The King's Final Will
The kingdom did not collapse simply because someone of heavenly status had died. The living had to carry on with their days, and so did the capital.
……
Yet the bakeries that once opened at dawn now opened late and closed early. The taverns that once glowed through the night began extinguishing their lights the moment the sun set. Merchants in the market laid out yesterday’s goods only to pack them away again when no caravans arrived. Children running through sunlit streets were snatched up by parents and dragged indoors. Even the knights maintaining public order sent ripples of fear through every passerby the moment they appeared on the streets.
Everyone could feel how unreasonable it was for a mere 5th-class duke to take the place of a dead 2nd-class knight.
“Your Grace, the Duke of Valentia. You must do something.”
“Some nobles are even gathering private soldiers inside their capital residences.”
The nobles were no different. They feared letting their households step outside and gathered troops to protect themselves. After all, if a 2nd-class knight-king could be assassinated by a Mazok’s blade, none of them could afford complacency.
“Even if you tell me to do something…”
Ruth Valentia had only become regent because the late king had trusted him. That did not mean he suddenly possessed the means to hunt down the culprit and stabilize the kingdom. The people’s anxiety was only natural, and the nobles’ actions were equally justified.
“We can only wait for someone else to move first. Or perhaps the clever ones among you should go out and catch the culprit yourselves. What would I know?”
""……""
In the end, Ruth’s helpless words only made the situation worse. Even the royalist nobles began to waver without a center, while the people’s fear only accelerated. The chaos left by the dead king deepened by the day.
“A report! The Prime Minister’s residence is under attack by what appears to be a Mazok!”
“What!?”
“Don’t just stand there—send the royal knights and soldiers at once! I’ll dispatch my own knights as well.”
The previous Mazok. The one that had emitted an ominous aura in broad daylight, knocked over a thousand citizens unconscious with its screams, and assassinated the king. The report that this creature had reappeared and struck the Prime Minister’s residence—the very man trying to support the kingdom in place of the powerless Ruth—was only the first of many tragedies for the late king’s loyalists.
“The Count’s residence! His wife and daughter have been abducted…!”
“My lord! You must return to your estate at once! The soldiers and knights were felled in an instant, and your son has vanished…!”
""!!!""
One after another, the residences of high-ranking royalists and officials were raided. Families were kidnapped, estates burned. Within days, deaths began to occur.
“My son… he’s dead……”
“Aaaagh!! I stationed thirty soldiers, so how did they break through!? My daughter! My family…!!”
“Damn it! How long are you going to sit there doing nothing, Duke Valentia!?”
……
The duke, forced into the position solely because of the king’s will amid such times, scratched his forehead as though his ears and head ached, then finally let out a weary sigh.
“There’s no helping it. Since we have no way to catch the Mazok right now, I’ll open the city gates so that anyone who wishes to leave the capital may do so. If anyone desires the protection of the Valentia knight order, I will also open the ducal estate on the outskirts of the royal capital. Those who seek protection should move there with their families.”
It was, in effect, an announcement of surrender. The moment a 2nd-class knight-king had fallen, the Valcart Kingdom had already collapsed. The one left to fill that void was nothing more than a middle-aged man leaning on a cane—a mere 5th-class knight. There was no way he could manage.
In the end, most of the royalist nobles abandoned the capital that was being toyed with by the Mazok and fled. A small number of lower nobles who judged even their own territories unsafe began entrusting themselves and their families to the ducal estate.
“Well now. Nothing but good news.”
As a result, more than half the remaining forces in the capital had already become private soldiers and knights belonging to nobles who had long since sided with the Mazok. If they wished, they could topple the royal palace itself within two hours.
“Hah! That washed-up duke could never hope to deal with a Mazok.”
“What shall we do? The gates are open now. Shall we send someone to the black market to confirm the identity of the Mazok throwing the capital into chaos before we move?”
……No. It is time to move.”
The reason they had been cautious until now was because even if they raised their forces, the combined strength of the other nobles’ private soldiers, the royal knights, and the ducal knights would still leave them slightly outnumbered. While the capital remained sealed, they had feared that the 2nd-class knight Jena might tie them down and turn the battle against them through sheer attrition.
“But now the gates are open, and even the Prime Minister has begun summoning knights and soldiers from his own territory because he no longer trusts Ruth. In four days, he will likely attempt to become regent himself in place of that foolish puppet.”
In other words, the real race against time began now. Before the Prime Minister and the other royalist nobles could return to the capital with their forces, they had to crush the Valentia duchy and the royal palace and seize control. Fortunately, the princess had not left the royal palace since the funeral. If they secured her, turned her into a Main, and installed her as a puppet queen, they could use the duke’s incompetence as justification and claim legitimacy. Then the crown prince on the Monster Front would have no chance to return before the Valcart Kingdom fell into their hands. Once that happened, the prince trapped between the north and the capital would be isolated and could be dealt with from behind at any time.
“Prepare the troops at once.”
“Understood. It won’t even take thirty minutes.”
“Everything has already been prepared in the basement of the estate.”
The leaders of the southern and capital-based noble factions immediately began readying their forces, yet their movements appeared perfectly ordinary to outside observers. Most nobles had already left the capital with their troops once the gates opened, so their participation in the procession seemed only natural.
“Your Excellency the Marquis, good news.”
“What is it this time?”
“It appears Duke Valentia has completely abandoned the defense of the royal palace. He is leading the ducal knights and royal soldiers toward the outer estate. The princess is reportedly with the procession as well.”
“And the royal knights?”
“They seem to have lost trust after what happened to the king. They have been ordered to remain and defend the palace. Even the 2nd-class knight Jena has been removed from the princess’s escort.”
……Kuh! Khahaha! The toothless old man has decided to make things easy for us!”
Come to think of it, the duke had never even had teeth to begin with. Originally they would have needed to split their forces to strike both the palace and the ducal estate simultaneously, yet here he was, abandoning the palace to cower in his own home. The southern leader truly believed the current ducal house was destined to wither and vanish, and he shouted toward his troops.
“Tonight! We shall drive out the incompetent regent and save the Valcart Kingdom!!”
The table was already set, the meat already carved. All that remained was to move the fork.
……
“Duke Valentia.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Where… has the young duke gone?”
“I sent him back to the territory.”
“Why… why did you not bring Jena?”
“Because the royal knights cannot be trusted.”
Lilith, being carried on horseback by a ducal knight without even a carriage, looked more haggard than she ever had in her life.
“Ugh!! Not Jena!! Jena is…!!”
“Your Highness. Please do not throw a tantrum. I am not the late king.”
!!!
The assassination and death of her beloved father. The subsequent collapse of public order in the capital, followed by the Mazok—or what appeared to be one—hunting down the royalist faction. She had fallen so deep into the abyss that she no longer knew where she stood. The duke who had taken even Jena, her closest and most trusted guard, from her was unbearably hateful. Yet because she knew he was the father Carix trusted, she tried to trust and believe in him as well. The very Carix in question, however, had vanished completely the moment her father died.
“Your Highness. Did Carix leave any words behind?”
“He said… if I wanted to avenge Father, I had to become stronger. To study and train.”
“Are you training?”
“How can I possibly train in a situation like this…!!”
“Precisely because the situation is like this, you should have focused even more on your training.”
If she had, she would not be feeling this way now. Ruth swallowed the words and silently led the princess into the ducal estate.
And the next day, in the predawn hours when people’s vigilance was at its lowest—
“Drive out the incompetent Duke Valentia! Rescue the princess!!”
""!!?""
The invasion of the Valentia ducal estate had begun.
……
Lilith was being abducted, hands bound and mouth gagged, by unknown assailants.
“Mmph!! Mmmph!! Mmmph!!?!”
The moment the estate was attacked, powerful intruders had broken into the most heavily guarded building where she stayed, felled her escort knights in an instant, and carried her off.
“Mmmph!!”
Lilith thrashed in her sleep. In that moment, an unbelievable—unwanted—crest flashed before her eyes.
‘Th-the royal knights’ emblem…!!’
Her entire body went cold. The royal knights again. So the traitors who had stabbed her father were moving once more. They had claimed they still could not find the ones who killed him. Had they simply been waiting for her to leave the palace? Were they now coming to kill her with the same blade that had taken her father?
“Mmmph!!”
Explosive rage and unresolvable hatred burst forth as tears streamed down her face. Why had things come to this? What had they done wrong? Why were humans siding with the Mazok? What had her father failed to do? Why—why were they so cruel only to them…!!
—She hated how powerless she had been since her father’s death.
—She resented the time she had spent dazed with grief instead of training as the young duke had told her to.
—She felt nothing but disgust at herself for being helplessly dragged away by strangers, destined only to die.
—She simply loathed the world.
The intruders carrying the despairing, weeping Lilith soon came to a halt. They scattered in an instant as though on guard, leaving only two people before her.
“Your Highness. Please forgive our rudeness. We were only following orders.”
“Fuck!! Don’t bullshit me!! Orders from whom!! Why did you kill my father!!!”
Lilith’s gaze burned with such hatred that if looks could kill, she would have torn the two knights before her to pieces on the spot. Yet the two knights, seeing her expression through their helmets, exchanged glances, nodded, and spoke in formal tones.
“The one who gave the order said that if Your Highness had not yet reached the truth, we were to relay this message exactly.”
“What…?”
The words, as though testing her, made Lilith’s thoughts freeze for a moment. No. Surely not. This entire insane situation…?
“Ahem! If you will excuse me for a moment while I deliver the message. ‘This VIP seat is the place where we first met. It should be safe enough for Your Highness to enjoy yourself here. You’ve had a hard time, so relax a little today. I’m tired today, so the answer sheet will be released later.’—That is the message.”
“Wh-what the hell!?”
Words failed her. Lilith struggled to rise despite her bindings, refusing to accept reality. The knight immediately caught her waist gently and helped her up. She then scanned the dark surroundings with clairvoyance.
“That—that—that!! That crazy dog!!!”
The same mad dog who, roughly four months ago, had decapitated a certain border count, humiliated both the royal knights and the opposing knight order, and threatened them to stop acting up. That same lunatic had brought her back to this place.
“Carix, you son of a bitch!!!”
Her roar—rage, hatred, resentment, and every other emotion tangled together—was swallowed by an explosion that erupted as though the Mazok who had killed her father had been waiting for this exact moment.