IN SECRET
Forty-Eight Hours/Twenty-Four Hours Before the Raid
Two days earlier.
The morning that Unit 907 had been invited to the Lou family villa.
“It seems the Imperial troops have passed the Sovereign borders. They seem to be elite forces handpicked by the Saint Disciples.”
“Things are going well. Now we wait for the invasion. Let’s hope our own are confined within our spire.”
A handsome man and woman were together on the terrace, where the morning light filtered into the Solar Spire, the residence of the Hydra.
“We need the Imperial forces to be the ones to take the queen’s life.” The muscular man in his prime slowly lowered himself into a chair.
He was the head of household, Talisman, the Wave.
His pure white suit showed not a wrinkle. His features were chiseled and handsomely arranged, neat dull gray hair making him a rather dandy forty-year-old gentleman.
“The trouble will come with your younger sisters, I suppose. Alice, in particular.”
“Yes, she’s the strongest in the House of Lou. I’m proud of her, as her older sister.”
The eldest princess, Elletear, was seated across from him.
Her legs were crossed in an alluring way, as if she had calculated even her mannerisms.
“If Alice devotes herself to protecting the queen, even the Imperial forces would not be able to lay a hand on her. The palace is already a disadvantageous place for the Imperial forces to attack.”
“Then it seems we must separate the queen and little Alice somehow.”
“About that matter…”
Elletear leaned forward. She stooped, letting her cleavage hang from her décolletage.
“I was thinking of going on a vacation. To the Lou family villa.”
“And what has put you in that spirit?” he asked, skeptical.
“You said Alice is an inconvenience, Lord Talisman, but we must remove Sisbell from the picture first. If she returns to the palace, then the Hydra are as good as done. She’ll expose the full particulars of the blast at the Queen’s Space, and the House of Hydra will be banished.”
Nebulis IIX would rule with an iron fist.
If that happened, the effects of the Imperial raid would be short-lived.
“I will capture my sister and take her to the villa and basically obstruct her return to the castle. I’m sure that’ll let us have some fun.”
“…” The head of household stroked his chin, thinking it over.
He was silent for only a few seconds. This man was known for his sagacity and saw through Elletear’s scheme with lightning speed.
“I see. Then Alice will try to bring back her self-centered older sister…making her head to the villa and leave the queen’s side.”
“Excellent, my lord. With that, Nebulis IIX will be the only one in the castle.”
They could induce Aliceliese’s absence, which would remove the strongest weapon in the palace. They could put a stop to Sisbell and even eliminate Alice from the queen’s side—and from the equation altogether.
“We lure Alice and Sisbell to the villa. That’s when the Imperial forces will strike the queen. I see—two birds with one stone.”
“Oh, my lord.” Elletear giggled—in her lovely way. “It’s four birds with one stone .”
“Oh?”
“You’ll see. Just by detaining the youngest princess in the villa, we will end the current queen’s rule.”
“In that case, we would have a conclave immediately. I imagine the Zoa would prepare their candidate, but I wonder what would happen with the Lou. Would you compete, Elletear?”
“No.” The eldest of the Lou sisters shook her head. “I have tired of the Sovereignty itself. If I can destroy it, I have no interest in what happens after. I’ll leave the rest to you, my lord.”
“How delightful. Well, I must make sure you have someone to deliver you to the Star Spire—Commander Orneik?”
The head of household snapped his fingers. As the sound faded under the morning sun, a man in a suit knelt in front of Elletear.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess.”
“And who are you?” Elletear opened her eyes wide in surprise, cocking her head.
She did not recognize him as one of the Planetary Domiciles, who protected the royal family. Then again, the royal guards would never wear a suit like this.
“He’s a commander that the Hydra have independently employed as part of an intelligence unit. He is first-class—a competent guard and an excellent assassin.”
“I see. It would be a waste to recommend him to become one of the Planetary Domiciles.”
Planetary Domiciles were the highest-order guards, the Sovereign equivalent of the Saint Disciples. However, a person’s name became public information if they registered to become a Planetary Domicile. In other words, the Hydra had purposefully kept him in reserve as a secret game piece.
“I assume he was listening to our conversation?” Elletear said.
“You need not worry. He is loyal only to the Hydra. He would never talk. And there is no being who could capture him by force.”
The guard in the suit stood up.
As would be befitting for an intelligence unit, his conduct was perfect.
“Intelligence Commander Orneik, please escort the princess.”
“That would be an honor…,” Elletear said. “Then, my lord, I shall go on my vacation as planned.”
“Yes. All we will need to do is wait for the Imperial forces.”
Such was the plot to capture the queen.
After the queen was apprehended through Imperial raid, the subjects would lose their faith in the House of Lou, and a new queen would be born.
