Three days before Licht's request I found myself in Miss Hilde's laboratory.
The reason was simple, I had decided to make that one my first stop because I had noticed that Miss Hilde's presence around my father had increased.
Thus, I thought that she could be a good source of information that could help me elucidate as to what was the reasoning behind my father's strategy.
And of course, as I said before, her position towards it.
"Ah, Crown Prince. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
At first, she seemed surprised at my sudden and unannounced appearance in her workplace, but she quickly recovered and even smiled warmly at me.
"There is something I wish to know. May I have some of your time?"
"Of course, Crown Prince. Do you wish for information on the public health project I mentioned? Trying to implement a vaccination campaign and make the vaccine at the same time is quite an interesting subject. Or is it about the rumors about our engagement? Because even if I try to deny those claims they keep surfacing. I can only offer my deepest apologies."
And just as her smile, every word that left her lips was warm and welcoming, even as she bowed deeply and apologized. Anyone else would have probably wished to just stay there and listen to her talk about whatever she wished, but that was simply not the case for me.
"Please, raise your head. Those rumors affect Miss Hilde too, there is nothing to apologize for. And I trust that Miss Hilde and Prince Licht are capable to handle such project. Alas, that is not why I am here."
"I believe I have an idea as to what that is, Crown Prince. Is it the King's plan to engage in a defensive battle against the Draconic Expeditionary Force?"
As she did as I told her and let out such question, I saw it clearly in her eyes, she knew of what I wanted to talk about all along, but she still brought out that conversation about those rumors.
That also meant that she knew all too well about my intentions.
"Indeed. I am going to be direct about this. Who proposed that plan? Was it you, my brother or was it really the King?"
Of course, she was not surprised at all by my questions or their implications.
Still, she shook her head lightly in response to them.
"Goddess no, Prince Licht and I had nothing to do with it. I suppose I can say that we were as surprised as you when the King approached us with said plan and left us with the logistics and preparations of it. I have even been trying to dissuade his Highness whenever I have time to speak with him but to no avail."
"So that is why your meetings with him have increased then."
While I am not fond of looking for reactions in such a roundabout manner, I still did so then, saying such thing intentionally.
And it worked, she raised one of her eyebrows ever so slightly, showing that the fact that I had been keeping track of her was unexpected for her.
"Of course, I have worked so hard to improve our people's lives just to see it all vanish by the sudden change of attitude in the King!"
Not only that, it surprisingly made her raise her voice and slam the table with one of her hands while letting out an important bit of information.
"What do you mean with 'sudden'?"
A piece of information I was deeply interested in, to the point that my gaze sharpened as I asked about it and that made her calm down immediately.
"Apologies for my abrupt loss of restraint. I meant sudden in that one day he was considering a sound strategy and then another day he abandoned it for the current one. Without an explanation as to why."
"I see. That is all. Have a good day."
I intended for that to be all, but as I walked towards the door, Miss Hilde stopped me.
"Crown Prince..."
"Yes?"
"I am in no position to make requests but...please watch over Prince Licht. He might be pushing himself too hard and that may lead to him in making mistakes in judgement. That is not something this Kingdom can afford."
Her words seemed to imply that my brother was going to make a mistake that would hurt the Kingdom.
Was she trying to make me wary of my own brother?
Or to divert my attention?
Such were the questions in my head at the time.
"I will take that into consideration."
As I walked away from the area of the castle where Miss Hilde's laboratory was and returned to my quarters, I was reunited with Eric.
Or should I say, we were.
"Luca, what are your thoughts? Did she speak the truth?"
He appeared from behind me as if coming out of a fog made of darkness.
Which was, and still is, one of his stealth related skills, [Shadow Fog Cloak]. It makes him virtually undetectable as long as he keeps to the shadows.
"...not...quite. Some parts...felt acted...rehearsed. Too mixed with truths...difficult to tell where...truth and act...start..."
"That means she was on guard from the beginning and tried to divert my attention towards my brother while hiding something."
"To think that one of the King's advisors would hide things from the Crown Prince, is she ignorant as to the real authority that My Prince has?"
"It does not matter, Eric. Be it a sense of loyalty towards my father or something else, we cannot trust her."
Such was our conclusion; such was our oversight too...
_____________________________________________________
...and while I know that now, back then remembering such conversation as we rode to Ryze Village only filled me with a bad feeling.
All as the sound of our horses going at top speed melted with the surroundings.
The journey itself felt eternal, even when the route we had taken was one that would let us arrive to Ryze before the Draconic forces, although just barely.
"Oi, Leader! Was it wise to leave Lil' Licht on his own back there?! Euphemia too!"
"I trust him to do his job! And both have their attendants and Mary watching over them! That should suffice! Besides, all of us are necessary if we are to buy enough time to save the villagers and wait for reinforcements!"
Kristoff's worries then were more than justified...
Heh...and regardless with how I responded, it felt as if I had ignored what happened and done the same thing again...
After all, I took all the Swords of Dawn with me to Ryze.
Not even one of them stayed in the capital.
And worst of all, I could not shake the feeling that I was going to be taken by surprise again when we retuned.
To think that the place that I considered my home would become such a place...
"Even so Leader, this could clearly be a trap!"
"The information could be wrong, who is to say that that scout wasn't manipulated?!"
And of course, others also had their doubts and worries, like Allegro and Gabriel.
They also implied that my brother might be involved with those same words.
And while I thanked them for not saying it, I knew.
Still, just the thought of that being the case made me feel nausea...
The idea of being betrayed by Licht, the little brother I saw grow up...was something that kept me up at night, more than the Dragon Lord that we were about to confront.
The thought of him being someone that wanted the people of the capital to suffer a similar fate as those in the Lost Continent was...
I could not come up with a reason as to why.
