Arc 2 Chapter 1 : Betrothal

[Raul PoV]

The next day, numerous nobles arrived at the imperial palace to attend the Emperor's birthday celebration, a three-day event held here. The gathering gave their children a chance to socialize, or to meet with other nobles for their own particular agendas.

Duke Alvaro—my father—had arrived here just that morning. He'd sent me a letter yesterday saying he wanted to discuss something with me today.

"I wonder what he wants to talk about," I muttered.

Duke Alvaro. One of the most cunning men in the entire game. He also carried an Insanity trait, which made his character notoriously difficult to predict.

I'd already changed a great deal of this world's plot. Was it possible Duke Alvaro's plan to sacrifice the people of the Duchy of Toledo had also shifted? If that were true, the future ahead would become far harder to predict.

Could he be switching targets? But where would he find a million human souls in such a short amount of time?

In the game Path of Destiny, there existed an artifact capable of harvesting the souls of the recently deceased. But those souls only had a few hours before they vanished from our dimension entirely.

In the original storyline, Duke Alvaro used forbidden magic that required ten years of preparation, allowing him to harvest a million human souls directly within the Duchy of Toledo.

Was he really about to abandon a plan he'd spent so long building?

I didn't know...

Without any clues to go on, predicting his next move would be difficult.

Still, I needed to stay on guard around him. He was one of the most troublesome antagonists in the entire game.

Before long, I arrived outside his office. Alfred stood guard beside the door to Duke Alvaro's study.

"Young Master," Alfred greeted, bowing respectfully. "Your Father has been expecting you inside."

I nodded and stepped into the room after Alfred opened the door. Inside, a middle-aged man in his forties sat writing something on a sheet of paper.

"Father, I've arrived as you requested," I said to him.

"Oh, so you do consider me your father, then?" Duke Alvaro said, not even glancing up from his writing.

"I'm simply acting as I should," I answered him. "So, what did you want to discuss with me?"

Duke Alvaro finished writing and slid the paper into an envelope. He then sealed it with the Garcia family crest.

"Alfred, come in here," Duke Alvaro called out.

The old butler stepped into the room and bowed.

"Send this to the usual place, understand?" Duke Alvaro said, handing the letter to Alfred.

"As you command, Master," Alfred said, taking the letter before leaving the two of us alone.

Duke Alvaro finally looked up at me and smiled. "Sit down for now. This is going to be an interesting conversation."

I did as he said and took the seat across from his desk.

"How did the exam go?" the man asked, sounding for all the world like an ordinary father asking his son about a school test.

"You're only asking because your spy couldn't get close enough while the students were taking the exam, aren't you?" I said, cutting straight to the point.

"Hee~ You caught onto that too? How did you manage it?" Duke Alvaro asked, genuinely looking impressed this time. "That was one of the spies I acquired from the Ashina Clan, renowned for their assassination techniques."

The Ashina Clan, huh? If I remembered correctly, they were descendants of Ashina the Shadow, rumored to hail from a distant eastern continent.

"I don't yet have the ability to detect their presence," I answered honestly. "I simply guessed you'd be keeping tabs on me, given how much money I've been spending these past few days."

That much was true—without detection magic, tracking down an assassin from the Ashina Clan was nearly impossible. Still, I had a particular trick in mind to lure them out eventually.

"Alright, let's cut the small talk," Duke Alvaro said, his smile fading.

Here it comes. Was he about to talk about destroying the Empire? Human sacrifice? Or worse—was he about to bring up selling my soul to demons?

"You're going to marry Princess Alisha."

"Huh?"

Marriage? To a princess? Since when did this man care about his son's marriage? Had he taken a blow to the head too, his soul swapped with someone else's, just like mine?

"Oh, I actually managed to surprise you," Duke Alvaro said, smiling again. "Does the thought of marrying a beautiful princess from the north make you that happy?"

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"No, no, no." I quickly dismissed that notion. "You're making me marry her to secure some kind of agreement, aren't you? There's no way you'd do this without an ulterior motive."

Duke Alvaro took a sip of wine from the glass on his desk before answering. "That's correct—your marriage is part of an agreement between myself and Tsar Feodor. You don't need to know the details."

An agreement, huh? I wonder what exactly it entails. Let me think this through...

Raul's marriage to Princess Alisha never happened in the game. In fact, Princess Alisha herself was slated to die in Chapter Four, after graduation, in the original storyline.

Which meant Duke Alvaro's plan to marry me off to Princess Alisha must have formed only after I first crossed paths with him. In other words, several of his plans had already diverged from what happened in the game.

I recalled reading in the newspaper a few days ago about a devastating monster attack that had ravaged the Tsardom of Slavia's economy.

That meant it was highly likely Duke Alvaro was pursuing some kind of business partnership or investment deal with Tsar Feodor's. But what would he possibly gain from this? With that country's economy in ruins, it would take considerable time before any investment there yielded results.

There had to be something specific he wanted out of this, whatever it was.

"Princess Alisha will be arriving here in a few days," Duke Alvaro said, breaking my train of thought. "She'll be enrolling as a transfer student at the academy, along with her personal attendant. The House Garcia will also begin its partnership with the Tsardom of Slavia starting tomorrow."

