The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

“What are you thinking, Remiharam?”

“I’m not thinking much. What more can we think about being in a position where we have to follow the master’s orders?”

“Surely you’ve felt it too? The day Lord Lumendel reluctantly descended through the succession! Don’t you know better what that means?”

“Just because I know doesn’t mean it’s a reason to stop it, right? Our lady doesn’t seem particularly interested, and we’ve never been on the same page about our futures, have we?”

Hishkrea gave a stern look while Tome Remiharam calmly looked at the scriptures.

Hishkrea seemed displeased with the current situation and has been trying to convince Remiharam.

“It’s not too late! Convince your master to reject the owner of the Demonic Sword! Then at least your existence won’t disappear!”

“Ah, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. You might not know, but our lady isn’t one to easily give in, even if God Himself were to come.”

Remiharam dismissed the idea as impossible.

-Tap tap

“Oh dear, they’re here already.”

As footsteps were heard from behind, Remiharam hurriedly began to tidy up the surroundings.

Soon, Luna and Schurz appeared after passing through a space filled with various books and bookshelves.

“Were you in the middle of a conversation?”

“No! It wasn’t anything important!”

Remiharam quickly vacated the seat.

“I didn’t think it would be a comfortable space, but it seems tolerable enough for you?”

“…”

Instead of answering, Hishkrea raised an eyebrow.

Luna, ignoring it, placed her hand on her actual book and manifested mana.

-Hmm…

Soon, a black light emanated from the scripture in response to the mana, causing Hishkrea to grimace in pain and slump to the ground as if drained of strength.

“Oh, owner of the Tome. Would you give me a chance too?”

“What chance are you talking about?”

“I smell an inquirer from you. Someone who yearns for knowledge and seeks the truth of this world. Don’t you also wish for your truth to be realized in this world? So let me help you!”

Luna, with a puzzled look, asks.

“What about Hishkrea’s original owner?”

“He failed. There’s no reason to follow a failure who couldn’t lead to the given future!”

“You’re ruthless.”

Luna, with a brief remark, turned away.

“Why do you think I brought you here after you abandoned your owner?”

“…?”

“Even if your existence is secondary, you can harm the senior. Besides, handling someone as dangerous as you is foolish.”

Hishkrea scoffed as if amused by this.

“Do you really not know what foolishness is? The owner of that Demonic Sword has already made numerous enemies! Do you think just the two of you can handle it?”

“I wouldn’t know. We haven’t tried yet.”

Luna, as always, remained nonchalant.

“In the end, you are just an enemy to the senior and me. So, stop being arrogant and rest in my space.”

With that, Luna left with Schurz.

Left behind, Hishkrea screamed in anger and frustration.

“I told you. It’s an unyielding stubbornness.”

Remiharam also followed Luna without another word.

A while later, Luna and Schurz stepped back into the succession from the non-space.

“Can we leave that scripture as it is?”

“I’ll manage it myself so that no one else can touch it. For now, it’s the best option.”

Luna sighed softly, resigned to the situation.

“But, the scripture has a point. To prepare for the numerous enemies the senior has, I too need to create allies for him.”

Muttering to herself, Luna started to think.

“I don’t like it, but I’ll have to send a message to that person.”

“To whom are you referring?”

“Oh, it’s someone. The fool of a senior who can’t even hold his drink without getting a cold…”

* * *

“Your Highness! Your Highness!”

Calling desperately but getting no response from the person in question.

Seeing this, the attendant turned his head in frustration and began to search for the prince.

“Oh dear! Why of all places must you be there?”

Finally spotting the prince, the attendant lowered his head and let out a deep sigh.

Since there’s no way the prince would hear him from there, the attendant reluctantly moved towards where the prince was.

After a while, reaching where the prince is, the attendant, sweating profusely, spoke as if scolding.

“Your Highness! It’s good to train, but please do it in ordinary places! It’s difficult for me to find you in such places!”

The prince, smiling wryly, responded as if amused.

“If I train in ordinary places, I’ll only have ordinary training! Special training must be done in special places! That’s where the real value lies!”

Despite his words about being special, the prince’s current training was nothing more than ordinary push-ups.

The problem was that he was doing these push-ups at the top of a square-shaped ruin that extended 100 meters from the ground, with a slope steep enough that a slight misstep could send him rolling thousands of times.

“So, why have you come?”

“Oh! There has been a huge event in the Ushif Empire recently!”

“In the Empire? Did a civil war break out or something?”

“Something similar. Princess Arin Sevellerus was actually kidnapped by the Mist… Wow!”

As he tried to read the report, the attendant was so surprised that he almost fell backward, but managed to catch himself in time.

