Chapter 9 | The Assassin Shares a Secret
My secret meeting with Duke Romalung and Princess Farina came to an end, and Tarte and I returned to our apartment, where Dia was waiting for us.
Dia prepared tea, which was rare for her. She probably did so because Tarte was standing behind me with a dejected expression.
“Lugh looks the same as ever, but you look really tired, Tarte,” Dia commented.
“I am exhausted, yet I didn’t even say a single word. It was so tense in there,” Tarte responded.
“You don’t seem very good with that kind of thing. So did they tell you anything interesting?” Dia asked, turning her attention to me.
“Yeah, they did. We need to talk about it,” I answered.
I had been given permission to discuss the job within my assassination team, so I explained the situation as we drank tea.
“Why Prince Ricla? From what you just told me, wouldn’t it make more sense to assassinate Countess Granfelt? That would probably return the prince to his senses, and it would be much easier to kill a countess,” Dia suggested.
“I can think of a few reasons. Until now, the second prince has been the puppet of Duke Romalung and Princess Farina. He knows how they operate. Even if he didn’t have proof, Ricla would probably be able to deduce who ordered the hit… Once he did, he’d come after Princess Farina.”
The second prince may have been nothing more than a figurehead, but publicly, his achievements surpassed those of Duke Romalung and Princess Farina, and he carried more authority as well. If he flexed his power and went on a rampage, things would not end well for those two.
“Yeah, I could see that,” responded Dia.
“I imagine there’s other reasons, too,” I added. “I doubt the duke and princess believe Prince Ricla is the only person Countess Granfelt has seduced. Ricla is the biggest threat to the country, so they likely want to eliminate him first to get a handle on the situation and then observe what happens. If they kill Countess Granfelt without knowing who she has her hooks in, things could get out of control. Love is a scary thing. It leads people to do unreasonable things. I wouldn’t hesitate to kill Countess Granfelt if leaving her to her own devices risked the country’s imminent destruction, but that is not the case. She likes Alvan and wants to enjoy it. The duke and the princess realize that, and that’s why they have decided to have the prince killed.”
This had to have been Mina’s plan all along. She’d used her Countess Granfelt identity to fabricate a situation where killing her was not the optimal solution, and if she ever did happen to be targeted, she could rely on her demonic strength to get out of it.
It was frustrating to accept, but Mina could destroy the kingdom whenever she pleased.
“House Romalung is amazing,” Dia remarked.
“I guess. That bloodline scares me. House Romalung strives for the evolution of humanity, to eventually become ‘true humans.’ Duke Romalung and Princess Farina are the product of hundreds of years of effort toward that goal,” I explained.
“They want to go from humans to…humans? That doesn’t make sense,” Dia stated, puzzled.
“They have a different sense of values. From their point of view, the creatures we are now are incomplete. Thus, they want to gather the best parts of humanity, polish them, and become true humans. That is their line of thinking.”
While House Romalung’s selective breeding garnered a lot of attention, they were just as devoted to education.
Dia shuddered. “Geez, that’s actually pretty creepy.”
“There are a number of legends surrounding the house. First…”
I began to share some famous anecdotes about House Romalung with Dia and Tarte. One time, the family had used its military strength to start a war and wipe out an entire country, all for the purpose of obtaining superior blood.
Men in House Romalung sought one exceptional woman after another and impregnated them all. Likewise, women lay with as many first-rate men as they could. All their efforts were for the goal of expanding their number of children. House Romalung selected from that stock of offspring which would be the next generation of their family, while the remainders served them as elite vassals.
It was a very thorough process.
“That’s insane,” Dia said incredulously.
“I was standing behind Lord Lugh the whole time, and I was still scared of them. That was how different they felt. I was also shocked that they knew about Maha,” Tarte admitted.
“I was surprised, too, but if that’s all they know, then I’m not worried about it. The idea that Maha and I are lovers was actually a red herring the two of us set up. I suspected that people would be satisfied once they found that secret and wouldn’t dig any deeper to find the real truth.”
Maha and I being lovers was false information. I hid it well enough so that only the very best intelligence agencies would find out after giving their utmost efforts.
The harder such knowledge was to ascertain, the more reputable it would seem. That served to convince anyone who happened upon the phony documents.
It didn’t take a stretch of the imagination to view my relationship with Maha that way, and the deal between Natural You and House Tuatha Dé was something I would rather have kept hidden. It was a weakness just big enough to satisfy anyone hoping to dig up something. That was why it was the perfect decoy to prevent anyone from discovering that Illig Balor and Lugh Tuatha Dé were the same person.
“You’re always prepared for everything. Still, they drove us into a corner, didn’t they? Even if they don’t have the most important information, that doesn’t change the fact that they could still hurt us by targeting Natural You or Maha. I wonder if House Romalung has some weakness we could take advantage of,” Dia posited aloud.
