The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

In a corner of the library, two women sat huddled together.

Arin, with a heart laid bare, recounted to Luna everything that had happened with Cyan during the emperor’s tour three years ago.

“I had anticipated our engagement with Cyan, honestly. I think Cyan felt the same. After all, Father had shown him remarkable favor.”

It was particularly noteworthy that Cyan, who was neither royal nor a relative of a royal, had been assigned a royal chamber.

“But I didn’t expect it to happen so soon. I thought it wouldn’t occur until after our time at the academy at least. It seems I was too complacent.”

She was not naive about what an engagement between royalty and nobility meant, even at a young age.

The love between two young people just shedding their childishness was not what mattered.

This engagement appeared to be the emperor’s intent to provide the support of the Duke of Vert to the fifth princess, who had no backing.

“Father probably wants me to live comfortably without any interest in the empire. But I don’t want that. Cyan’s advice to try becoming the emperor became more than just advice to me.”

To Arin, Cyan was like a guide who had shown her a path forward when none seemed to exist.

He was a guide who had offered her a vision when she was merely feeling powerless.

“I know. The idea of someone like me becoming the emperor seems near impossible. It’s not a problem that can be solved just by my growth. The walls of the world I’ll have to face are indeed too formidable.”

Realizing her place once again, Arin eventually hung her head in despair.

Luna, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke up.

“Do you dislike the idea of being engaged to Senior Cyan?”

“It’s not that I dislike it! To be honest, I like it. Being engaged means I’ll be closer to Cyan……”

Arin’s voice trailed off to a whisper.

“But Cyan will hate it. More than hate, he might even resent me. To me, Cyan could be a great help, but to him, I’m just a foolish princess who causes nothing but trouble……”

All that came from Arin’s increasingly heavy heart was a sigh.

Seeing Arin like this, Luna recalled a memory from the past.

It was when Boris L’Hellem, the newly appointed instructor, first appeared before them.

She remembered the moment when Cyan had grabbed Arin’s hand to prevent her from handing a mana sphere to Boris.

Luna could not forget the look on Cyan’s face at that time.

Anger, hatred, a murderous intent.

He seemed ready to kill anyone on the spot if they so much as touched a hair on her head.

It was as if he was desperately trying to prevent Arin from being taken away by someone else.

Though it was a markedly different demeanor from his usual self, it intrigued Luna. She thought to herself back then,

“Senior Arin must be precious to him.”

It was unexpected to see someone who seemed to care only for himself show such anger for another.

It was a moment that made it clear what Arin meant to Cyan.

With a deep sigh, Luna said,

“You’re just jealous.”

“Huh?”

Thinking she had misheard, Arin blinked.

“An engagement is just a formality, after all. It doesn’t mean you’ll marry right away…”

“That’s… true…”

Indeed, there was always a possibility that the engagement could be broken off.

“So, there’s plenty of time. You just need to make Senior Cyan unable to live without you within that time. I think you need to confront this head-on.”

“But if we do, Cyan might…”

“Cyan would hate it more if you hesitated like this.”

A firm conviction shone in her sly eyes.

“What does it matter whether you’re a help or not? If you like him, just go for it. Like me.”

“…?”

Luna thought again about the time Cyan had thrown himself to protect her in the palace.

The memory, so sweet it could make her body tremble just by imagining it, was undeniable.

Arin watched, her eyes filled with questions throughout.

“Let’s work on this together, Senior.”

Luna smiled at Arin, a fresh and bright smile.

* * *

After parting ways with Arin at the library, Luna returned to the dormitory.

As she approached the front gate, some men who had been loitering around quickly gathered around her, but Luna, unfazed, silently made her way to her room.

Upon opening the door and entering, her personal knight, Ramela, greeted her with a displeased look.

“Where have you been…”

“The library.”

Her indifferent reply came quicker than the question.

“I always say, it’s fine to go out, but at least tell us…”

“And I always say, there won’t be a repeat of before, so don’t worry.”

Despite her plea, Luna’s attitude remained unchanged.

Ramela turned her head as if to end the conversation.

“Ramela?”

“Yes?”

“Could you bring me the research materials on the grimoire from the recent symposium?”

Ramela doubted her ears.

“Research materials on the grimoire?”

“Yes. Even if it’s trivial, please bring me everything possible.”

“Ah, understood.”

Somewhat taken aback by the sudden request, Ramela soon brought her all the research materials stored in the archives, roughly amounting to about ten volumes.

Luna sat down and began to go through the stacked materials, spending about three hours on this task.

After finishing her analysis, she looked at Ramela again and asked,

“Is this everything?”

“This is all the materials we have on hand right now. If you want more detailed materials, we would have to request them from the symposium.”

“Then, could you please make a request for all the materials related to the divine scriptures that have been conducted so far?”

Luna’s tone was very firm.

“May I ask why you’re interested?”

“I just want to explore it personally.”

“Understood.”

Ramela did not ask further and turned to leave.

“Lemiharam…”

Muttering to herself, Luna made Ramela turn back.

“Please be cautious, Lady Luna. Even in the symposium, it’s forbidden to mention the name of a grimoire.”

“Are you sure?”

“About what?”

“That only our symposium knows the name of the grimoire.”

“Of course. You know very well, even within the symposium, only a few are aware.”

