Circumstances of a Fallen Lord - Chapter 135

Chapter 135

Luisen received the messenger in his office.

The messenger delivered the content of his message immediately and without long greetings or formalities. This lack of decorum indicated that this was an urgent matter. “His highness has said it was an emergency. The Great Lords need to gather at the palace with expedience–you are obligated to fulfill your duty.”

It was the Great Lord’s right and duty to watch over the King’s death. As such, Luisen had to go to the palace. This summon was irrefutable, and the servants in the office felt greatly disturbed.

Luisen lowered his eyes and head as if he felt melancholy. Knowing how close the young lord had been to the king, the messenger felt a touch of sadness at delivering such abrupt news. “I’m sorry that I had to tell you this, my Duke.”

“…I see.” Luisen replied, his voice lowering to a whisper. Inwardly, the young lord thought, ‘It’s done! We did it! Wow–really!’

The young lord was cheery and exuberant on the inside. He had waited for so long for this messenger.

Through his conversation with the Pope, Luisen was certain that the King would die around the same time as he did in the previous timeline. Due to his unstable mental state, Luisen didn’t know exactly when the King would pass, but he was able to deduce, by gathering his scattered memories, that the King would die between yesterday or three days from now. 

If Count Doubless had noticed that Luisen created the banquet as a scheme to be invited to the palace, the young lord thought the King’s death would be a plausible excuse to enter the palace.

Accordingly, Luisen had been preparing to subdue the demon worshippers. He had already secured his capital mansion two days ago.

He wasn’t all that optimistic that everything would go as he had remembered from regression, though. The King’s death may have been delayed from all the changes made to the timeline; the count may ignore Luisen’s provocation, focus on the ritual, and seal off the palace.

As a result, whether or not the Count called for him, Luisen had decided to launch an attack tomorrow anyway. To move forward with his strategy, the young lord had thought of a back-up plan to pass through the royal gates.

However, that was only a contingency plan. Considering the potential for more bloodshed and low success rate, it really was better for Luisen to enter the palace and to throw open the palace gates himself.

‘Fortunately, the Count was successfully provoked.’

The timing was perfect, as well. If Luisen entered the palace today and succeeded in throwing open the palace gates by midnight, he could commence an attack similar to the time he had planned during his back-up scheme.

A very good start. Tamping down his excitement, Luisen answered calmly, “Understood. I’ll get ready to enter the palace immediately–please wait a moment.”

“Yes, my Duke.” The messenger admired the way Luisen quickly settled his emotions and maintained his dignity as a Great Lord.

Leaving the messenger behind, Luisen moved to his bedroom to prepare for entering the palace. He wore a vest with added metal plates and layered a black shirt over it. He wore a black coat and adorned various decorations around his neck. The coat was spacious and loose-fitting, with multiple pockets inside. In these pockets, he carried items like healing potions, antidotes, and holy water. Although the weight was substantial, the young lord had increased in muscle strength and didn’t find it difficult to move. He neatly combed his hair back.

Since he was going to protect the King’s deathbed, it was easy to find clothes to wear. There was no particular need to be fancy with fineries.

After preparing, Luisen left his mansion. The vassals followed behind him.

Carlton was waiting in front of the mansion. He was wearing the Anies duchy’s knight uniform. The white and wheat-gold colored uniform was somewhat an unsuitable color-combination for most knights, but it looked great on Carlton. Today, the mercenary was going to escort Luisen while disguised as a knight. 

“My Duke, let me help you onto the carriage, ” Carlton reached out his hand politely, conscious of his current identity as a knight. The imitation was so convincing, Luisen couldn’t help but chuckle before holding Carlton’s hand. The two exchanged a brief glance.

Luisen looked over the vassals and made eye contact with each person. Looking at their faces rigid with worry and anxiety, Luisen involuntarily smiled.

The concern and the respect for his decision from his vassals brought small joy to Luisen. These were things he had never experienced during his days as a trashy wastrel.

“While I am away, the deputy chancellor will take over as my representative. If hope you’ll follow the plans, as we’ve prepared. If all goes well, I’ll return victorious by sunrise tomorrow morning,” Luisen declared.

“Yes!”

“Definitely!”

After that last request, the carriage, carrying Luisen, began to move. Carlton also climbed onto Zephys’s back and followed closely, as befitting an escort. Behind, various servants and knights from the duchy followed.

Unlike the hastily arranged journey to the royal palace before, this procession had the imposing aura of a Great Lord. The Duke’s vassals stood in solemnity until the group was no longer visible, praying for their lord’s safety and victory.

***

Luisen wasn’t the only one to receive these summons–the other three Great Lords received them as well. They confirmed that they had already departed for the palace.

‘It seems that the Count wants to continue to pretend to be a normal noble.’

If Luisen didn’t know that the Count was actually a heretic acolyte, the man would appear fine from the outside. Judging by the count’s behavior before regression, he seemed to have a penchant for secretly manipulating things from the shadows.

‘He must be planning some scheme… Anyway, I won’t be in danger of getting stabbed immediately after entering the palace.’

He was unlikely to go after Luisen when the young lord was with the other Great Lords.

‘That small amount of safety should be sufficient.’

After entering the palace, Luisen’s plans were as follows:

Upon entering the royal capital, the Great Lords and the prince would wait together in a room to observe the king’s death. Seizing this opportunity, Luisen planned to break the mental conditioning on the prince. Then, under the command of the prince, they would open up the royal palace, allowing Morrison and the Paladins waiting outside to enter.

