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–––Stied’s viewpoint

“What’s the meaning of this?!”

I screamed and threw the glass I held, which shattered on the wall. The maid serving me twitched for a bit, then hurried to clean up the broken glass. I watched her in annoyance, then sat down on my chair heavily.

Only two months have passed since I decided to take action and establish some change for once, after Father ignored each and every single suggestion I gave to strengthen the country. Everything went well at first, I succeeded in secretly putting my Father to sleep and taking the throne, and then purged the capital from my pesky little brother and his followers. I placed nobles that followed me in all important positions, and seized control over the military and administrative offices. Now I just had to get rid of the nobles that still opposed me in other provinces and kill Magna, that way there would be no one left standing against me.

But now it turns out Luvias is here starting an uprising?! She was supposed to have cut ties with politics, keeping away from the strife for the crown. Why did she come back now of all times?!

“Dammit!”

I gulped down the new glass of wine in one go. Some of it spilled and stained my clothes, but I was too annoyed to give a damn.

I could not ignore Luvias’ popularity in the country. She had decided to take the name of hero and started fighting demons herself. The dimwitted citizens and nobles that cannot think for themselves are all in love with her, being completely clueless as to what happens behind the scenes. But the main issue is the others in her party.

Luvias was always obsessed with swords instead of being a princess, and every member in her party are all annoyingly strong. They’re all Gold Rank adventurers, and Dragon Slayers on top of that. There is nothing regular soldiers can do against them, but the most dangerous of all is their master, Lapis.

I watched her have a practice match against the knights before, her overwhelming power can be really dangerous. She can obviously trample down through countless foot soldiers without issue. I need to figure out just how to take them down.

Maybe by gathering all the black knights spread across the country? Even if Luvias’ party can hold their ground fighting one on one, I doubt they can resist an army of more than a thousand black knights. Doing so would slow my progress in securing every province of the country, but I can take my time with that once I have Luvias’ head. This could even become a good opportunity to weed out the nobles that were secretly against me and go to Luvias’ side now.

“Hmm…”

That was quite genius if I do say so myself. Noticing how I could turn this in my favor, my irritation fades away and I get to relax again. The maid that was trembling earlier looked at me puzzled, she did not seem to appreciate my good mood.

“Call that man.”
“Understood.”

The maid quickly left the room after hearing my order. I could not take any chances. I have to prepare for the worst case possible, so I had to keep the man those guys gave me ready. Even if Luvias somehow managed to defeat the black knights, he would easily kill them while they are weak.

“I’ll show you who’s boss Luvias…”

I needed her head and Magna’s if I wanted to secure my place in the throne.

§　§　§

–––Magna’s viewpoint

With my plan to take down Stied by surprise foiled, and my location discovered by the Thieves’ Guild, I left the capital in secret. I headed to the most eastern territory, which was occupied by one of my men.

This was the region bordering Barius, governed by the baron Gripp. He was still young, barely turned twenty. He inherited the territory after his father’s sudden passing, and he was very mature and capable for his age, keeping everything in order without much effort.

Nobles undergo rather specialized education since they are born, either to become good future governors, or for the ladies to not bring shame to their husbands. In the case of Gripp his father passed away even before he was an adult, so his education was not yet complete. But his talents were obvious seeing how he managed to upkeep the territory without needing other nobles to step in for him.

“Did you hear that?”
“Yes, I could hear that even if I didn’t want to…”

I was meeting Gripp in his room to discuss how we would proceed when his magic communication device began to ring loudly. We looked at it wondering what was going on, and then we heard a voice I was very familiar with. Luvias was talking. My rowdy sister sent a message to every communications device in the country. She was calling people to take down Stied… Gripp turned pale when he saw my reaction.

I did not need a mirror to understand my face was completely overtaken with anger.

“That girl…”

I had never expected her of all people to make such a bold move. When I spoke with her in the past, she had promised me she had no interest in taking the throne. We had agreed that I would grant her a small territory in the countryside, where she would live far away from the capital and we would never interfere with each other again.

