Wolves of Hader

Chapter 45

I sat face-to-face with the Captain of the Palace Guard.

He was a man with very deep eyes.

He seemed like the type who wouldn't compromise with injustice.

"It's more astonishing up close."

The Guard Captain glanced at my hands and body, then looked into my eyes as well.

As a seasoned knight, he was trying to size up my level.

"The magic power you possess cannot be achieved at your age. Do you know what that means?"

"What do you mean by that, sir?"

"Judging by your magic power alone, you surpass me."

"You must be mistaken."

"I wish I were wrong, but I can't deny my own eyes. Even though you're hiding your magic power, those who have reached a certain level give off a unique aura. You have that, despite your youth."

"So, in the end, it's just intuition."

"If you put it that way, yes."

The Captain smiled warmly. He was likely commenting on the strong sense of presence I emanated.

Whether that was due to my magic power or the dignity of the elemental accompanying me, I couldn't tell.

The Captain gazed at me quietly.

"Your uncle, Viscount Roeb, was once my student."

"Was he, sir?"

"I could do nothing but watch as the Stranger family and your house fell. There was nothing I could do."

A sigh escaped the Captain's lips.

"But you came, even knowing this banquet was a trap?"

"I suspect the Syren family is plotting something."

The Captain nodded.

"If you were just a thoughtless young master, I would have ignored you. However, when I received your message to meet, I sensed right away you were different from the other young masters. You uncovered His Imperial Majesty's secret hand as soon as you arrived in the capital."

That meant I had discovered the revival of a house thought destroyed. To come knowing it was a trap suggested there was a reason for it.

"Right now, there are only enemies around His Imperial Majesty. Not only the Royal Guard, but even his closest attendants aren't on his side. Why else would His Imperial Majesty grasp the hand of someone as lowly as me, who is near the bottom of the palace ladder?"

"Did someone get leverage over His Imperial Majesty?"

"No such thing. I say this because I trust you, but from the start, His Imperial Majesty made a mistake by marrying an empress from the Syren family. I never imagined I would say this to someone I just met."

Anyone hearing this could be executed. That's how bad the Emperor's situation must be.

The Captain spoke quietly.

"Help His Imperial Majesty."

"What's happening?"

The Captain hesitated, unable to answer immediately. He seemed to be weighing how much to say.

I too planned to speak only to the extent the Captain revealed.

Soon, the Captain continued.

"I'm not asking you to help right away. The Empress is pregnant. They say it's a boy, but when that child reaches seven and is named crown prince, His Imperial Majesty's safety will be threatened. How she conceived is a mystery."

"There haven't been any children until now?"

"None. His Imperial Majesty hasn't shared a bed with the Empress for fifteen years. Yet, suddenly, she's pregnant. It's almost laughable."

"Are you saying the pregnancy might be fake?"

"It wouldn't be the first time. There have been several purported miscarriages in the past, but there's no way to confirm if she was truly pregnant. But this time, it seems a child will actually be born."

"It's possible the child isn't the Empress's."

"Exactly. The Empress is forty this year. If she fails to produce an heir, His Imperial Majesty would have justification to take a consort—from a noble family, not a palace maid."

If the concubine came from a great noble house, not even the Syren family could act carelessly.

Power would shift to the concubine's house.

"So, seven years remain. But what exactly do you mean by asking me to help His Imperial Majesty?"

The Captain looked into my eyes and said,

"His Imperial Majesty has a hidden son."

"Is that true?"

The Captain nodded.

"Before marrying the Empress, His Imperial Majesty loved a palace maid who bore him a son. At the time, as marriage negotiations with the Empress were underway, he had to hide the child. But now, no one knows where she is."

"When was this?"

"About twenty years ago. Only a handful know of this. In fact, your uncle, Viscount Roeb, told me before his death."

"Is that palace maid still alive?"

"She died of illness. Moreover, His Imperial Majesty has also been suffering from a long illness. I don't need to say who's behind it, do I?"

Apparently, the crown prince is appointed at age seven. The Grand Duke of Syren likely intends to assassinate the Emperor around that time.

"My house is considered hostile to the Syren family, but is it appropriate for you to reveal such secrets to me?"

The Captain let out a short sigh.

"The person who took His Imperial Majesty's infant son twenty years ago was your maternal grandfather, then head of the Secret Council."

I'd never heard this before.

Not that my maternal grandfather was the head of the Secret Council, nor that he was the one who hid the Emperor's child.

"The secret regarding His Imperial Majesty's bloodline was buried deeply. So hidden, even His Imperial Majesty did not know where his son was. After marrying the Empress and several years passed, he tried to discover the child's whereabouts. That set everything in motion."

Here, the disaster refers to the Emperor's predicament, but it also includes the reason for the annihilation of both my father's and mother's houses. The Grand Duke of Syren must have tried to find that child.

"But five years ago, when your maternal house, the Stranger family, was wiped out, the child's whereabouts became obscured. The only remaining clue was with Lord Hader. But at that time, the Hader family was also on the brink of destruction."

"Besides our family's exile to the east, was there more to it?"

"I'm not referring to exile. On the very day the Stranger family was annihilated, the Hader household was about to be swept up in disaster. At that time, Lord Hader and the western army were on the battlefield."

"Did His Imperial Majesty intervene?"

"Yes. Hearing the news belatedly, he sent an edict to the Hader family. Because of that, Syren family knights couldn't launch a surprise attack."

