IWTGHFW CHAPTER 34

Episode 34

“This kind of thing usually means forged identity.”

If it was forged identity, this wasn’t something that could just be brushed aside. That would mean some unknown person had slipped into the Imperial Palace.

Yen stared at the paper for a long time, as if something might pop out if he glared at it hard enough, but nothing did.

He decided to stop overthinking and just take the paper with him as he stood. If he was curious, he could just ask.

The place Yen headed to ask his questions was the knight order.

While watching over the knights’ training, Shen spotted his twin from afar and ran over.

“What’s the busy Crown Prince’s aide doing here?”

“I didn’t come to see you, so drop it. Where’s the marquis?”

“The captain’s busy right now. If you’ve got something to say, say it to me.”

He noticed a piece of paper sticking out of Yen’s pocket and gave him a questioning look. Yen shoved it back in, which only made Shen more curious.

“I want to ask the captain something directly.”

“Hmm. He’s really busy right now. Even if you went to him, he wouldn’t be in the right state of mind to answer.”

“Why? There’s no event going on with the knights right now as far as I know.”

“There is. A huge one.”

A massive one—big enough that hosting a hundred events would be better in comparison.

Shen shuddered as he thought of Ron, who had been half out of his mind ever since Ayl went to the Kingdom of Aint.

Marquis or captain of the knights didn’t matter—Ron had apparently been ready to bolt straight to Aint, and the Crown Prince had barely managed to hold him back. Shen wasn’t sure if that had been the right call. Seeing Ron beating the knights black and blue during “sparring” these days, it almost seemed wiser to have just let him go.

He’d known Ron liked Ayl, but he hadn’t realized it was this bad. Shen compressed the whole long story into a single sentence: “Ayl went to the Kingdom of Aint.” No need to ramble to a brother he wasn’t all that close with anyway.

“I know. Ayl and the second pri— I mean, Ayl and one of the party members accidentally warped to Aint, right?”

Yen shook his head at the sheer stupidity of the blunder. And of all people, the one mis-warped had to be the Second Prince. Just thinking of the Crown Prince’s hysteria made him shiver.

Then he realized his own brother was going through the same thing, and he felt a strange sense of solidarity. Ron and the Crown Prince—both had equally nasty tempers.

When a touch of sympathy crept into Yen’s gaze, Shen flinched and snapped at him not to look at him with that annoying expression.

“What is it? Is it so classified that even the vice-captain can’t know?”

Yen hesitated, then dragged Shen somewhere without people around.

Only after confirming the coast was clear did he pull the paper out of his pocket.

“What’s this… Naerein? Why is this—”

“You know the Intelligence Bureau?”

“Of course. That group that’s everywhere, even though nobody knows where they are.”

“This is directly from their investigation. Read it.”

The Intelligence Bureau?

Suspicion flickered in Shen’s eyes, but he read the words quietly. There was nothing strange in the information. In fact, the problem was that it was too clean…

“Ah.”

Shen was quick on the uptake. He swallowed his words and let out a low hum.

“You know what this means, right?”

Yen pushed Shen’s glasses—slipped down to his nose—back up for him. Somewhere, there seemed to be squealing noises, but neither had the luxury to care.

“Also, look at Naerein’s appearance.”

“Appearance?”

“Water-colored hair, blue eyes. A look like the sea.”

Shen stared at him blankly.

And?

“Doesn’t that make you think of anything?”

“Hmm… no?”

Yen’s gaze turned into that of someone looking at the dumbest person alive. Irritated by the condescending look, Shen tried to think harder, but nothing came to mind.

Water-colored hair, blue eyes—a somewhat unusual combination, yes. But blue tones weren’t exactly rare.

If it’s strange for a mountain-dwelling barbarian to look like the sea, then that’s strange… Wait, Aint?!

Seeing the change in Shen’s expression, Yen said in a “finally realized?” tone,

“That guy might be an Aint spy.”

Shen was now in deep trouble.

Naerein was a barbarian—Ron himself had captured him during an expedition and arranged a false identity for him. He couldn’t possibly be an Aint spy, but Yen was right: the identity was forged.

If he told Yen, it could cause problems. If he didn’t, that was also a problem.

He wanted to consult Ron, but Ron wasn’t in his right mind.

