The first banquet ended with as much progress as when it started. It was mostly used to get a feel for the atmosphere and to see who was a potential opponent or a possible ally. The attendees went to their separate dwellings, causing the hall to slowly empty.

Ira was in no rush to leave so he stayed seated and continued to eat. It went without saying that Avery stayed at his side, occasionally drinking a glass of wine.

“You don’t have to escort the Fourth Prince back to his dwellings?” Avery asked.

“Nope. It’s not like someone is gonna kill him with so many people around.” Ira said without worry.

When the hall emptied to a few dozen people, Rhys approached Ira’s table with her notepad in hand.

[You didn’t have to do that.] She wrote.

“Yeah, but I did anyway. No point in thinking about alternatives.” Ira continued to eat.

Avery gave a short glance to Rhys before she turned back to Ira, “I’ve decided to train your silent friend when I have the time.”

“Really? Why?” Ira asked curiously.

“She can be considered your ally, right? As of right now, she’s lacking in many areas. I aim to help her improve, nothing more.” Avery said without a hint of emotion. The only people she cared for were Ira and the Valkyries, so there was no way that she’d somehow become friendly with Rhys. Even Harper couldn’t say that she was close to Avery, and Harper was essentially her sister-in-law.

Ira looked at Rhys, specifically her mask, he could see a lot of recent scratches on it. “Good luck.” he said before he resumed eating.

[Ira, can I show you something?] Rhys wrote.

Ira showed interest as he moved away from his plate, “Go for it.”

Rhys surveyed the dining hall and noticed it was mostly empty, she took a deep breath before she placed both hands on her mask. After a few moments of hesitation, she removed it and exposed her face. Rhys prepared to see, pity, shock, disgust, or just about any other negative emotion as she looked at Ira.

“...Was that it?” Ira asked with a blank expression. He examined the two parallel eye-catching scars that trailed down her face, before he made eye contact. If one word could describe Ira’s emotions after seeing Rhys actual face, it would be “indifference.”

Rhys stared at Ira’s face with a mix of scrutiny and disbelief.

Ira blinked a few times before he spoke, “That was...That was really it?” Honestly, he was expecting some sort of cool lightning related ability.

Rhys didn’t know how to proceed when she saw Ira didn’t care about the scars on her face. It went over her expectations of a slightly more realistic reaction.

[Is it not appalling to you?] Rhys wrote.

“No.” Ira answered while watching Rhys’ mouth open and close as if she wanted to say something.

“If that’s all, you should be on your way.” Avery said. Rhys looked at her for a few seconds before nodding.

[Thank you.] Rhys quietly smiled before putting her mask on and leaving.

Ira looked perplexed at what just took place and looked toward Avery as if searching for an answer.

“Wouldn’t you know her better than me?” Avery answered as if reading his mind.

Ira shrugged as he took a sip of wine out of Avery’s cup. After a while, Ira finally finished eating, or rather decided to stop and the pair left the banquet hall together.

…

On the way back to the designated resting area, the Fourth Prince talked with his attendants while maintaining his facade of uselessness and indulgence. Along the way, he seemed to realize that a key figure was missing.

“Where’s Irving?” Leonard asked.

“He hasn’t returned from the errand you sent him on, your highness.” An attendant answered.

“Strange.” Leonard’s eyes flashed with seriousness before he calmed himself and continued his act. “Although he’s dependable he’s getting quite old. In any case, tell Ira to come to my room as soon as he arrives.” Leonard shook his head.

Some of the attendants held criticizing expressions as they knew Irving had watched over the Prince since he was young and always defended him from rumors. In some ways, Irving could be considered more of a father figure for the Prince than the King was.

Leonard took notice of their glances but didn’t say anything. The attendants assigned to him weren’t his own people, but instead a part of the royal staff. Thus he had to maintain his appearance in front of them. Leonard sent Irving to attempt to retrieve some information about Ira from a Mercenaries Union contact he had, but Irving had taken far too long.

Leonard arrived at his quarters and entered but found the room was extraordinarily dark while a metallic smell filled the room. Leonard shuffled around before activating a mana lamp only to see his worst fears realized. On his desk sat the ruined body of an old familiar face.

“...Irving.” Leonard called out in a low voice as he trembled. He moved closer to the body and saw that various torture techniques were employed on the old man, each one looked to be extremely agonizing. A plain dagger covered in blood sat next to the body. Tremors ran through Leonard’s body as he reached out towards Irving’s slightly unbuttoned shirt. He opened it to see a small message carved into the old man’s flesh, which read:

You’ve found yourself a loyal dog, Fourth Prince. You can find some consolation in the fact that he died from shock before we could obtain anything useful. We want to remind you of two things, Prince. One, you are not the only actor on this stage. Two, no matter how fierce or loyal the dog, it can still be beaten until it’s dead. This is your only warning Prince, keep your ambitions in check.

Leonard held an expressionless face as he moved away from the body and to a liquor cabinet. He grabbed himself a glass and filled it before downing it and pouring another.

“...Did you blame me, Irving? After all, I promised you something great, didn’t I?” Leonard said to himself. “You believed me. You were the first to trust my vision.”

Leonard’s face remained calm as he continued to refill his glass. “I’ve come to realize that...I was...too arrogant. I wasn’t cautious enough. I was too distracted by what was in front of me. There are a million things I realize...and none of them lead me closer to bringing you back.”