Indeed, none of the materials she had analyzed so far had directly mentioned the name of the grimoire.

Very few insiders within the symposium were aware, and it had never been disclosed outside of it.

However,

‘How did Senior Cyan, who is not part of the symposium, know about it?’

It was not something that could be explained by mere chance.

Frankly, without someone from the symposium teaching him, there was no way he could have known.

Luna’s curiosity about Cyan deepened even more.

* * *

On a warm weekend morning, a boy spent his time with books.

It was the epitome of a diligent student’s image.

He had pored over the materials Luna had selected for him since last night, hoping to learn more about the Grimoire, but in the end, he found nothing of practical use.

It seemed easier to find a needle in a haystack.

[You’re wasting your effort. What’s the use of scouring through that useless pile of paper?]

“I need to have some insurance in case you decide to eat me someday.”

[You cheeky little thing!]

Kaeram, incensed, swung her fist, but he dodged it with a slight move of his neck.

Though he said so, he honestly couldn’t see the necessity himself.

If that foolish god hadn’t mentioned it, he wouldn’t be searching so fervently.

[Keep at it! See if the Grimoire shows up.]

He might as well search for a hundred years, and it still wouldn’t appear.

The situation was hopeless, but what could he do?

It’s not like he could storm into the Imperial Magic Academy to gather information.

All he could do was sigh endlessly.

“Do, do you need your tea, sir……?”

In the midst of this, Emily brought him tea.

“Reading on a leisurely weekend morning! It’s great to see you seeking to improve your education!”

It seems my maid ate something odd this morning.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t be offering such a profoundly normal compliment.

When I glanced at her face, it seemed like she had something she wanted to say, eagerly biting her lip.

Including Brian, who was beside her.

“Sir……?”

“What?”

“Are you getting engaged? To Princess Arin?”

“It seems so.”

They must have seen the letter.

I didn’t care much as it wasn’t something to hide.

“Papa’s getting married?”

Our little one joined in with her questions.

“It seems so.”

I answered nonchalantly.

Emily’s face was a sight to behold, full of things she wanted to say but couldn’t, as if she was racking her brain.

They probably had a lot they wanted to discuss, but he wasn’t in the mood to pay attention to that now.

At this point, he started to suspect whether this damn foolish god was trying to mess with him…

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A harsh knocking shattered the serenity of the weekend morning.

Anyone would think someone was hammering at the door.

“Who could it be so early in the morning?”

“Never mind. I’ll check.”

Stopping Brian, who was about to check, I got up to answer the door myself.

I had a pretty good idea of who it might be, judging by the noise.

With a sigh of annoyance, I opened the door,

“Oh! You’re really here, Cyan Vert! Welcome back to school!”

He barely resisted the urge to close the door right then and there.

Prince Set Shaharkan, the Prince of Sand. No, more like the Buffoon of Sand. Every time I see him, he seems to have grown larger, which personally I find quite imposing.

“Looking at your face, you seem pretty free, how about it? If you’re not doing anything, how about a spar…!”

“Busy.”

I attempted to close the door, but he quickly stopped it with his hand.

“Busy? What are you busy with? Your face is plastered with ‘I’m so free!’ You think I’m here at this boring academy for nothing? At least when I spar with you, it stirs up my fighting spirit…”

Amid our tussle over the door, his gaze drifted to the book in my other hand.

“Oh! I see you’re reading something quite interesting!”

My gaze naturally followed to the book.

“Are you interested in the geography of our kingdom? That book is a bit outdated, so some of the information might be wrong! Our Kingdom of Spania is a nation that evolves daily!”

He sat there, proudly puffing out his chest, as if to say who else but the prince of that nation could boast such.

Of course, I wasn’t studying geography with this book.

I was looking into a village in the southeastern part of the Kingdom of Spania called ‘Nodeli.’

The content wasn’t anything special.

Just some local legend about an unidentified altar in the corner of the village, claiming that a demonic beast summoned through the Grimoire during the ancient War of Gods and Demons was sealed there.

This too wasn’t particularly useful information, so I was about to throw it aside.

“If you have any questions about our Kingdom of Spania, ask away! I’ll personally answer them!”

Not that I was particularly curious, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask, right?

“Do you know about Nodeli?”

“Of course! It’s a small village in the southeastern part of the kingdom! It’s quiet and peaceful, not too hot, so I often used it as a personal training ground!”

So, he had been there before.

“There’s some altar there?”

“Altar? More like a relic. It’s an ancient relic, so I’m not sure what its purpose was, but it’s quite fascinating! There’s actually a demonic beast living inside!”

I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

Did he think demonic beasts were as common as stray dogs?

“Huh, you don’t believe me? It’s true! I boldly went in to catch it and ended up running away with my tail between my legs! Kyahaha!”

Boasting about his retreat as if it were an admirable deed.

“It was the first time in my life I ran away! I felt like I’d die if I didn’t run. The villagers also strongly advised against going in! That demonic beast even had a name, believe it or not!”

A name? Unless it was a species name, a beast with a personal name would have to be something as significant as a dragon.

“What was the name?”

“Ah, what was it? Lemi… something, I think?”

Wait, what?

No way.

With a rising sense of unease, I threw out a guess, thinking I had nothing to lose.

“Don’t tell me it’s Lemiharam?”

(To be continued)