Chapter 213 – If It Works, It’s a Revolution (11)

The image within the illusion showed a middle-aged woman.

She was being dragged along by the Third Prince’s subordinates, clutching a doll tightly to her chest.

That was the Second Princess’s biological mother?

Looking closely, it was true—she did resemble the princess.

If not for the burn scars, the Second Princess could’ve been mistaken for her double.

“Don’t you dare lay a hand on my mother!!!”

When one of the Third Prince’s subordinates yanked her mother harshly as she stumbled from the rapid movement, the Second Princess screamed as if coughing up blood.

She shot up from her chair, ready to dive into the illusion at any moment.

Her hand trembled as she gripped the corner of the table.

“What is going on here?!”

Even the adjutant nearly bulged his eyes out.

“Her Grace was supposed to evacuate safely with the Special Forces, as planned…!”

“That old witch…”

The Second Princess ground her teeth.

“That hag must have done it… Told the Third Prince to hunt down my mother, just to hold leverage over me…”

It was the first time I’d ever seen the Second Princess express such raw emotion.

It was so intense, her very shoulders looked aflame.

“Adjutant.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“We’re going to the Capital.”

“Understood.”

The adjutant rose without hesitation.

The Second Princess looked at me and Kaiden.

“Sorry, but could we borrow a carriage or horses? Or a portal, if you prefer.”

“Wait. Hold on.”

I raised a hand to stop the Second Princess and her adjutant.

“You’re saying you’re heading to the Capital right now?”

“Is there a problem?”

“Of course there is. What exactly do you two expect to accomplish? Didn’t you say the Special Forces are scattered?”

Suddenly, the Second Princess dropped to her knees.

Seeing her, the adjutant knelt down beside her.

“What are you doing?!”

“Help me, Dian.”

The Second Princess spoke, still on her knees.

“Please. This isn’t politics. This isn’t strategy. This is a pure, simple plea. I must save my mother.”

I hesitated.

If I stepped in now, I’d be neck-deep in trouble.

If it failed, I’d be a traitor. If it succeeded, I’d still end up roped into all sorts of messes.

One way or another, it was a headache.

I’d spent ten years in seclusion to avoid exactly this kind of crap.

But even so, it wasn’t easy to just reject her flat-out like usual.

The Second Princess is the chair of our academy’s board.

Her survival was directly tied to the academy’s continued existence.

And ever since we first met, she’d made my life easier without question.

I was originally nominated as the next headmaster, but she had me appointed as head professor instead.

She’d supported every one of my initiatives without question, approved every request without batting an eye.

If she’d been strict about anything, it would’ve made things much more difficult for me.

And not once had she tried to use me as a tool for her own goals.

Yeah. If you’re human, you shouldn’t just take—you should give back, too.

Just as I ended my seclusion once to help Linus, this time I’d help the Second Princess, who always had my back.

“I was already planning to go with you. Get up. God, I really hate this kind of stuff.”

“Thank you, Dian.”

“Don’t just say it. You better owe me big after this.”

“You’ll get more than you expect.”

As we spoke, Kaiden opened a portal leading to the Capital.

“Kaiden. Stay here at the academy. Just in case the Third Prince’s creatures track us back. Stick with the Dark Elves.”

“Understood.”

I stepped through the portal with the Second Princess and her adjutant.

# # # #

Meanwhile, in the banquet hall of the Capital’s royal palace, Berken was guzzling wine.

After sending out a pursuit team to track down the Second Princess, he had returned here to rest.

“Shouldn’t you be heading out to catch the Second Princess yourself by now…?”

The Emperor asked, frowning.

Berken scowled.

“My boys are handling it just fine. Don’t worry.”

“Still, a commander should be at the scene…”

“Then why don’t you go, Father? Aren’t you the Emperor?”

“Hrgh…”

The Emperor fell silent, glaring at the First Prince.

“You little bastard… All of this is your fault…”

“You never said not to summon him! That’s why this happened…!”

“Father.”

The Second Prince leaned in and whispered.

“Why not summon the Royal Guard and Imperial Knights and just wipe him out?”

“What?”

“Judging by how things are going, he’s not going to listen to us. Let’s get rid of him.”

“Hmm…”

The Emperor hesitated and glanced out the window.

Where the hell was Linus? The letter had been sent ages ago, and still not even a shadow of him.

A man with a brutal temper, expelled for fear he’d endanger the Empire, had returned with an army of horrifying abominations and illegally seized the royal palace!

Surely this was more than enough reason for a righteous Hero to act!

Could it be that that wench Mirelis had gotten to him?

Had she intercepted my plea and given him contrary orders?

