Chapter 1: Imperial Orders
Ch 1
POV Krauss
"Knock knock"
"Come in."
The doors opened and an imperial knight entered my room.
"Your highness we have received an imperial edict from his majesty." The knight said, as he bowed.
"Give it here."
I took the scroll that was bound with the imperial seal and unfurled it.
'By the command of His Majesty, 31st emperor of the Carnel Empire, the 3rd prince Krauss Vortemund Carnel is to enrol in the Greenwich Institute of Magic and Combat.'
They want to send me away. It wasn't something I wasn't expecting, but I was surprised that it came so soon. With the increasing political tension due to the fight for the throne, the ongoing war on many fronts, and the numerous assassination attempts on me it was obvious that some people wouldn't want me here.
2 years ago, the emperor fell ill. With seven descendants of imperial birth and no confirmed crown prince or princess, the court had been divided into multiple factions. The main ones vying over the throne were the first prince, Derek Andilet Carnel, and the first princess, Helen Elffire Carnel.
Up until last year the most likely candidate to win was the first princess. She had the overwhelming support of the nobles. And even the second prince was on her side. Both of them were born of the same imperial concubine afterall. However, the first prince, with the help of his mother, the empress, convinced the sick emperor to send the second prince to Greenwich institute to study and hone his combat arts. This instantly shifted the situation in favour of the first prince as many nobles suddenly switched parties and went to his side.
Currently, the first prince, who not only had the support of the nobles but also the military, because of his stunning war contributions, was in an absolute dominant position. If nothing changed he would be crowned the emperor. But it seemed that something did happen. For him to suddenly use the same tactic against me who had no interest in the throne was weird. Did the Helen make a move that forced him to see me as a threat?
"Leave the room, I want to be alone."
"Yes, your highness."
After the imperial knight left, a black silhouette appeared outside my window.
"What happened? Did Helen do something big?"
"You are right my lord. Right now, many close supporters of the first prince have been confirmed to have deals with the Gretel Empire and the first prince himself is suspected of having dealings with them."
He handed me a file, and left through the window just as silently as he came.
"Wow." I exclaimed involuntarily as I read the report.
Currently, our Carnel empire was at war with the Gretel empire. In such a situation having any sort of dealings with the enemy was bad for your reputation. Now with the first prince under suspicion of being a traitor, it would be way more difficult to obtain the throne. Not only that, many nobles had even deserted him. Nobody would want to be on the side of a traitor afterall. Another despicable move by Helen.
Now I could understand the sudden decision to send me away. With his power rapidly dwindling, he wanted to destroy all weaknesses and remove any other threats he might face, so that he is able to focus on the first princess.
"Flame~" I muttered softly.
Suddenly orange flames leapt up from my hand and the report started to burn. I threw the stack of burning papers into the fireplace and summoned my servants.
"Give the order to pack my stuff, and ready the wagons. I will be leaving tomorrow at daybreak."
The maid's eyes widened upon hearing my words.
"Did you not hear what I said?" I said in a stern voice.
"Ah. Yes. I will prepare the carriages your highness."
If you want to plant spies at least plant some competent ones. Although I had no interest in the throne and remained neutral, those insecure pricks were still afraid of me. Many servants and knights around me were spies from the other factions.
I had no doubt that Derek and Helen would get to know about my decision by tomorrow morning, but I would already be on the road by then. With the fight for the throne reaching a breaking point it would not be a surprise for those two to start eliminating even the smallest of uncertainties. I didn't want anyone to have enough time to send assassins after me.
After giving the order to the servants to prepare for tomorrow's journey I went to my desk and started writing letters. One was for the fourth prince, Jamie, and the other was for the third princess, Clara. Both of them were still kids and hadn't even decided on their power line. I had always been protecting those two from any assassination attempts. Now in my absence, they would definitely be targeted by both Helen and Derek.
After writing the letters and closing the envelope with my wax seal, I took out a hand carved whistle in the shape of a bird from under my robes and blew it three times.
"Screee.."
A very shrill noise came out of it. After waiting for a few seconds, three figures cloaked in black, just like before, came in from the window. In this whole palace this was the only group of people I trusted. I had brought these guys from the ground up. Some of them were slaves while others were starving in the slums when I found them. I took these guys in and trained them with the resources of the crown. Now they were assassins and knights who answered only to me. It wasn't uncommon for a prince or princess to have their own personal guards, however, few had such a large number of people employed. If Helen or Derek knew of it they would have long since become hostile to me.
"Here take this one to Jamie, and this to Clara. Don't be caught."
After a bow two of them left. Turning to the third one I said,
"Make sure that we are ready to leave tomorrow."
"Yes, my lord."
After the room was empty again I took an item out of my cabinet and headed for the library.
If they want me to leave, I will obviously take some payment.
** ** **
"Kill that bitch."
"My l-lord she escaped."
The knight nervously reported.
"Shit, where did she go?"
"Search for her. And don't come back until you bring her head. A single 4th refinement assassin dares to sneak in my territory to kill me? Don't they know who I am?"
The man kept shouting at his subordinates for a few minutes before he calmed down. After an hour his subordinates returned.
"S-Sir, we couldn't find her. I th-think she escaped."
"Imbeciles. A 4th refinement, weapon specialist assassin sneaked into a 5th refinement, weapon expert's territory and you are saying she escaped? I even managed to injure her and you still couldn't find her?"
While the lord was shouting at his subordinates, the woman for whom he was searching for was lying in a dark room with blood coming out of her stomach.
** ** **
POV Charlotte
"Ugh." I grunted as the needle pierced my flesh.
It hurts. Luckily, I had managed to sew my wound shut for now. However, I had lost a lot of blood and needed proper medical treatment to recover. The worst part was that I am now in enemy territory, and the target is now alert. My chances of successfully escaping are slim to none.
That damn intel was wrong. It seems like the target was ready for assassins to attack him and changed his schedule. If this was not an urgent mission, the best way to do this mission would have been to slowly infiltrate his residence as a maid and poison his food or slit his throat while sleeping.
Luckily, I haven't used the scroll yet. Normally there was no way a Weapon Specialist would be able to assassinate a Weapon Expert. To complete the mission, I had received a 6th circle fire destruction spell scroll. If I give it my all I might be able to eliminate the target, but escaping is another thing. If only I wasn't injured.
Wait. This is a Weapon Expert's residence. There are sure to be scrolls with healing spells right? Confirming my plan of action, I forcefully made my body stand up despite the pain.
Soon, I heard footsteps coming this way.
"She is not in here."
It seems they were checking each room.
After half a minute I could feel the soldier behind my door. I was hiding behind it in a crouched position ready to attack.
The soldier came in with a lantern in one hand and a sword in the other.
I leapt up and punched him in his chin which directly knocked him out. To prevent any noise, I stopped his body from falling and closed the door. Next I quickly stripped him and wore his armour. Before leaving I slit the soldier's throat. The best way to keep someone silent is to kill them.
"She is not in here either." I shouted after opening the door.
Let's see now, where is the treasury?
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