And he couldn’t keep shouldering such a serious issue alone. So in the end, Shen went to the Metailor estate late at night.

“The marquis is in his office,” the butler said.

As he walked to the office, Shen was deep in thought. Tell, and it’s a problem. Don’t tell, and it’s a problem. The ideal scenario was the Crown Prince just letting it slide—but with his personality, that was unlikely. And having someone with a forged identity in the Imperial Knight Order was no small matter.

Damn it. Why did Naerein have to stand out in the entrance exam and catch the Crown Prince’s eye?

Grumbling to himself, Shen turned a corner and bumped into a small body.

“Oh, sorry.”

It was a young girl, maybe just over ten, with dark skin. She blinked up at him.

What the heck? Why are there so many kids in an unmarried young marquis’s house? First Naerein, now this girl. What if people get the wrong idea?

He helped her up and asked,

“Who are you? First time seeing you.”

“…Melina.”

“That’s your name?”

The girl nodded and quickly ran off.

What was that?

Dusting off his hands, Shen resumed his walk to Ron’s office.

“Yen asked about it?”

“Yes. Looked like he wanted to ask before reporting to the Crown Prince.”

Hearing the full story, Ron frowned like he’d just been handed a headache. Muttering a curse, he listened as Shen sighed.

“Honestly, taking in a barbarian kid as a knight was a bad idea from the start.”

“You’re an accomplice, idiot. Don’t think you can back out now.”

“Wow. I’m just a commoner. You might get off with a scolding from His Highness, but I could get executed.”

“I won’t let you die, so just think of a solution.”

“Great line at first, lazy at the end.”

Grumbling, Shen laid out the ideas he’d come up with. He hadn’t been daydreaming on his way here, after all.

First: claim Naerein was Ron’s illegitimate child.

Ron threw a pen at him immediately. He was twenty-eight, Naerein was fourteen—so when exactly was he supposed to have fathered him?

Shen muttered about it just being an option and crossed it off.

Second: go to the Crown Prince, tell the truth, and beg for mercy.

Ron looked like he considered it, but then shook his head. Kneel before the Crown Prince? Just imagining it made him shudder.

…Even though he’d have to swear a knight’s oath to him when he became Emperor. Anyway, that plan was scrapped too.

With a troubled look, Shen ticked off the remaining finger.

“That leaves the last option.”

“What is it?”

“The Second Prince.”

Through recent events, Ron and Shen had realized that the Crown Prince and Second Prince had a good relationship—if “good” was even the right word. From Shen’s perspective, the Crown Prince seemed like a total little-brother fanatic.

So naturally, they’d use that.

“If the Second Prince guaranteed Naerein’s identity, His Highness couldn’t really object.”

“The Second Prince? I mean, given how they are… But what would we say to him?”

“That’s easy. Ask Ayl for help. He seems close to His Highness.”

“We’d need Ayl here for that.”

“Oh, right. Then priority one is bringing Ayl back.”

The method was fine, but they were missing the key piece.

Shen thought hard. Was there any way besides charging into Aint like Ron?

At the very least, if they could confirm Ayl was safe, they might be able to work something out. The Crown Prince was already obsessed with his brother being in a foreign country, but he couldn’t officially act, which was frustrating.

If only we could at least contact Ayl and the Second Prince to check they’re okay…

Wait—contact?

“Captain, what about sending a communication to the Aint royal family?”

“What?”

“Communication. Maybe they’ll answer.”

Ayl and the Second Prince wouldn’t have communication orbs, but they could call the royal palace where they were staying. Shen even clasped his hands, thinking it was a great idea.

“And let’s not use the family’s comm orb—it could cause rumors. Use the Imperial Palace’s instead. No way Aint would refuse an official call from the Empire’s royal family.”

Given the strained relations, it was better to use formal channels to avoid gossip. Hearing this, Ron shot up from his seat and strode out of the office.

When Shen asked where he was going, he just said “the palace” and started running.

Shen shouted after him,

“The palace gates are closed right now!”

“It’s fine! I’m a marquis!”

“That’s not the problem—everyone in the communications office went home!”

Ron skidded to a stop, turned back, and asked,

“…Any way to make the sun rise faster?”

Yeah, like that was possible.