Chapter 55
Chapter 55
Translator: Penny
Chapter 55
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"H-how...?" Duran muttered, his face paling.
Everyone was supposed to be enjoying the banquet, celebrating Agron's military achievements.
Why were they here at this hour?
"We came to see how you'd handle the assassins you hired," Agron said, releasing Duran's arm and smirking.
Duran's mind raced frantically.
He didn't know how much they'd overheard, but he had to deny everything.
I don't know anything. It's not true. I never did such a thing.
"Duran, why are you in the dungeon?" Lawrence asked, his face twisted with anger.
When Agron first spoke of it, Lawrence couldn't believe it.
No, he refused to believe it.
Even if Duran was a rotten bastard, he insisted, he wouldn't go so far as to kill his own flesh and blood.
They might be rivals vying for the throne, but weren't they brothers who had played together as children?
"Ah, I heard the assassin was captured... I just wanted to, uh, see his face..." Duran stammered, glancing nervously at Agron.
In this room, the most dangerous presence wasn't Count Kopellus, the powerful Central Lord, nor Prince Lawrence, the rising star.
It was Agron, who concealed sharp claws beneath his formidable strength. He was the true threat.
"What do you want to see the assassin for?" Agron countered.
"W-well... Duke Belmond is my guest, and Lawrence is my brother. To target them both... I was curious about the culprit's identity, and naturally, I felt indignant."
Duran's explanation seemed plausible on the surface.
However, if one were to ask, "Why bother?" his flimsy excuse would fall apart. Still, that didn't prove it was false.
Agron refused to back down.
"If you were so concerned, why didn't you simply ask them how they were doing at the banquet?"
After all, the one at a disadvantage wasn't Agron, but the person who had created this situation in the first place.
Duran's eyes darted left and right.
He imagined his breathing growing slightly faster.
The more he tried to escape the situation, the more he felt himself sinking deeper into a swamp.
"I-it's not right to bring up bad news during a joyful banquet. Besides, we already know he's safe..."
"That's true. But if you came to see the assassin's face, why did you try to swing your sword?"
"..."
Duran turned his gaze to Count Kopellus.
That damned Count! He took all that money and now he's just standing there, keeping his mouth shut?
He's not even trying to protect me!
"C-Count Kopellus...! Say something! You know me well! Y-you were the one who told me the dungeon was dangerous and urged me to carry this sword for self-defense! Isn't that right?"
He was babbling desperately, grasping at straws to escape this situation.
The tragedy was that Duran's weight had already been removed from Kopellus's scales, where profit and loss were meticulously balanced.
"I've never done such a thing, Your Highness Duran."
"What?! Hey, Kopellus! Remember the money I gave you before you start talking!"
"It would be wise not to make statements that could be misinterpreted, Your Highness Duran. Every coin was used to invite Your Grace, Duke Belmond. Not to silence anyone about... such unsavory deeds."
"What...? Unsavory deeds?!"
"It seems it's too late. Perhaps you should confess willingly."
"Shut up, Kopellus!"
Duran snapped, lunging like lightning toward the fallen assassins.
"If these bastards are gone, who will testify against me?!"
He raised his dagger and plunged it forcefully into the chest of one of the assassins.
If the Royal Palace were to punish anyone for this incident, it would likely be limited to punishing the lawless assassin without a trial.
The corpse couldn't speak.
The true mastermind behind the assassination would remain undiscovered, and the suspicions against Duran would remain just that—suspicions.
Kopellus could simply bribe his way out, and Lawrence, being Duran's political rival, would have his testimony dismissed as biased.
Agron, being Lawrence's ally, would naturally side with him.
All these thoughts flashed through Duran's mind like lightning.
He was certain of his victory.
Until the limp assassin twisted his body to evade Duran's dagger.
"W-what?!"
In that instant, the blood-soaked assassin lunged forward, wrapping his thick legs around Duran's shoulders and neck.
"Gah! Ugh! Crack!"
With his shoulder dislocated, Duran collapsed to the damp floor, slapping his palms against it repeatedly. He seemed to be struggling to breathe.
"Well done, Wolf," Agron said to his Knight Commander, who was covered in blood as part of the assassination ruse.
"Did you finish recording, Jacob?"
"Yes, I've recorded everything."
Jacob, who had been lying nearby, wiped the blood from his face and sat up. He handed Agron a small crystal ball he had been holding. This was a Magic Artifact capable of recording sound, its transmission capabilities disabled.
From the moment Duran entered the prison, Jacob had been channeling magical energy into the artifact to record every word spoken.
"Let him go, Wolf. It's over anyway."
"...Yes."
Wolf shoved Duran away, who clutched his throat, coughing violently.
"Cough, cough! Fucking hell...! What the hell happened?!"
"What do you think? I knew you'd deal with the assassins, so I switched them out beforehand."
"Gah! You bastard! You were testing me at the banquet on purpose? To lure me to this dungeon...?"
"You're just figuring that out now? By the way, the assassins are already being transported to the Royal Prison."
"What...?"
Duran staggered for a moment before collapsing against the dungeon wall, sliding down into a seated position.
