Proofreader: somnium

The nobles of Logos become anxious at the news of Luahalla’s clash with monsters as he crossed the border. Although monsters appeared in Sharden every winter, this was the first time they had appeared in the border area. The nobles, under the impression that the attacks of monsters were increasing, wanted the succession structure to quickly find stability. Because if anything happened and the queenship was shaken, Logos could be in great chaos.

They asked the Queen to put an end to the succession debate, which had been stagnant for some time.

However, they did not expect that the Queen, who had been reluctant to comment on her succession, would grant the request at once.

“What on earth was the wind?”

“Well, Her Majesty the Queen felt a sense of crisis, didn’t she?”

The nobles wondered that the Queen had suddenly changed her position, but they did not intend to delay the holding of the nobility council.

The two Dukes did not attend this nobility council for fear that the atmosphere would become too rigid. However, the black and white faction nobles, who were to represent the opinions of the two Dukes, came to the nobility council by refining and changing opinions favorable to the faction they belonged to. The inside of the conference hall was tense from the start.

“We have to accept now that Her Majesty will no longer see an heir. Then a woman other than the Ardenia line would have to take over as the Queen, and if someone takes her place, it must of course be Lady Liddell Santella, who is the second most powerful after Her Majesty.”

“That’s right. Moreover, if Lady Santella and His Highness Prince Erdin get married, the heir from the two will continue to inherit the name of Ardenia. And if they inherit the magical powers of Lady Santella, the successor will also have strong power.”

When the white faction nobles ignited, the temple supported them. Then, as if waiting, the black faction nobles objected.

“It would be better for the young Heidel Ravel, who is the eldest granddaughter of Marquis Ravel, to be the queen! Because she inherited the blood of Ardenia, and her blood tie with His Highness Prince Erdin is far, there is no problem in getting married. She would be a better choice to keep the Ardenian blood.”

The white faction nobles rose again.

“Is it just a matter of keeping lineage? What if the power of the Ardenian dynasty completely disappears?”

Again the opposite ensued.

“Lady Santella has magic, not power! Is there any guarantee that the union of Lady Santella and His Highness Erdin will bring the powers back to life?”

“Isn’t that the same problem with the combination of Lady Ravel and His Highness Erdin? But from a probability point of view, Lady Santella would be better!”

Fabian, who sat in the chairperson’s chair, watched the two sides noisily fighting. Although they vigorously opposed the black faction, the white faction had a slightly more dominant opinion as they included the temple.

Neutral nobles listened to the opinions of both sides and were also in trouble. However, to Fabian, it was bittersweet because it seemed that they were arguing for the benefit of their family rather than protecting the Royal Family.

No one understood Fabian’s feelings. In this place, Fabian was like a borrowed barley sack. Although all decisions were to be made by the Queen, they all knew that Fabian would not be able to reject the proposal decided here.

However, Fabian’s permission to hold this nobility council was not to become a powerless scarecrow. She quietly glanced at the attendant, who had been watching her since the beginning of the nobility council.

“Forgive me for my rudeness during the council. However, someone who wants to say something to this meeting has been waiting in front of the conference room for a long time. What should I do?”

The royal attendant, who seldom intervened in meetings, recklessly stopped the nobles from speaking. There the nobles glared at him with their fierce eyes.

“How dare you intervene in this place now! Are you not sensible enough not to ask that during a meeting?”

One of the white nobles scolded the servant. However, the servant’s expression did not change at all, even after hearing the bitter reprimand. And the Queen, who had not said a word to anyone, finally opened her mouth.

“Isn’t it an endless debate anyway? Maybe, he’s the one with the clue to end this debate, so I’ll let him speak. Let him in.”

With the Queen’s permission, the attendant withdrew and brought an old, shabby man who was prostrated outside the conference room. He must have been in his mid 50’s. Even at that age, he was large and strong, and the back of his hand was full of scars. Judging by his outfit, he looked like a commoner, but her man didn’t look timid at all.

“Greetings the Great Queen and the esteemed members of the nobility council. My name is Isaac Poe.”

Those who had been discussing vigorously up until now were not very pleased with his appearance. But the Queen accepted his greeting with a benevolent expression.

“It’s been a while, Sir Poe.”

“I’m in awe, Your Majesty.”

When the Queen pretended to know Isaac, the nobles’ countenance changed. Judging by the mood, it seems that the Queen had summoned him on purpose. The white faction nobles, including Liddell, narrowed their eyes and looked between the Queen and Isaac.

