Chapter 126

Lion of the Allied Army (1)

The head maid recoiled in horror at the word treason.

"Treason! There must be some misunderstanding—!"

"I warned you to stand aside."

CLANG!

A sharp metallic sound rang out, and the commotion outside the door subsided. From inside, Queen Marceline was aware of everything that was happening.

"Carry out the order."

BANG!

The bedchamber door burst open as though about to shatter, and a troop of knights poured inside.

Queen Marceline faced the situation calmly. Yet her fingertips... would not stop trembling. She knew exactly who the knights flooding into her bedchamber were.

The Royal Guard.

The royal guard consisted of two knightly orders: the Royal Knights and the Royal Guard.

The Royal Knights defended the capital, embarked on expeditions, and crushed enemy forces. They undertook missions abroad when necessary, upholding the kingdom's majesty on the battlefield.

The Royal Guard, on the other hand, obeyed only the royal court's commands. Guarding the palace interior and protecting the royal family were their absolute duties. Even if the kingdom faltered, even if the palace crumbled, their loyalty lay solely with the throne.

Royal blood made no difference. If someone threatened the throne, their swords would cut that person down without hesitation or mercy. If the Royal Knights were the kingdom's sword, the Royal Guard was its shield.

And the knight standing before her, Lucas, was the commander of that Royal Guard. Queen Marceline's eyes gleamed coldly.

"For the commander of the Royal Guard to commit such an outrage... I trust you are prepared to answer for an act whose consequences are beyond you."

She sought to intimidate Lucas. He remained silent. There was no need for him to answer.

"I would say precisely the same to you."

A firm voice cut through the silence. Heavy, imposing footsteps echoed down the palace corridor, and uncertainty began creeping into Queen Marceline's gaze.

First Prince Leon stepped into view before the Royal Guard. In his hand was a sealed royal document.

Queen Marceline's eyes wavered violently. That document... could not exist. More precisely, it should not exist. Not if Luseria's plan had succeeded.

Something... had gone wrong. Very, very wrong.

Leon slowly raised the sealed document. Queen Marceline bit her lip hard, unable to utter a word. Then he read its first sentence.

"Specified territories and a portion of the kingdom's military resources shall be transferred to the Dark Merchant Company."

Queen Marceline went deathly pale.

"Upon request, the Dark Merchant Company shall be granted first priority in exercising authority over commercial regulation within the kingdom..."

Irrefutable evidence of Queen Marceline's collusion with the Dark Merchant Company. What she had received, and what she had given in return.

"At the Queen's request, the Dark Merchant Company shall purge specified nobles and retainers, with priority targets as follows..."

How many innocent subjects had fallen victim to Queen Marceline.

"The Dark Merchant Company shall receive information on the kingdom's military deployments and the inner city's defense systems from the Queen for a specified period..."

The price for which the kingdom's secrets and authority had been sold. Every detail and record filled those pages, and Leon was exposing each one for all to hear.

The eyes of Lucas and the Royal Guard hardened. The head maid and the other maids grew increasingly horrified.

"Her Highness the Queen truly..."

"G-good heavens...!"

And then came the decisive blow.

"We further pledge to undertake the king's assassination if necessary."

The moment those words left Leon's lips, the air in the palace froze. Every gaze turned toward Queen Marceline.

The Royal Guard were no longer knights attending a member of the royal family. They were the kingdom's last shield, executioners tasked with eliminating a traitor who threatened the throne. Their commander, Lucas, raised his sword and pointed it at Queen Marceline.

"Marceline Charlotte de Battenberg. You are hereby placed under arrest on charges of high treason and conspiracy to assassinate the king."

"..."

"If she resists, execute her on the spot."

At Commander Lucas's resolute declaration, the Royal Guard drew their swords as one and surrounded Queen Marceline. Her hands fell limply to her sides.

'... It's over.'

Everything was over. Where had it gone wrong?

The plan had been perfect, an exquisitely designed scheme to reclaim the throne without a single flaw. Failure was impossible. At least, that was what Queen Marceline had believed.

... And yet everything had collapsed like this. Was Leon simply too capable? No. He could never have thwarted the plan she and Luseria had devised.

There had been only one fatal mistake. She had underestimated him far too much.

'Adrian Whitewolf...'

The insignificant variable she had dismissed as a little butterfly's wingbeat had finally whipped up a gale.

* * *

News of Queen Marceline's treason shook the palace. The court fell into chaos, and the capital's streets were turned upside down.

"Impossible!"

"How could Her Highness the Queen do such a thing!"

At first, people refused to believe it. But the evidence was far too clear: documented proof of collusion, the trail of gold exchanged in secret, and letters sent to and from the Dark Merchant Company. Not a single fact could be disputed.

Most damning of all, evidence emerged of the suspicious substance Queen Marceline had been secretly administering to the king.

