“Here’s something to keep you warm, your highness.”

Rode handed Simon a steaming cup of tea.

He stared at it absentmindedly before reaching out both hands to hold it.

The warmth gave little comfort to the coldness accumulating in his body.

He was asking himself, why?

Why is this happening?

Why did those people ambush them?

Why are they trying to kill the Twin Kingdom’s Hero?

And how did they infiltrate their group without anyone noticing?

“Are you sure you’re okay, brother?” Prince Juno asked him once again. “Why don’t you have something to eat while the knights prepare your carriage?”

Simon stared at his older brother, then at the food in front of them.

Rode had propped up a table and prepared some stew and venison for them to dine upon. He hardly had an appetite, though.

His brother’s knights had checked the stalled cart in front of them.

It seemed that some bandits had purposely placed the broken cart in the middle of the road to stall them, while their comrades, dressed as their escort knights, tried to kill them.

“It’s a pity we couldn’t make it to the nearest town since it’s already dark,” his brother Juno told him. “We couldn’t even set our tents in fear that more bandits might attack us again. It would be better to spend the night inside our carriages and go to the nearest town first thing tomorrow morning. We can then send a message to Father and tell him what happened.”

“What happened...” Simon mumbled. “What exactly did happen?”

Juno gave his brother a worried glance.

“W-well, it seems to me, some secret faction is plotting against us...” Juno replied. “I wouldn’t be surprised if those knights were sent from the Western Twin Kingdom. They have a lot to lose, after all, with you, the Hero, coming from our side of the kingdom.”

“The Western Kingdom? But surely you jest... they were so warm when they welcomed us yesterday...”

“Simon, my dear, gullible brother,” Juno patted his shoulder and smiled. “It is the people who welcome you with open arms that you should be most weary of!”

“B-but... why?”

“Haven’t you heard of the right of succession?” Juno asked his sibling. “If there are no twins, the first-born prince of each kingdom would inherit the throne, with the second oldest, acting as a spare and standing by in case the first-born dies or is proven inadequate.”

“I know, brother, but why are they trying to kill the both of us? Aren’t they from the West? We have nothing to do with them.”

“It’s because you suddenly became a Hero,” said Juno. “In case a more fitting heir arrives, then the inadequate one will be pushed aside, and you know very well how competent I am as the crown prince.”

“Y-yes, that’s true...”

“In the west, our cousin, first Prince Hayle, is known as an incompetent idiot who goes after his father, King Maurice. All he knows is how to drink, party, and hunt all day.”

“Incompetent idiot...” mumbled Simon.

He remembered Prince Hayle and how much he insisted for them to go on a small hunting party the day they were about to leave for the capital.

It seemed so long ago, though it was only yesterday.

“Then, Prince Hayle tried to get us killed?” he gazed at Juno and noticed his brother flinch.

“It may be so, Simon,” said Juno, gently squeezing his shoulder. “Either that, or some neighboring country is trying to get rid of us so they can easily conquer the Twin Kingdoms,” he added.

“Or perhaps they were simply a group of bandits who were very unlucky.”

Juno was left speechless by his brother’s remark.

“I still can’t believe that more than half of our escort knights were bandits.” Simon continued in a flat tone. “I may not be that familiar with it, but they were all using the same swordsmanship as our family’s royal knights.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Well, the swordsmanship our knights use is pretty common in the kingdom, after all,” said Juno with a strained smile.

“Even their swords and their gear were the standard issued for our knights.” Simon continued to mumble.

“Probably stolen from our garrison, or worst, they probably killed our escorts and had taken their gear.”

“But if they were good enough to kill our knights... then how was I able to kill them?”

For this question, Juno could give no answer.

“I have always been weak... you and brother Largos have always been telling me that, particularly when you see me practicing in the courtyard with my bastard sword.”

“Y-you were just too small to handle a sword that big...” Juno stuttered. “You have always been so stubborn, saying that you only wish to use a bastard sword, just like the Golden Hero. Well, now that you’ve tried using a regular sword, tell me, brother, which do you prefer?”

Now it was Simon’s turn to be silent.

“A regular sword is so much easier to use. It was so much lighter,” he finally replied.

“See what I mean?” Juno chuckled.

“It was so much easier to kill...”

Again, Juno went silent as a chill passed down his spine.

“But I would rather use my bastard sword instead.”

The two finished the rest of their meal in silence.

---

Prince Simon’s carriage remained still that night. Inside, Simon stared at the darkness.

The curtains are all drawn close, though small beams of light passed through the cracks on the woodwork that reminded him that yesterday’s bloody incident really did happen.

