CHAPTER 76: THE GRAND BALL (6)

"Do you wonder why they’re keeping you here?"

Justinian leaned against the wall. He understood why the nobles were being confined, but for the princess?

Why leave Justinian to protect her if they can escort her out of the manor with a company of knights to keep her out of harm’s way?

The more Justinian thought about it, the less sense it made.

"My father has his reasons," she said. "The other parts of the capital might also be compromised."

"I refuse to buy that."

Justinian answered bluntly. The capital may be a lot of things, but being defensively weak against assassins? That was completely out of the picture.

’Unless...’

The king planned to use the attempted assassination to his advantage, using it as an excuse to finally take out political rivals.

’As for the shadow society...’

’I’m guessing they are unwilling pawns.’

CRASH!

From another room beyond them, a sound of what seemed like a man crashing through furniture rang out, shouting and yelling from the other side being audibly clear with some nobles from the other side beginning to filter in where Justinian and Maria were lounging.

Their safe location was now compromised.

"You bastard! You’re the assassin, aren’t you!?"

The noble in the other room yelled out, currently in a fit of hysteria, likely trying to solve the assassination himself, desperate to leave without becoming the next target.

"Princess, follow me."

Justinian commanded as he went to the other room to investigate, an owl already just by the corner, observing the situation, maintaining neutrality to gather more information.

They were calmer than Justinian expected.

"What’s going on here?"

Justinian abruptly entered himself into the argument, his arms crossed as he stared at the two nobles, one currently injured on the ground while the other was standing in a fit of rage.

"Duke Thirell...? You’ve got to hear me out! This man has to be complicit!"

"Shut up! Just because I didn’t like one of Duke Valen’s reforms doesn’t mean I want to kill him!"

"Likely story, bastard!"

As the two continued to bicker, Justinian sighed at the wasted time; it was just a case of random accusations.

"You two calm down, you’re only making things worse."

"B-but!"

"I said, calm down."

Justinian repeated, stepping to the side as he gestured to the owl that was lounging just by the corner.

"O-okay..."

The noble obeyed; if a royal owl was in the same room with them, that meant they were safe at least. It was enough reassurance for the noble to calm down.

But the same couldn’t be said of the other person he assaulted, but Justinian could barely give a damn; even if the two now had grudges, they weren’t stupid enough to act on it with someone observing them.

"Justinian..."

Augustus spoke, suddenly appearing and catching Justinian off guard.

"Come with me. We need to talk, and bring the princess, I guess..."

Augustus said with caution, making sure not to grab any attention as he controlled his body movements to hide his urgency.

An Archduke like him had to be extra careful; a single wrong move from him and everyone else would immediately think of him as a threat.

*** Royal Palace - Storage Room ***

"We’ve caught quite a few eyes on the way. What did you call me for?"

The three of them huddled together in the cramped storage room, which was largely abandoned and filled with dilapidated crates and cobwebs. This space was considered useless due to its limited size; even renovating it would have been a waste of time, leading to its current neglected state.

"This is a mess..."

Augustus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"The king just told me what was going on; apparently, the Duke Valen, who was attacked, was a decoy."

"I guess that makes sense..."

"Right? The decoy looked completely like him, but didn’t at all capture his personality."

"Wait... so where’s the real duke?"

Maria asked, raising a hand, making sure the two men didn’t forget she was still the princess and shouldn’t be ignored.

"He was swapped at the last minute with a lookalike. The king’s new spymaster set it up."

Justinian’s face changed at the mention of a new spymaster, his head tilting.

Augustus caught his reaction, immediately grilling him for information. "Guess you already have an idea who it is, huh?"

"Yeah, Fenrix, he used to be Rhyne’s man."

Maria’s brows furrowed. "You mean... Father trusts a former traitor’s servant?"

"Not exactly surprising, money talks," Augustus replied, crossing his arms as if expressing the obvious.

Justinian nodded, but then, deciding to get straight to the point, even someone like him would get uncomfortable wearing a stuffy suit of armor in a very unclean storage room.

"What exactly is the plan here?"

"The king suspects one of the nobles has ties to a faction called the shadow society; he and the owls are just waiting for him to make a wrong move."

"So no one’s in danger?" Maria asked.

"No, princess."

Augustus replied with a casual shrug, his rank high enough to easily reply to the princess in a teasing manner, and the princess herself was not one to really mind as well.

"So why tell me this? Does the king want me to aid in the investigation?"

Justinian jokingly asked, but Augustus’ small grin made Justinian stop briefly.

’Really?’

"Bingo."

Augustus laughed, brushing some dust and cobwebs off his attire as he also began to get uncomfortable in the cramped space, but they couldn’t help it; this information was classified.

A leak alone could cause the entire plan to crumble.

"You’re called the omniscient duke according to rumours, which makes you more than qualified, and also the honored guest."

As Augustus muttered the last two words, Justinian finally pieced everything together.

The Shadow Society was able to breach the manor’s security only because the king permitted it, and apparently, Fenrix was clever enough to know exactly who their target was.

Reducing important casualties and instilling false confidence in all that was allied with the society, making them easier to stop.

As for Justinian? He was there to prove his worth, the king’s test to see if he truly was competent, or was just undeniably lucky.

And at the same time, exterminating an annoying underground society that risked undermining the king’s influence.

It was hitting two birds with one stone.

The two birds were Justinian and the shadow society.

The stone? Valen’s decoy.

’H-holy shit this is so convoluted...’

Justinian couldn’t help but let out an exasperated laugh.

’Was there literally no better way!?’