"Her Highness the Queen really did..."

"Then was that why His Majesty's health deteriorated so rapidly...?"

The court and the capital's streets erupted in an uproar.

* * *

As rumors of the treason spread farther and farther, throwing the entire kingdom into turmoil...

"... What?"

I had no idea what the hell was going on. I'd passed out, and when I woke up? Everything had been neatly resolved.

"So..."

I slowly mulled over Leon's explanation.

"Your Highness, are you saying you already knew Queen Marceline was colluding with the Dark Merchant Company?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"I could simply tell."

What was that supposed to mean? No, wait.

"Then you knew and kept silent, Your Highness?"

"Knowing did not mean I could act immediately."

"You mean you were gathering evidence?"

"Precisely. Had I accused the Queen on suspicion alone, I would have been the traitor instead."

"... Ah."

Only now did I understand everything. Leon had known all along, thanks to his ability, Present Vision[L].

◆Present Vision[L]

: The user can precisely observe and perceive events occurring in the [Present]. This allows the user to intuitively grasp not only visual phenomena but also an event's [Context, Causes, and Circumstances].

In this process, the user can exercise limited [Retroactive Perception] and [Precognitive Perception].

Leon had detected Queen Marceline's suspicious behavior through Present Vision[L]. That had made her anxious, prompting her to devise The Forgotten Social Gathering with Luseria.

Marceline wanted Leon. Luseria wanted Seraphia. And the Sovereign of Darkness wanted the Memorier. Each had a different objective behind The Forgotten Social Gathering.

In my previous life, Leon's memories and evidence had all vanished into oblivion. But not this time.

"Adrian, this is all thanks to you. You have my deepest gratitude."

It happened the instant I heard his words.

◆Leon's affinity toward you has entered the [Friendliness] state!

◆A character in the [Friendliness] state displays a friendly and positive attitude toward you.

◆This character is eager to offer assistance or cooperate with you. You may receive their support in combat or specific situations, or ask for their help in a crisis.

Leon's affinity had reached [Friendliness] in an instant. It was nice having everything settled without lifting a finger, but...

'Is this really how it's supposed to go?'

... It was pretty absurd. I studied Leon in silence. Then a question suddenly occurred to me.

"But, Your Highness."

"What is it?"

"Hasn't it occurred to you that I might be the fake?"

If Leon's memories hadn't been erased, that meant he remembered the Memorier too. It had been identical to me in appearance, personality, and abilities. Hell, even our genes were the same.

Yet he hadn't suspected for a moment that I might be the Memorier. Come to think of it, he'd been the same right after the fight. Between me and the fallen Memorier, he hadn't even questioned which of us was real and which was fake.

Had only his memories of the Memorier been erased?

"The fake? ... Ah, you mean that being who looked exactly like you."

Apparently not. He clearly remembered seeing the Memorier. It seemed he simply hadn't given it any thought. Only now did he look me straight in the eye and answer.

"I can tell just by looking. You are the real Adrian."

"What does that—"

Oh. Present Vision[L]. ... Seriously, what a fucking broken ability. It had even resisted the Authority of Oblivion, so I shouldn't have been surprised, but he hadn't been called the Lion of the Allied Army for nothing.

Looking at it this way, there was no chance Leon wouldn't have known about Queen Marceline's collusion with the Dark Merchant Company. In my previous life, the Authority of Oblivion had simply made him forget.

'Still, to think he'd take her down in one fell swoop.'

Queen Marceline was no easy opponent. The information I'd obtained about her through Predatory Instincts[S] alone made that clear.

==<Character Information>==

Name: Marceline Charlotte de Battenberg

Classification: Kingdom Animalia, Class Mammalia, Family Hominidae, Human

Sex: Female

Age: 29

Traits: Charm[G]

◆Charm[G]

: The user emits a powerful aura of fascination that can encroach upon a target's will. A successfully affected target will feel drawn to the user even in situations where such attraction cannot be justified. The user can immediately elicit the target's [Trust, Affection, and Loyalty].

[G] stood for Grand. Judging by the description, it certainly was a grand ability. No wonder Queen Marceline had brought the royal court and nobility under her sway so swiftly.

She was also quite young. Third Prince Walter was fifteen, which meant Queen Marceline had become pregnant with him at fourteen.

Generally, pregnancy only became possible around sixteen or seventeen. That was why the age for a debut in high society was set at sixteen.

Marceline had become Queen at eight. In other words, she had been far too young. Still, exceptions did exist.

A premenarchal child: a child conceived and born before the mother's first menstrual period. But such cases were very, very, very rare. No one had imagined that Queen Marceline could conceive such a child.

The king had a chronic illness. With the continuation of his line imperative, he could not wait for Queen Marceline to mature. In the end, he took a royal mistress, a concubine of the royal family.

