“Your Highness, how should we deal with this situation?”

“Your Highness, do we tell your father, or maybe even the Palace’s Magus Sage?”

Whilst walking along the hallway, leaving the dungeons, Eobard and Vronearth both discussed what had been discovered, but at the moment Lutius was dealing with another problem all together.

‘I should kill him to prevent any unexpected situations from developing.’

‘No, I should confront him first. It may be a frame job.’

‘Maybe I should just do as Eobard and Vronearth suggested and inform either my father or the sage…’

‘No, I don’t know when else I could become a target, I need to take care of this now!’, were the thoughts going through Lutius’ mind at this moment.

Due to him having a form of split personalities, he was hesitant in making a decision. The part of him which wanted to inform others to come up with a plan, was surprisingly his younger personality, the original Lutius. On the other hand, the personality who did everything on his own never once asking others for help and wishing to get to the bottom of the situation at once, was Mike. The confusing aspect about this peculiarity, was that Lutius had no idea of him having two personalities. All he knew was that he had become part Lutius and part Mike.

‘Weird, I don’t remember being so blood thirsty, hmm whatever, I should inform father first in front him. This way I can simultaneously confront him and see his reaction whilst being in the safety of ‘The Hidden’’, Lutius decided.

“Come, we are going to the Palace, also invite all the family members and Eobard, send notification to the guards. Tell them be passively prepared, don’t be obvious. Understood?” Lutius commanded.

“Yes, Your Highness!” Eobard replied.

“Vronearth, I know at this moment I do not have the authority to actually order you, but if that information pans out, you know the consequences this may bring. So please, pass word to the Magus Sage in secrecy and prepare some shielding spells,” Lutius asked.

“Yes, Your Highness. I was of the same thought.” Vronearth responded before disappearing.

‘Hmm, well I guess I should visit Rose by the time everything is being prepared.’

Rose was currently staying with her parents in the guest rooms of the Royal Family’s quarters. This wasn’t because her parents didn’t trust the Whitstar family, but because Lutius’ housing area was devastated by the fight. After calming down, Rose was greatly disappointed in herself.

‘Lutius was able to react so quickly to the danger yet I broke down so easily. He even wasn’t hesitant to cast such a high-level spell, simply because he instinctively knew it would be the right choice at the time.’ Wallowing in self doubt and regret, Rose heard three knocks on the door.

“Rose? Are you inside?”

Lutius was unsure whether or not Rose was still here, after all he did tell Eobard to invite all the members of the family to the main palace.

“I’m here, one moment let me get the door.” Rose responded as she got up to open the lock on the door, which she had closed subconsciously due to her fright.

-click-clack-

“Sorry, I must’ve locked the door unconsciously,” Rose said.

“Its fine, better safe than sorry, but you don’t have to worry to much. Eobard has ordered the Nightingales to monitor the entire area so we can be sure to be alerted the moment anything odd happens.” Lutius tried to comfort her and seeing her shoulders drop a bit, it seemed to have worked.

“I know we were trained for this sort of things when younger, but for it to happen the day right after we were married… and to think that I wasn’t able to react properly, I have disappointed you greatly and myself more so.” Although she had calmed down a bit more, Rose was still a very irritated by her actions that day.

“It’s alright, its one thing to learn about it and another to experience it. We are safe now that’s all that matters. Now come let’s go to the main hall, I have something to discuss,” Lutius said while taking Rose’s hand into his and making their way towards the Royal Court.

{Royal Court, Main hall, Main building- same place}

Seated in the room were, the king and queen, Rose’s parents, his brothers and sister, the Dukes and all other persons that were of relevance. Nodding at Eobard, a light projector, used to record video and or sound was passed to him as he made his way to the centre of the room. Calling for a meeting like this was not surprising as everyone knew something was discovered. What was surprising, was that Lutius actually was the one to call for this meeting unannounced and his father allowed it. Although it was a not a big deal per se, it was still unnatural for a mere Crown Prince to call a meeting of this level.

‘I guess this is just the King’s way of further cementing Lutius’ position of Crown Prince.’ Were the thoughts going through everyone’s mind.

“Lutius, why did you call for such a meeting so abruptly. Did you discover something related to the assassination case?” his father asked.

“Yes, Your Majesty. A Clue was found, but before we move on, I would like to ask everyone to not be startled by what’s about to happen.” Lutius said. He then signalled Vronearth, who then casted a shielding spell and a sound barring spell.

‘The great thing about shields is that not only is it good for keeping stuff out, its perfect for keeping stuff in. The sound barring spell should be effective enough to prevent any eavesdropping from taking place from outside the palace., whilst the Magus Sage should be monitoring all the forces outside to see if any reactions took place due to the placement of the sudden sound barrier.’ Lutius thought, ‘It was a longshot at best to place the sound barrier, but one can never tell.’