Leonard went to fill his glass but noticed the bottle was empty. “...I see.”

After a few moments of silence, the cup in Leonard’s hand shattered, embedding shards of glass into his palm. Fresh blood dripped onto the ground in large amounts.

“Irving, I’m sorry.” Leonard looked at the lifeless body. “I’m not sorry you died. That’s something that I can never atone for and by apologizing it would lower the meaning of your actions. You remained loyal even up to death and for that I’m grateful. What I’m sorry for is what comes next. I’m sorry that you’ll become a tool.” Leonard’s eyes burned with an unyielding anger. “I have never seen you as a tool or a resource. I saw you as my family. So please forgive me for what comes next, but to entrap our enemies and convince our allies I need to use you as a tool. ”

Leonard retrieved the silencing stone from his desk and activated it. After that, he began to move around the room and break everything. Tables were overturned, bookcases were smashed, chairs were broken, and Leonard even used his bloody hand to stain everything he could with blood.

“Would you understand? Or would you curse me?” Leonard asked as he went to retrieve the dagger at Irving’s side. He lifted it up and took a few deep breaths before he dragged the blade across his ribcage with a muffled scream. Feeling as if it wasn’t enough, he plunged the blade into his thigh while being careful to avoid any arteries.

Leonard fell to the ground before he sat up and propped himself against the desk. All he had to do now was wait for Ira, it didn’t matter how long. In fact, the longer Ira took the more he would bleed and the more convincing his injuries would be.

“...I really am sorry...Irving.” Beads of sweat dripped down Leonard’s face as he closed his eyes sorrowfully.

…

Thirty minutes later. Ira and Avery arrived at the Grenitian building only to be approached by an attendant.

“Sir, his Highness the Fourth Prince has called for you.” A man bowed.

“Ok.” Ira answered.

When the attendant left, Avery spoke, “Maybe he is curious about the Dark Elves or wants to say something about the Colosseum bout. Either way, don’t agree to anything unless there is a direct benefit for us.”

“I got it.” Ira nodded. He completely trusted Avery’s advice in matters he had no experience in.

Ira said his temporary goodbye and made his way up to the Prince’s quarters but immediately smelled blood before he had even arrived in the room. Ira didn’t hear anything but then recalled something about a silencing stone being mentioned at the banquet, so he sped up and directly entered the room without knocking.

Leonard was sat on the floor bleeding, while Irving was sprawled out on a desk.

“You’re still alive, right? So technically I didn’t break my contract.” Ira said as he looked around the room.

“Ira...I need your help.” Leonard said.

“Clearly.” Ira responded as he scanned the room.

“Ira!” Leonard shouted. “Name anything and I promise you’ll receive it, just let me borrow your strength for a while.”

“I told thought I said you don’t–” Ira trailed off as he thought of something. “I have a request Prince, I need to get someone inside the conference tomorrow, with no questions asked. Can you do that?” Ira asked.

“It won’t be a be problem.” Leonard answered immediately.

“Alright. What do you need me to do?” Ira asked.

“First...I need to get rid of the writing on...on Irving’s chest.” Leonard said.

“Writing?” Ira moved to Irving’s body and saw the message carved into his skin. “...I see.” Ira smiled as a few memories resurfaced in his mind. The black sigil on his hand began to slightly itch as he put unwanted memories into the back of his thoughts.

Ira tapped the sword sheathed on his waist and a short burst of kinetic energy rushed and scraped away the writing.

“It’s done.” Ira said with a strange look in his eyes. If Leonard saw his gaze at that moment he would notice that Ira showed a few signs of being aggravated, albeit briefly.

“Next, I need you to make it look like a bigger struggle took place in this room. There is no need to worry about the sound.”

Ira complied with the request and turned the room into a complete mess in less than a few seconds.

“Now…” Leonard slid the silencing stone to the middle of the floor. “In a moment, I’ll need you crush that stone and then throw Irving’s body out of the window, but don’t use your full strength.”

“Pretty heartless of you, Prince.” Ira said with a chuckle.

“Listen...I’ve already seen to my injuries. Now we just need the story to go with it.” Leonard ignored Ira’s inappropriate laugh and continued on.

The story the Prince created went along the lines of, stumbling onto a tortured Irving and being ambushed. The assailant wanted to kidnap the Prince, but then Ira interfered, resulting in a fight. The assailant attempted to flee and used Irving as a hostage. Ira didn’t chase, but the assailant still killed Irving by dropping him out of the window as he fled. As to why the altercation couldn't be heard? The Prince's silencing stone would be labeled as the assailant's. That would create the image of someone investing heavily in attempting to hurt the Prince.

“I got it.” Ira nodded before he picked up Irving’s limp body and held him near a window. “Remember Prince, even if this doesn’t work out for you, I want what I asked for.”

Leonard nodded which Ira took as the signal to start. He tossed Irving’s body out of the window, eliciting a loud crash which also served as an alarm. Screams began to ring out as a squad of soldiers and guards made their way over.

It was unknown what the Prince had planned, but he had hadn’t faltered in his actions and would continue to without doing so. Whoever the culprit was, would be sure to suffer. He decided that there was no need to hide in plain sight anymore.