The child born to the king and his royal mistress was First Prince Leon. After giving birth to him, the royal mistress died in an accident of some kind.

Then Marceline, despite her youth, finally conceived the king's children and gave birth to two princes. That was how affairs in the royal court had reached their current state.

And now, that entire situation had been resolved in an instant.

"That aside, Adrian, there are a few matters I wish to discuss with you."

"Please go ahead."

"His Majesty will suffer no further harm, but he has yet to recover enough to leave his bed."

Unfortunately, there wasn't much I could do about that. He already had a chronic illness and was advanced in years. He would live longer than in my previous life, but he would still die within a few years. And frankly...

"And so I have been appointed regent."

This was a far better outcome, both for me and for the Kingdom of Battenberg. The succession struggle was effectively over. The future had changed.

"As such, I will be handling the matter of succession to the Whitewolf countship... Ah, here she comes."

Leon suddenly looked toward the door. Yet my senses detected no one. Only after a little time had passed did I sense Seraphia approaching.

'He sensed her before I did?'

... That couldn't be it. There was no way his Agility-enhanced senses were better than mine. It was probably Present Vision[L]. Its Precognitive Perception, which let him see a short way into the future, must have activated.

"No need to knock. Come right in."

... The more I saw of it, the more fucking broken that ability seemed. Seriously.

Seraphia cautiously opened the door.

"You sent for me... Oh! Brother, you're here too?!"

Her face lit up as she exclaimed. She hurried over and began checking me all over.

"Are you feeling all right?! You're not hurt anywhere, are you?! Any broken bones or... Oh! That doesn't matter for you..."

Her eyes darted from side to side.

"Then are you dizzy, nauseous, or hearing ringing in your ears? Do you feel tired or listless—!"

"Adrian is fine."

"Really?! Oh, thank goodness..."

At Leon's assurance, Seraphia let out a great sigh of relief. I quietly watched her. Leon had told me what had happened: she had annihilated the she-spider of the Abyss carrying fifty thousand young.

'No wonder.'

I'd wondered why the Memorier hadn't used Berserk[?] again. It had never occurred to me that Seraphia could defeat the she-spider of the Abyss.

But apparently, the Sovereign of Bitter Cold was still the Sovereign of Bitter Cold. She had a long way to go before matching her previous-life self, but she was already beyond what an incompletely manifested Legion Commander of the Abyss could handle.

I examined her carefully. Predatory Instincts[S] and Find Weakness[U] both told me she was perfectly fine. She hadn't fallen ill as she had after the lycanthrope, nor was anything else wrong.

She was still far from her previous-life self, but...

'Has she learned to wield her Authority as the Sovereign of Bitter Cold?'

And yet...

"I'm so, so glad you're safe, Brother!"

She still showed no sign of the Sovereign of Bitter Cold.

"Forgive me for interrupting your reunion, but there are many matters to attend to."

Leon picked up a sheet of parchment from the table.

"This is the late Count Whitewolf's will. It stipulates that the countship is to pass to Seraphia Whitewolf, but..."

He took out another sheet and tapped it with a finger.

"Seraphia, the written declaration you sent to the royal court states that you relinquish all rights to the succession."

"Yes! That's all true!"

Seraphia nodded vigorously. Leon gave a small smile.

"Then let us proceed without dragging this out."

This time, he took out a sheet of fine parchment.

"This decree annuls the late Count Whitewolf's will and transfers the countship to you, Adrian Whitewolf."

Leon's hand carefully brushed over the parchment. Then his gaze shifted to the final signature line.

"With this, the succession to the countship—"

Just as Leon was about to affix the royal seal, I spoke.

"I decline the succession."

His hand froze.

◆Territory Quest, [The countship, WHAT?

A dumbfounded message appeared before my eyes. A peculiar silence settled over the room.

"I decline to inherit the countship."

My words drove the final nail in, freezing the entire room as though I'd used the Authority of Bitter Cold[P]. In the silence, time and space themselves seemed to have stopped. I spoke once more.

"Please grant the countship to Seraphia, as my father's will dictates."

"Whaaaaaat?!?!"

Seraphia jumped in utter shock.

"Brother!! What are you saying?!"

◆What the hell is this bullshit echoing through the message window?!?

"What do you mean, you won't inherit the countship?!"

◆That makes about as much sense as an ogre running a marathon?!?!

"Why?! Why?!?"

◆Did you accidentally switch on Reality Denial Mode instead of Territory Management Mode?!

"No matter what anyone says, you're the lord of Whitewolf county, Brother!!"

◆Sooorry, but Territory Management Mode does NOT include a Reality Denial Mode!?!

Seraphia and the messages assaulted my eyes and ears at the same time. ... Taking turns like that, the two of them made quite a team.