Chapter 139 The Secret, and an Ill.u.s.tration of the Future

Now, since Prince Cloud’s worries were gone, he didn’t show up in the royal castle. I decided to rely upon Marquis Kupo’s side to take care of both the mother and the child. However, the pursuers did not go as far as to go here. Well, we only need to exterminate them or escape with [Gate] if they ever decide to come here.

There seemed to be a disturbance in the royal palace due to the sudden disappearance of the second prince. I was able to understand the situation clearly seeing the state of the affairs.

『What do you mean “Queen Aria has disappeared from Galia Fortress”!? Are you saying that Prince Cloud has taken her away!? What were the soldiers in the fortress doing!?』

『Y-yes, according to the notice brought by the carrier pigeon, everyone’s movements seemed to had been sealed and they weren’t able to do anything…….』

Prime Minister Wardak hits the desk with his fists in frustration after hearing the words of the messenger. Moreover, does he hit his desk that often? The messenger bows and go out of the Prime Minister room.

『That’s why I have been telling you, Zabun. It would have been better to erase that kid as quickly as possible!』

『That b.a.s.t.a.r.d Cloud! Don’t expect you will be safe after opposing your owner!』

The foolish prince who didn’t look interested clicked his tongue as Queen Dakia hysterically raised her seemingly impatient voice.

There was a little guardian from the shadow of the window curtain peeking at the state of the three people who were panicked. It was a house mouse I summoned.

Currently, the sense of sight and hearing of that house mouse is aligned to me with [Synchro], and I’m inquiring about the att.i.tude of the opponent.

『It may be troublesome if Prince Cloud and Marquis Kupo win over the provincial n.o.bles due to the two of them joining forces…… Right here and now, we should hurry and start to have His Majesty the King hand over the throne to Prince Zabun. On top of that, we need to arrest Prince Cloud. Any kind of charge will be fine』

『What will we do about the war with Paluf, Wardak?』

『It is regrettable, but it will be postponed. First, we have to nip the buds of rebellion.』

『s.h.i.+t. And I was thinking that I could finally obtain the Princess of Paluf. Well, I guess it’s fine since I will finally become the King of Rynie』

Was he delighted in becoming the king? Prince Zabun left the room in a cheerful state.

Hmmm, how will then things proceed with this? Instead of s.n.a.t.c.hing away the throne from the present king, our consciousness will not blame us too much if we deprive the foolish Prince of the throne after he a.s.sumes it. No, the more gap we leave, the more the number of victims will increase. As expected, now we should……..

『…… It is not good that they have taken away Queen Aria. It may eventually reach the King’s ears as well. If we have him hand over the throne to Zabun before that……』

Oh? Wardak’s tone has changed. He is not addressing the King or Prince Zabun with honorifics as if a bitter bug has been swallowed. Is his true colors coming out? But, Queen Dakia is still there though. Has he shown it to Queen Dakia before because she is his cousin?

『Shall we quickly have him succeed the throne now after what happened? Although the king’s authority is necessary to hold down Marquis Kupo….. d.a.m.n it! Luckily, he probably still doesn’t know Queen Aria was s.n.a.t.c.hed (from us). We have to make him acknowledge it, even if we have to use force. He won’t make a blunder if we threaten him with the life of Queen Aria should he disapprove』

Hey-Hey, what does that mean? Didn’t Queen Aria become a hostage in order to hold down Prince Cloud? They also used Queen Aria as a s.h.i.+eld against the King effectively making him the Prime Minister’s yes-man…..

Hey, this is something that can become a conclusive evidence. Let’s catch them in the act. I secretly send the smartphone to the side of the house mouse by using [Gate]. Good-good, let’s properly record it~

『It will be bad if Queen Aria and Prince Cloud return to the King’s side. We have to completely seal the royal palace while threatening the king in the meantime, and have him yield the throne in front of the capital n.o.bles』

『What will you do to the King once he yields the throne to Zabun?』

『I will make him disappear. I don’t mind having him die immediately, but troublesome guys who may carry up Prince Cloud could appear so we have to make sure the throne is properly handed over to Zabun』

Whoops, I got it~ This is an evidence of a plot for the King’s a.s.sa.s.sination. Or rather, this Queen Dakia shares the same crime too. With this, Prince Cloud may be able to live without suffering the disgrace of being a rebel.

『Regardless, I will have Cloud die in someway or another to relieve the anxiety for the future. We can’t leave anyone of the Royal lineage alive』

? What is this guy saying? Won’t Zabun remain even if they say that they will kill the King and Prince Cloud….?…..

…………. Wait-wait, wait a minute. Don’t tell me!…… Is that how it is? In that case, I can understand Prince Cloud treatment so far.

『Our family will obtain the country at long last. I will not allow anyone to disturb us』

『Your’s and my son will soon become the King of this country』

『Ah! It’s the birth of a new royal family』

The two people say that and raise the corners of their mouth, while a crooked laughter is floating on their faces.

