Chapter 46: 46. Tarlington Fortress

Before entering the now desolate Fortress, Damien pulled Beldroth to the side of the bridge with a stern expression.

"Bledroth, it appears you owe me an explanation?" Damien said in an annoyed tone. Although Damien knew the Prince's motives from the game, he still wished to obtain the maximum benefits from this incident, so he pretended to be more annoyed than he actually was.

The short man trembled and said with a bitter expression, "Duke Nightshade, I offer my sincere apologies for what transcribed this afternoon. But, unfortunately, it appears we have traitors within our ranks."

Damien nodded in agreement, "The traitorous knights admitted to serving the Prince's faction. I hope you will investigate and punish the Prince for this event."

Beldroth let out a deep sigh and said in a low voice, "Duke Nightshade, Threatening Prince August in nearly impossible." Then, looking out across the calm lake, Beldroth continued after a pause, "While the King was out of Kassinki on a diplomatic mission, the first Queen, Elizabeth Greentail, was pregnant with twins. During the King's departure, she gave birth to twins."

Beldroth then leaned closer than Damien would have liked and said, "This is a secret only known to a few, but one of the twins was stillborn, and the other, Prince August, was born with many defects. He was blind and had difficulty feeding from the wet nurse."

Beldroth then leaned even closer, making Damien very uncomfortable, and whispered, "She was terrified that the King would divorce her, so she did the unthinkable... Before the King returned, she hired a Necromancer to transplant Prince August's soul into the stillborn twins' body."

Damien pretended to act shocked and motioned for Beldroth to continue.

"When the King returned, the soul transplant was completed. Then, Queen Elizabeth presented the King with a 'healthy' heir to the throne. However, the King became mortified when he learned about the other twin being stillborn. He blamed himself for not being present during the birth and leaving Elizabeth to mourn on her own."

"The King cherished the Prince like a national treasure from then on. But unfortunately, everyone ignored his misdeeds for far too long. As a result, the Prince became arrogant and unruly. Tutors of Prince August also said he had a twisted personality and lacked empathy for living things."

Beldroth finished his tale with a sigh and turned to Damien, "Although the King has since found out about this event, he cannot disclose the events to the public. Any dealing with Necromancers is illegal after all."

Beldroth paced along the bridge to enjoy the rustling of the leaves for a moment before continuing.

"But the Prince has not been idle during these long years. On the contrary, he has built up considerable backing, with many high-ranking nobles standing on his side. The Prince knows his true nature could be revealed at any time and therefore has prepared to maintain his position."

Damien already knew this information from the game's lore, but he questioned Beldroth, "Why not release this information to the public?"

"There would be a revolt. Civil war would break out overnight. There would be nothing left for the Princess to rule. Kassinki would become a divided kingdom amongst the various noble factions. Greentail was a powerful family a few generations ago but has weakened considerably over the recent decades, and many more powerful nobles are eyeing the throne with greedy ambitions."

Damien leaned down and put his gloved hand on Beldroths small but strong shoulders, "How about this. The King never expected these knights to return, right? So why don't we pretend this incident never occurred? I will take the supplies and train up my knights out of those refugees over there." He said while pointing at the shuddering group of men and women that stood next to the supply wagons.

Beldroth contemplated the offer for a while. "Duke Nightshade, would you consider yourself in the Princess faction?" He said with a sly smile on his face.

Damien knew his thoughts and nodded, "Either that or neutral."

Beldroth had a wide grin, "First, I will head back to the Capital and report the events that transpired here, with some information altered, of course. I will also send more supplies in the next few weeks. Feeding an army is not cheap."

Waving his tiny arm to signify his goodbyes, he quickly left the scene with his wind magic. Sonic booms resounded over the barren landscape and rustled the trees surrounding the lake as he vanished into the distances.

Damien realized the meaning behind Beldroths words. 'I will keep your army secret and send supplies, but I expect you to stay neutral or help the Princess in the future.'

Shaking his head, Damien then observed his surroundings. The battle had concluded. The refugees were all crowding around the supply wagons at the entrance to the bridge, taking spare clothes and other necessities.

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"Zero," Damien muttered to himself. Within moments a timid-looking girl with short purple hair over her eyes appeared before him. "Yes, my lord?" she asked respectfully.

"Take the refugees into a nearby clearing in the woods. Help them set up a camp there with the tents from the supply wagons. Tell them they can also retrieve any items they left behind in the Tarlington Fortress if they must."

Zero respectfully bowed and disappeared into the shadows below. A second later, Zero reemerged near the wagons scaring the living daylights out of the poor refugees still terrified after the battle.

Some refugees carefully went to retrieve their belongings and walked past Damien, who was silently enjoying the chilly breeze on the bridge. Within ten minutes, the group followed Zero and left for a clearing in the woods.

"Fay, use cleaning magic as we walk," Damien commanded while observing the lumps of flesh and blood that covered the bridge. The bridge's beautiful yellow sandstone had been dyed red from the battle. Bits of scrap metal from armor and shredded robes lay alongside dismembered limbs and forgotten weapons.

Fay quickly got to work as a strong breeze gathered all the pieces into a pile on the side. Fay then used her new water cannon skill to blast the blood away into the lake below.

Damien nodded in satisfaction as the previous beauty of the Tarlington Fortress revealed itself. "Come, let's take a look inside our new home."

Taking the lead, Damien walked past the fortresses magically treated portcullis and entered the gatehouse. Walking through a small tunnel, the group emerged into a courtyard. It was bare and lifeless, surrounded by tall sandstone walls on all four tides. A single large tower loomed over them.

"This is going to need a lot of work..." Damien remarked. "It's perfect for battle but lacks the luxuries of a home. For example, a water fountain surrounded by a garden would be perfect in this courtyard. The lake water that runs below the Fortress would provide unlimited water for the fountain and the plants as well." Fay nodded at Damiens words.

"If we are going to live here for an eternity, it better be perfect," Fay added. Thar and Varn, who followed the two, gave Fay odd looks but didn't comment, assuming it was a figure of speech. Damien could live forever, but Fay? She was only a human. Right?

The group spent the next hour touring the inside of the castle. The rooms had been stripped bare of anything valuable over the years. Also, some cracks were present in the walls due to years of neglect. Fay showed the true power of her B-grade cleaning spell as she destroyed cobwebs, eliminated mold, and replaced the damp smell with freshness.

Overall the Fortress wasn't large compared to other castles. It only had ten bedrooms of decent size. The rest were barracks in the walls for knights.

Damien planned to redesign this place altogether. For example, there was no library or throne room. Instead, the Fortress was designed only for battle.

Damien laughed to himself as he imagined all his insane plans. 'What if I had a pet leviathan in the lake to act as a guard dog? Maybe that would scare off the vampire assassins my brother will be sending soon.'

Damien had not forgotten the many death flags looming over his head. He had so far solved Fay's death flag. He had also escaped the university and joined the Mage Tower, so he was no longer threatened to be killed due to his incompetence at teaching or from one of Prince August's men.

Damien smiled as he realized he had passed the first two major death flags. But his mood faltered when he remembered the Prince and his dear Brother still wished him dead.

Damien was standing in the courtyard. He wearily looked around at the sandstone walls that had survived since the beginning of the kingdom and suddenly felt its defences were lacking.

Turning to Fay, who was looking up at the fortresses looming tower, he said, "Let's go and visit Blackthorn village before the sunsets. We can't sleep here in an empty fortress after all."

Fay nodded, and the group left the Fortress towards Blackthorn village.