“Speak.”

With the Queen’s permission, Isaac lifted his head and glanced at the nobles, then opened his mouth.

“Before the story, let me say that I am absolutely not lying. I could risk my life.”

“It’s too long.”

Someone from the white faction nobles was sarcastic. But when Fabian glared at him, he quickly became quiet.

“I understand that the current succession issue is being discussed because there is no heir to inherit the throne from Her Majesty the Queen. But the truth is, Her Majesty has a nephew who is worthy of her succession.”

“Nephew?”

The room was quickly filled with muffled voices.

“Quiet! Continue the story, Sir Poe.”

The Queen once urged Isaac to cover up her shame. Isaac closed his eyes tightly and revealed it.

“Her Majesty the Queen has a twin sister. However, the previous Queen, reluctant to break the tradition that only one princess is born to the Royal Family, imprisoned the second princess, the weaker of the two, in a separate palace, and it was officially known that the princess was only Her Majesty Fabian Ardenia.”

There was the sound of small breaths coming from here and there.

“The previous Queen, who believed that the reason the current Queen’s powers were weak was because of the second princess, ordered an assassination team, including myself, to assassinate the second princess. However, the second princess’ escort, who had learned about the plan in advance, escaped with the princess, and we followed persistently for a long time and succeeded in killing the escort. But we lost the second princess at the sacrifice of that escort.”

The conference room was now in silence. However, Fabian seemed to hear the sound of the heads of nobles rolling in her ears.

“My sister’s name was Heila. Heila Ardenia…… She was an unfortunate princess who was forbidden even for the royal librarian to be written down.”

“Is that for real?”

“Ask the High Priest Asily. Because he knows it, too.”

All eyes of the nobles were focused on the High Priest, Asily. Seeing him sitting there with a sad expression on his face, it must have been true. The temple was an ally of the Santella family, and even the High Priest of such a temple admitted it meant that Fabian was telling the truth. Isaac spoke again,

“The assassination team dispersed one by one to find the princess. Everyone thought they had lost her, but I did find her.”

At Isaac’s confession, the nobles now leaned their upper body in his direction and listened.

“But I couldn’t follow my orders. Because the princess…… was pregnant. My wife was also having a child at the time, so I couldn’t cut the princess down. So I lied to the assassin leader that I couldn’t find her.”

Gerard asked in the quieter meeting room.

“Could she have conceived a son?”

“I went with her to the doctor before I let her go. She said her stomach was hurting, probably because of the fear of being discovered by me. There happened to be a priest, so he had a bit of divine power, and he said that the baby in the womb was a daughter.”

The meeting room suddenly became noisy at the bomb declaration.

“Where is she?”

“Did Her Majesty know all of this?”

“No, how the hell does this work!”

Gerard’s and Liddell’s eyes met among the roaring nobles. Gerard was surprised too, but thought it would be no greater than Liddell’s embarrassment. Because Liddell, who had always managed to control her expressions perfectly, was now terribly hardened.

Then someone spoke again,

“Then there is no need to debate like this, is there? If she is the daughter of the second princess who has passed away, she is definitely more worthy as the successor than Lady Santella. Where is she now?”

But the old assassin couldn’t help but utter a disappointing answer with a bitter expression on his face.

“The place where I put her was near the Marais estate to the south of the capital. Her whereabouts after that are unknown.”

There was a mixture of sighs, dissatisfied sighs, and low murmurs. Fabian looked down at the audience with a somewhat empty expression on her face.

“I also found out about this story a while ago. I knew it because Sir Poe risked his life to come to me. We’re sending people to Marais to follow Heila’s trail, but the Royal Family’s manpower alone has its limits. So…… I am asking for your help.”

At Fabian’s request, the white faction noble asked with a wrinkled brow.

“We don’t know anything about the second princess who has passed away, so how are we going to find her?”

“I have compiled a list of Heila’s appearance and characteristics. Sir Luzac.”

Fabian summoned the aide who was standing by, and he distributed the prepared documents to each nobleman. Soon, there was the sound of murmurs and ‘hmms’ from all over the place.

“Silver hair and purple eyes…… It’s a rare combination.”

“If she was a pretty woman, I’m worried that she might be living as someone’s wife by now.”

“Is the father of the conceived child also the knight?”

“What a headache.”

While the nobles were preoccupied with the depictions of Heila, Fabian recalled her old sins.