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Chapter 26
Only a couple of months after they met, the situation changed unexpectedly fast.
‘Yuraksiz’s movements are suspicious.’
King Ierrick knew well that his younger brother was cruel and greedy, a man who would seize whatever he desired by any means necessary.
And now, he had received information that this brother was quietly drawing nobles to his side.
‘In a situation like this, I can’t fully trust anyone in the royal palace. And Iskal’s magic, which recently manifested, is becoming harder to hide.’
Iskal’s magic was likely inherited from his mother’s family, which had once produced a great archmage.
After long deliberation, Ierrick sent Iskal far away. Publicly, he used the excuse that his son’s health was poor and that he needed to recuperate in the countryside for a long time.
But the day before Iskal left for a distant territory belonging to his maternal relatives, Ierrick summoned him privately.
“Iskal, my only son. I’m sorry that I cannot protect you in the royal palace and must send you far away. No matter what happens, steel your heart, hide your power, and survive. Grow into a king, and 반드시 become king.”
It was strange—why would a king tell his only son to make sure to become king? Iskal did not fully understand, but because it sounded like his father’s final words, he simply nodded.
Iskal departed for his mother’s family estate, and less than three months later, the king suddenly passed away. Rumors of poisoning spread everywhere, but the investigation ended inconclusively.
Claiming that the shock had made him ill, Iskal did not even attend his father’s funeral, and only returned to the royal palace a month later—after his uncle Yuraksiz had already taken the throne.
He knelt before his uncle seated on the throne, in front of all the ministers.
“Your Majesty. I am weak in both body and mind, and lacking in wisdom. I ask that Your Majesty firmly establish the throne and rule with virtue.”
It was an official declaration of renunciation by the first in line to the throne. Yuraksiz, conscious of the sympathetic atmosphere surrounding Iskal, replied kindly.
“My beloved nephew. Taking the throne was an unavoidable choice for the sake of the kingdom. As you know, you are too young to handle state affairs. Instead, I grant you the title and lands of Duke of Rexton. I hope you will grow into a talent that will greatly assist Skark’s reign in the future.”
It sounded like the warm advice of a caring uncle, but in truth it meant nothing more than, ‘I’ll give you land, so live quietly there. The next king will also be Skark, so don’t even think about the throne.’
Even so, Iskal merely bowed politely and withdrew.
“Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty.”
After that, Estina became Skark’s prospective crown princess instead of Iskal, and with the birth of Roabellin, she became a collateral member of the ducal family.
In the end, none of the statuses given to her had ever been her own choice. Later, Estina entered the magic academy and systematically studied magic, growing into a capable mage. Meanwhile, Iskal had to grow in silence, hiding his abilities as if he were dead.
The two met again on the crossroads of their diverging fates at the magic academy. It had been eleven years since they last met in the royal palace.
‘That’s all in the past now. Coming back after so long brings back old memories.’
Entering the Aventador royal palace, Estina took out a hand mirror and checked her appearance once more.
The Aventador palace was the place that knew the daughters of the Hoo family best. Moreover, among the palace servants, there were surely people who had seen her when she was young.
For that reason, Estina made every effort to alter the overall impression of her appearance, as long as it did not require using too much divine power.
‘I can’t leave even the slightest room for them to associate this face with a daughter of the Hoo family.’
One fortunate thing was that the Aventador palace had magic that detected only external mana, not the divine power of Dominador. This was because daughters of the Hoo family, who possessed divine power, had traditionally become queens, and because the central temple was located within the palace.
‘It’s good that using divine power won’t be automatically detected… but who knows what the current great archmage has installed. For now, I’ll use divine power as little as possible.’
Estina changed her hair to dark brown and her eyes to light brown—the most common colors among the people of Aventador. She also altered her facial features to be as ordinary as possible. She still looked pretty, but not enough to stand out in a palace full of beauties.
‘Good. This should be enough.’
After finishing her check, Estina headed straight to the chief maid’s office.
“Let’s see… Your name is Maria Ratbach. The Ratbach count family. I feel like I’ve heard it before…”
The strict-looking chief maid was a veteran who had worked in the palace for twenty-five years. She might even have seen Estina when she was young, so Estina felt a bit tense.
“Ah, that family only lived in the southern Aklo region, so people in the capital usually don’t know them well.”
