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Astrid's POV
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I quickly give Ryu the basis of the political situation in Reichtum currently.

"But Marquis Lovenhood is particularly famous, since he started building banks across the Kingdom, which in turn, gave him a lot of power over the economy." (Astrid)

"Why doesn't the King do anything?" (Ryu)

"How could he? One single wrong move from the King, and the Marquis could cut off the money flow, and while that would make us unable to trade with other countries, it would also incite a riot." (Astrid)

"... Because they'd blame the King for forcing the Marquis' hand..." (Ryu)

"Exactly. But, of course, that only applies if the King's action was drastic enough, which gives him a certain amount of freedom." (Astrid)

"So he's not stupid." (Ryu)

"No, he's quite smart, actually. And cunning." (Astrid)

"A typical noble." (Ryu)

"I suppose." (Astrid)

"... Well, enough of this. Ryu, rest so Astrid can finish healing you. Astrid, come with me, we need to discuss what to so next." (Captain)

I follow Captain out the door, only looking back to see Ryu holding his hand against his head.

Not paying mind to it, I walk out the door and continue following, and he leads me to a room on the far side of the building we are in.

It wasn't anything majestic, it was similar to the barracks we have for normal knights, but for on-site Royal Knights and Royal Guards.

The King allowed us to use it since Ryu got hurt protecting him, but also insisted on something extra too, though I don't know what it is.

Suddenly, my train of thought gets cut short as I nearly bump into Captain's back as he stops in front of a door.

"Hmm. There's an extra person in there." (Captain)

"...? An extra person?" (Astrid)

"There's Kana, Etsu and Airi, plus another..." (Captain)

"Hmm? Would it be--" (Astrid)

Captain cuts me off by simply opening the door and walking inside.

"Ahh, you're here!" (Subaru)

"Your Highness." (Captain)

He bows soon after opening the door.

"Call me Subaru, Doujima." (Subaru)

"That puts me in a tricky spot." (Captain)

"I know, that's why I'm saying it." (Subaru)

The Crown Prince replies with a large grin on his face, obviously trying to joke with Captain.

"... Fine. Subaru, what happened?" (Captain)

"I've already told you, I used the assassins to make a fake assassination to use as a recommendation. They were bought out by someone else." (Subaru)

"Then what kind of assassin would take someone else's side over a Prince if they're doing it for the money?" (Captain)

"That's..." (Subaru)

"... Doesn't that just mean they aren't doing it for the money?" (Kana)

"Then what for? The Second Prince already forfeited his right to the throne." (Etsu)

"..." (Everyone)

"... What if... What if there was a third?" (Airi)

"...!" (Subaru)

"Ah, no, no. It was just an assumption. We can tell they don't like you, if they were bought out for something other than money. Since you're the Crown Prince, it'd probably be the succession of the throne, but, like you said, the Second Prince gave up." (Airi)

"... I don't think Father had another child. After all, he loves Mother deeply." (Subaru)

"What about one of the Dukes?" (Astrid)

"... The closest one to the throne would be Duke Boule. He's the King's brother, but also gave up his right to the throne." (Etsu)

We all sit in silence for a while, unsure what to do.

"Well, we won't get anywhere like this. Come on, we going." (Captain)

"Alright, but where?" (Airi)

"To get some evidence. Ah, but Airi..." (Captain)

He looks over towards Subaru, who smirks after meeting his gaze.

"... You stay with Subaru." (Captain)

"Huh? Sure, but..." (Airi)

"Even if we call him Subaru, he's still the Crown Prince, so escort him well." (Captain)

We leave the room soon after, not looking back to see Airi's reaction.

"Uh, Captain? That wording... Couldn't it cause a misunderstanding?" (Astrid)

"Don't worry about it, Airi won't see it that way." (Captain)

"No, I'm not talking about Airiri, but the Crown Prince." (Astrid)

"... He knows full well what'll happen if he puts his hands in Airi." (Captain)

His face darkens for a moment as he speaks, before it returns to normal not long after.

"Say, Kana, can you investigate the Duke?" (Etsu)

"Boule? Sure, but don't expect much." (Kana)

"Anything will do. We need any lead we can get." (Etsu)

"Alright." (Kana)

With a word of confirmation, she speeds ahead of us and jumps out of an open window, probably landing on a tree nearby.

"That reminds me. The night before the banquet..." (Etsu)

"What about it?" (Captain)

"Ryu. I ran after him after I think he listened into what we were talking about with his sister. I went to his room, but he wasn't there." (Etsu)

"Maybe he was somewhere else?" (Astrid)

"That's what I thought, but I couldn't find him anywhere, so I waited in his room for a few hours." (Etsu)

"Hours?" (Astrid)

"Yeah, and the weird thing was, he entered the room through the balcony, not the door." (Etsu)

"Was he just waiting outside?" (Captain)

"No. He seemed slightly out of breath, and he seemed to have a feel of external mana on him." (Etsu)

"External...? You mean spirit magic?" (Astrid)

"Yeah, I think so." (Etsu)

"So he can use spirit magic... What was the mana like?" (Astrid)

"Hmmm. It felt like water mana, flowing... I suppose?" (Etsu)

"Water... So then, it'd probably be... Haste?" (Astrid)

"Why would he need to speed up?" (Etsu)

"To run away from something?" (Astrid)

"He'd probably be safer in the Palace." (Captain)

"To get to somewhere, then?" (Astrid)

"Hmm... The city, probably. He did have some ink on the desk." (Etsu)

"So he probably wrote a letter... Etsu, can you go find out where he went?" (Captain)

"Sure, give me a day or two." (Etsu)

"Good, I don't want to suspect him, but..." (Captain)

"I see him stooping low enough." (Astrid)

"That's your own disdain, Astrid." (Etsu)

"..." (Astrid)

I don't say anything in response, since I'm unable to in the face of facts.

"Well, Astrid, let's go meet some Aristocrats, eh?" (Captain)

"Sure..." (Astrid)

We walk along with Etsu until the front door, where we split off in our separate ways, considering where we were going was nowhere near the city.

We were still technically in the Palace as we never left the gate that surrounded it, since the barracks for the Royal Knights was situated close to the main building in case of an accident.

But from where we were, it didn't take long for us to reach the gate.

"Let's go, Astrid." (Captain)

"Alright." (Astrid)

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Author Notes
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Wow, this was a hard chapter to write.

I opened this chapter several times over a single week, where as I usually open it once to write it, then another time just before releasing it to edit it.

This was unusually hard, but maybe that's because I'm having to start doing mind games with the characters now. I have to actually understand the psychology of my characters and put them into situations that suit or don't suit them.

But anyway, thanks for reading the chapter, please keep doing so!