"Now then…

"

Horeo breathed out and he donned a mask of a refreshing smile on his face, readying himself to exit the carriage, reaching for the door…

"A person known as Zoemi is immediately required to be taken to the royal castle's dungeon when he will await his sentence!

"

…the carriage's door was opened by some overly eager light magician donning a full set of enchanted armor, glowing with the bright golden light of the active enchantment.

*SLAM*

*WHAM*

…whoever the mage was, he either didn't know or didn't care about who else was in the carriage – which earned him a backhanded slap from the brightly smiling first prince – a backhanded slap that crushed the mage's helmet and sent him flying and crashing into the ground a couple of dozen of feet away from the carriage itself.

"L-lord Osteriov?!

"

As it turned's out, the rude fool wasn't alone and his companion in the same type of armor, also with light enchantments active, called out after him in shock.

"Osteriov? He was expelled from the King's Guard for the crippling inability to follow authority… Ah – I see – You two are insurgents attempting to assassinate me.

"

Horeo – glowing with blinding golden light of his own enchantments while three golden orbs orbited his body – stepped out of the carriage, dusting off the hand that he hit the armored mage, and nodded in understanding.

"Y-y-your highness, th-that's not it..! W-we are the members of the Light Order – a group created by the queen to…!

"

The other armored mage raised his hands, surrendering, immediately losing every ounce of confidence that he had in himself as he compared the intensity of the light that the first prince was giving off to his own.

"Light Order? What kind of bull** is that supposed to be? If you are members of the official organization, why are you using potentially offensive spells in the presence of royalty while there is no immediate danger to that royalty's life? I could kill you both on the spot without any trial for that. Zoemi, apprehend that idiot so he can be taken away and interrogated about his idiocy.

"

Horeo scoffed, shaking his head at the completely terrified man, and then glanced over his shoulder and called back at the carriage.

"?!???!

"

The next moment a wave of murky darkness spilled out of the door and swallowed the armored man whole – the next second the darkness subsided revealing the black-haired boy pinning down the utterly confused gold-haired young man in a submission hold…

…and said young man was wearing only the undershirt and underpants that went underneath the armor, but there was not a trace of the enchanted armor on him whatsoever…

"Hmph!

"

Horeo scoffed looking at the squirming man who couldn't overpower the black-haired boy despite still having his enchantments active.

"Listen here sir overachiever – this here is an order from the king where it is clearly written that Zoemi Auequas will be brought to the royal castle for further questioning. Changing the king's order is an offense strictly punishable by the law – and claiming that Zoemi is supposed to be thrown into the dungeon to await a punishment is exactly that. So how about I will throw you and your unconsious friend over there – if he is still alive in the first place – into the cozy cell you overeager idiots prepared for him?

"

The gold-haired first prince took a piece of paper out of his vest's inner pocket, crouched down over to the armorless light magician, and showed him the king's seal at the bottom of the page.

"Now then…

"

Horeo stood up and looked to his side where he saw Veo with her enchantments fully activated, ready to protect him as was her attendant's duty, which made him smile.

"Veo, go to the King's Guards barracks and bring them here to deal with this bother for us.

"

"As you wish, my prince!

"

The first prince asked with a pleasant smile and the short brown-haired attendant nodded her head and ran off without any hesitation.

"Patishi, come here, stay close just in case.

"

Horeo added, seeing his other attendant uncertainly peeking over at him from inside the carriage – she clearly wanted to help too, but had no idea how could she do that without any offensive capabilities.

"Y-yes, my prince!

"

The skinny girl gasped and hurried towards the gold-haired prince, stopping right behind his back getting inside the safe space of the orbiting light spheres, peeking at the incapacitated man with a mixed expression, part fearful and part angry.

"U-unhand me you crimi-NGHNGHHH…!

"

The incapacitated man growled and tried to struggle but Zoemi simply pushed his face into the ground.

"Thank you, Zoemi, this is truly annoying – why there is no one else here? Where are all the servants, aside from the guards at the main gate we haven't seen anyone… do you think that coup d'état actually happened? I shouldn't have let Veo go alone after all… how do you think about retaking the entire castle with just the three of us?

"

Horeo sighed, looking around at the eerily empty area in front of the actual royal castle.

"If that is your wish, my prince, I will humbly follow your lead.

"

Zoemi looked up at him and nodded while smiling cheekily – there was not even a trace of exhaustion on his face despite him holding down a light magician who should have been leagues stronger than him.