I knew it.

It was suspicious the moment he suddenly stepped down as Royal Guard Commander to become some “Senior Advisor” to the Security Office.

He even tried to become the head of the Special Missions Academy, trying to push out the principal I appointed, Kirlin.

I trusted that man too much just because he was the Hero who slew the Demon King.

I shouldn’t have trusted Linus…

Things had gotten so tangled that the Emperor was now starting to doubt even Linus.

Just then, the door opened, and the Second Princess’s mother was dragged in.

“Don’t touch my child!”

She clutched the doll in her arms and screamed through spit-flecked fury.

“You can’t have Mirelis! She’s mine!”

“Hah, completely gone, huh?”

Berken laughed aloud at the sight.

“She seemed like a brilliant woman in her day. What happened to her? Wait—no, I get it.”

He waved his hand before anyone could answer.

“No doubt about it. You were afraid her cleverness would one day be a threat, so you tampered with her. Didn’t you?”

“Mirelis must be protected!!”

The Second Princess’s mother was pouring all her energy into defending the doll in her arms.

Fearing her hysterics might irritate Berken, the First Prince tried to snatch it away.

“Be quiet already!”

“AAAGH! I’LL KILL YOU!!”

As the two struggled over the doll, Berken gave a slight nod.

One of his subordinates stomped over and lifted the First Prince by the collar.

“Let her be.”

Berken warned, watching the First Prince dangle in the air.

“She just wants to protect her baby. Better than some people who banish their sons just for being scary.”

Berken’s eyes turned to the Emperor, who quickly looked away.

“Hrrrk!”

The First Prince was dumped back onto the floor and scurried behind the Emperor and the other princes.

“Tch.”

Berken clicked his tongue in clear irritation.

“Anyway, don’t worry too much. My boys are freakishly good at tailing targets. Mirelis should be back by dawn. Then again…”

Berken glanced at the mother, still clinging to her doll.

“If she finds out her mom’s been captured, she might just crawl back here on her own.”

“MIRELIS MUST BE PROTECTED!!!”

Her mother screamed again.

“Ugh, jeez. My ears.”

Berken waved dismissively at the Emperor and his sons.

“Alright, you can all go wash your feet and head to bed. I’ve still got work to do.”

With that, he dipped a bucket into a barrel and gulped down more liquor.

After leaving the banquet hall, the Emperor and his sons began frantically discussing what to do next.

Calling it “discussion” was generous—it was mostly the Emperor yelling at the First Prince, with the others whining.

“Send another letter to Linus! Hurry! Dispatch a rider!”

“We can’t. Berken’s men are all over the drawbridge. No one can get through, not even the Guard.”

“Dammit! Then send a carrier hawk!”

Moments later, the Emperor’s carrier hawk flew over the palace walls toward Linus’s house.

One of Berken’s lazy subordinates lying near the drawbridge spotted it and raised a finger.

Another, licking its lips, fired a spine from its back.

The spine pierced the hawk, and the subordinate munched it happily.

It had eaten one earlier today, too.

Burping in satisfaction, it leaned back against the gate again.

These things were chimeras—stitched together from corpses through Berken’s uncanny, profane powers.

They had little intelligence and obeyed only Berken.

That’s why they growled and rose to their feet the moment a single person stepped onto the drawbridge.

They’d been ordered to kill anyone who entered at night.

Except for the silver-haired, blue-eyed woman.

But this intruder was neither silver-haired nor blue-eyed, and certainly not a woman.

A brown-haired man. In no way did he fit the exception Berken had laid out.

That meant—kill him.

The subordinates roared and charged forward.

# # # #

CRAAASSSHHH—!!!

The walls shook, dust and gravel raining from the ceiling.

“Someone’s here.”

Berken grinned and rose from his seat.

As he stepped out of the banquet hall, a subordinate came running, flailing in panic.

‘Boss!!! A madman’s here!! We can’t stop him!!!’

“Pathetic. I’ll handle it.”

The area outside the palace was a wreck.

It looked like whoever it was had blitzed from the gates to here without resistance—buildings were shattered, debris scattered, corpses of Berken’s subordinates littered the ground.

A lively guest indeed.

Was it Mirelis herself? Or one of her elite agents?

Then Berken saw something.

A flash of light through the swirling dust.

His instincts as a beast kicked in, and he twisted his body.

A strike came slashing through the haze, missing Berken by a hair and slicing off a lock of his silver hair.

His animal-like eyes caught the attacker’s face clearly in that instant.

“Huh?! Dian?!”

Berken’s eyes widened.

At the name, Dian turned to him as well.

“Terbal Hyung?!”