The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

After the meeting with the principal, I headed straight to the dormitory.

As expected, I’m the only one currently using the Royal Crown dormitory.

That’s because no royal family has enough time to stay at the academy even during vacation.

As I entered my room, cutting through the silent air, Brian greeted me.

“Master, these…”

He handed me two envelopes, presumably letters.

“Where did you get these?”

I asked about the sender of the letters first.

“One was received from the academy’s official recipient, and the other one was from a cleaner at the Royal Palace. Both asked for you to receive them directly.”

Holding the two envelopes in each hand, I compared them.

One had a luxurious gold envelope with the crest of the Ushif Empire stamped in the middle.

I could tell it was from the official recipient without even looking at the contents.

The other was a plain white envelope.

Below the seal was an inexplicable black X mark.

This is probably the one received from the cleaner.

Although I haven’t checked the contents yet, if you ask which letter is more important…

Without a doubt, it’s the one from the cleaner.

I decided to open the relatively less important gold envelope first.

As soon as I read the contents, I furrowed my brows.

“W-what does it say, Master?”

“If you’re curious, read it.”

I handed him the paper nonchalantly.

“An… invitation?!”

Brian’s eyes widened as he read the contents.

“M-Master! Isn’t this an invitation to a banquet sent from the Empire?”

“A banquet? It’s just a place where people put on fake smiles, laugh loudly, and drink alcohol like there’s no tomorrow.”

To me, it was a boring place I wouldn’t want to go even if ordered.

“B-But it’s from the royal family, isn’t it? Isn’t this a direct invitation from the Empire to you?”

– Thud

Suddenly, the invitation slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

As Brian looked around in surprise for a moment,

Kaeram, who appeared out of nowhere, was sitting on the sofa, checking the invitation.

[A royal invitation… Huh, my master is making it big, huh?]

Well, it’s not really for me to judge whether it’s making it big or not.

But, naturally, not just anyone gets invited to a royal banquet.

Only the empire’s dignitaries, those considered important by the royal family, receive such invitations.

So, Brian’s suggestion that it might be a direct invitation from the empire isn’t entirely unreasonable.

Honestly, our family is often considered regular guests, but this is the first time my name is written directly like this on the invitation.

Usually, it would come in my father, Duke Vert’s name.

But since my father can’t attend, it’s customary for my sister, Cranz, or one of his children to go…

“Cyan Vert… Your name being written directly means they want you, doesn’t it?”

I saw it right away.

It’s highly unusual for them to specify an individual rather than the family.

In the royal court, they’re not inviting a member of the Vert family, but solely me, Cyan Vert.

Honestly, it’s absurd.

Why would the royal family want me?

I know I’ve been receiving attention from the emperor, but I haven’t done anything particularly noteworthy in the past two years.

So, what’s the reason for sending me an invitation now?

I pondered over the reason for a moment, chin in hand.

Beside me, Kaeram was reading the contents of the invitation aloud.

[…We cordially invite esteemed guests to our royal summer banquet. Sender: Arin Sevellerus?]

I momentarily doubted my ears.

“What did you say?”

I quickly snatched the invitation back to double-check the contents.

[Sender: Arin Sevellerus]

As soon as I saw the unwelcome name written at the bottom of the invitation, an involuntary sigh escaped my lips.

“Ah, I see…”

There is no way the imperial family would send an invitation in my name, let alone anywhere else.

Typically, the sender’s name on a banquet invitation would be that of the host.

So, for it to be a royal invitation, it should bear the name of either Emperor Dionne Sevellerus or Empress Cassandra Nepellis.

But the sender written on my invitation was none other than the 5th Princess.

I knew all too well what this meant.

[Hahaha! After being quiet for a while, the little princess sent something quite cheeky, didn’t she?]

Kaeram laughed as if he had caught on to the situation.

“What do you mean, Kaeram?”

[This is a personal invitation sent by that little princess to you alone. What do you think it means? It’s like a love letter, asking you to come and see her all dressed up for the occasion! Isn’t my master lucky? Getting a personal invitation from a princess of this empire!]

“Well, I see! Congratulations, sir!”

Were they really scheming together to embarrass me?

As Kaeram explained, this was not a royal invitation, but a personal invitation from the princess herself.

Now that I think about it, she wrote it very meticulously with her own handwriting.

What on earth is she thinking?

Dragging me along to every class wasn’t enough; now she’s trying to drag me to their parties too?

I may not know what she’s expecting, but one thing’s for sure: regardless of her intentions, my decision is firm.

“I’m not going.”

I tossed the invitation onto the desk with determination.

There’s no reason to go when it’ll only be a hassle.

