「…Should be about time.」

Count Bellatris said, taking his eyes off the painting. He began walking leisurely towards the dining room, where the king was waiting for him for way longer than reasonable. On the way there, a maid sweeping the floors noticed him.

「Count Bellatris, the king is waiting for you in the dining room. For quite a while, in fact.」

She stopped her brooming for a moment, to inform the count.

「I am aware, I am heading there right now… By the way, have you seen Princess Cycelia around here somewhere?」

The count smiles with satisfaction.

「The princess? Why, yes! She came by here a few minutes ago. I think she was in a bad mood.」

「Bad mood, isn't it? That must be why she refused to talk with me. Too bad…」

Count Bellatris grins, and continues onward, whistling a tune in a good mood…

…

The count arrives at the dining room, with its doors slightly ajar. He pushes them open further, and peeks in. He is met with a grisly scene of a heartless massacre by the table. He enters, and shuts the doors close behind him quietly. He walks up to the pale king and queen laying dead on the ground, both of their faces twisted into shocked surprise.

Twhack.

After dodging the pooled blood, Count Bellatris gives the king a rough kick in the face, and stomps on his head, rubbing the sole of his extravagant shoe on the murdered monarch.

「Serves you right. You, and your whore daughter. I only wish I could do this to your father too. Ha-pfoo!」

The count grins, staring in disdain at the mangled bodies. He turns around, but not before spitting down in the dead king's face.

「Long live the king. Hahahaha!」

Count Bellatris cackles, and opens the door. He puts on his best impression of shock, panic and disbelief, and starts running around the halls.

「Guards! Guards! Guards!」

He shouts at the top of his lungs, frantically running around the hallway looking for a nearby guard. Due to the commotion, multiple guards run in from almost all available directions after just a brief moment of shouting incessantly.

「Count Bellatris! What happened!?」

One of the guards asks, clutching onto his halberd tightly.

「There's been a murder! Princess Cycelia has murdered her parents! They're laying dead in the dining room! And I was just about to have a meal with the king!」

Count Bellatris points in the direction of the dining room, screaming with panic on his face. The guards look at each other, and two of them run off that way.

「Calm down, Count Bellatris, how do you know it was her?」

The guard asks with wary disbelief in voice, holding his palm up.

「One of the maids told me! I invited her to talk with me by the portraits about a certain matter, but she never came! If she killed her parents… Mercia's grace! You have to protect the prince! Now, before it's too late! Search the throne room! And get Albus for help!」

The count frantically shakes his finger down the hallway, shouting at the guards. They look at each other with eyes wide open, and run off in the direction of Otto's room.

「Yes, count!」

They shout in unison, and disperse in two directions. The count starts chuckling, and the chuckling transforms into unrestrained cackling.

「Hahahaha… This is too easy… Ahh, I suppose years of planning will do that.」

Count Bellatris turns around, and leisurely walks towards Otto's room, with his hands behind his back…

…

「…And?」

With a concerned face, the count approaches the pale-faced guards and a sobbing maid.

「…She murdered him, Count Bellatris. She killed Prince Otto.」

The wide-eyed guard gulps nervously, and replies. The sobbing from the maid intensifies.

「I see. And did you find her?」

「No count, not yet.」

The guard shook his head, and more guards arrive, out of breath after running.

「She… She killed Albus too!」

One of them shouts, after catching his breath.

「Even Albus!?」

Count Bellatris exclaims. He covers his mouth with a fist, and turns his head aside, as his facade is cracking, and the guards surely would see his grin.

「What do we do now, Count Bellatris? Do we just give up? I mean, she's-」

「We go to the throne room! She has gone mad, and she must be so desperate for the throne she physically went and took it! Follow me!」

The count announces, and waves his arm for the guards to follow. He takes the stairs leading the way to the throne room. Before he even gets to the throne room floor, the guards he sent to search it intercept him.

「Did you kill her?」

He asks, shrugging his hands.

「No, Count Bellatris, she wasn't there.」

「What?- I mean, are you sure!?」

The count ids momentarily knocked out of rhythm by the guard's answer, but he manages to subtly recover.

「We're certain, we've searched the whole room and the adjacent ones. She's not there.」

「Then…」

The count blinks, and returns whence he came. He walks into Otto's room, and past the bedroom into the study. Sure enough, the boy is dead in a pool of blood. He backs out, and heads for the library, the group of guards closely trailing behind him.

