LUCIUS
THE FINAL piece of the puzzle that he had been looking for fell on his hands. The journey to acquire it was not an easy one. Some twists and turns along the way tried to get him off the trail. But in the end, his indomitable curiosity and unquenchable thirst for the truth led him to the right path. Lucius got everything that he needed to make a conclusion, all thanks to the newly installed Senate president.
Now, the time had come to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.
"How did it go?" His partner Isabella asked the second he entered his humble office. She sat on the dusty couch, her legs crossed. She had been waiting for him for more than an hour. "What did the new leader of the Senate want from a retired arcane tracker like you?"
Lucius removed his trench coat and tossed it at the clothes rack in the corner. His aim with shooting guns was impeccable, but his aim with throwing stuff was not. His cloak dropped on the floor, but he did not bother to pick it up anymore. Isabella did.
"She wanna know more about the Palace courtyard incident," he replied as he loosened his tie and unbuttoned the upper part of his shirt. "She thought I could give her the information that she needed."
Isabella's left eyebrow crept up after hanging the cloak. "But she could have asked the Palace about it. If they send in a messenger here, I'm sure they can also send one there. Why go through you?"
"It seems that there's a rift between the Palace and the Senate." Lucius jumped on his seat and swiveled it. He slouched his back. "The former refused to cooperate. Ah, these high lords and ladies, and their politics! They held the truth hostage just because they don't like the ones seated at the table."
"That's politics for you." Isabella returned to the couch. "The monarchists lost control of the Senate, so the Palace must be extremely upset about it. If the republicans gain more support in the coming years, they may be able to bring down the monarchy for good."
Lucius chuckled. The idea of dragging the royal family out of the Palace seemed absurd to him. "Majority of the population are still royalists and monarchists. Those ambitious republicans couldn't just make them their fans. The only way the tables will turn is if the new king fails at his job. Maybe they should have let him have dictatorial powers. If he mishandled the peace and order situation, his subjects would see him as incompetent."
"But the sentiments in the provinces are changing. The republicans won a seat in every province, even in the capital city. That must have terrified the monarchists. If this would go on, we might turn into a republic within our lifetime. I'm not sure if that's something that I should look forward to."
"Monarchy, republic . . . It doesn't matter to me." Lucius scoffed, his eyes glancing sideways at his partner. "As long as I have money and I can live the life that I want, that's all that matters to me."
"You've really given up hope for this country, huh?"
"This country is hopeless." Lucius looked out the window, a glint of sadness in his eyes. "You can give your entire life for this Kingdom, but they will never reciprocate your love. We're just pawns for the ruling elite, ready to be sacrificed in times of crisis. I don't wanna die for an inexperienced king, for an ungrateful kingdom, for an outdated ideology or for an asinine cause like republicanism. It's utterly meaningless."
"Then why are you investigating the late and the current king?" Isabella asked. "If you don't care about this country at all, there's no need to waste your time and effort in something that doesn't concern you. No one's going to give you any reward for figuring out the truth. It contradicts you."
"The truth is its own reward." Lucius looked over his shoulder at his partner. "You're gravely mistaken if you think that I'm conducting this investigation for the kingdom. I'm extremely dissatisfied with how our hunt for the kingslayers ended in the worst possible way. If anything, I'm only satisfying my curiosity. There's no harm in asking questions and seeking answers, is there?"
Isabella only chuckled.
"You find that funny?" He squinted his eyes. "You think I'm trying to get myself involved in this country's politics?"
"No, no." His partner shook her head, still with a smile across her lips. "I believe whatever you say. If you claim that you're not concerned, then I believe you a hundred percent. No doubts or whatsoever."
"Good!" Lucius sprang from his seat, pushing his chair away. He approached the board on his right. In front, some random doodles were written. When he turned it downward, the board showed clippings and photos of prominent figures in the Kingdom: the late king Bennett, the new king Alphonse, and the spiritual adviser Gillespie. He stared at the board long enough that his eyes sparkled with glee. He was proud of his artwork project. He had been working at it for days.
