Chapter 40
March 12th, Year 761 of the Continental Calendar
Once again, Princess Muriela and the royal family gathered in Queen Elodia’s garden for a meeting.
Three days in a row now. Meeting after meeting. Meetings to plan meetings, discussions about discussions. It was endless.
It felt like a scene from a corporate office in another world.
But no, that’s just an illusion. Yes, the illusion of an illusion.
Today, the chairperson was again the eldest of the king’s children, Crown Prince Alfred.
If the lack of conclusions and constant bickering were anyone’s fault, it would seem to be his.
But no, the root issue was simpler: they lacked information and actionable resources.
And with Muriela’s ultimate move—*“Contact Sylviorene through Zephyr to reach Corbin”—*having failed, her position had grown precarious!
The siblings who had declared their allegiance to her not long ago…
When Zephyr first appeared, their excitement had been palpable.
Now, even they displayed lukewarm responses.
Even Queen Elodia, who had always trusted Muriela’s ideas, seemed uninterested.
The pressure on Solinor, who was inhabiting Muriela’s body, was immense even before the meeting began.
“Today, I have to present a proper idea! For my grandchildren and my reputation!”
Though perhaps he should have said “Muriela’s reputation” instead.
Regardless, Solinor was already preparing another bombshell.
Of course, all of this was just in Solinor’s head.
Everyone else was simply frustrated by the lack of viable ideas.
With their limited experience and resources, they were essentially trapped in a garden debate.
The real blame lay with Solinor, the most experienced person present.
But even he had his excuses—too little information, too few cards to play!
And let’s not forget, Solinor had never been the brains of his adventuring party.
He had always been the one to execute plans, not craft them.
Now, with no word from Sylviorene, the one who should have been strategizing, and no response to Zephyr’s second attempt to deliver a message, Solinor was at a loss.
Time cruelly marched on until the meeting began.
Crown Prince Alfred dropped the first bomb as soon as the meeting opened.
“Last night, I received news that Katrina and Brandon have gone missing!”
The reaction was explosive.
“What?!”
“Is that true?”
“How could this happen?”
“What now?”
Solinor was initially startled but quickly felt a sense of relief.
There was no way spies hadn’t been monitoring the exiled prince and princess.
If they had gone missing, it was either by direct intervention or deliberate oversight by the spies. This had Corbin’s handprints all over it.
This also meant Sylviorene had received the message.
“Well done, Zephyr.”
The message had likely gone from Sylviorene to Corbin.
Of course, acting without informing him was… a bit rude.
A simple call through the window would have sufficed.
Nevertheless, now that Grimkin Spymaster Corbin was aware of Muriela’s secret, contact was inevitable.
With a new stream of information secured, formulating and executing plans would be much easier.
While Solinor mulled over this, the royals were in an uproar.
“Could they… be dead?”
“No way. I’m sure they’re safe.”
“But it’s worrying. How could those two manage on their own?”
At this point, Alfred stepped in to calm things down.
“Don’t worry too much. According to my source, they’re safe.”
“A source? You have one of those?”
“Alfred’s source?”
As expected, the bait he had thrown brought a school of fish leaping into the net. Even Solinor was curious. Where did he get this information?
“It’s nothing special,” Alfred began. “Last night, someone came to me and delivered the message. I can’t reveal who, of course, but it was the first I’d heard of it too.”
Muriela interjected with a sharp question.
“Brother, does that mean this was a secret communication? Are you sure it’s okay to share this with us?”
“Rather, I told you to use it as much as you could. There’s no point in me holding onto this information alone, so I shared it with you.”
“But doesn’t that mean the discussion is over? There’s nothing more we can do now. You said the sister and brother are safe, right? But we don’t even know where they are.”
“…”
Muriela’s valid point left everyone speechless.
Simply put, today’s meeting was another failure.
That said, it wasn’t like they could waste the snacks and drinks prepared by Queen Elodia
In the end, the royals parted ways with sulky expressions after nibbling on their refreshments.
So, did Muriela’s standing improve, or did it decline?
***
At the same time, Corbin sat in his seat, lost in thought.
‘This is strange. Florina must have delivered the message to Princess Muriela last night. Why hasn’t there been any response?’
It was information Solinor would need at this exact moment: news of Katrina and Brandon’s well-being.
Along with it, he had sent a code that only he and Solinor knew. If there was truly a connection between Princess Muriela and Solinor, a reply should have come back.
But all Florina said upon returning was, “She just said thank you.”
‘Could it be… that there’s no relationship between them? That doesn’t make sense…’
The similarities between Muriela and Solinor were too many to dismiss as coincidence.
A name like “Wendy” for a wind spirit might be common enough to appear in stories about Solinor, but the other keywords and habits could only be explained if she was him.
Most of all, his instincts—honed over years as an adventurer and as a spymaster—told him the same thing.
Muriela was Solinor.
But she showed no reaction.
‘Damn it, this is giving me a headache. And in the midst of all this, Eldric is just off gallivanting with women?’
It wasn’t news that the king was fond of women, but this time, his pace was unusual.
Usually, when he took a liking to a woman, the relationship lasted for a while.
Yet here he was, preparing to bring in a sixth queen mere months after the fifth queen became pregnant.
Soon, the sixth queen would enter the palace.
Her wedding was planned to coincide with the Founding Day celebration in five days.
As someone responsible for royal security, Corbin had to focus on the safety of the royal family during the event.
The kingdom’s reputation was already in tatters, and there were countless issues demanding his attention.
There was no time to keep pondering Muriela’s true identity.
“It can’t be helped. I’ll try again later. For now, I have to focus on preparing for the event.”
With that, Corbin summoned his most trusted agents and issued additional orders to ensure Katrina and Brandon’s comfort.
First, he had to contain the existing problems before they escalated further.
***
Meanwhile, what was the lucky woman, destined to become the sixth queen, doing?
She was sleeping.
At this hour? She wasn’t awake yet?
A sleeping beauty, perhaps?
No, that wasn’t accurate. She was lying unconscious in the dressing room, sporting a massive bump on her head.
“Hm, alright, this should do. Is this part still off?”
Staring into the mirror, a woman identical to the sixth queen used magic to adjust her appearance.
This was none other than Aiorin.
Having racked her brain to figure out a way to infiltrate the royal palace undetected by Solinor, Aiorin had finally found a solution.
It would’ve been easy to announce herself as his wife and enter the palace. But then Solinor would undoubtedly notice. He’d likely run the moment he heard.
If Solinor decided to flee, even Aiorin wouldn’t be able to catch him easily. Likewise, if Aiorin chose to escape, he couldn’t stop her either.
They could only be together if they truly wanted to, deep in their hearts.
But Solinor, who had betrayed her, was now having an affair with none other than his granddaughter!
Of course, he wouldn’t want to meet Aiorin.
Thus, her only option was a surprise ambush.
Fortunately, she possessed an asymmetric advantage that Solinor lacked: spirits.
She decided to pose as the new queen, the beautiful young woman entering the palace soon. Obviously, she had no intention of actually marrying the king’s son.
Her plan was to wreak havoc as soon as she entered the palace and drag Solinor back to the Fey Forest after thoroughly beating him up.
The end.
A flawless plan.
Of course, the current sixth queen, lying unconscious, wasn’t at fault. Aiorin intended to hide her using spirits.
She had instructed them to provide food and drink, so the woman should be fine for the next five days.
“My dear, wait for me. You’re in for a fiery reckoning.”
Her ominous declaration echoed through the dressing room.
—
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