“Now that that, has been completed, … I have discovered who it was that hired the assassins to kill me. I have also discovered that it wasn’t only me who was targeted, but also Rose. Who was it you may ask, well, sister, I think this play has carried on long enough, yes?” As soon as Lutius finished talking, a bright blue light flashed before the Queen got off of her throne and immediately surrounded both Alexandra and Lutius with icicles at their throats.

Each family was different. In the case of the Whitstars’, family was everything. The decision of who will succeed what and who will get this and who will get that, was all decided by contribution and effort. Who was the strongest, who was the smartest, who was more popular amongst the citizens, who was more adept at adapting to various situations, etc, etc. All of these things were looked at before the King and Queen made a decision. This rule was agreed on by everyone and was done since the founding of the kingdom and is to be reinforced by the current Magus Sage at the time.

To break this rule, was akin to discarding all ties to one’s family and the Kingdom. To accuse someone of breaking this rule, was akin to breaking the trust of the rest of the family held towards this person and was no different than a death sentence. That was why Lutius’ mother acted in such a way. For if Lutius was speaking the truth, her heart would be broken due to the fact that Alexandra would have to die, same thing would happen if it was found out that Lutius was telling a lie.

“Lutius Whitstar, the words you have spoken cannot be taken back. I truly hope that you know what you are doing,” his mother warned sternly. At this moment Lutius crushed the projector orb as a hologram appeared, playing what had transpired in the dungeons for all to hear and see for themselves.

“So tell me your name Mr. Assassin.”

“My name is Gerard. I have no last name. I was moulded to live and die as an assassin.”

“Why did you target me?”

“You alone weren’t the target. It was also your wife, Rose. Both of you were supposed to die tonight, then I would plant evidence leading to the detested couple, Phrixa and Thiosa Ember. It was a ploy made by the Ember Kingdom, and… the Church of Holy.”

“My Whitstar Kingdom support the marriage of the couple, what makes you certain that we will not suspect a frame job in the first place.”

“…”

“Answer me or else!”

“It… it was done to throw off suspicion.”

“Explain. Also explain why a lowly assassin even knows so much in the first place, it is rather odd…”

“The framing of the couple was done so the traitor’s cover could be maintained. The reason…the reason why I know all this is because I… am from the Church of Holy’s elite team. It was supposed to be an easy job. You got lucky.”

“Well, who is the traitor?!”

“She is your…Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

All of sudden the assassin died. A black smoke rose from his corpse and his heart exploded as his brain melted. Lutius felt all of this, as he was still in full control of Gerard’s body at the time.

After the playback ended, everyone was quiet.

Suddenly a loud shriek was heard, and black fog started covering the ground.

“Nightingales to action!” Eobard shouted as a team of 20 cloaked figures appeared in front Lutius. From the King and Queen’s shadow, black entities rose out one after the other till a team of 5 surrounded them both. This was ‘The Hidden’. The Dukes who got their titles from wars rose and protected the Ministers whilst Vronearth wrapped Lexus and Lucian Whitstar in darkness and teleported them away to safety using the shadows.

“Alexandra, what is the reasoning for your traitory, to think you would turn against your family!”, King Luther shouted whilst he casted a light spell to try and disperse the fog which was diminishing everyone’s senses.

“Light- Halo!” King Luther shouted, as a angel’s halo appeared on his head, taking the place of his crown. It emitted a bright light which targeted solely the fog destroying it and allowing for a tragic scene to unravel.

Alexandra Whitstar, Lutius’ sister, was on her knees with black liquid flowing from her eyes and ears. Her veins pressed against her skin as if it was trying to rip out of her flesh. Her mouth hung open with her tongue split in two with the same black liquid making its way down her face.

“Mana corruption. Someone is controlling her, quick Lutius use your Order element it’s the only thing that will hamper the effects till the Magus Sage comes! Quickly now!” Vronearth shouted.

‘Trixie what’s the best spell to use in this situation?’ Lutius asked in his mind.

[ Replying host. There is only one spell that will help her at this moment and that is Subjugation of the Guilty. This is because by the time the Magus Sage reaches, your sister would already have died due to her out of control SE. With this spell however you can forcibly put her body under your control and with the help of your father’s light element, you may be able to break the grasp of whoever is controlling her.]

Within microseconds, Trixie was able to provide a suggestion, and Lutius made his move but what happened next, no one could’ve foreseen.

“Order-Subjugation of the… No!!!!!! Rose!!!!!!!!!”