The prince, who had been focusing on his training without looking back, suddenly came close and leaned in.

“Who was kidnapped by whom?”

“That, um, well…”

After calming himself down, the attendant explained calmly what had happened in the Empire to the prince.

Upon hearing the story, the prince’s eyes widened in astonishment.

“Goodness gracious! After seven years, he reappeared and caused a commotion! Why wasn’t I informed of such an interesting event?”

“What kind of blasphemy is that, Your Highness!”

The attendant expressed his disgust, clapping his hands together.

“What’s in the other hand?”

The prince pointed to another letter in the attendant’s opposite hand.

“Oh, this is a letter that has come for you, Your Highness!”

“A letter? Did someone send a personal letter to me?”

With a doubtful expression, the prince quickly checked the contents of the letter.

“Haha!”

Not even 10 seconds after opening the letter, a burst of laughter erupted.

“This junior is still the same.”

The prince smiled satisfactorily as he put the letter in his pocket.

“It’s been a while since I went out! Inform the palace!”

With no hesitation, the prince leaped from the top downward.

“Whoa, Your Highness! Where are you going!?”

“To the Ushif Empire!”

“It’s fine if you go, but please let me down first, Prince of Daring Escapes!!”

The attendant’s desperate plea for rescue echoed faintly in all directions, but the Prince of Daring Escapes didn’t look back once.

* * *

A sky devoid of color, like black and white.

She immediately realized that she was in a dream, not reality, from the black and white scenery with a lone man with black hair at its center.

She had often had similar dreams before.

There was no sign of life in the black and white landscape, and around the man, a mysterious black mist swirled.

The area was filled with numerous corpses, all seeming to have lost their lives because of him.

Above the man’s head, a brilliant light seemed to illuminate all the darkness in the world.

However, the light wasn’t descending to save or praise the man.

It emitted a threatening aura, as if condemning him alone in the massacre scene.

It felt as if the whole world viewed him as an enemy.

At that moment, the woman thought to herself.

She had to run up to him and hold his hand.

With determination, she ran toward him and tried to grab his empty hand.

“……!”

She woke up abruptly from the dream.

“Inh!”

Realizing she was underwater, the woman quickly waved her hand to move her body.

*Splash!*

She soon emerged from the water, clutching her chest as she regulated her breathing.

“Congratulations. You’ve surpassed the longest time.”

An iridescent spirit, waiting outside, greeted her with an indifferent voice.

“Did you have a good dream?”

“I’m not sure. Every time it ends just as I’m about to hold his hand, I don’t know how to interpret it.”

With a sense of regret, she sighed and touched her forehead.

“While you were immersed in the divine water, interesting things were happening far away.”

“Interesting things?”

“Yes. Related to your younger sibling…”

At the mention of her sibling, the woman’s eyes widened, and she hurriedly ran to the spirit.

The spirit, as if expecting this reaction, immediately pointed to a rock next to it with a glow.

There lay an official document with the seal of the Ushif Empire’s royal family.

After reading the document, the woman looked back at the spirit with a complex expression.

“Don’t look at me like that. Haven’t I always said? When you’re satisfied, you can leave, no problem.”

“…”

“But looking at your face, you don’t seem satisfied yet…”

The woman abruptly crumpled the document, clutching her chest in frustration.

“Seven years ago, and now again. I wasn’t there at such crucial moments for him.”

“Maybe he didn’t particularly want you there?”

The spirit seemed to be trying to console her with distant concern, but…

“It’s not about what I want!”

The woman’s face was filled with deep guilt for not being able to protect her sibling.

“I can’t let this go on.”

She then stood up, resolved, and shook her body.

“I have to go to him now. I want to go back to the Empire! Marian!”

“There’s no need to say it so dramatically. I’ll send you as you wish. But before you leave, there’s something I must tell you.”

*Fwooosh!*

In an instant, a greater radiance erupted from the iridescent spirit’s body.

The radiance spread out to encompass the entire surroundings, and soon, the light vanished, revealing a magnificent, pure white dragon in place of the radiance.

The dragon, towering majestically, leaned in toward the steadfast woman and asked in a grand voice.

“When you help that child, you will turn many beings, including the gods of light, into enemies. Are you okay with that?”

“Yes! It doesn’t matter!”

The woman responded immediately, as if the question itself was meaningless.

“My life was saved because of that child! So, it’s only natural that I use everything for him! Even if the whole world turns against him, I’ll protect him until the end!”

“You’re truly resolute. You haven’t changed a bit since the beginning.”

“It’s my duty as his older sister!”

It was like witnessing the unchanging flow of pure water, even after thousands or tens of thousands of years.

Realizing that further questioning was futile, the dragon spread its wings.

“Let’s go, Alice.”