My father must have merely conveyed the public version. We siblings were also too young to understand the details then.

The Captain continued.

"His Imperial Majesty desperately tried to preserve the Hader family. Lord Hader alone knew the whereabouts of the child. So His Imperial Majesty, with no other recourse, branded your family as traitors to send you far away."

Whether I should be grateful for this, I wasn't sure.

A bitter smile formed on my lips.

"My father never mentioned His Imperial Majesty's hidden bloodline. I'm hearing the backstory from you for the first time."

"Is that so?"

The Captain let out a faint sigh and gazed at a distant mountain. With the Emperor's bloodline lost, hope of finding him had grown dim.

"We must find him somehow."

"We absolutely must. His Imperial Majesty said he could not allow a child, whose father's identity is unknown, to swallow this nation. Not even if it cost him his own life."

"What are his distinguishing features?"

"All I know is he has brown hair and green eyes. But there must be more than a few people with those traits."

"Indeed."

"I've heard Viscount Roeb, your uncle, tattooed a small mark somewhere on his body. But since I don't know what it is, it's not much of a clue."

"My uncle may have left evidence of the tattoo somewhere."

"I hope that's true. We couldn't find anything in the ashes of the Stranger house."

The Captain had also sought out the Emperor's son. With no watchers or houses to aid him, no clues had surfaced.

"Do the other houses know that His Imperial Majesty has a hidden son?"

"Nobody says it out loud, but they all know. They believe your family and the Stranger family were destroyed for that reason. And with all the houses that have vanished over the years, it can't be just a rumor."

"Have many houses been annihilated?"

"Not a small number. Whenever a house disappeared, their titles went to houses tied to the Syren family. This happened repeatedly for over a decade, until the elders of the Secret Council were gradually replaced by Syren family people."

"So that was the beginning."

"The Privy Councilors used to be confidants of the late Emperor, but they've all been purged. The imperial family's core power structure has fallen into the hands of the Syren family."

The Captain let out a sigh and spoke on.

"Throughout the continent, there are many houses dreaming of vengeance. Most are just barely surviving, though."

"Could they join us?"

The Captain nodded.

"For the honor of their annihilated houses, they would risk the rest of their lives. And not just them. If they feel victory is possible, many houses might join in. There are plenty of houses discontent with the Syren family—they just don't show it."

As the Captain said, if there is no conviction of success, it's hard to unite them.

First, strength is needed, then justification. Only then comes conviction.

"That is why I'm asking you to find His Imperial Majesty's bloodline. You must rally everyone around him. I'm also asking your house, respected by all, to become the focal point for those houses. But..."

The Captain shook his head, as if still in disbelief.

"Who could have guessed that the second son of the Hader family would grow so strong? I only thought your house had the influence for others to follow, nothing more."

Now that I knew why the Captain had come to see me, it was my turn to ask questions.

"If there's bloodshed after the banquet, do you think His Imperial Majesty will be able to help?"

"It's difficult to guarantee. I haven't seen His Imperial Majesty myself in months. But if he hears your name, many things will occur to him."

"What kind of things?"

"His Imperial Majesty's predicament began in his youth as crown prince. He had no leeway back then, but he was always shrewd, though his actions were restricted. For a supposed member of the destroyed Hader house to enter the palace now controlled by the Syren family—he won't just overlook that."

If the Emperor is astute, he should realize the threat to the Empire and the imperial family just from my presence.

"How would you estimate the Syren family's military strength?"

"Even if all the houses in the capital combined, they couldn't defeat the Syren family."

"The knights of the Syren family are that strong?"

"Their retainers, known as the strongest in the empire, speak for themselves, and I hear the Grand Duke's personal guard is invincible."

"So they're not just simple bodyguards."

"No ordinary knight from a generic house can compare. A knight who fails to make the personal guard goes to the Royal Guard instead."

That estimate excluded the Syren family's private forces and its faction. If the imperial army was added, no one could stand against them.

I could face Art Syren and his knight order—maybe even alone—but if the retainers joined, I couldn't predict the odds.

Perhaps something showed in my expression.

The Captain spoke.

"Whatever happens, I expect it won't start inside the palace. No matter how weak His Imperial Majesty's power is, even they wouldn't dare to be so bold."

"Any place you're expecting trouble?"

"There is one place. Viscount Roeb urgently sent someone to inform me, to help save your father. Other than them, no one knows about it but me."

"Where is it?"

In a low voice, the Captain told me about the place.

It had been designed by the Syren family for a specific purpose, and my uncle was perhaps the only one ever to escape from there.

Though, in the end, even he died.

"That's why you must never underestimate the Syren family. Consider them nearly fully prepared. Even killing the Grand Duke of Syren wouldn't destroy their house."

"What if I eradicate the entire family?"

The Captain's mouth fell open more and more at my words. He'd never imagined I'd say such a thing.

He shook his head.

"There are three Grand Duke brothers, and one of them is commander of the Royal Guard. Plus, among the Grand Duke's two sons, the second bears the Sword of Light. If you don't kill them all at once, the backlash will be catastrophic."

I know.

But such backlash would be limited to the capital. The Imperial Knight Order or Royal Guard wouldn't march on the east.

We didn't come for all-out war. If we are ambushed, we mean to use the attack to deal as much damage as possible.

It all depends on what happens next.

We'll observe the Syren family's military strength while weakening them as much as possible. Then we'll build up our strength in the east.

The total war comes after that.