He arrives at the library and swings the door open. In a hasty and angry step, he walks up to the bloodied corpse of Albus, and puts his hands on his hips.

「What is?…」

《Have I made a mistake? No, that's not possible… He's dead, the king is dead, the queen is dead, that little shit is dead… So where is she?… Doesn't matter, she'll be found and killed soon enough. I just need to make a tiny, little alteration into my plan…》

Count Bellatris thinks to himself, rubbing his chin furiously. He turns around to face the guards.

「Get me the captain and assemble the other guards! I have an announcement to make! Meet me in the throne room!」

The count exclaims, and the guards nod.

「Yes, Count Bellatris!」

They shout in unison, and run out of the library. Count Bellatris clicks his tongue, looking with disdain at Albus.

「You did this, didn't you? You just had to ruin it all.」

The count shakes his head, and leaves for the throne room…

…

A few moments later, the guards trickle in into the throne room, where the count is awaiting them.

「I believe that's all of them, Count Bellatris.」

The scruffy captain of the guard states, looking over the mass of royal palace guards assembled in the throne room.

「Hear me, guardsmen! The kingdom is at a deadly precipice! Princess Cycelia in her sudden hunger for power murdered her entire family, and the court mage Albus! Personally, I do not believe it is her fault! I do not know her that well, but I know that she was a sweet girl up to the point where she ruthlessly slaughtered her family!…」

The guards look at each other as Count Bellatris gives a speech, some are confused, others are wary. The captain of the guard eyes the count suspiciously.

「…However! Her dragon blood must have gotten the better of her! I believe it's not the fault of the girl, but her blood! However, her crimes are unforgivable, and she must be punished when she is found! More importantly, a kingdom without a ruler cannot survive! Since I am in the palace right now, I will be temporarily taking the throne as an emergency measure, until the situation is put under control! Any questions!?」

The count asks, and looks over the crowd of guards. One of them raises his hand.

「Yes!?」

「How long will the temporary rule be?」

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「Until the situation is put under control!」

「…And how long is that?」

「Until the situation is put under control! Any other questions!?」

The count gives an answer, and the disappointed guard lowers his hand. The captain of the guard raises his hand.

「What do you plan to do when we catch the queen?」

The captain asks with a slanted mouth and his hand on his hip.

「First, she is not a queen! She is a murderer princess! Second, she will be executed for these horrid crimes!」

Count Bellatris gives a two-part answer with a frustrated tone.

「Executed? Just like that? Without a trial?」

The captain shrugs his hand and shakes his head in disbelief.

「Yes! What do you expect her punishment to be, for murdering an innocent 9 year old boy!? You have all seen what she has done! There is no need for a trial, all the evidence is already there!」

The count answers, and the guards mumble something amongst themselves. Some shake their heads, and some shrug their shoulders.

「…Any more questions!?」

Count Bellatris asks. No hands rise.

「Then disperse, and find her! Additionally! Captain!」

The count commands, and the guards run out of the throne room. He calls out to the captain of the guard before he can leave.

「Yes, Count Bellatris?」

「King Bellatris.」

The usurper king corrects the captain with a slanted, frustrated mouth.

「…You're pretty quick to declare yourself king.」

The captain grumbles, glaring at the usurper.

「It's necessary, so that nobody questions my rule, and attempts to tear the country apart.」

「Temporary rule…」

The captain reminds Temporary King Bellatris, and the Temporary King scowls at him in return.

「…Contact the manhunters. Inform them of the situation. And notify the Mages' Guild I am looking for a new court mage as well.」

The usurper king demands, ignoring the captain's previous comment. A momentary silence ensues between the two.

「…Very well.」

The captain of the guard nods lightly, and stomps away in veiled anger…

…

「…So basically, I'm just going to watch from the sideline, and let Carrothead deal with you- Oh.」

Straf talks with a grin at the usurper king. He glances back at Cycelia, and notices her eyes are moving.

Snap snap snap.

「Hey, Lia, are you back with us? Is the flashback episode over yet?」

Straf snaps his fingers in front of Cycelia's face, leaning over to take a look at her face. With her eyes wide open, she blinks.

「Okay, there we go. She's back, finally. So as I was saying-」

Straf straightens out, and Cycelia sees Count Bellatris standing in front of the line of mercenaries.

