Chapter 42: Royal gathering

Going with the unknown people who had come from an unknown land, people who only the red mage and the king had interacted with all this time, was no simple task.

The princesses and the queens had tried their best to get them, to meet with them, or at the very least, to get a glimpse of the people who found the prince.

The princesses weren’t happy that the young prince was found, but since he mostly stayed with these people, they also did not have any opportunities to abduct or assassinate him.

They tried to find any moments they could, but the efforts were futile. At the end of the day, the prince did not seem to be in a condition to do anything even if the princesses played some tricks.

Ultimately, however, Princess Gwyneth had her suspicions on who the people that saved the prince must be.

She was put to sleep by the red mage back when she talked with her father, and after that, she woke up to the news of the prince’s reappearance.

The details were kept hidden from every other party including the Pantheon and since Elision had already been marked a state enemy, they were going to be in quite a bitter position within the Mayn kingdom. However, unknown to most within the palace, they had achieved their goal.

The message about that mysterious swordswoman had gone out. And when the time comes, the Elision will start moving.

They had successfully planted the Control bug inside of her. It was for the princess but things turned out the way they did.

Now that they were at this critical junction, a war would start in the underworld of the Mayn kingdom, and a certain party that the Parliament had helped recently would gain enormous gains from it.

"Prince Arcos is entering!"

There were quite a few interesting things happening behind the scenes within and outside of the Mayn castle, but one of those things was pretty important.

-Krrrrr.

The door to the main throne room opened as the young prince entered a completely filled council composed of nobles, political figures, nation’s important allies who were invited a few days ago, and among many such figures, the entire royal family, with the last arrival of their young prince, was now here as well.

"Greetings, father." The young prince bowed to the king along with the hooded figures that now stand behind him, a seemingly blank presence surrounding them.

They were strange figures. They were people and yet, when the tens of people present looked at the four of them, they could not have any feelings within them.

It was as if they were looking at nothing, if that made any sense.

There was someone, there were people standing right in front of them, and yet, they could neither register their presences within their minds, nor could they properly perceive their forms.

The only thing that they did know about them, was the fact that they were there. And perhaps it was like this because those people wanted them to perceive at all.

If the people looked away for even a few seconds, they thought they would not know anything about anyone being there with the prince.

"Ghosts..."

"Scary."

"What are those people?"

Most mistook them for some elite hidden organization that had rescued the prince. Which was the truth, but most people thought they were allied with the kingdom.

Which was not the case.

"Quiet." The whispers in the room were growing so the Red mage, the only person standing right beside the throne, spoke with a heavy voice so cold it sent chills down their spine.

They knew it was the voice of a demon wearing the skin of a human. And they were right about it to a certain extent.

"Ahem." The king faked a cough as he looked beside him, at the mage. The mage bowed, understanding his will as he stepped forward and walked a step down from the king’s throne where the three Queens of Mayn kingdom sat on their non-permanent royal seats.

The three of them had birthed the seven successors of the throne there have ever been.

But of the seven, the first prince perished on the battlefield, one chose the path of priesthood and relinquished all claim to the throne while the remaining four princesses were raised with all the qualities one required to succeed the throne.

After two hundred years, it seemed like a certainty that the Mayn throne would welcome another queen. But then came their youngest prince from the eldest queen.

It was a miracle in the eyes of the statesmen, a prince, a blessing from the heavens.

The presence of a prince also wasn’t so big because the Mayn kingdom had a patriarchal system. In truth it was because of the certain presence of Superior bloodline abilities of their blessed lineage.

The late first prince was a master swordsman unmatched in combat, the second prince is currently an Archbishop of his faith, while the young Prince Arcos had shown tremendous potential throughout his days.

The people of the kingdom had their eyes on him. And he, therefore, was a thorn in the eyes of the princess factions.

But once he was gone, they wanted him to be gone forever. They wished for the throne since it was their birthright. But with the return of the prince, that birthright had crumbled once again.

"Prince Arcos had recently gone on a small educational trip to a border town." The red mage announced to the public, causing confused murmurs.

Things had been pretty normal within the palace from the common eyes, but to the people present, it wasn’t news that the young prince had been absent for a long time now.

There were reports that he wasn’t at the palace, but, aside from the rumors of him having vanished out of the blue, there were many other intentionally mixed false rumors as well.

Judging the validity of those rumors wasn’t the right thing, but it was clear that the red mage wasn’t telling the truth.

And if he wasn’t telling the truth in front of all these people, it meant something bigger was happening right now.