Or maybe...I did not want to...
Maybe I was just too stubborn...
Maybe I still am...
Nevertheless, I knew that I at least needed to hold on to what was certain.
"Yes! I know! But we cannot take that risk! Our duty is to act even if there is only a chance to save our people!"
And that was our duty.
"Aye! Even if it were a ruse, we must go if there's people to be saved! That is what I made those weapons for, ye fools!!"
So agreed Roxxargeraffe from all the way back in the Order's carriage.
"If it is a trap we are in trouble, if it is not, we are in trouble too! We will deal with it either way!"
So did Lucyel from his horse.
"Agreed! It is just a matter realizing which will be the battlefield, Ryze...!"
"...or the Capital! Right?!"
Joseph and Maximillian too.
Everyone shared the same opinion in one way or another.
"Trap or not! We'll follow you anywhere!"
"By the Goddess, you finally say something useful Kristoff! Even if it's obvious!"
"Oh, shut up Gabriel!"
I could even hear them laughing at those two and their usual back and forth.
I did not know if they were doing it knowingly, but they helped ease the tension that had been building up from the seeds of mistrust that were planted since I told them everything.
"As the leader I shall take responsibility! If it is a trap and we come back to unforeseen consequences, I will not let you be affected by them! This I swear!"
In that moment I decided that, even if it happened and my father...the King or Hilde used our absence to further their plans, I would stop them.
"You will owe us quite a lot of beers and food!!!"
""""HAHAHAHAHA!!!""""
"*sigh*Indeed."
With our morale restored we kept riding to Ryze.
_____________________________________________________
"I-It cannot be..."
When we arrived at Ryze Village there was neither a trap nor an opposing force to face...
It was death.
Just death...
I do not know when I did it, but when I came too, I was already off my horse and walking into the razed village while gritting my teeth.
Houses were destroyed and burned along with the crops.
"My Prince..."
I did not answer to Eric's concerned voice as I kept looking at the village...
How could I?
The more I walked, the more destruction I saw.
The central plaza was full of burned corpses along with others in worse states.
Such macabre display could only be thought as fine by the monsters that are the world's enemy.
We...were too late.
The enemy was long gone.
But even then, I knew that it was not a time for me to be shocked.
"Luca, Allegro, Jules, Maximillian, form teams and look for signs that could tell us which route the enemy took since we did not come across with them on ours."
""""Yes, Leader!""""
I could not afford to lose more time.
We could not.
"Everyone else...prepare for our departure. Gabriel, Bertiam, use your magic to help the horses regain their stamina and enhance their speed to their limits. As for the others, help me give the fallen something resembling a proper burial."
""""Yes, Leader.""""
Their deaths were regrettable, a loss that could have been prevented but they were not meaningless.
Such was my train of thought while I created a common pit for them with my Earth Magic.
"Please, forgive this Foolish Prince for not being here to protect you and for doing this."
I softly floated down their corpses there with a platform created by my Moonlight Magic, just like the others did with their own respective magics...
They at least deserved that instead of being just thrown there.
And then I sealed the pit.
Shortly after, I could feel my comrades behind me, waiting.
And so, I knelt before those lost and they followed suit.
"Goddess, you who loved them in life, please love them in death. Grant their souls rest in your embrace and guide them to a new life, so that we can meet them again in this life or the next. Love be unto you."
"""""Love be unto you."""""
After a moment of silence, we all raised ourselves, and I faced my men.
"I have come to a realization, even if the cost of it was as heavy as this. We...I...have been deceived from the very beginning."
No one there was surprised by my words. They could clearly see the signs as well as me.
"The King lied."
I looked at Luca and the rest.
They nodded, confirming what I was about to say.
"The enemy is already at the capital."
He lied to my face about when the enemy was to arrive.
He lied to my face about the route they took and sacrificed this village just to have his way.
I could feel anger starting to seethe within me, even now I can feel it...but I held it down.
My words could not be stained by it.
"We will ride to the Capital."
"""""Yes!"""""
"We will drive the enemy back."
"""""Yes!"""""
"And we will punish the King and whoever else is involved in such madness!"
"""""YES!"""""
Even if I was to die to make it so.
_________________________________________________
While the Crown Prince and his Order rode at top speed to return to the capital, the guards patrolling outside of it encountered a terrible fate.
"Th-They're here!! So-Someone sound the al—GAH!"
Three skeleton warriors butchered the first one with ease.
"Hiii!"
His partner tried to run but...
"...m-my leg! Why I can't...?!"
...something grabbed his leg with monstrous strength.
It was a tongue. The tongue of a reptilian monster.
One that was ridden by a lesser dragon lord.
"G-Goddess...please! AAAAAAAH"
*KER-CHOMP*
One that pulled him into its fang-filled mouth and reduced him to bits and pieces in seconds.
Others were stomped.
"GHI—!"
*CRUNCH*
Pierced by arrows.
"REINFORCMENTS! SOMEONE CALL FOR—!"
*KERTUNK*
Skewered.
*KERCHUNKCHUNK*
"gUGGHHhmbrbs..."
Burned with magic.
*FWOOSH*
"Hyaaaaaahahahwaaaa..."
Frozen.
*FSSS*
"—!"
Yes. It was especially cold, that wailing and bloody night.
To be continued...(cue ending sequence with scenes of Erevain and his men riding towards the capital to find it...BLACK SCREEN with little credits below. )
(40 chapters in already! Thank you very much for reading and keeping up with the story to this point! Now that we are near of wrapping up this flashback arc I can promise you that we'll go back to isekai shenanigans with Auros in the near future, heck, next week is most likely lol. I hope you are having fun with the story as much as I have writing it. To think it all started with a conversation I had with a friend that turned into a dare. Such is life. I hope everyone is having a great day!!)