Estina quickly explained, not giving her time to think too deeply. When she had created a false identity to enter the magic academy long ago, she had borrowed the Ratbach count family name from one of her mother’s relatives for exactly this reason.
“Hm… You came from far away. Is there a department you wish to work in?”
‘I need a position that doesn’t draw attention, but lets me move freely inside the palace.’
Having once received queen’s education, Estina was well aware of how each palace department operated.
“Um… is there an opening in the archive management position?”
The chief maid gave her a puzzled look. It was a place with little to learn and no chance of catching the eyes of royalty or high nobles, so noble children rarely applied there.
“You mean the job of librarian and document courier?”
“Yes. I like books.”
To avoid raising suspicion, Estina answered briefly. Fortunately, after glancing at her documents again, the chief maid assigned her to the archive.
Unlike the royal library, the archives stored minutes of meetings and historical records of events that had taken place in the palace.
Since the Kingdom of Aventador had nearly a thousand years of history, there were as many as thirty-two rooms just for categorizing records by era. Estina’s main job was to retrieve requested documents from the archives—mostly for academic departments—deliver them, and later return them to their original places.
‘Somewhere between a librarian and a delivery runner.’
While she busily went back and forth between departments, Estina’s attention was always on the newest records—that is, the records stored in Archive Room 32, where information about the current king was kept.
However, no one was allowed to read records about a king who was still alive. Not only was this the rule, but they were also sealed with magic, making them physically impossible to open. Fortunately, unlike most people, Estina possessed divine power that could break those seals.
One day, at last, she got a little free time. The few palace staff assigned to the archives were all absent for their own reasons.
‘Finally!’
After checking her surroundings, Estina quietly entered Archive Room 32, silencing her footsteps. As her gaze swept over the records arranged in chronological order, it stopped at one spot.
‘Found it. The records from eight years ago…’
What Estina unsealed and opened was a document that recorded even the smallest details of the king’s daily life. When the current king died, all of this would be compiled into a book. She carefully flipped through the pages, searching for a specific time period. Her hands trembled slightly with tension. Soon, the entry she was looking for appeared.
“His Majesty has ordered that, starting tomorrow morning, the land and all assets of the Hertenes ducal family be transferred to royal property.”
Estina sucked in a sharp breath without realizing it. This was one of the pieces she had been searching for. But reading it again and again, something felt strange.
‘Starting tomorrow morning?’
Normally, such an order would only be issued after an entire family had already died out due to rebellion or plague.
‘But the date of this order is… the day before the assassins came to the ducal castle.’
In other words, at that time, the Hertenes ducal family was still intact, yet the king had issued this command. Estina felt as if she had been struck on the head with a blunt weapon.
‘As I thought. The king either led the extermination, or at the very least cooperated. I’ve found one piece of evidence.’
Going back a few more days, she found another entry.
“At midnight, Her Majesty the Queen visited His Majesty’s office. All attendants were dismissed, and the two met alone. Afterward, His Majesty summoned Chief Attendant Rad, and Her Majesty summoned the High Priest to her office. After meeting alone with His Majesty, the Chief Attendant left the palace by himself.”
It was baffling.
‘It feels related to that incident… but also not. Conversations during private meetings with the king aren’t recorded together, so the connection keeps breaking.’
In fact, the contents of the king’s private meetings were recorded—but often classified. Those were stored separately.
And those records were guarded with far higher security than the ones in this archive. They were sealed jointly by the great archmage of the era and the High Priest, and kept in the central temple.
‘The answers are probably in the private-meeting records… but is there any way to see them?’
No matter how much she thought, there was no solution there. So she resealed the documents and left.
Over the next few days, while thinking about how to continue her investigation, Estina recalled what she had read.
‘That night, after the king and queen met alone, the king summoned the chief attendant and the queen summoned the high priest. It looks like they divided tasks between them. Since the chief attendant’s actions afterward weren’t recorded, I should look at what the high priest did. There might be something I can infer from that.’
Records of the high priest’s private meetings with the king or queen were sealed and kept in the archive on the second floor of the temple.
‘All that studying to become the master of the central temple is finally useful. Good. I’ll infiltrate the temple and find the records about the high priest.’
Having achieved her first objective, Estina immediately set her next goal.