Then why did she decide to stage an uprising now? Did seeing the state of the country stir her ambition? Or is she simply acting out of benevolence trying to stop Stied’s atrocities that are ruining the country? I could not understand that. I lacked way too much information. I told a maid nearby to call Ciel and Karin. They are close friends of hers, so maybe they can give a bit more insight into this. I had to think about this more calmly before I concluded that Luvias had gone against her word.

“Luvias just started an uprising?!”
“And in Surfour of all places…”

They were just as shocked as me when they heard the news, it seems they had not been told anything either.

“Luvias told you to look for me when you left her side, correct? You’re completely sure about that?”

They both tilted their heads after I asked them. They seemed to be looking back through their memories, their eyes moving from one side to the other.

“Err…to be completely accurate it wasn’t Luvias, but Lapis who told us to look for you.”
“What?!”
“Now that you mention it…yeah, I think it was Lapis.”

It was not Luvias that asked them that?! I felt like my head was about to burst learning that. That changed everything. Maybe it was Lapis who kept Luvias’ ambitions under control all this time as her teacher, and only now she was showing her true colors. Maybe Luvias had finally managed to convince Lapis to take control of the country, and had started an uprising with her.

Lapis was incredibly strong. If she joined Luvias, they could become the strongest contender in the country. Those two could easily get rid of all of Stied’s men in an instant. What would that mean for me then? Everyone would prefer Luvias on the throne, rather than me who keeps hiding from the public.

“This is bad…”

The longer I stayed hidden, the worse the situation was getting. If Luvias had started her own movement, it was harder to trust Ciel and Karin too. If they decided to attack me now, I would have no way to defend myself.

While I kept despairing thinking of all that, Karin and Ciel were sipping tea without a worry in the world. I was going insane seeing how little they seemed to care. Did they even realize how this foiled all my plans?!

“Umm…Prince Magna? Why are you looking at us like that?”
“It’s nothing, I just remembered something. But anyway, what do you two think about all this?”

Depending on how they answered I would need to find a way to distract them and flee this mansion. That would mean finding a new hiding place again. Why could nothing go right?!

“Nothing much really…though I doubt Luvias is trying to take the throne.”
“…Huh?”

An idiotic voice left my lips hearing that unexpected reply. Luvias had no intention to take the throne…but she started an uprising? I could not understand that. While I tried to understand that, Ciel took over from Karin.

“I think so too. She still doesn’t know we found you, so Luvias might still be unsure whether you’re alive or not. So maybe she decided to act under the assumption you’re no longer alive? If Stied is allowed to continue ruling the country will collapse in on itself. The only alternative, you, is currently missing. So she probably had no choice but to do it herself, I guess?”
“That’s…”

I had not thought of that, but she was right. I was always afraid to compromise my location, so I never got close to any magic communication devices.

“But Luvias already started her campaign… Won’t she try to get rid of me if I show up now?”

That much was an obvious course of action if she wanted to secure the throne. I could see myself doing that if I was in her shoes, so it would not surprise me if she chose to do so as well. But Karin and Ciel began laughing hearing that, somehow it was too weird for them to imagine.

“W-Why are you laughing like that?!”
“Ah, I’m really sorry. It’s just really weird hearing you suggest that…”
“Yeah, Luvias doesn’t have that kind of ambition. All she has is a strong sense of responsibility. Not to mention that Lapis would never join her if she tried to take the throne by force like that. She would just leave telling Luvias to do that on her own if she really wanted.”
“Hrnghh…”

What was their foundation to say that? They might be right, considering Luvias despises anything unlawful, and I did not know Lapis enough. Maybe she would decide to change her mind to appease her dear pupil. Seeing me thinking about all that, Ciel looked slightly bothered.

“Lapis despises anything related to politics, I can’t go into much detail, but I can say that much with certainty.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if you try talking to Luvias first rather than worrying about all that? I would recommend moving a little rather than brooding so much.”

Hmmm… They had a point, maybe this was all a big misunderstanding. But I still had to worry about my own safety, though watching from the sidelines in secret could also make things worse for me. Maybe it was best to just steel my resolve and try talking to Luvias. Deciding that, I reached out for the magic communication device.