What exactly was this man planning?

Nothing about the scheme Duke Alvaro was building felt like it boded well. Which meant I needed to dig up the details myself—either by sending a spy into that country, or by extracting information directly from Princess Alisha.

[Elena PoV]

Yesterday's exhausting meeting had finally wrapped up. Right now, I found myself bored, alone in my room.

I'd wanted to ask Raul to explore the grounds with me, or maybe spar for a bit. But he was currently with his father, discussing something.

Several academy students would also be attending tonight, along with their noble families. But only a handful of them were actually close to me at the academy.

I wished I could play with my younger siblings, Antonio and Reana. But they weren't here right now—they'd gone with Mother to the family mansion in Zurau City.

—Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Princess Elena, His Majesty has summoned you to his study."

I heard the maid stationed outside my room calling out.

Father? What could he possibly want to discuss with me, given how packed his schedule had been lately? This must be something fairly important.

"Alright, I'll be there shortly."

Stepping out of my room, the maid escorted me toward Father's study. Plenty of nobles had already gathered throughout the palace, greeting me and bowing respectfully as a member of the imperial family.

Arriving outside Father's study, two guards stood watch at the entrance.

"Could you let my father know I've arrived?" I asked them.

Even as his daughter, I still needed to request permission to see him, unless he came to find me himself.

"Of course, Your Highness."

One of the guards stepped inside and returned shortly after.

"You may enter now, Your Highness," he said, opening the door for me.

I nodded and stepped into the room. Stacks of paper covered his desk. He really did seem swamped with work.

"Ah, Elena, you've arrived."

I turned to the side and saw Father approaching, carrying a book.

"Of course, Father. What did you want to discuss with me?" I asked, curious.

"Let's move to the sitting room so we can talk more comfortably," he suggested, leading me to an adjoining room that was more spacious, furnished with a comfortable sofa and a fireplace to warm the space.

We sat down together on the sofa, accompanied by a cup of warm, soothing tea.

I took a sip of the tea, its fragrant aroma beginning to help me relax.

"Elena, how's school been going at the academy?" Father asked, starting the conversation.

"Fine, I think—aside from the wild monster incident, nothing dangerous has really threatened the students inside the academy," I answered him. This seemed like nothing more than idle small talk so far.

"That reminds me... wasn't that Duke Alvaro's son with you earlier?" Father asked, continuing.

Ughh... why did he always have to circle around things like this when he wanted to bring up something important? Maybe from talking with so many nobles who always dressed up their true intentions in roundabout language, he'd simply picked up the habit himself.

Honestly, I don't think I'll ever get used to this kind of speaking style.

"Yes, he's my classmate and also a fellow member of the Student Council," I answered without rushing.

"Is that so? This is the first time I've seen you with a man your own age, Elena," Father said, taking another sip of his tea. "What made you choose him as your guard? Does this man interest you somehow?"

I sighed before answering.

"Not particularly, Father. Raul has a rather poor reputation," I answered casually. "He has a difficult personality, fights duels dishonorably, always acts mysterious, and I honestly have no idea what goes on in his head."

"And yet, you still trust him enough to be your guard," Father said, smiling. "You have a rather distinctive expression when you talk about him,."

Huh? Really? I instinctively touched my face at Father's comment.

"But there's something I need to remind you of, Elena," Father said, his tone losing some of its earlier warmth. "You are a princess of the Empire. Your future must serve the Empire's best interests above all else."

I lowered my head at his words. Why was Father suddenly bringing this up? Could it be...

"I'm planning to arrange a marriage between you and Prince Vlad of the Kingdom of Draconia."

The moment I heard Father say that, my body turned cold, as if summer had already ended. Even the warmth of the tea I'd just drunk did nothing to counter the chill running through me now.

"Why do you want to arrange a marriage between me and the Prince of Draconia?" I asked, keeping my voice as steady as I could manage.

Father sighed at my question. "After discussing this with several ministers, we've concluded that conflict with the Republic of Venetia has become unavoidable."

The Republic of Venetia? A nation bordering the Empire to the north.

They controlled territory along the coast of the Gulf of Cosentia. Given their strategic position at the heart of the continent, their trade and economy had flourished rapidly, making the Republic of Venetia the wealthiest nation on the continent.

"Their dominance over trade in the gulf is stifling our nation's economic growth," Father explained, laying out the reasoning behind this proposed marriage. "If left unchecked, our influence across the continent will only continue to shrink."

Is that so? Did Father want to form an alliance with the Kingdom of Draconia? Or was this simply a defensive partnership? But if word of my arranged marriage ever got out, wouldn't the Republic of Venetia only grow more wary of us?

"But Father, the Republic will surely act if this alliance gets leaked," I said, voicing my doubts about the plan.

"Don't worry. That's precisely why we'll gauge the Republic's reaction first, by inviting Prince Vlad to study at Grunbelt Academy as part of a student exchange," Father said, addressing my concern. "I hope you understand the importance of this, Elena."

It was true—I'd always been willing to sacrifice my body and soul for the country I loved. But then why, now that I was actually faced with a choice like this, did my heart feel so torn?

"I understand, Father. I'll do whatever it takes for this nation."