Chapter 28

This is the second episode of today.

It will be the same time tomorrow as well.

The royal seats were indeed premium. The three children were gazing at the venue with excitement. It was the first time for Prince Yusei and the others to attend the swordsmanship tournament.

The preliminary qualifiers were in progress, and at first, some of the matches lacked excitement.

However, for the children, it was their first time seeing a live match, and it was quite impressive.

Heine was also seated at the back. Since Sariel had explained that the elderly butler was like family, they had made an exception for him.

Sariel, amidst the bustling venue, suddenly remembered the past.

Since King Sirius took the throne, the economy has been improving.

The damage from monsters and natural disasters has also decreased significantly.

Lady Marié spoke brightly about how life had become much better.

"There's hope for the future," she said.

For Sariel, it was a complicated matter.

He was the son of the queen who had crushed the future's hope.

Back then, this tournament was much more desolate.

There were whispers about the poor quality of the stalls.

It was said that pickpockets were rampant, making it dangerous for women and children to attend.

Sariel knew the worst period.

The queen had repeatedly harassed the older princes.

At one point, the queen brought in servants who looked like ruffians and maids who looked like prostitutes and assigned them to the princes.

The third prince, Robert, was unaffected because the wealthy second consort had provided him with excellent servants and maids from her own resources.

The first prince, Jules, was provisionally treated as the crown prince until the official decision was made, and the royal management office had assigned his attendants. As a result, Prince Jules was also unaffected.

The only one who suffered was Prince Sirius.

The incompetent and untrustworthy servants stole Prince Sirius's personal belongings, and the maids could not even clean or prepare clothes and linens.

Eventually, Prince Sirius's beloved golden squirrel escaped while he was away.

Prince Sirius graduated from the royal academy's advanced department early and went abroad.

After that, natural disasters in the country increased dramatically, and the damage from monsters doubled.

Sariel had witnessed all of this.

He was skilled in the wind magic "eavesdropping" and knew about the queen's bad reputation and evil deeds.

Sariel, who was scolded by his mother for having low magical power, had been trained in magic since he was very young. He could create earth clumps quite early on. After "earth," he was also proficient in "wind" and could use simple spells.

Eavesdropping was one of them.

Thanks to this, he knew that his mother was disliked in the palace.

Sariel had suspected that the country was declining because the queen had driven away Prince Sirius.

Every time he heard stories like "the territory suffered severe damage from heavy rain" or "a village was destroyed by monsters," his heart ached.

The king's health also deteriorated.

The queen looked haggard and appeared like an old woman when she removed her makeup.

Sariel wrote a letter to the king detailing the queen's harassment of the princes.

He wrote that the sudden increase in natural disasters and monster attacks was due to Prince Sirius leaving the country.

It was for his own sake. He couldn't pretend it was for the country; he was suffering and couldn't take it anymore.

If he spoke ill of the queen, the servants and officials would be demoted. But for Sariel, losing his right to the throne was what he wanted.

That was his goal.

It was unclear whether Sariel's letter had any effect. Prince Sirius returned three years later, but it might have been just the end of his studies abroad.

While Sariel was lost in thought, Jeth appeared.

"Jeth!"

Lucian cheered in support.

Suddenly, an aide approached King Sirius.

"The old wine has been mostly secured."

"Mostly?"

"All the good wines have been secured, but there are probably more."

"Understood."

Sariel overheard the conversation, but such reports in this setting were not particularly confidential.

Moreover, Sariel had learned the royal family's code words and knew them.

"Old wine" referred to troublemakers, a play on words based on the many strong wines in the country.

"Good wine" in this context meant "living" or "survivors" with a somewhat crude phrasing.

In essence, the aide's report meant, "The troublemakers have been mostly captured. All the survivors have been caught, but there are likely more accomplices."

—It seems there are some dangerous criminals. The security has improved a lot, though.

Since the king was already aware and taking action, Sariel thought it would be fine.

What slightly bothered him was that the code word for "dangerous criminals" was "dragon wine," which was supposed to be so strong it burned the throat.

Who were these troublemakers called "old wine"?

The swordsmanship tournament was won by Brad Bantoran. Brad, a frequent winner, had a tough time in this tournament.

Jeth made it to the semifinals but lost to Brad, placing third.

After the match, Jeth came to greet them.

"Even though you lost to that monster, you're the best human out there!"

Lucian said to Jeth without thinking.

"Thank you."

Jeth often came to check on the estate when Sariel was away on inspections.

Heine had set up magical barriers and lightning magic devices at the gate, but it was reassuring to have Jeth around.

The "monster" Brad, who was a bit away, greeted the king and others with a slight smile.

Being called so strong was a compliment for a knight.

Odine and Yusei looked at Brad with admiration in their eyes.

"There's a celebration.

The children will spend time in the adjacent hall.

Sariel and the others are also invited."

Sirius called out to them.

"Thank you."

Sariel hadn't expected to be invited, but thinking it might be the last opportunity, he decided to attend. The celebration was for the top 16 performers and the organizers of the tournament, as well as the invited guests.

The venue for the celebration was the palace garden.

As dusk approached, the garden, illuminated by magical lights, was beautiful.

The feast and fine wine were laid out, and the venue, decorated with flowers, also had the children present.

On the way, Sariel and Heine had sternly reminded Lucian to "behave properly!"

Lucian had listened solemnly, so it should be fine.

As the sun set, the children moved to the bright hall, and the adults began enjoying the banquet.

The music from the orchestra added to the festive atmosphere, and the celebration reached its peak when a sudden explosion echoed from the edge of the garden.

The noise abruptly stopped, followed by screams and angry shouts.

"Intruders!"

Sariel thought it took a lot of courage to appear in such a gathering of strong individuals.

They would be killed instantly.

All offensive magical devices and poisons had been checked upon entry. Dark magic-infused poisons were repelled.

No weapons were allowed, and the guards were on high alert.

This was one of the worst places to launch an attack.

The children were being protected in the hall.

However, the intruders in the garden had magical devices.

How did they get in?

—There might be someone on the inside.

Or perhaps they are very small.

Small devices shouldn't have much power, but the explosion was loud.

—Maybe it's just a loud noise.

Even without much power, a small magical device could create a showy flame and sound.

—Could it be a diversion?

"Are the children safe!"

Sariel shouted and ran, and the gathered knights turned to him in surprise.