「Yooooouuuu… Baaaaaaaastard!!」

Cycelia screams and shoots forward across the room, aiming her sword at the usurper's neck. In the split second, panic sets on his face, and his eyes widen. He jumps backwards out of fear, and lands on his behind.

CLANG!

「…Huh?」

The golden glow of her eyes leaves a faint trail behind her, even Straf is surprised by the sudden acceleration she crossed the room with.

Her charge is cut short, when her deadly slash that she saw at least a hundred times, aimed at the usurper king's throat, is blocked by the golden-haired spearwoman's weapon with a deafening noise of metal on metal that echoes throughout the entire room.

「Get out of my way!」

Cycelia growls in fury at the woman obstructing her. Her blue eyes smugly stare back into Cycelia's golden ones.

「Sorry, I'm getting paid a lot so I don't do that.」

The spearwoman smirks, though clenching her teeth, as she's struggling to hold onto her spear under Cycelia's pressure.

「Hrrrargh!」

「Son of a bitch, there was another!?」

Straf exclaims, and is about to react when an axeman with two axes jumps at Cycelia from behind a pillar, but she leaps backwards across the room back to Straf, before Straf can even use his [Contextual Time Perception].

The dual-wielding mercenary's axes carve through the thin air Cycelia was occupying, and he clicks his tongue, and grins smugly at her from the distance, as the usurper crawls backwards on the floor.

「Uh. Lia, you're not supposed to kill him yourself, remember? Can you wait for Carrothead? You know, Greaves? Remember Greaves and his party? Lia?-」

Smash!

「What now?」

Shien smashes through the window off to the side of the throne room, despite it being the third floor, and gracefully rolls in. Quickly ascertaining the situation as the entire room stares at him, he points his spear in the direction of the throne, taking a low stance.

「What the f- Seriously? Couldn't you use the door?- Ah, I guess you couldn't, fair enough.」

Straf looks at Shien with a troubled grimace, pointing his hand at him. He asks him a question, but stops himself, as he looks over his shoulder at the magically-shut door.

「…What do you think you are doing you annoying cockroach!? Picking another fight with Straf!? Do you want me to teach you another lesson!?」

Lily flies in through the shattered window, folding her parasol just in time before it can flip on it. She looks around the room, trying to grasp what is going on.

「…No, I've had a lot to think about, and I've come to aid him in return for opening my eyes.」

Shien's beastly black eyes glance at the little vampire, and quickly return towards the line of mercenaries.

「…It was a fucking platitude to make you cringe. Let it go, man.」

Straf rolls his eyes at Shien.

「Hmpf. I see… I see, I see… Is that trash over there in your way, Straf?」

Lily walks up to Straf, grinning as she points her clawed finger in the direction of the throne. The usurper manages to solidify his jelly-like legs enough to stand up.

「…Another nuisance…」

The robed man idly comments as he looks at the blue-suited tall spearman and the little blonde girl with a folded parasol in her hands.

「I mean yeah, they kind of are, but I don't want you-」

Straf shrugs with his hands, and Lily begins approaching the mercenaries.

「Very well, I will deal with them for you. I haven't ripped apart cocky humans who don't know their place for a while now.」

A malicious grin appears on Lily's face, as she tunes out of the remainder of Straf's sentence.

「…Will you even let me finish? I'm saying I don't want you to-」

Straf stares at Lily's back with disbelief, speaking in a frustrated tone.

「You there, beastman, will you join me and show me how much of a beast you are? Or are you just a regular human maggot?」

Lily looks over her shoulder at Shien, completely ignoring the mercenaries as if they were not even a threat, and asks the blue body-suited spearman with a cocked smirk revealing her sharp fang. Her question apparently amuses Shien, as he scoffs with a grin.

「I believe I am too far gone to place myself above you, monster. I will compete.」

Shien joins Lily's side at the front, as both of them ignore Straf's wishes. Cycelia glares at the usurper with murder in her eyes, waiting for the right moment to strike again.

「Even split? Two by two?」

Lily asks, smugly grinning as she brandishes her razor-sharp claws at the mercenaries, glaring at them with her scarlet eyes.

「Very well. Whoever deals with their half first, is the stronger one.」

「Hmpf. Don't get ahead of yourself, lizard.」