A lot of questions are inside his mind, like, ‘what’s going on?’, or ‘who’s trying to kill me?’, and ‘why do they want me dead?’, but mostly, what he sees are the faces of the knights who tried to kill him.

They were all dead now.

Dead as the people who accompanied him to the Dark Woods of Elenore to defeat the Behemoth.

“Brother Juno said that there might be some secret faction plotting against us...” he mumbled in the dark. “Could it really be Prince Hayle from the Western Twin Kingdom?”

“But Prince Hayle didn’t look like someone who could plot against our Eastern kingdom,” he answered himself.

“In truth, I don’t really think we would have any impact on their kingdom, unless twins are born from our family. I don’t really believe what brother Juno said.”

He sighed and shook his head.

“Then could another kingdom be plotting against us?” he asked again.

“But if that’s the case, then why would they go to all the trouble of attacking us when we’re leaving the kingdom?” he answered back. “Wouldn’t it be much better to attack our kingdom while my brother Juno, a tactician, and I, the hero, are both away?”

“And then, there’s the possibility that they were merely bandits...” Simon frowned.

“But what kind of bandit would think of attacking a Hero who just defeated a Behemoth?”

Simon gave a deep sigh.

“There’s also the fact that they were able to disguise themselves as my brother’s knights... How could those knights not recognize their own comrades? How is it that only the bearded knight was not a bandit? And how could my brother simply let a group of unknown knights accompany us to the capital?”

“Could it be then, that someone close to brother Juno has been orchestrating everything behind our backs?”

“But who?”

“Who would benefit most if my brother and I were to die?”

“Or am I not asking the right questions?”

---

Simon wasn’t the only one who asking a lot of questions that night.

Juno felt ill at ease as he entered his carriage with Rode.

“Did you talk with that bearded knight who was left?” he asked his attendant.

“Yes, your highness.”

“Well? What did he say?”

“His name is Liam, and according to him, Prince Simon sensed their killing intent before they could deal the finishing blow,” Rode told him. “Simon was able to evade all their attacks, though his movements were a bit clumsy. That’s when he decided to change sides and pretend to assist him instead.”

“That bastard... you said you saw him kill two of his companions himself?” Juno asked with a frown.

“That is right, your highness,” Rode agreed, “he said he needed to avoid suspicion. He then proceeded to observe Prince Simon as he killed the rest of the knights that remained.”

“And what was his verdict?”

“He said that Prince Simon had deadly precision. Your highness saw how he killed the last knight yourself...”

“That’s right,” Juno frowned some more. “He tore through that man as if he was tearing through paper. Perhaps giving him that defective sword was a bad idea after all...”

“I was thinking the same thing, your highness,” his attendant agreed. “I remember you ordered the royal blacksmith to make his bastard sword four times heavier than a regular long sword, it’s much broader and thicker as well.”

“That’s right. The only thing that makes it a bastard sword is that it’s a bastardized long sword. The type of irregular long swords that no name blacksmiths mass produced during the War of Liberation.”

“Isn’t that what he wanted?” Rode reminded him. “The Golden Hero of legend was said to have fought with an unusually large bastard sword himself. A hand-and-a-half sword he picked up in some battlefield while making his way to the capital to fight the Demon Lord.”

“That’s right, it was said that the Golden Hero could wield that sword single-handed, even though it was as tall as he was.”

“I remember Prince Simon was pretty small when he started practicing his sword as well,” Rode said with a little laugh.

“Hmph. It was those foolish tales that put that silly idea in his head. It was so easy to manipulate him and make him believe that going against the Behemoth would make him a hero,” Juno frowned. “I never would have thought he could actually turn into one!”

“So, what are your plans now, your highness?” his attendant asked him.

“Now it’s all out of my hands,” he replied. “I can’t possibly go against a person who had gone through a true awakening.”

Rode went silent.

“Do you really think that his powers awakened, your highness?” he asked thoughtfully.

“What else could it possibly be?” Juno snapped at him. “I wouldn’t be surprised if a god had blessed him with such power. What happened this afternoon wasn’t something that worm can achieve on his own, and you know it. That is why I have decided to let him be, and leave his fate to the academy instead.”

Prince Jonas looked out the window and at his brother’s carriage.

“An ignorant kid like him? The students will surely eat him alive.”

“Then, should we stop targeting Prince Simon from now on?” asked Rode.

“Hmm...”

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CHOICES:

[Yes, we should just let him be.] go to Part 42

[No, I’ve got one more trick up my sleeve.] go to Part 43

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