Chapter 135 – Someone I Had to Meet

She wasn’t unaware that her request bordered on madness. To speak of finding the long-lost second prince while the heir apparent stood unchallenged was little short of treason.

Long ago, on a day of torrential rain, the second prince had gone hunting, only to fall from a cliff and be swept away by a raging current. At least, that was the story known to the public. But Evelyn knew from the original story that the power that had failed to manifest in the crown prince had instead awakened in the second prince.

The imperial family’s hereditary gift was illusion, a form of mental domination. Generation after generation, they had used it to win the loyalty of those without resistance to such power, tightening their hold upon the Empire.

‘And that’s why this corrupt regime endures even now.’

The nobles, unable to turn a blind eye, had raised remonstrations, but they were silenced without mercy under imperial decree.

They even went so far as to pin fabricated charges upon them.

And yet, the crown prince himself hadn’t inherited the power.

Of course, the truth hadn’t been made public. If it became known that the heir apparent bore such a flaw, it would be enough to cause widespread chaos among the empire’s citizens. Thus, the prophecy that only one bearing the imperial seal of power might ascend the throne had been rendered meaningless.

Across from Evelyn, Marcen tapped lightly against the armrest of his chair before voicing his doubt.

“Wouldn’t it be reasonable to assume the Second Prince is already dead?”

The Guildmaster’s words weren’t without reason.

It had been more than ten years since the Second Prince, Riovan Enoch Maximilian, had disappeared. Those who had accompanied him on that fateful hunt had all given the same testimony that the prince’s horse had suddenly reared and bolted, casting him into the river that coursed beneath the cliffs.

But could a boy of twelve, renowned for his exceptional martial and scholarly skills, truly have been helpless before such an accident?

“No, He must still be alive.”

Evelyn shook her head, her gaze firm with unyielding conviction.

While the original story hadn’t gone into detail, the second prince was shown to have obstructed the Crown Prince’s path time and again.

Whenever Erden’s renown began to rise, scandals of his corruption would suddenly surface in the papers. In that sense, the Second Prince had always been an obstacle in his path. The records even stated that for the past ten years, no matter how tirelessly he was sought, not a single strand of his hair had been found.

‘That only proves how meticulous he must be.’

Riovan’s actions had been nothing less than rightful retribution. By the time of his disappearance, his gift had already manifested, but he vanished in an unexpected accident before the world could be told. In the original story, it was revealed that the second prince had fallen victim to the betrayal of a trusted aide.

‘And the one who orchestrated it all…’

His half-brother, Erden Liam Maximilian, the current Crown Prince of the Baltian Empire.

Riovan didn’t reveal himself until the latter half of the original story. However, Evelyn had decided to accelerate her plan to draw him in, especially after her recent unpleasant encounter with the crown prince and in light of how the original story’s pace seemed to be speeding up.

Of course, everything would hinge on successfully persuading the Second Prince.

The Guildmaster nodded his head and answered in a low voice.

“I understand what you’re saying, my lady. However, I fear I can’t give you a definite promise.”

Even for the Empire’s greatest information guild, finding an imperial family member who had gone into deep hiding would be no simple task.

Evelyn had anticipated as much. Her voice remained composed as she replied.

“Of course, it will not be easy.”

Still, she knew she must find a way to clasp hands with the Second Prince if only to free herself, even a little, from the looming threat of the imperial family.

A faintly bitter smile touched her lips as she toyed with her fingers before adding.

“Still, I’ll leave it in your hands, Marcen.”

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

On a leisurely weekday afternoon, Evelyn found herself in the Imperial Library, poring over shelves of old texts. There were things she needed to look into based on the information she had recently obtained.

Ever since receiving Marcen’s documents on sorcery, she had spent days carefully studying them, and within their pages she had uncovered something deeply unsettling. The current imperial household was conducting an experiment, one that involved the use of dark sorcerers and shamans.