Lucas entered his room and then he changed into his nightwear. He was thinking of what he would do next, especially after helping the Duke quell the rebellion. The kingdom would owe them so much and he could ask for anything he wanted, but with limited knowledge and technology of this world, he could not ask for something he needed. He did not know whether there were any materials to repair the ship on this planet, his ship was not fitted with a Resources Orbital Scanner and he had to use the drone to scan for resources. But, Lyra told him before that they had lost 3 drones, one was lost when it tried to enter the unknown area, an area where their ship’s scanner could not scan, and the other was destroyed somewhere else. He ordered her to recall the drones back to the ship and only kept one drone near them.

When they scanned this planet, there were 3 landmasses big enough that could be considered a continent. He was considering conquering the whole continent and eventually the planet with the kingdom as the stepping stone or focusing on repairing the ship. Then, he heard a knock on the door, he told them to get inside. It was Bianca in her nightwear and her dress uniform jacket covering it.

“What do you want?” asked Lucas

“Nothing, I just feel like coming here,” she said as she walked inside the room.

“Sure, suit yourself.”

She sat on the bed, took off the jacket and put it on the bed. “What is the plan?“

“We will help to quell the rebellion an–”

“I know about that, what is after that?” said Bianca. Lucas fell silent. “Are you still thinking of going back home?”

“Yes,” said Lucas with a sad face.

“You know it is near impossible to do, right?”

“If there is a chance, we should try it.”

“Haah, don’t you think we should be realistic here? We are stuck on this planet and we don’t know if we can repair the ship or if the Empire will send a search party. We don’t know how far we are from the Empire,” said Bianca, frustrated.

“Yeah, you are right.”

Bianca was silent for a while. “Is it because of her?”

“Yes.” Lucas fell silent. Then, he lay down on his bed. “Haah, I sound like a fool.”

“You are,” said Bianca. They looked at each other for a while then they smiled and laughed.

“I’m sorry. Right, we should focus on ourselves and our survival on this planet.”

“Well, I’m glad you have come to your senses. Anyway, I want to talk about the humans here.”

“Hmm, what do you mean?” said Lucas, curious. He sat back on the bed

“You must have wondered who they are and how they came here.”

“Yes, Lyra said that their DNA is of humans. Could we be in an alternate universe?”

“I don’t know. If we are in an alternate universe, then it will be impossible for us to return home or even there is no way to. Back to what I want to talk about, how much do you know about our family history?” asked Bianca, as she stood up.

“A lot, I was given the same lesson as my older brother.”

“Then do you know about the expedition carried by our family?”

“Yes, most of them were sponsored by the Imperial Family.”

“Correct and there are some that were not. However, there is one expedition that was not reported to the Imperial Family,” said Bianca, she explained while walking around the room.

“What? I don’t recall that we have a record of that.”

“Ohh, you don’t know? How come you do not know? Are you not supposed to have the highest level of clearance in Lorien's database and network?”

“Of course, I have it. Wait, if it needs this high of clearance then how did you know it?”

“Well, I used Lucy’s credentials. She logged in to the network and let me use it, for the record, I was not looking for something particular at that time.”

Lucas looked at her suspiciously. “Alright, then what did you find?”

“It was an expedition from thousands of years ago. The twin brother of Duke Lorien at that time was tasked to go on an expedition. He was given a recon ship, 3 colony ships and 2 destroyers.”

“That long? And he went with the colony ship without exploring first?” said Lucas. For an expedition, usually, the first phase would be to send a reconnaissance group to explore, and then the core group, consisting of a colony ship and space construction group, would be sent if suitable places were found.

“Yes, it was written on the record that there was a conflict between the twins. The twin was caught having a relationship with the Duke’s fiance when the Duke found out that he broke up the betrothal and he ordered his twin and his former fiance to be exiled from the Duchy.”

“Right, I remember reading about that. But, he was exiled to another Duchy’s territory.”

“That is what is on the record in the Imperial Archive. But, the truth is the Duke’s advisor approached the Duke and told him to send his twin on an expedition instead of exiling him.”

“What was the reason for them to ask him that?”

“That time, the Lorien Duchy and Halan Duchy were fighting to gain influence on the Empire. They were afraid that the twin would join Halan and use his claim to gain control of Lorien.”

“I see, so they want to keep the twin on leash.”

“Correct, If he was able to make an achievement, the Duke would forgive him. Then when he was on an expedition something happened when he arrived on a system.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. There was no record of what happened at that time, there was no communication from the group. A search party was sent but found nothing in that system, they also did not pick any sign of distress signal in the area. The researchers speculated that there was some kind of black hole or something.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“So an unexplainable phenomenon.”

“Yes, then my theory is that the expedition that went missing was the civilization on this planet.”

“Wait, so you think we went through the same phenomenon as them?”

“No, the system we were in and theirs were different and far away, and Lyra already told us that someone was messing around with our ship,” said Bianca with an annoyed voice.

“Oh right. But, do you have evidence that the expedition is this civilization?”

“Well, I don't have any. I was just speculating because it was the only probable explanation.”

“Hmmmm, well, your theory is indeed the most logical and possible.”

“And the unknown area. What is that place? Our scanner could not scan the area and our drone was destroyed when it tried to enter it.”

“Correct, we should investigate that place as well.”

A knock came on the door, Lucas and Bianca were startled when they heard it. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they forgot about their surroundings and time. Bianca then approached the door and opened it. “Eh?!” A voice came from the one who knocked at the door.

“Ariana, what are you doing here?”

“Umm…” Ariana was startled and flustered. “w-what about you, Bianca?”

Bianca smirked. “Me? I was called by him to come to his room.”