Too much had happened too quickly, and his mind couldn't keep up with the situation.
"By the way, I also included in the report that the Kobuul Organization attempted to kidnap Duke Belmond."
"I never gave Kobuul such an order—"
"We could always 'persuade' a few Kobuul Branch Managers to fabricate orders they never received. Besides, the kidnapping was too conveniently timed to be a mere coincidence. Since I've ordered my men to handle it, they should have three or four managers captured by the end of the day."
Agron had ordered Elena and Baek Woon to capture the Kobuul Branch Managers before the banquet began.
With their capabilities, they could annihilate ten Kobuul-level criminal organizations in a single day, so it wasn't an unreasonable request.
"Since when... have you been planning this...?"
"Hmm, didn't I warn you? Since our cigars smell the same, you should be careful."
"..."
Duran clamped his mouth shut.
When things started to go wrong, they tended to unravel completely.
"I guess becoming king is out of the question now."
"King? Focus on surviving first. The Kazandor Empire won't let this slide."
Agron gestured to Wolf and Jacob, ordering them to restrain Duran.
Duran surrendered meekly and trudged out of the dungeon.
"Tell me, Count Agron," Count Kopellus asked, his face weary, "can you handle the consequences of this?"
Though Duran faced multiple charges, he was still a prince of the realm.
His supporters would undoubtedly rally, and this incident might even turn the Royal Palace against him.
A prince hired assassins and unleashed demonic beasts to kill another prince.
"And to make matters worse, he kidnapped an Imperial Duke and even tried to kill a Count who was his own vassal."
This wasn't just a decline in royal authority; it was a tragedy bordering on utter disgrace.
Kopellus felt the incident had spiraled far beyond control. He couldn't help but worry whether Agron, a mere provincial Lord, could truly bear such a heavy burden.
"What's there to bear? It's already happened."
"The forces hostile to you will only grow stronger. You know what they say: 'The sharpest stone gets the hardest knocks.'"
"That's fine. I can shatter hammers with stones."
"...Huh? Oh, I see."
Kopellus puzzled over what Agron meant, but something about his tone suggested this wasn't just a metaphor.
"I still can't believe it."
Lawrence scratched his head and sighed.
Even if you want to be king so badly, how could you point a real sword at your own brother?
"Do I have to do something like that to become king too...?"
"You don't need to have that kind of mindset," Agron said, his gaze firm as he looked at Lawrence.
Hearing Agron's words, Lawrence couldn't hide the sudden surge of emotion that welled up inside him.
This must be why King Decker assigned me to Agron's side—to learn from him.
Lawrence met Agron's gaze with a newly refreshed expression.
"Really? I don't need to?"
"Of course not. You never had the qualifications in the first place."
"..."
"Being king isn't something anyone can do."
This bastard!
Watching Agron shake his head at him, Lawrence vowed to become king no matter what.
News of Duran's arrest and detainment spread rapidly throughout the Royal Palace.
King Decker summoned his vassals for an emergency council meeting.
"What in the world is going on here? A prince arrested while attending Count Kopellus's banquet?!"
The King's face flushed crimson with rage as he glared at his vassals.
Though Count Kopellus was a Central Lord, he had no authority to act with such impunity. If this act was committed without proper justification, it would be tantamount to a declaration of war against the crown.
At that moment, Count Palatine Kadon von Schreiner spoke up.
"I urgently contacted House Kopellus, and they claim Your Highness Duran was arrested for attempted assassination."
"What?! Attempted assassination...? Who did Duran try to assassinate?!"
"Your Highness Lawrence and Count Agron, they say. He allegedly released assassins and demonic beasts during the hunting competition..."
"Hah..."
King Decker stared blankly at the table, as if he had lost the ability to speak.
"Moreover..."
"What else is there?"
"He reportedly attempted to kill the assassin he hired himself... Count Kopellus, Your Highness Lawrence, and Count Agron intervened."
"Madness! Utter madness!"
"And..."
Decker frowned deeply. What more could there possibly be?
"This requires verification, but it's said he used the Kobuul criminal organization... to carry out a kidnapping."
"A kidnapping? Who was kidnapped? Lawrence?"
"Ah, no... Duke Belmond of the Kazandor Empire..."
Before the Count Palatine could finish, King Decker slammed his fist on the table and rose to his feet.
"What?! Say that again! Who was kidnapped?"
"They say Count Agron rescued His Grace, Duke Belmond von Klaisen, from kidnappers... and the two became sworn brothers."
"Hmph."
Decker drained the wine in his glass in one gulp.
This wasn't just about eliminating a rival in the succession race.
"Sirs, how do you propose we resolve this matter?" Decker asked.
The courtiers avoided his gaze, their lips pressed tightly shut.
This was a problem beyond their capacity to handle.
"Elevate Lawrence as a candidate for the throne and send Count Agron as ambassador to the Kazandor Empire," someone suggested.
Decker's gaze snapped to the speaker.
"Hmm, is that truly your intention, Taion?"
"Yes, Father."
Taion, the First Prince and current frontrunner for the throne, nodded with a serene smile.
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny