The Room Engulfed In White Smoke

“It is merely the bandit’s attempt to mislead us. You must not let yourselves be manipulated.”

Receiving everyone’s stares, the chancellor gave a troubled shrug, but…

No… this old man really was suspicious.

As I silently stared at the chancellor,

“Why will you not trust me?”

Crown Prince Arios released enough emotion to make the air in the room tremble.

“Are you truly so uneasy about me becoming Luminous’s next ruler?”

His eyes and his words…

Were directed solely at his own kingdom’s chancellor.

It was not anger or hatred.

It was nothing but sorrow and emptiness.

His voice pleaded to know why.

“I am afraid I do not understand what you are saying, Crown Prince Arios.”

After calmly replying, the chancellor gave a modest bow to my eldest brother and me.

“It is true that Lady Mail was targeted. If so, this bandit may be connected to the Kingdom of Luminous. I would like to take him into our custody and interrogate him.”

“If you wish to interrogate him, then do it here!”

Crown Prince Arios raised his voice.

“Crown Prince Leonias and Prince Saryu can listen as well!”

“In the presence of ladies? Surely that would be inappropriate.”

Crown Prince Arios was staring at the chancellor.

Yet the chancellor did not even glance at him.

He was seeking the opinions of my eldest brother and me.

“Chancellor! You knew about that mace and the attack on the carriage, did you not?!”

“Crown Prince Arios appears to be fatigued. Now then, Your Highness, please leave this matter to me…”

This time, the chancellor bowed deeply to Crown Prince Arios.

Even when Crown Prince Arios stepped closer, the chancellor did not raise his head. He was refusing to converse with him. No, his excessively polite manner almost seemed to command the crown prince to obey him.

“That man hired me.”

The abruptly spoken words shook the room.

Everyone…

Even the chancellor raised his head in surprise and looked toward the speaker.

“I don’t know his name. It was him. He hired me. He paid me a fortune and ordered me to kill that woman.”

It was the man dressed in black.

Perhaps because the order’s members were restraining both of his arms, he indicated Mail with his chin.

Mail gave a shrill scream and collapsed on the spot. Shitoen hurried toward her, but Mail slapped her hand away and clung to Crown Prince Arios.

“Surely you do not intend to believe the nonsense of such a lowborn criminal?”

The chancellor laughed it off.

But no one spoke after that.

Crown Prince Arios bit his lip so hard that I thought it might bleed and concealed Mail behind him.

“What an absurd farce. What is the meaning of this?”

The chancellor appealed theatrically to my eldest brother and me, but…

“He knew the security arrangements.”

The words slipped from my mouth.

“The carriage. Something about that carriage felt wrong… How did they identify the decoy with such certainty? And…”

The dragon crest.

This man had originally arranged the engagement between Shitoen and Crown Prince Arios.

“You seem to know a great deal about the dragon crest. In that case…”

Was this man the one who had been obsessed with Shitoen after all?

Furthermore, he looked down on Crown Prince Arios, and the crown prince had no authority over him.

A dangerous gleam entered the chancellor’s eyes.

“That man ordered me to do it!”

“Silence!”

The bandit shouted again. The chancellor roared at him, but the bandit did not fall silent.

“You kept saying that a slut like her could never serve as crown princess and that she should be killed! Listen, I was only hired by him! Let me go, knights of Tidros!”

The man in black began pleading with the order members restraining him. The chancellor glared fiercely at him.

“You…! What is the meaning of this…?!”

But the bandit paid no attention to the chancellor and continued begging our order members for his life.

“Was this what Father desired, Chancellor?!”

Crown Prince Arios screamed.

“Answer me, Chancellor!”

But the chancellor remained silent. A vein bulged at his temple as he glared at Crown Prince Arios.

“…Commander. We should have the women withdraw for now. I will bring Mone and Roze inside.”

Raul quietly approached and whispered into my ear. Without moving my face, I blinked to show my agreement.

I did not know how this situation would develop.

But judging from what was happening, this was a problem within Luminous. I wanted no part of the consequences spilling over onto us.

Raul quietly moved toward the entrance. He must have summoned them, because Mone and Roze appeared dressed as men.

“Crown Princess Yulia, Shitoen.”

I called to them softly. My eldest brother noticed as well and indicated with only his eyes that they should move toward the exit.

Yulia must have seen Mone and Roze too. She gently reached toward Shitoen, and just as they were about to leave together…

That man moved faster than expected.

Shitoen screamed, and Yulia was shoved aside.

“Shitoen!”

“Do not come any closer!”

As I took a large step forward, the chancellor wrapped an arm around Shitoen’s neck from behind and pressed a knife to her throat threateningly.

“Chancellor! If you do such a thing… if you do such a thing, Father will…!”

“Silence, boy!”

Crown Prince Arios cried out in anguish, but the chancellor cut him off sharply.

“Because of you, Luminous has lost all semblance of dignity! Do you have any idea how much King Noie has suffered…?!”

“That is precisely why I have been striving! To become the next king. To lead Luminous toward a glorious future! To earn recognition from you and everyone else…”

“It is already too late! You have fallen behind in everything!”

The chancellor gave a mocking laugh and glared at Crown Prince Arios.

“What you were supposed to do was take this girl as your bride. Do not speak so arrogantly when you were too incompetent even to accomplish that!”

“Chancellor, you…!”

“TAKE YOUR INTERNAL CONFLICT ELSEWHERE!”

My roar crushed the room and rattled the windowpanes. Yulia covered her ears and fell backward onto the floor, while Mail, who had been sobbing, stopped crying.

Even after expelling all the rage within me, fresh anger continued to rise like black smoke.

“Shitoen has nothing to do with this! Give her back immediately!”

I bared my teeth and growled. The chancellor faltered for an instant and retreated one step, using Shitoen as a shield.

Mone entered the room and attempted to approach him.

“Stay back!”

The chancellor pressed the knife more firmly against Shitoen’s neck. The tip must have touched her skin. Seeing the faint red line appear made my vision flash with fury.

“I’ll kill you.”

Before I realized it, the dangerous words had escaped my mouth, but the chancellor smiled fearlessly.

“Hunting is my hobby. I have even hunted brown bears in Luminous.”

“Don’t compare Luminous’s pampered bears to the Winter Bear of Tidros.”

I growled back at him.

Then something struck the floor with a dull clatter.

My first thought was that Raul had thrown something to distract the chancellor.

Nice one, Raul.

I had nearly shouted those very words.

But then it rolled smoothly across the floor with an almost unnatural hiss.

The cylinder suddenly began spewing white smoke.

It was a smoke canister.

And there was more than one.

Several more fell from the ceiling.

“The leader…!”

The chancellor sneered, one corner of his mouth lifting.

That was all I saw for the next few seconds.

His figure immediately vanished into white smoke as thick as fog.

This was bad. Was he planning to escape under its cover?!