“A little over twenty years ago, my mother had died in childbirth. My father, King Charles, was devastated that the love of his life was gone and closed contact with the outside world to mourn. Even without Mother, he tried his hardest to raise me while ruling the country. Even after he had recovered from his depression, his eyes always watered at the sight of one of my mother’s pictures and he continued to close off from the world because he didn’t want to bother with marriage requests from people aiming to be queen.”

“When I was found to be a Dual Class user, I chose to use the two Classes that were the easiest for me to use as well as the ones that would help keep my father safe: Mage to keep him safe in the open and Assassin so I could work in the shadows.”

“However, something strange happened about a year ago. My father and I had always been very close. He suddenly announced that he was taking a foreigner from beyond the Fiergol Desert named Abigail, who had just started to work at the palace as a maid, as his new wife. I confronted him about it but he merely said that he had finally decided to give finding love another try. If that was the case, I decided that he had spent all these years caring for me so he deserved to have a bit more happiness for himself. Thus I raised no further objections.”

A year ago? That’s around the time monster attacks suddenly increased here...

“After the she moved into the same room as Father, he started to be increasingly cold toward me. At first, it was only small things like occasionally glaring when he thought I wasn’t looking. Then, it was openly scorning me. Eventually, it reached the point where he was ordering me to subjugate monsters well above my ability. I can only assume it was done with the intention that I would die fighting. It was only due to luck many times that I was able to survive. All the while, that woman would just be sitting beside Father, whispering in his ear and smiling mockingly at me.”

“After barely escaping death at the hands of an Winter Jaguar thanks to Ashe having an elemental advantage, I went back earlier than expected and found her meeting with a man with blue skin and a mane almost like a lion’s. Not taking any chances, I used my Assassin Class to hide my presence and snuck into the room and overheard everything they said.”

“‘How are things coming along?’”

“‘Everything is going according to plan. The king is falling more and more under my control with each passing day. Soon I’ll be able to make him do anything you command. As you’ve commanded, I’ve finally gotten the old fool to increase the size of the military. His own nature is still fighting but his resistance now is pitiful.’”

“‘Good. With an army that size, Leferon won’t have an easy fight. The destruction of these two kingdoms will further our plans greatly but the best part is all the death and suffering it will cause. My blood is pumping just imagining it!’”

“‘It’s all thanks to Master that I have this power so of course I’ll do anything you wish. Otherwise, I still be stuck in that wasteland trading whores for booze. The only problem is that little bitch Emilia. She knows something is the matter and it’s only a matter of time before she does something. If only the old fool had a son instead. The pheromone powers you’ve given me only work for men. I guess it shouldn’t matter though. Another two months and I’ll make the king to execute his precious little princess by his own hand. T-that is if you allow it, Master.’”

“‘Allow it? Just get me a prime seat when it happens. I love the look of despair on prey as they meet their end. Still, that could only happen if she’s clueless about it. Isn’t that right… little princess?’”

“Somehow I had been discovered so I thought even if I died, I would at least kill Abigail, hoping to free Father from her control. Still invisible, I launched myself at her with my full speed hoping it would give me an advantage. However, faster than I could react, the man appeared in front of me and pinned me to the ground.”

“‘You’ve got spirit, little girl. I like that I’ll make a deal with you. I don’t really care which kingdom I take over and you seem to care about your father so how about this? You’ve got the Assassin Class so if you kill the king of the neighboring country, I’ll let your father go and promise to leave you two alone. That or you can stay here and let your precious father execute you in two months and live out the rest of his days as a puppet. You decide.’”

“So you yourself never wanted to kill me, did you?”

“No. I knew I shouldn’t trust him but I had no choice. I couldn’t kill him myself and although I could escape the country if I wanted, I couldn’t leave my father there to be a mindless puppet for the rest of his life. Even worse, that madman intended to cause as much death as possible between both sides so I knew what I had to do.”

“I immediately went to prepare for my journey. After all, the elves prevent flight above their borders and I didn’t want to fly on Ashe after I reached Leferon in order to keep a low profile.”

“The trip took two weeks. I arrived in Winora yesterday morning and waited until night to strike. The rest is as you know. I apologize for the attempt at your life and I know I have no right to ask for your help but I will gladly accept any punishment you give me. Just please, free my father from that madman.”

Arthur had learned how to tell truth from lies during his time on the throne. After all, it seemed like every official caught for corruption had a hundred reasons for committing the crimes. However, Arthur didn’t see any signs of Emilia lying. Furthermore, her story matched up with the strange events happening occurring in his own country including the blue skinned men. “Thank you for your cooperation Princess Emilia. I’ll decide you sentence soon but don’t worry. Leferon and Forthon have been allies for hundreds of years. I don’t intend for it to end in my reign.”

“Before you go, I have a question. How is the knight I fought faring? Is he alright?”

“My brother is fine. He’s already awake but the doctors want him in bed for a few more days. In fact, I think the bedrest will do him good since this last week has been pretty tough on him. You really did a number on him but he should make a full recovery.” With that, Arthur left the dungeon to make preparations.

“B-brother?” At that moment, Emilia realized the one she had been fighting was one of the Leferonian princes and how lucky she was that she had stopped Ashe from finishing him off.