"Those republicans who visited you this morning didn't see this, right?" Isabella stood beside him, her arms folded. "They will surely get curious and interested in what you're working on, especially since it involves the monarchs."
"I'm sure they already are." Lucius shot her a sideways glance. "If the lady Senate president is quick enough to make connections, she could suspect that I'm onto something related to the people's beloved monarchs. She seems and sounds smart. Frank, if need be."
"What did she tell you?"
"She shared the same story that we've heard before." He grabbed a chalk from the side. "This time, the subject is the new king. When the Senate was attacked by the intruders, he just stood there and watched his senators get slaughtered one by one. He didn't bother to use magic. Sounds familiar?"
Isabella nodded. "The late king also didn't use magic when he was murdered in the throne room. He put up no resistance at all. Which you found suspicious."
"Despite their overwhelming magical power, they chose not to lift a finger and save themselves." Lucius caressed his chin. The answer had always escaped him. "I can't help but ask why?"
"Why, indeed?"
He began to write "didn't use magic" beside the kings' photos. "Is it possible that they held back because they didn't want to cause any destruction? The Palace and the Senate are historic sites here. They're the symbols of the Kingdom. "
"That is possible. If you have immense power, a single flick of your hand can deal so much damage already. That can explain the two kings' hesitation to get involved."
Lucius turned to her. "But they were in a life-threatening situation! I'm sure the damage to property casued by their power is the least of their concerns. When faced with danger, our first instinct is self-preservation. They may be a little bit different from us because of the so-called gift from Arcanus, but they're still humans. They still have instincts like the rest of us."
Isabella narrowed her eyes into slits as she held her chin too. "You've got a point there. They would have neutralized the threat the moment they perceived it. Their life is more valuable than the buildings. They could have the throne room or the Senate chambers repaired after the tragedies."
"Yet they chose not to, which piqued my curiosity." He leaned to the kings' photos and stared at them even if they could not stare back at him. "Why didn't you use your power, huh? Why did you just stand there and let your knight do the job?"
"What did that guardsman tell you again?"
"The late king didn't use magic because he couldn't."
"Aside from holding back, what are the reasons why a king can't use his arcane powers?"
The two partners exchanged stares for a minute, as if the answer could be found in each other's gazes. Then they looked away, realizing that the clarity they had been looking for was not there.
"Let's try the motive." Isabella raised a forefinger. "Why did the Palace guardsmen conspire to murder the king? They wouldn't have done something so bold without a very good reason."
Lucius began pacing back and forth. "He said that he had saved thousands of lives by killing the benevolent king. But I couldn't wrap my head around how?"
"Maybe he tried to make it sound like his cause was noble? Ramblings of someone who knew his fate was sealed?"
He shook his head. "There's no reason for him to lie or to exaggerate the deed. His eyes also told me that he firmly believed he did the right thing. There's conviction in his gaze. There's pride."
"Maybe he's secretly a republican?" Isabelle shrugged.
"That's bordering to conspiracy theories already." Lucius frowned, shaking his head. "You can do better than that."
"Then what was his reason?" Isabella repeated. "Why did he believe that he's done this country a great deal of favor by driving a spear into the late king's gut?"
Wait a minute. He said something else! Lucius came to a sudden halt, then went back to the board. He examined the old face of the dead king. "He told me that Bennett is not really benevolent."
Isabella's forehead creased, her brows furrowing. "What does that supposed to mean?"
"How did the late king get that monicker?" Lucius turned to her. "When did they start calling him benevolent?"
"When he ordered to stop the hunt of the bastards and issued the Reparation Proclamation. He's the king who put an end to the senseless bloodshed and gave compensation to the bastards and their descendants."
"Hmmm . . ." Lucius crossed his arms as he stared at the late king's photo again. "Was the guardsman claiming that that's a lie? But how?"
"Obviously not a lie." Isabella argued. "The bastards are enjoying protection up to this day, thanks to king Bennett. He even built settlements for them and gave them livelihood. If that's not benevolent, I don't know what else we could consider as such."