Ignoring Kaeram’s nagging, I opened the second envelope, which held the truly important letter.

A letter written in an unknown script on a black background.

The sender… was Silica, the leader of the Black Mist.

I deciphered the script in my mind as I read the letter.

[New… Target]

For starters, the leader isn’t currently at the academy.

She’s elsewhere for personal business, and I don’t know her exact location.

Yet she’s sent word that Mist’s new target is now…

[Nepelis]

Nepelis, a prominent figure in the Ushif Empire and the current Empress Consort, Cassandra Nepelis.

In other words, the target is a member of that family.

Though I haven’t confirmed the name yet, the fact that the letter mentions the Nepelis family signifies they’re targeting someone of considerable importance, different from their usual targets…

[Details… will be heard… directly]

For now, is this where the written communication ends?

Anyway, it seems I’ll have to leave this place for a while.

I’ve met my sister, and there’s no reason to sit around in the academy any longer.

Might as well go somewhere far from the palace…

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, memories from my past life flashed through my mind.

Empress, Marquis Nepelis, assassination.

There seemed to be an important event associated with the words just mentioned?

As I searched my memory, I checked the bottom of the letter for the location and date.

[July 14th… Imperial capital, palace banquet]

It seems this is connected once again.

Though I haven’t heard it directly from the head yet, the target is clear.

The assassination of Drenian Nepelis, the Emperor’s brother-in-law and Cassandra, the Empress’s brother.

It was an event that caused a great shock throughout the continent, including the empire, in my past life.

Back then, as a mere student, I was confined to the dormitory, swinging a wooden sword, so I had no direct involvement.

To be directly involved in a mission that had quite an impact even in my past life, the irony was not lost on me.

-Fwoosh

I conjured a small flame in my hand and burned the letter right there.

Instead, I carefully picked the princess’s hastily thrown invitation once again.

Though it wasn’t intentional, it would still provide a good excuse for me to go to the palace in my current status.

There was no reason not to use it.

But…

My gaze naturally drifted towards Brian and Kaeram.

Along with our little one sleeping soundly in the room.

What should I do with them?

Kaeram could be tucked away in my arms, and Brian could be taken as a guardian knight, but Nana is the issue.

Leaving her alone and something happening wouldn’t be manageable at all.

It’s not like I can just lock her up in a cave and let her sleep for two weeks.

Should I take her to the capital for now and then entrust her to other members of the Mist?

Putting aside the actual mission, I found myself seriously pondering what to do with Nana, which made me lower my head in thought.

Come to think of it, hasn’t she been sleeping for quite a while?

“Hasn’t it been time for Nana to wake up? When did she fall asleep?”

“She usually sleeps around the same time, but it seems she woke up a bit late today. Let me check.”

Nana’s routine is to take a nap for about five hours after lunch.

However, it was already past 6 o’clock, and the sun had set.

Normally, she’d be nagging, ‘Papa, I’m hungry!’ even before dinner was ready, but today seems like she got lost in some dessert wonderland dream or something.

*Squeak*

“Papa, I’m hungry!”

As soon as I thought the mention of her name would wake her up(?), Nana opened the door and stepped out.

“Okay, I’ve prepared the meal, so hurry and wash your hands and come to the table…”

…?

Me, Brian, Kaeram.

Except for Nana, there are six pairs of eyes in the room, all intensely wavering.

I bet these eyes are seriously questioning if they’re seeing something wrong.

“Um, master over there? Why does Nana look like that now……?”

Do you guys get it? I should have raised a dragon to know.

Totally barefoot and in a state of utter chaos.

It’s not like she’s not wearing clothes.

Probably the clothes she had on got too small and slipped off.

“Why are you looking like that, Papa?”

She blinked her sleepy eyes and tilted her head.

[Why are you staring so intently! Can’t you look away?!]

Suddenly, Kaeram grabbed both mine and Brian’s heads and forcefully lowered them.

[Hey, little one! Why did you come out barefoot?]

“Huh? I don’t know either. I woke up and couldn’t find any fitting clothes?”

Nana swayed her tail, which seemed to have doubled in size since last time, as she spoke.

I knew her race grew fast, but is it okay for her to grow this quickly without any warning?

I’m telling you this out of fear of misunderstanding, but Nana has shown remarkable growth over the past two years.

She’s now roughly equivalent to a 6-year-old human?

Growing day by day, then recently quieting down, and suddenly, just yesterday, the little one who barely reached my chest grew up to my chest overnight?

Now she looked like a freshman girl just entering the academy.

“…?”

Nana blinked her bright eyes as if asking what the problem was.

————