It had all started three queens ago. The plan that had been incubating under the Hydra for the last half century would finally be realized.
The next day.
The night before the raid of the Nebulis palace.
Orneik from the intelligence unit had received a secret order.
It was the day that Elletear was returning to the palace from the villa. He exchanged places with her to lie in wait and surveil the youngest princess.
According to Talisman, the head of the Hydra, he was a top-class assassin. And as for this man…
“—How trifling.”
He was being treaded upon . He had been pushed down into the garden, head trampled by a shoe—such was the humiliation he was being subjected to.
“A coup to assassinate the queen. I was wondering which of the Founder’s descendants organized it. I see. So they were just preparing to call in the Imperial forces.”
“…You… I never…expected you to be here. How could you? You’re Mirabella’s—”
“Your voice grates my ears.” The person delivered a kick to Orneik’s head.
He lost consciousness.
“I’m the only one who may call her Mirabella. Know that by doing so, you are not disrespecting the queen—but me.”
Bathed by the moonlight…as though receiving the benediction of the night sky itself, a man with white hair stood majestically.
The transcendental sorcerer Salinger.
This was the felon who had invaded the Nebulis palace thirty years ago and assaulted the then queen. Even in his fifties, he had managed to keep his physique and face looking like those of a man in his early twenties. Rather than decaying, in fact, he seemed to grow even stronger.
“The Founder’s descendants. The blood of the Hydra…”
His foot smashed into the assassin’s head.
Though he had fought one of the Hydra’s best men, he had come out unscathed—without so much as a speck of dust on his coat.
“Hah. I’d wondered who had been up to this. Of course it was the Hydra,” he spat.
He had acquired necessary information from this underling. Just as planned.
“So it’s all the same as thirty years ago …”
He turned around.
The outline of the Lou Erz mansion was lit by the lamps.
“…”
Though he hadn’t wished for it, a memory of her drifted into his memory.
There had been a confrontation on a tranquil night like this one.
“You’re so persistent. Did you follow me all the way to my villa, Salinger?”
“I didn’t follow you. I’m after your astral power, Mira.”
“So you’re asking me to battle you again? Alas, I must refuse.”
“…What?”
“This is my cherished spot. It would be a problem if you were to make a mess here. If you would like a duel, I will take you up on it later…as many times as you’d like.”
It’d been thirty years and a handful of months.
Salinger had confronted a young Mirabella at this exact residence. She had been so beautiful…and incredibly powerful.
Not just because of her astral power. It had to do with her personhood. At thirteen, she had already been the most powerful candidate for the throne in history.
Salinger had been the one and only challenger in her lifetime.
“…Tsk.”
“I like that you retreat from my attacks like that. It makes you stand apart from a barbarian.”
“Are you trying to make a mockery of me?”
“I’m praising you. You know, I don’t dislike that part about you.”
“…”
“Let’s leave this for another occasion. What day and time work for you? I would like it if it were on an auspicious day.”
“…How trite. You want to plan out a duel?”
“Yes. A certain artist once said that a marriage and a duel are cut of the same cloth. I would like to make sure it’s the best day for a battle. So that neither of us have regrets.”
“Hah. Are you saying our duel…is a love story?”
“Make it sound more poetic. ‘Our last crusade or the love in a new world.’ Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it?”
It would have been—should have been—a life-risking duel.
Salinger had assaulted young Mira to steal her astral power, and she had driven him back. That was how it always was.
So when did things change? Salinger had started to cherish their fights, wishing their relationship would continue like that forever.
Except everything changed…thirty years ago, when he carried out his assassination scheme.
“Back then it was me . Now it’s the Imperial forces as their cover. Ha-ha. Very funny, Hydra. Those who unite under the sun always scheme to take the throne in the shadows.”
It was unlikely anyone would arrive at the conclusion that the Imperial raid had been arranged by the Hydra.
“Why?! Salinger! Answer me!”
“…”
“Why would you resort to such savagery? Why would you assault the queen…and not me…? I thought you weren’t the type of man who would do something like this!”
It had all been the same thirty years ago.
The rotten sorcerer had invaded the palace to steal the queen’s astral power, according to rumors. Even the only eyewitness—Mira—believed that to be the case.
—I don’t ever intend to tell her the truth.
Their paths had already diverged.
That was because their crusade—their dream—had already been stolen from them, never to be returned.
“Mira…no, Queen Mirabella…”
He turned his back to the mansion.
This had been her favorite mansion. It wasn’t fit for someone who walked down a different path in life.
“You’re the queen of this country. You should risk your life to protect your beliefs. I won’t meddle with your affairs.”
The man with white hair spun around…his horrid eyes focusing on the Nebulis palace.
Twenty-four hours later.
The Planetary Stronghold that he’d beheld had been engulfed in flames from a raid by the Imperial troops.
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