"Dear goodness! My prince?! What in the world is going on?!

"

"Ah, looks like that's not the case after all.

"

At the shocked call of another light magician who appeared in a flash of light right next to the carriage, the first prince tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"Sir Irghun, we have some audacious fools claiming to be members of something called the Light Order – be so kind to take them to the dungeon and interrogate them thoroughly, as you can see, it clearly seems that they were plotting to assassinate me under the guise of following king's orders.

"

Horeo turned to the newly arrived man – who turned out to be the commander of the King's Guard in person – and demanded in a strict tone.

"Zoemi, knock that man down and let's go inside, this stupidity is making my head hurt.

"

"As you wish, my prince.

"

The gold-haired boy sighed and waved his hand at the black-haired boy who nodded and furrow his brows.

"…

"

"Done.

"

The very next second without any visible attack the incapacitated man suddenly went completely limp and Zoemi smiled with satisfaction before standing up.

"Excellent. Sir Irghun, I leave it in your capable hands. I expect a report on the case later today.

"

"My prince, this…pffft…! Ekhm, of course.

"

It seemed that the commander of the King's guard was having a hard time keeping a straight face after seeing the two fallen light magicians, but ended up clearing his throat and agreeing while straightening his back.

"My prince… what just happened…?

"

Patishi nervously grabbed onto Horeo's clothes and tugged on them with a worried expression.

"We had to make quite the scene for whoever is looking, don't worry, everything is under control for now.

"

The gold-haired prince winked at the younger girl and smiled reassuringly while taking her with him and Zoemi into the royal castle.

…where inside servants were busily moving around as always…

"…my prince, I expect that this was a provocation done especially so that it would be proven that I had the strength to endanger that filth's life… I am ashamed to admit that because of my personal feeling taking over, I went overboard and showed too much of my current power…

"

Zoemi leaned towards Horeo and whispered in a grim voice.

"…yes, most likely – although I can't really blame you since I did the same thing… but I believe that we can spin the situation in our favor still… say… would it be okay for me to involve the commoner girl in the story – I think we can use her healing magic as an explanation for some questionable parts…

"

"…

"

Horeo whispered back, causing Zoemi to furrow his brows in concern.

"It will not endanger her, I can promise you that.

"

The gold-haired prince assured the black-haired attendant, which seem to ease his worries.

"Alright. You are far better with the political game than me – obviously – I leave it to you, my prince.

"

Zoemi took a deep breath and nodded to his best friend…

"That's what I like to hear~

"

…which made Horeo smile with satisfaction.

——–

"…I don't like this… Do you think that this brat caught wind of our plan?

"

A tall, intimidating-looking woman clicked her tongue after listening to the report of one of her spies and turned to the studious-looking man.

"That… seems likely… I told you before that some of our allies seem to be too loose-lipped for their own good… also, if I might be so bold, you are showing too much apprehension towards him as time goes, which definitely made him more suspicious of you. He is your son after all but you aren't very supportive or motherly.

"

The man breathed out and spoke softly.

"If it wasn't for becoming the queen, I would have never laid down with that clown of a man and gave him a child. I will make sure that neither of his offspring will get the throne even if it's the last thing that I do.

"

The woman scoffed and shook her head in annoyance.

"While we are on the subject of succession – what about Moyena family? Any progress on making them into turncoats?

"

The man nodded his head and asked curiously.

"Yes. The Banemors territory situation is becoming more and more problematic for the royal treasurer as someone convinced that fool of a king to give all responsibility for retrieving the land from the occupying sage-level man to him… and our poor treasurer seems to be convinced that it was the first prince doing. The weight of the responsibility seems to be wearing him down and he gets desperate. If, for example, someone convinces the king to pressure lord Moyena even more and impose some ridiculous punishment and restrictions then, who knows? Supporting another candidate for the throne might become a reasonable option for him – and if not for lord Moyena himself, then definitely for one of his hot-headed descendants. At least for the ones who matter.

"

The woman laughed triumphantly while walking towards the window – and looking down at the view below.

The imposing woman and the studious man had their talk in a secured room at the very top of the tower sealed off with one of the man's inventions, assuring the secrecy of their meeting and the subjects they talked about.

"Buying out Moyena's informants turned out to be a profitable investment then.

"

"Indeed, that is how it turned out.

"

The studious man smiled and the intimidating woman nodded with a satisfied expression.