Lucius shut his eyes and recalled the last moments of the guardsman.
"I brought the king to justice when I stabbed him with my own spear."
"He didn't use magic because he couldn't!"
"You and everyone else in this kingdom . . . you've been fooled!"
"You thought he's truly a benevolent king. But he's not!"
"I heard a lot of things that can shock this nation to the core."
His eyes went wide. He flickered his gaze back to the board. "The bastards!"
"What?"
"Look here!" Lucius gave his partner a serious gaze. "The guardsmen had been stationed at the throne room for years. They had probably heard some discussions from the inside. What I'm gonna say next is mere conjecture, but maybe—maybe!—he heard that the king was planning to do something sinister toward the bastards' descendants."
"But that doesn't make any sense!" Isabella made dismissive wave. "The king had been kind and generous to them. Why would he try to do them any harm? You heard me just a minute ago, right? He gave them land, he built them home—"
"What if those were just tricks?" He cut her off. "What if the years of peace between the Kingdom and the bastards were just a trap to lure them out? Remember, they've been hiding for decades. Even the greatest of arcane hunters had a hard time locating them. So to get them out in the open, the late king promised them a good life. If you were in their shoes, wouldn't you be tempted to go out of hiding and accept the terms?"
"So you're trying to say that the king tricked them into thinking that they're safe under his reign? And that he's only waiting for the perfect opportunity to eliminate them all?"
"Possible. I guess we wouldn't be able to confirm it anymore. That guardsman, if he's telling the truth, prevented something terrible from happening. That's the reason why he thought he saved people's lives."
Looking dismayed, Isabella averted her gaze. "But why? Why would the king go through such lengths? Did he and the royal family still hold a grudge against the bastards?"
"The bastards have royal blood—no matter how impure—running in their veins. They shouldn't be a threat to him because he had superior blood and therefore, superior magic—"
Lucius's mouth froze midway, making his partner stare at him curiously. It was as if a light bulb was switched on his mind. It finally struck him—a possible explanation that could explain everything.
"You can only use magic if you have royal blood, right?" he asked. "Just a drop is enough, isn't it?"
Isabella gave him a firm nod. "That's the law of arcane powers."
"Then I think I've figured it out."
"What is?"
Lucius drew in a breath. He took a long pause before letting the next words escape his lips. "The late king and the new king do not have a single drop of royal blood running in their veins. The same must be true for the rest of the royal family."
"What?!" Isabella's jaw almost dropped to the floor. Her eyes grew so wide, they almost popped out of their sockets. "What absurdity is that—"
"Think about it! They didn't use their arcane powers when their lives were in literal danger. Why? Because they couldn't! They had no means of using it!"
"That doesn't make—"
"When was the last time we saw any of our kings display their magical prowess? Because as far as I can remember, I've never seen them conjure anything out of thin air since I became aware of them and their lineage."
"But that's . . . that's . . ."
"Extremely shocking? It should be." Lucius finished her sentence. "If the current king has no drop of royal blood—which explains why he can't use any form of magic—then he and his family have no right to rule over this Kingdom. They've fooled everyone for decades. They've fed us with the lie that they're destined to govern us for eternity. They're frauds!"
Isabella held her breath. This must be too much to process for her. "W-What should we do about it?"
Lucius swallowed the lump in his throat before looking her right in the eye. "We can't tell anyone about this theory yet. If we do now, they will charge us with treason and have us executed. We must keep it between us . . . until such time that we confirm it and we're safe to expose it."
If his hunch was true, then the reign of the monarchy could be over. And if the people would learn about it, the whole of Arcerea would be plunged into chaos. A civil war would break out. Those who had long wanted to depose the royal family and the monarchy would take advantage of the chaos. Death and destruction would surely follow. The long-held peace would shatter into thousands of screams.
Whether that would end up happening or not, it was entirely up to Lucius. The fate of the Kingdom lay on his hands.
And that's the end of the first volume of ARIA OF THE ARCANE! Thank you so much for reading!
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