. Then, the candidate would be locked up with her, she would continually be accused for her wish by Marquess Rebecca, and would be driven into a mental corner and turn into a demon.

　Normally, it would have been a big deal if the candidate went missing, but it was Baroness Silva. The search for her was expected to be delayed considerably, as she was regarded as an unusual girl.
　Furthermore, they had even prepared a cover story that say that she died after running away from home.

　Incidentally, when I heard this story, I thanked God that there was no Zhangou in front of me. If he had been there, I would have killed him without a care in the world.


　On the other hand, Princess Aaliyah's side is as you know.
　Knowing her mother's regret and the danger to herself, Princess Aaliyah bought time by implying that she was not interested in the throne by getting engaged with me, the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Lendor, and behind the scens, she started an investigation to track down her mother's killer.
　For Princess Aaliyah, the engagement with me was also meant to identify those who would truly be her allies. While the search for evidence of her mother's murder has been slow, I hear that the selection of loyal subordinates is going well.

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　A nobleman from our own country is the perpetrator of the murder of the Queen of a neighboring country. Moreover, there was no way we could disclose the fact that they were planning a death curse on the future Queen. If it means that the existence of a black magic user nestled in the country has been overlooked, the authority of the Kingdom of Lendor will fall to the ground.
　My father and I both shared the same heavy thought.

　Marquis Howard continued.

“Viscount Zhangou is a rather petty man. Therefore, you could assume he was suspicious, cautious, and sensitive to everything for the sake of protecting himself.
　On the contrary, he was so petty that when he accepted a job, he drew up a contract with all the details.”(fool!)

　The document that was spread out before us was a request to curse Aaliyah, the first Princess of the Kingdom of Xium. In exchange, he would receive a title and fiefdom in the Kingdom of Xium, a guarantee of his status in court, and other details.

　And most importantly, it bore the signature and seal of the client.
　Looking down at the "proof," which I had been searching for several years, I read out the client's name.

"Queen Consort Kimberly of the Kingdom of Xium … No, the signature and seal of the current Queen Kimberly …!" (fool! x2)

　In the Kingdom of Xium, the order of succession to the throne is by birth order and is not gender specific.
　The late Queen Xium had her first child, Princess Aaliyah, and the third born, Prince Victor, while the former Queen Consort had Princess Aaliyah's sister, Princess Lauren II. This means that if Queen Kimberly wishes her child to be Queen, she must eliminate Princess Aaliyah.
　The contract was solid proof that the plot to assassinate Princess Aaliyah was an attempt by Queen Kimberly.

“Yes. All that we have gathered, the captured Viscount Zhangou and all those involved, including the intermediaries, the documents seized, and the records of the interviews by the Howards… We would like to turn these over to His Majesty.
　This is a case of great national significance. I beg Your Majesty's indulgence to make such arrangements."

　Then Marquis Howard added, as if suddenly remembering.

“However, we have not been able to catch this man … a merchant who claims to have been in direct communication with the candidate. Therefore, we have not been able to confirm whether the intermediaries' testimony that “a saint candidate planned to kidnap the daughter of Marquis Howard'' is true or false.”

　Whether that is the truth or not, Viscount Zhangou's guilt is still the same, right? Marquis Howard tilts his head with a smile. Is it too much to think that there is something hidden in that smile?


　Anyway, we now have the "proof" that Princess Aaliyah is looking for.
　It was known at a relatively early stage that the late Queen had lost her life to a curse, but no matter how much we searched for the conjuror in the Kingdom of Xium, we would continue to come up empty.
　It is unnerving that we were unaware that such an incident had been unfolding under the surface, and that someone from our own country was involved, but the result would depend on negotiations.

　I let out a sigh and my father turned his attention to Marquis Howard.

“What do you want, Marquis Howard? Surely you are not so unselfish as to offer the information … as proof of your loyalty to the royal family?”

　Marquis Howard's purple eyes, just like Rebecca's, lit up with a soft, humanizing light. Many may be fooled by this smile, but my theory is that the only way people move without interest is out of love. He looks very suspicious.

“I am loyal to the royal family.
　But there is a price to be paid.
　I will decline any offer of political engagement or marriage from the royal family to the Howard family for any reason whatsoever, from the children and grandchildren.
　As a first token of this, the engagement between His Highness Garrett and my daughter Rebecca is to be terminated…
　What do you say, Your Majesty?”

　Father seemed to lose strength at Marquis Howard's smile. A loud sigh escaped again.

“Family supremacy as always… Good, I admit.
　I am very happy for you. From the handling of Zhangou and the response to the Kingdom of Xium. As king, I will decide what course of action the Kingdom of Lendor will take."


　Afterwards, after finishing the detailed discussions about the evidence, reports, and the handing over of the criminals, Marquis Howard asked to leave the room.
　I stalled the Marquis as he attempted to leave.

“You said you would not accept a political marriage. If your daughter wishes, I am sure you would not object to her marrying into the royal family?”

　Marquis Howard replied, "Of course not. Parents wish for their children's happiness," he spoke with a gentle smile.
　It was a smile from the heart of a man with a child, different from the stale smile he had earlier.

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