“W-w-w-what do–”

“No, she was not. Let her come in, Bianca,” said Lucas.

Bianca clicked her tongue. “No fun, eh?” She let Ariana go inside.

“So, do you need something, Ariana?” asked Lucas.

“Ah, n-no. I was just checking up on you.”

“Ariana, if you want to meet a man at night and go inside his room, how about covering your nightgown with something? It looks like you are offering yourself to him for nightly service,” said Bianca. Ariana was flustered when she heard that.

“Then, what about you, Bianca? Di-didn’t you do the same as me?” said Ariana

“No, look there.” Bianca pointed at her jacket on the bed. “I came here with that and then I took it off inside, I’m his sister, technically, so I don’t think he would be interested in me and we used to sleep together since we were children.”

“That was when we were little. And Bianca is right Ariana, I thought you came here to seduce me,” said Lucas confidently.

Ariana was surprised when he said that, she was fumbling with her words, “Ehhh, I-it is n-nothing like th–”

“I was just joking,” said Lucas with a smile.

“Pffttt, you are really mean,” said Bianca, laughing.

Ariana was annoyed after she heard that. She now saw that the whole Lorien family was a bunch of mischievous people who liked to mess with people for fun. “It was not a fun joke.”

Lucas looked at Ariana, and he felt an ominous aura emitting from her. “Sorry, Ariana. Since you are here, we can continue the discussion,” said Lucas.

“Eh? You were discussing something.” Ariana was curious.

Lucas explained what he and Bianca had discussed about the theory that the civilization of this planet originated from the Empire’s Lorien Duchy.

“I see, it does make sense though.”

“But, we still have no evidence about it. So we are planning to explore the world and look for clues. More importantly, I am planning to uncover the unknown area and take over the world.”

“What? Do you mean to lead the world?”

“Yes, I was thinking of advancing this civilization in case the Roktarian came here first and invaded the planet.”

“I see, that would be the best for this planet,” said Bianca.

“And if they are lucky. They will be able to contact the Empire and the Empire will be able to protect them.”

“That will take a long time, especially if the Empire is not actively expanding,” said Ariana.

“Correct, that means we must leave offspring to lead this world and leave our descendants with the task to continue our goal.”

“I-i see,” said Ariana, shyly.

“Are you planning to use this kingdom as the stepping stone?” asked Bianca.

“Yes, I was thinking of making the Crown Prince our puppet.”

“Will it be better to take the throne by yourself?”

“No, it would be hard to get legitimacy from his subject, Duke August was the definition of loyalty in this kingdom and I don't want to cross the sword with him”

“Then, won’t a marriage be better?” said Bianca.

Lucas looked at Bianca. He was considering getting her to marry the Crown Prince and have her give birth to his children, cementing Lorien's legacy in the kingdom, and this plan would be the best if he wanted to have Lorien on the throne. But, he had put that plan as one of his lowest priorities, “I was considering that as well. But, I have decided to use him as a puppet.”

“Are you worried for me? I am fine if you were to use me as your political tool. We were trapped in here and I will do anything I can to help you. Remember, blood is thicker than water,” said Bianca with full confidence.

“I understand, I will reconsider my decision.”

“Thank you.”

“It is getting late, I think all of you should go back to your room.”

“Ahhh, you are right,” said Bianca, surprised. She took her jacket and put it on, and then he went to the door and gestured for Ariana to follow.

“Then, Good night, Lucas,” said Ariana. She had gotten used to calling him Lucas.

“Wait,” said Lucas. He immediately took his jacket and put it around Ariana. “You did not bring anything here, wear this.”

“Th-thank you,” said Ariana. She blushed when he put the jacket on, she could smell the smell on his coat. Bianca looked at those two and saw a vision of a lovey-dovey couple, she thought she must have been so exhausted to even imagine that.

The night was calm and the moon shone brightly, Duke Aruburn walked to the city’s gate, with 2 knights guarding him. When they arrived at the gate, Captain Breznev was waiting for them.

“Welcome, Duke.”

“Captain.” he nodded at Breznev. “Shall we continue?”

“Yes.”

Captain Breznev joined the Duke in walking, they walked outside the city to look around the battlefield and the remains of the camps of the Marquess’ army. It had been a full day since the army was attacked by Lucas and his crew, the cleanup of the body was almost finished and the Duke's forces were looting the camp for anything useful and worthy. Since it was evening, there were only a few soldiers running about the camp cleaning and looting.

The Duke and his men arrived near the place where the Marquess’ army, he could see a mountain of supplies the Marquess had brought for his besieging army. Not far from that, he could see the place where the army had placed their horses and their wagons, all of them were still in good condition. It looked like they had left the place with haste.

The Duke that morning ordered his men to give chase to the routing army, fearing they would regroup and attack the city once again. Today was a lucky day for him, his city was besieged for months and then a group of people lifted the siege, and now that group arrived in front of his door and offered him help. He still had many questions about their origin, they came from across the sea, where no one could cross. Their fine clothing, which they said was for the military, would cost thousands of gold alone, and the weapon they brought, it was not magic but it could defeat the whole army.

The Duke could not imagine how powerful that country must be. Staying on their good side would be the best idea. He wanted to help them return to their home, but he thought he could not do it. The Duke considered marriage between his family and their family, but the leader already had someone who promised to. It would be easy to outbid the betrothal if the woman was from the lower house, but if the woman was the princess of the country or the daughter of influential nobles, it would be near impossible.

The Duke did not know what they wanted to do in this kingdom, however, if he decided to overthrow the royalty, the Duke would protect the royalty. He hoped that the situation would not get to that point. The Duke at this time, did not know that he had become one of the first pieces of domino that would sweep this world.