Payback: Isekai

Star Sky

The night sky at the end of the winter was full of glittering stars. But the glitter inside the palace hall did not pale in comparison.

It was a significant event to mark the end of a decades-long conflict, and it would not only be attended by the Empire's high society but also foreign contingents. Nobles from all parts of the empire had come into the Capital, and even diplomats and ambassadors were eager to attend.

The palace's staff had been pulled their best to prepare for the imperial banquet, and treated the event as the biggest event of the year, with no expense spared. The result was all the glittering splendor party that put the guests in awe. Everything spelled glory, to give justice to the nature of victory celebration.

But the guest care not for victory. Not even the celebration, to be honest.

The main reason they came was for the comeback of the First Prince.

All the high society players were privy to the situation of the First Prince. How he was being shoved out of his title at a young age, and suddenly being back into the succession only to be sent into the frontline and stayed there for five years. It was a situation that would spark pity, if it was other people.

But the First Prince Jay was not someone who could be associated with the word 'pity'.

He was a bright young Crown Prince. And even after being kicked out of the palace, he was still growing up to be the impeccable hair apparent to the Duchess of Somnia. He was all the young aristocrats forced to be—smart, powerful, imposing. He was excellent in both governing his estate and protecting it. When he officially took over the title from his mother, and did such a good job on it too, people's long lost question about the decision behind his dissolution as the Crown Prince was coming up again.

When the First Prince had a chance to gain his title back, there was a clear faction of people who supported him. And yet, hope seemed to be lost when the Prince was sent to the waning frontline. It was such a shame, when they finally had—or rather, regained—a decent candidate for their future leader.

But true to his reputation, the First Prince stormed through the war, literally. He shredded both the enemy troop and assassin sent to him with his high-level wind magic and master rank swordsmanship. The war did not only fail to get rid of him, but it also gave him the moniker Prince of Carnage. At this point, the First Prince had everything—wealth, reputation, power, wisdom—above the other two princes.

And yet he still wasn't the Crown Prince.

It was all nice and quiet and swept under the rug when the First Prince was over yonder nowhere near the Capital. But now that he's back, it was a loud unspoken question of what manner of a storm this tempest incarnate would bring into the imperial palace.

And the first storm he brought was the face of destruction itself.

It was common for young aristocrats to come to an event with a partner. It was also common for a Prince who just won a war to bring along the heroes to the victory banquet. It was not a common sight, however, to see a Prince come into the imperial party with one of the hero as a partner.

And what a couple of heroes they were.

Both were clad in black attire, gold pattern particular to Somnia duchy on the Prince, and bright silver of Ishtarhea Temple on the young hero. The Prince, even after going through five years of war, still looked impeccably handsome, with dark locks parted sideways, and bluish pale grey piercing sharp, looking forward with a relaxed smile. The mysterious young hero, however, remained mysterious with a black feather mask covering the top half of his face. But even the mask could not fully hide the man's beauty. Without a hood, the unique silky black hair was framing the fair face nicely, which was home to pretty red lips and deep, hypnotizing black orbs peeking from behind the mask.