===============SCENE CHANGE==================

『Our family will obtain the country at long last. I will not allow anyone to disturb us』

『Your’s and my son will soon become the King of this country』

『Ah! It’s the birth of a new royal family』

The playback of the recorded video ends. It seems everyone is speechless when I look around.

[Such a thing…… Prince Zabun is Queen Dakia and Wardak’s son!? In that case…… Isn’t this a takeover of the royal family?]

Marquis Kupo rises up from his chair and shouts while clenching his fists. Isn’t it natural? This is a takeover of the royal family just like the Marquis has said. There is no way he can stay calm. Wardak has been cheating about Zabun’s birth for more than thirty years. He threatened the King when he became Prime Minister 10 years ago and controlled the politics of this country.

The replacement of Marquis Kupo as the prime minister is most likely a scenario of Wardak as well.

[That surprised me……. But I am kinda convinced]

[~de-gozaru (I agree)…… Cloud-dono and that stupid prince do not resemble each other. Them not resembling each other also justifies that they are not brothers if they are complete strangers which is far from having even a single parent ~degozaru]

What Elsie and Yae is saying is reasonable. Should I say it was my gut feeling since it’s no wonder there are some parts that I could also agree on? Their figures are at least not similar, but the corrupt eyes are still the same.

Though this is a habit of animals, but this is called [Brood Parasitism]. It is a habit seen in birds such as cuckoos wherein they lay their eggs in the nests of an entirely different bird; it’s a so-called habit of shrewdly raising your child. Such knowledge suddenly flashed across my head.

I s.h.i.+ft my attention to Prince Cloud who is quivering while sitting in the chair. The Prince who is directing his line of sight to his feet opens his mouth slowly while resting his elbows on his knees and crossing his fingers.

[With My Older Brother……. No, with Zabun, we are not related. There is no reason to hesitate anymore. I, for the sake of the country, for my father’s sake, for my mother’s sake, will fight against the traitors who are trying to take over this country]

[Well said, Prince Cloud! The rightful heir to the throne is you! I will not allow the handover of this country to that kind of family!]

What Marquis Kupo says is right, and the just cause is on our side. We also helped Queen Aria who was used to threaten the King. The opponent has no more trump cards. Afterwards, we just need to press them with questions, but I should thoroughly investigate it before that happens.

I stealthily slipped using [Invisible], borrowed hair from Wardak and Zabun, and took it back to Flora in the [Alchemy Building]. Based on the result of Flora’s a.n.a.lysis, we concluded that both of them were undoubtedly parent and child. In other words, Zabun doesn’t have an ounce of the king’s blood. They are total strangers.

Well, I had to do it because there might have been a chance it’s the opposite. It was to have a peace of mind.

[U-fu-fu. I will investigate it as well when Master’s children are born ~no]

[Hey, you, what do you mean?]

If they are worried about such a thing, the fathers in the world must not raise their children when they have such doubts.

I greatly understood this time why the Shogun of the Edo period prohibited males in the inner palace.

[Master will have many children because he has plenty of wives ~no. The Professor said so ~no]

[Professor, you mean Babylon? Did she even know about my kids?]

Did she see it through the artifact that peeks into the future? Then, did she see the future even further from now? The fact there are kids even after becoming 18 years old…… is what I’m thinking of. I must have lost to my desire.

For one more year and a half, no, if I consider the period of pregnancy, is the earliest going to be more than two years ahead in the future?

[Nine brides, it seems each has her own kids ~no. You are a king blessed with children, aren’t you ~no]

Uhh!? There will be more than nine children? It seems to be tiresome to keep them company…….

………………………………………… Yes? Nine brides, each?!

[Nine!? What’s that!? I didn’t hear about that!?]

[I didn’t say said ~no]

Eh!? What’s that, Will the number of brides increase to as much as 9 in total!? What kind of future is this!

W-w-wait a minute! At the current stage, I have Yumina, Elsie, Lindsey, Yae, Rue – those five, right? Although she is temporary, a.s.suming that Suu joins, then there is six of them. In other words, you say there will be three more people? What will happen for it to turn like that!

[……Have you told anyone this story?]

[I didn’t ~no]

[Don’t let anyone know. It may become the cause that invites unnecessary damage]

Especially to me. At any rate, what are you doing, the future me…….

[In other word, are you putting me in the remaining bride candidates ~no?]

[How does things turn out like this? In the first place, you guys said you can’t have kids]

[If we combine the [Alchemy Building] and the [Laboratory], it will be possible to make a clone of Master if it is something like children ~no]

[Absolutely NO!]

By all means, pardon me of the son that is a perfect clone of me. I warn Flora not to blabber unnecessary things and come back to Marquis Kupo residence.

I convey the result of an expert’s opinion to Elsie and others. There is no doubt that Zabun is not part of the royal family. There is no longer any need to hesitate against the opposite side with this.

[Now then, let’s go and put on the final touch, shall we?]

[Are you going somewhere ~degozaru?]

Yae asked me. It has already been decided where to go.

[I am going to the first victim to convey the truth to him]

I opened the [Gate] again while saying that.