This plan definitely had many points where it could potentially fail. The count would probably endeavor to not leave the first prince alone. In that case, some of the knights that accompanied Luisen were ordered to discreetly disperse throughout the secret passageway. They would then forcibly open the palace by moving to the castle gates through the secret passageway. In this scenario, Luisen expected armed conflict with the royal knights, but that couldn’t be helped.

The plan was perfect. If something went wrong, contingency plans were already in place. Even if Luisen wasn’t there to personally deliver instructions, his vassals and Morrison would move according to their meticulous preparations. 

All that remained was for Luisen to face things head on, though it was a bit dangerous for the young lord. 

‘As the saint said, if one is afraid of danger, they can’t accomplish anything.’

With the one-armed pilgrim’s teaching in hand, Luisen looked at Carlton, who rode next to the carriage on horseback.

‘I have Carlton.’

Even the smallest bit of fear quickly vanished when he looked at the mercenary.

***

Luisen entered the palace with the three other Great Lords. The first prince and Count Doubless greeted them. 

Count Doubless, as Luisen had predicted, was standing one step behind the first prince with a grief-stricken expression on his face. The man showed no signs of suspiciousness.

The Great Lords entered the king’s bedroom while consoling the first price; they didn’t even acknowledge the count. All the Eastern Great Lord, who knew the entire situation, did was stare briefly at the count.

Like the other Great Lords, Luisen pretended to be indifferent to the man. Perhaps that had agitated the count, as he could feel a chilling gaze on the back of his head.

The king was lying in bed. It hadn’t been long since he last saw the king, but the man’s condition had definitely grown worse. Luisen could almost see death just around the corner, and there was nothing to be done about it.

The great lords, the prince, and Count Doubless waited for the king’s heart to stop. As they were not supposed to talk, this time was fairly depressing and boring.

Of course, that’s something the two Great Lords who were unaware of the complete situation might say. On the other hand, Luisen’s heart leaped and rattled whenever the minute hand on the clock moved.

‘I need to free the first prince from his brainwashing.’

The method to do so was relatively simple. Heresy was at odds with divine power. Divine power would burn heretical power; and, on the other hand, heretical power would suppress divine power.

Therefore, to undo this forceful indoctrination, the first prince’s body needed exposure to strong divine power, eliminating the cult’s influence.

Luisen brought holy water blessed by the Pope. The pope said that if the first prince consumed this holy water, rich in pure divine power, the prince would break free from the brainwashing.

For now, Luisen poured some holy water into a cup–this was all the holy water Luisen had. If Count Doubless noticed and spilled the cup, there would be no more.

‘I’m sure it’ll work since the Pope said it would.’

However, it wasn’t so easy to feed this holy water to the prince. Count Doubless was right beside him, so Luisen couldn’t exactly approach.

Soon, an opportunity arrived.

The King’s heart had stopped.

“His Highness has died,” the doctor declared.

The king had been ill for a long time, so everyone had solemnly and calmly accepted his death, but this gloomy atmosphere was inevitable. 

Following the protocol, everyone, except the designated heir to the throne and the four Great Lords left the room. Even the servants vacated the premises. In the presence of the great lords, the prince confirmed the king’s death once more, and, together, they offered prayers for the king’s peaceful rest.

Luisen placed the glass of water down as he prayed with them. He felt more composed than he thought he would be–perhaps he had already come to terms with grief in the previous timeline. Luisen opened his eyes and looked over at the first prince.

The prince didn’t even shed tears. If the man was in his right mind, he would have cried the most about the king’s death–he would be sobbing. To think that the man would be made to feel nothing about his father’s death… Luisen felt pity for both the king and the prince.

‘…Let’s break this brainwashing.’

Then, the prince would at least be able to cry properly at the funeral.

Luisen picked up the cup he had momentarily set aside and headed towards the first prince. “I’m sorry for your loss. Please at least quench your thirst and wet your throat with this.”

The first prince was incredibly defenseless without count Doubless by his side. The prince would have normally seen through Luisen’s ploy, but he accepted the cup without any doubt. Then, he took large gulps of the holy water.

‘…He drank it!’

Luisen anxiously awaited the first prince’s reaction. The prince swayed for a moment but then bowed his head deeply. There wasn’t a tumultuous display seen during his brainwashing; however, after a moment of silence, the prince finally spoke, “Duke Anies. What did you just feed me?”

The first prince’s voice was clearer and his gaze regained strength.

‘Did it work? It worked, right?’ Luisen carefully examined the prince.

“It’s something good for your health,” Luisen replied naturally. Holy water was sure to be good for one’s body, right?

The first prince frowned before saying, “It seems there’s something we each need to say to the other.”

‘He’s released!’ Luisen cheered inwardly. He nodded calmly, “Of course.”

Luisen followed the first prince out of the bedroom. When the two left the room, the servants tried to follow, but the first prince refused them.

The two walked silently down the deserted corridor, away from the king’s bedroom. 

“Can’t we go into any nearby room?” Luisen asked.

“We’ve arrived.” The first prince stood at the door. “Go in, Duke.”

“Yes…”

The prince was now a king, so it was appropriate for Luisen to open the door. But why did this all feel so strange? Luisen pushed the door open.

It was dark beyond the door. There were stairs, but it looked incredibly steep… like a cliff.

“!” 

At that moment, Luisen realized that something was wrong, but the first prince was quicker. The prince pushed Luisen’s back, and the young lord lost his balance, rolling endlessly forward.