An Invitation He Couldn't Refuse
"……Ha!"
At the reply that came back, Alois could not help bursting into incredulous laughter.
Then why don't you stop this and meet me in person, just the two of us? I'd like to have a little chat about the vermin you've been keeping company with.
Beneath it, the time and place were written out in fine print.
The man had clearly already figured out that the sender of the note was not Matthias.
"A truly cunning little brat."
He had assumed the boy wouldn't fall for such an obvious trap. But never had he imagined he would come at it like this.
"Brother. Will you… be all right?"
"Quiet. All you have to do is listen to what I say."
Alois snapped at the anxiously asking Matthias, then sank back into his own thoughts.
They can't strike first, no matter what.
They still lacked evidence, so there was no way they would dare take the reckless gamble of laying hands on a foreign crown prince.
Besides, this might be his last chance.
He had been using Lexion's underlings to keep watch for days now.
For all his savage temperament, people never stopped flocking around Arendt von Eckhart, and finding a clean opening to kill him had proven surprisingly difficult.
By 'the vermin I keep company with,' he obviously means those Evil God Cult bastards.
That apprentice knight clearly wanted to dig for information.
In that case… it might actually be possible.
Was the boy nothing more than a naive little fool after all?
A thick smile crept across Alois's lips.
Besides, he still had the monstrous beings Lexion had attached to him.
They had been assigned personally by Lexion, with the warning that an ordinary assassin would struggle against anyone bearing a Holy Relic—to be used if things came to a head.
Even if Arendt von Eckhart broke his word about meeting alone and summoned other knights, it would pose no great problem.
All he had to do was kill that whelp while keeping his own involvement hidden to the very end, and the matter would be settled.
Alois made up his mind.
"I asked Crown Prince Victor. There's no attendant called Stel."
That was the first thing Cantares said the moment Arendt walked into the room.
"I figured as much. Is Your Highness all set?"
"For the most part. Everyone accepted it without much fuss."
Cantares narrowed his eyes at Arendt, who had settled naturally into the seat across from him.
"By the way, why the sudden question about an attendant? Did something happen?"
"That's for me to know."
The nonchalant reply was nothing short of shameless.
"You haven't even told me how you plan to move yet, you know."
"Not everything in this world goes the way we want, Your Highness. Things might go wrong."
"Things going wrong—meaning you getting your head separated from your neck by that Alois fellow?"
"Who knows? Could happen."
Arendt broke into a chuckle, and no matter how Cantares looked at him, the boy didn't appear to be a young whelp who had barely crossed twenty.
"Actually, there's something I'd like to ask him as well."
"Something you want to ask?"
"It's been nagging at me, to be honest."
Arendt crossed his arms and grumbled. The tone sounded casual enough, but Cantares didn't simply let it pass.
"So what's nagging at you?"
"You know how they say every man and beast ought to live according to its own nature?"
The answer that came back to his pointed question was rather off the mark.
"Well… I suppose so."
Just as Cantares was the crown prince, Laios was the Knight Commander, and Arendt von Eckhart was the knight order's unprecedented pain in the ass.
Arendt paused for a moment as if choosing his words, then furrowed his brow.
"No need to make it complicated. I just sense something off about the situation itself. The atmosphere, if you will—none of it is like how those people usually operate."
"Didn't you say something similar before?"
"I did."
Arendt nodded, his face looking thoroughly unsoothed. The unease spread to Cantares as well, and he changed the subject.
"What does Prince Llewellyn say?"
"He's formally notified them that he'll visit the Nephele Kingdom in his capacity as prince of Everan. Since the Evil God Cult might be involved, Warren will wait elsewhere for now."
"And the Nephele Kingdom didn't refuse?"
"Apparently he received a reply of welcome in the name of the princess."
To the princess left alone in the royal palace, Llewellyn's visit might well have felt like the last rope dangling down to her.
"He should arrive by today. He says he'll report as soon as he's had a look around."
"I'll have to thank Prince Llewellyn. For stepping forward so willingly despite the danger."
"…Well, he did set some absurd condition."
Cantares did not miss the flicker of displeasure that crossed Arendt's face.
"What? What did you two trade?"
"Nothing much. Anyway, let's just wait for the appointed hour."
But Arendt swiftly composed his expression and, ever the shameless one, squared his shoulders as usual.
"I do wonder what a magnificent performance His Highness Alois intends to show us."
Life was, after all, nothing more than a stage—and Arendt could only look forward to the climax the man had in store.
The sun sank low, and even the bustling royal palace quieted down.
On their side, the Lukain Kingdom was independently investigating the forces behind the assassins, but they had yet to turn up anything of substance.
And of course, the longer that took, the more restless Alois grew. He had already issued his orders to Lexion's underlings as well.
"Matthias. Get ready."
"…"
At his command, Matthias rose to his feet, dragging his heels with visible reluctance.
Arendt von Eckhart had asked to meet alone—but as long as Matthias was at least present at the scene, he could manufacture grounds to pin the blame on that detestable boy.
Having readied himself, he opened the door—only for Alois to come face to face with a most unexpected figure.
How long the boy had been standing there, no one could say, but the moment the silver-haired young apprentice knight met his eyes, he curved his lips into a smile and offered a greeting.
"A good evening to you, Your Highness Alois. Will Prince Matthias be accompanying us as well?"