“They do. I discovered a secret about Princess Farina and Duke Romalung during our meeting,” I stated.
“Wow, great job!” praised Dia.
I doubted anyone knew I had caught on. It was something I’d noticed with my Tuatha Dé eyes.
“Princess Farina is Duke Romalung’s daughter.”
“Um, Lord Lugh, while it is a secret that Duke Romalung’s child serves as Princess Farina’s body double, I don’t think we could use that to threaten them. I am sure everyone in the royal family knows that already,” said Tarte.
“Yes, Nevan is his daughter, but so is the actual Princess Farina. They’re twins.”
“WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!” cried Tarte in surprise.
“These eyes can see mana. Every person’s magical power has a certain color. A parent and child’s colors look similar, but the mana of twins looks identical. Duke Romalung’s little brother officially married into the family of Princess Farina’s mother, but there is no doubt that Princess Farina’s father is Duke Romalung himself.”
I had no idea what had led to it, but Duke Romalung had unquestionably sired the princess. Adultery in the royal family would be a huge scandal. Even more so because it had resulted in a child.
Duke Romalung had fathered twins with a princess. He’d left Farina with the royal family because of her pink hair and took Nevan because she did not possess the pink hair that was characteristic of the ruling family’s women.
That explained why the duke was supporting Farina. He was not, however, doing so out of parental love. Whether others knew it or not, Princess Farina was a Romalung, and her triumphs would help secure the house’s goals.
“They have to be crazy to commit adultery with the royal family. I feel like you’re in danger as long as they have their eye on you, Lugh. Wait, why don’t they just match the princess up with the hero? You’re more skilled than he is, but what House Romalung wants is innate strength, right?” questioned Dia.
I guess Dia still doesn’t know Epona is a girl.
House Romalung probably wouldn’t have chosen Epona even if she had been a boy.
“No, what House Romalung wants to create are true humans. They see the hero and demons as monsters. They want to reach the peak of humanity, and if they stray from that, they will become nothing more than monsters themselves.”
If the duke and his family desired power alone, they could try incorporating demons or monsters into their lineage. While rare, there were a few times such endeavors by other aristocratic houses had worked.
Yet House Romalung would never stoop to that level. They loved humanity; that was why they believed in, and bet on, humanity’s potential.
Dia thought on that for a moment. “Oh, okay. Then you should become a hero, Lugh!”
“That’s a great idea, Lady Dia. Then they would lose interest in him!” Tarte agreed.
“…If only doing so were that easy. It would solve all my problems.”
The goddess could only produce one hero in the world at a time. A feat like that was beyond human capability.
“Anyway, our business in the royal capital is done. Let’s return to Tuatha Dé,” I stated.
“Um, what about the assassination of Prince Ricla?” inquired Tarte.
“We could do it now, but the risk would be high. Even if we leave no proof, we could be put to death the moment we’re so much as suspected of killing a member of the royal family. We have two months. We should prepare as much as possible,” I replied.
“That means we can finally go home,” said Dia.
Tarte nodded. “I’m glad. I’ve been worried about the vegetable garden.”
“I’d expected Tarte to be happy, but didn’t you like living here, Dia?” I asked.
“It’s comfortable, but it’s difficult to make any progress on my research without my workshop,” she answered.
The workshop in question was a terrifying place that Dia had created by completely remodeling a room in the estate. I had no idea why she needed such a place to write magic formulas, but I couldn’t argue with the results. I decided to have a look at what she was working on next time she was in there.
“I see. Fair warning, we’re gonna be busy when we get back home. Our fight with the last demon was a close call. We have to get stronger, and there are two major points that I think will help us do so. First, I’ve obtained a few appraisal sheets. We can reevaluate your fighting styles depending on what skills you have.”
“Ah, you finally got some,” Tarte said.
“I’ve always wanted to see one,” added Dia.
I’d leveraged my position as a Holy Knight to get my hands on the coveted items, but it still took time to receive them. Apparently, there’d been some kind of trouble.
Learning the girls’ skills would increase the number of things we could do.
“Our other avenue to improvement is turning each of our Possibility Eggs into a skill. Possibility Eggs are mirrors that reflect our hearts. I’m confident each will turn into a skill we need.”
Possibility Egg transformed into a different skill that befit the owner by examining their way of life, desires, and more. It had a chance of turning into an S-Rank skill. That was why I had selected it.
Ideally, all three of us would have a new skill before the next encounter with a demon.
“But Lugh, how do we hatch them?” Dia wondered.
“I don’t understand that part, either,” Tarte confessed.
“Honestly, it’s still a mystery to me, too, but I’ve been looking into it. I’m going try a variety of things to see if any work,” I answered.
Maybe I’ll ask Epona. It was originally her skill, so there’s a chance she may know something.
I decided to meet with her before we left the capital. I also decided to ask her to look after Naoise. That thirst for power he’d displayed was troubling, as was Mina’s interest in him.
I was really worried about him.
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