Prince Lann of Beraud was unfortunately just as I expected him to be. Not only did he go out of his way to arrive before his servants did, he treated everyone aside from Nero himself like trash. He even had the guts to ask King Nero to his face if he had caught that duck for dinner to impress him.

Nero had managed to keep his cool, but the mentioned dark side was leaking out. It turned out that he was racist too, because one look at Autumn and he demanded to know why we had the audacity to allow ‘such filth’ to stand before him.

Needless to say, everyone was at breaking point. We all gathered for a meeting, but somehow King Nero ended up joining in.

“My apologies,” he said, “I had no idea that the king of Beraud would acknowledge such an incompetant as a diplomat. This may end up breaking the alliance I just arranged with Beraud if we don’t do something.”

“Why do we even need that alliance?” Keane asked coldly.

“Beraud is one of the few nations on this continent that does not look at Tethia as if we are a golden goose. They have spent their time polishing themselves in a different direction. If a war were to break out, they would be the least likely to betray us and the most likely to actually be useful,” Nero explained, “That is what I thought before I met that idiot. That stupid headmaster. I am definitely not suitable to be king. What was he thinking?”

His explanation devolved into a rant about being forced to become king. Well, at least that explained his ‘let’s get this over with’ attitude.

“What should we do then?” Alois asked, “We can’t just throw him out or even Beraud will get angry.”

“We convince him to leave on his own,” Nero replied, “Before someone snaps and does something unrepairable.”

Nero looked like he was the one who was liable to snap. This was the first time he had let his guard down in front of us, so it was sort of interesting but also unnerving. It was hard to tell if Nero would be good for Tethia or toxic. Then again, the headmaster had chosen him, so he couldn’t be-

I froze at that thought. Hold on, since when had I begun to trust the headmaster completely again? Had things just become so chaotic I forgot to be suspicious?

“How are we planning on driving him out?” Rena asked, leaning forward. She hadn’t had the bad luck of running into Prince Lann yet, but he would definitely abuse her if she did.

“The other countries tend to view Tethia as cursed or haunted rather than blessed with magic,” Nero said, “In our current situation, perhaps it is best to be a little haunted.”

Alois grinned. “Sounds fun.”

“Just how haunted are we going?” Keane asked. There was a somewhat menacing sharp glint in his eye.

“Just enough to scare him a bit, but nothing too believable,” Nero replied, “and the haunting must mysteriously stop when his servants arrive tomorrow.”

“So one night, huh,”

Nero looked around at us. “Sorry to ask this of you, but I cannot join in. I have to continue to pretend to be a wise and reliable monarch or something.”

He got up looking very unenthusiastic and left us to plan our little surprises. In that meeting I discovered that Alois knew far too many tricks to make someone feel haunted.

“The night started with an eerie cackling filling the mansion. No matter how many pillow you stuffed over your head there was no escaping the sound. Then, when I looked around, a floating ball of light was rearranging his room. It was undoubtedly the source of the cackling. I tried to defend myself against it but all of my attacks went straight through!

Once the light finally left and the cackling quieted there were screams, and a monster covered in glowing goop slid under my door and started eating my things. When it came close to my bed it saw me and I had no choice but to flee for safety!”

This was Prince Lann’s report, but why did he come to my room of all places in the middle of the night? I could only respond one way to this.

“Sounds like a pretty bad nightmare. I can make you some tea so you can sleep better,” I offered. I couldn’t help the grumble in my voice. He just woke me up.

“It wasn’t a nightmare!” Prince Lann shouted, slamming his fist into my wall, “You are the one in charge of this territory, right? I demand you fix this!”

Oh, so that’s why he came to my room.

“Prince Lann, I think you are misunderstanding something,” I said, “If what you saw was not a nightmare than it was probably the territory itself.”

“What is that supposed to mean?!”

“This building is alive,” I told him, “It sees everything everyone does here. Did you do something to make it angry?”

Prince Lann paled. He was falling for it surprisingly easily.

“There is no way buildings can be alive, even if this is the cursed country!”

“Then it must have been a dream, right?” I continued, “Go back to sleep.”

Prince Lann took my words as a lifeline in his unstable mental state. “Yes, it was just a dream.” He headed back to his own room on unsteady feet.

Of course, I already knew that while he was gone, Rena had been filling his bedsheets with lightning magic. Just enough to make sure he would feel a constant poky feeling while he was laying down. We had to make sure there was no physical evidence of anything by tomorrow morning. At least none that he could prove.

Prince Lann’s servants arrived at dawn the next day, just in time to witness Lann screaming at Nero for his lack of hospitality towards a prince. Nero continued to reply calmly and deny all of his claims as unbelievable.

“Prince Lann,” a butler spoke up.

“I did not give you permission to spe-” he froze when he realized who was speaking.

The butler had a very odd air about him for a butler. He had long black hair tied in an elegant ponytail, and a pair of oval glasses only adding to his condescending look. The way he stood was too regal for someone under Prince Lann.

“Prince Lann,” the butler continued, “I have been reporting your actions to His Majesty.”

“But you weren’t even here!” Lann protested.

“Did you really think that was the case? Do you think your father would allow you to come to another kingdom alone?” the butler asked.

Lann was paler than he had been last night. Was the haunting unnecessary?

“Your father has removed you as the Crown Prince,” the butler continued, “Your younger brother will take your place.”

“What will happen to me?” Prince Lann demanded.

“You will be the Grand Duke of Gaia, since that is a land you achieved all on your own,” the butler informed him, “but I would be careful. Gaia is eating itself alive right now. You won’t have an easy time finding allies.”

Two more servants stepped up. “It is time to go home, your grace.”

Their change in address seemed to be the last straw, and he became a lifeless noodle as they dragged him away. The butler gave an apologetic bow to Nero before following them.

“That was fast,”

“I think that was partially our fault, but why would the king use us to disinherit a prince?” Alois asked.

“Because this is Tethia,” King Nero answered, “Offending Tethia is something that can’t just be smoothed over. The other countries fear us, and you all need to remember that.”