"…"
"…"
For a moment, both of them lost their words entirely.
When the two frozen men failed to react at all, Arendt's mouth split into a wide grin.
"I thought you might lose your nerve and not come, so I came to escort you personally. Let's walk and talk on the way. By all means, feel free to call your guards if you like."
"…You truly are absurd."
The more Alois dealt with him, the more baffling the little brat became.
Pressing hard at his temples, Alois finally let out a hollow laugh.
"Fine. Let's just go. I'm curious myself what game you're playing, knight."
"Yes, Your Highness. That was a very commendable attempt at looking dignified. Though I must say, you seem to have rather little talent for acting."
"…"
The reply, delivered without a hint of hesitation, hardened Alois's face—but Arendt had already turned on his heel and was striding off into the distance.
Trailing behind him, Alois noticed something: the imperial apprentice knight walked down the strangely silent corridor as though out for a stroll.
He didn't know why, but Alois could not tear his eyes from that retreating figure.
As a result, not a single one of them spoke until they had slipped out of the palace and arrived at a quiet garden.
Silence could drive a man mad.
Only the shrill cries of crickets and the soft crunch of grass underfoot occasionally tickled their ears.
If I drew the sword at my hip and drove it into that back right now… could I actually pull it off?
Just as even that absurd impulse began to stir, Arendt spoke first.
"I must apologize for the discourtesy, Your Highness Alois, but I've already heard the general circumstances from Prince Matthias."
Matthias flinched at the sudden mention of his name.
"So, cutting to the chase—I hear you've been consorting with a certain unidentified man lately. Do you actually know what kind of creature he is, or do you keep company blindly?"
"…"
No subject was named, but there was no doubt he meant Lexion.
Alois forcibly twisted his uncooperative lips into a reply.
"Am I obligated to answer that?"
"It seems what Your Highness desires is my head. Naturally, that leaves me rather curious—what exactly does the crown prince of a nation see in it, I mean."
The tone was utterly matter-of-fact, as if he were discussing someone else's affairs even while talking about his own life.
"And if what you desire is my head, then I can make a fairly easy guess as to that man's identity."
"…"
"Would it happen to be the Evil God Cult?"
Alois pressed his lips shut, then eventually answered shortly.
"And if so? Is that such a problem?"
"It's an enormous problem. The mere fact that a crown prince—a man meant to lead a nation—would lend his ear to such vermin is a problem in itself."
Arendt finally stopped walking when they reached a spot where people rarely passed.
"This really is unbelievable. Exactly how many of them did you bring along?"
Unlike the assassins he had dealt with at the outset, these ones were the genuine article.
Unhurried, calculating gazes.
Very much like what he had felt on his way to the Lukain Kingdom.
He knew full well that right now he was a rat in a poison jar. He was completely surrounded by unidentified enemies hidden in the darkness.
"May I ask just a few more questions before the bloodbath begins?"
"You may not."
"If Your Highness fails… what then? Have you decided what you'll do?"
The apprentice knight threw out his question in a voice devoid of any rise or fall, and his golden eyes glinted beneath the dark moonlight as though glowing of their own accord.
Simply holding that gaze made his throat burn for some reason.
"…That will never happen. Because you'll die right here."
"So you haven't thought about it at all. Understood. Well, who would believe the word of a mere apprentice knight anyway? I should count myself lucky if I'm not dragged off for treason against the royal family."
Yet Arendt, whose life was hanging by a thread, simply shrugged with easy composure.
"Now, my second question."
"Speak."
"Do you have no intention of sending Prince Matthias away from this place?"
The golden gaze touched briefly on Matthias, who stood stiff and pale, then dropped away.
"None. That one is useless to me. So it's best we deal with him together as well. He had the audacity to think of betraying me, after all."
"B-Brother!"
Matthias, his face drained white, let out a shrill cry.
"Hmm." Arendt tilted his head at the sound and turned his gaze back to Alois.
"And now the most important question of all."
Once this meaningless exchange ended, all hell would break loose.
Alois tensed his body further still.
"Go on."
"Your Highness—do you happen to know the name Cernion?"
"What?"
But what actually left the boy's mouth was a remark that came rather out of nowhere.
As Alois frowned, doubting his own ears, Arendt clicked his tongue.
"No wonder something felt off about it all."
But there was no time left to continue the conversation.
From behind Alois, a shadow abruptly surged upward and lunged at Arendt.
The smoothly drawn blade flashed white in the moonlight, and the foremost shadow was cleaved cleanly in two, tumbling across the lawn.
"…"
Only then, having finally laid eyes on the enemy's true form, did Arendt's brow crease slightly.
It was not a human, not a ghoul, not even any other race he could name.
It was impossible to say whether it had even been a living creature in the first place.
It looked like a wild beast carved straight out of a piece of darkness itself.
The beast, which had trembled and convulsed after being cut down in a single stroke, soon crumbled away and melted back into the night's darkness.
"Yes—THIS is how you commit to a concept."
The man clearly intended to play the priest serving the God of Darkness to the very end, but Arendt could tell.
The essence of that black beast was neither darkness nor divine power. It would be more accurate to call it a lump of highly refined mana—of a purity comparable to a magic stone.
And if that was the case, then he had a fair idea of the identity of the mastermind toying with Crown Prince Alois.
"So it's a giant lizard."