Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 368

“Can I apply for a vacation?”Arendt, after receiving the instructions, or more precisely, Arthur in Arendt’s form, calmly asked. Laius looked at him with pity and answered.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think that will work.”

“…”

Arthur shut his mouth tightly again.

He felt like he would even resign.

But, looking at the captain who looked as if he was going to die of heartache in front of him, he couldn’t bring himself to say those words.

Because the culprit was that damn junior.

Instead, Arthur decided to ask the compassionate captain for help.

“Captain, is His Highness really serious? Truly? Do I really have to go out looking like this?”

“…”

“It’s hard to just stay in the dormitory. The seniors act like they’ve seen something they shouldn’t have seen…”

“I think I know the reason.”

Laius, who had answered honestly without realizing it, closed his mouth in regret.

But Arthur already had a very hurt expression on his face.

“Even the captain?”

“…”

But unfortunately, it only had the opposite effect.

Since the face that spoke sadly was Arendt’s, those who encountered him only felt an unbearable sense of rejection.

In the end, even Laius ended up taking a step back.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“…”

Arthur wore a blank, almost despairing expression. Laius also ended up looking somewhat daunted.

He never imagined that he would be able to see so many different expressions on Arendt’s face.

He could fully understand why the other knights were avoiding him.

Arthur himself said that he covered all the mirrors in his room.

“The first order from His Highness was for you to walk around in Arendt’s guise and cause a little commotion.”

Laius quietly changed the subject.

“It seems that Arendt committed a serious crime in the Lucain Kingdom. He said that it needed to be covered up.”

“Haaah… so, you’re saying that we need to let the outside world know that that bastard Arendt is in the Imperial Palace?”

Arthur also had no choice but to sigh deeply and join in the conversation. Laius nodded.

“Yes. As soon as you return, we will depart for the Lucain Kingdom. Is that alright?”

“What are you saying?”

Arthur met Laius’s gaze with a discontented expression. Laius still looked like he couldn’t adapt, but continued to speak calmly.

“It’s not an easy task. The most important thing is to not let anyone know that you’re not Arendt. If you arouse suspicion, you could be in danger.”

In other words, he was asking if he could act like Arendt naturally. Arthur groaned and scratched his head.

“Honestly, I’m not sure. Only Arendt can do such a feat.”

“I think so too…”

Laius, who had been silent for a moment, added cautiously.

“He said you’d probably whine about it, but that you’d pull it off just fine.”

“…”

Arthur paused. It was only a moment before golden eyes, not his own, filled with confusion.

“Haaaaaah…”

Arthur slumped his shoulders and let out a deep sigh. Then he scratched his bangs nervously and grumbled.

“He’s such a fucking bastard. What does he want me to do?”

“Can you do it?”

Laius asked again. Arthur, who had been silent for a moment and was conflicted, slowly nodded with a reluctant expression.

“I will do it. I don’t think there is any other way.”

“I see.”

Laius smiled slightly and patted Arthur on the shoulder.

“I’ll send Richt and Glenn. You guys should go together. As soon as you all get back, we’ll prepare for sortie.”

“Yes, I understand. I will get back as soon as possible.”

Arthur nodded with a determined face after receiving encouragement from the captain.

The mismatch of Arendt’s face was still jarring, but even so, Laius couldn’t help feeling a little pleased.

It was because it felt like Arendt, who had always seemed like an outsider, had finally blended in with the others.

But that sense of pride didn’t last long.

Laius couldn’t help but regret not having warned Arthur to take it easy.

Llewellyn returned shortly after his communications with Cantares ended.

As soon as Llewellyn returned to his room, he looked at Arendt and looked disgusted.

Arendt, surrounded by books of all kinds whose origins he had no idea of, was munching on a snack that he had no idea who had given it to him.

“What are all those?”

“The healer gave me some snacks. I just came back from apologizing.”

Llewellyn’s face grew even paler.

“Apologizing?”

“It was just to check if he noticed anything else. He might have heard our conversation.”

Somehow, it seemed like the image was vivid before his eyes.

Len, no, Arendt, who kept bowing his head, saying he didn’t know that the cookies had been switched, and the healer who waved his hand in front of him and said it’s okay.

The healer probably didn’t even realize that the innocent-looking young servant was the one who had planned everything, and instead gave him some snacks to say that it was okay.

“That real fox-like guy…”

“And this is what the Neumann informants sent me.”

Regardless of what Llewellyn felt, Arendt tapped the papers piled up beside him with his hand.

“I heard there was a branch near the palace, so I asked Lord Neumann.”

These were commissioned directly through the merchant group and imported under Llewellyn’s name.

Giving up nitpicking, Llewellyn sighed deeply and sat down across from Arendt.

“Still no news from Lord Lexion?”

“Oh, oh. It looks like he’s found something. Things are starting to get more interesting.”

Arendt responded indifferently, stuffing another snack into his mouth.

“How was the conversation?”

“It was just as the Duke said. When they brought the King food, he ate it greedily… it seemed as if he had forgotten not only the court etiquette but even how to hold utensils.”

Llewellyn answered complicatedly.

“He was stuffing food into his mouth with his bare hands. His face was almost intact, but his body below the neck was badly damaged. He looked similar to the ghoul that was discovered at the beginning.”

He was in a miserable state. It was hard to imagine that he was the supreme ruler of a kingdom.

“Brother Victor seems to be in a state of shock. That’s why I took him to his room. It’s only natural that since His Majesty is in such a state.”

Llewellyn, who had been silent for a moment, lowered his eyes.

“…It was creepy. How could something like this happen in the middle of the palace? And the victim was even His Majesty the King.”

The King was the most protected being in the kingdom. It was hard to believe that he was treated so helplessly.

Arendt glanced at him and answered.

“That’s the price of carelessness. I told you, don’t trust anyone. If you don’t want to see that kind of thing in the Everan Kingdom, then you have to do your best.”

Only then did Llewellyn raise his head and glance at him.

“What a cold bastard.”

“The Imperial Knights are heading this way. They will probably be accompanied by the Third Knights and Instructor Zakar’s Fog Forest Guard.”

Llewellyn grumbled at Arendt’s words.

“Then, I guess we can relax a bit for now. I’m sorry to say this to Brother Victor, but with the royal troops, you never know who might have infiltrated where by now.”

“Right. Though I’m not sure we can just brush it off by saying they’ve simply infiltrated.”

Llewellyn frowned slightly at the rather meaningful answer.

“What does that mean?”

“I can’t say anything specifically yet, but…”

Arendt added plainly, flipping through the few pages of material gathered in front of him.

“Somehow, the whole situation felt out of place.”

“Of course, it’s a strange situation to anyone who sees it.”

Llewellyn frowned vaguely.

“It’s strange that there was no movement from behind the scenes even though His Majesty came to be like that.”

“I think so too. If the goal was to seize power, then they should have started to take action when His Majesty’s cognitive abilities began to decline, but there has been no news until now.”

Arendt, having said that, took another bite of the snack.

“So, the only people who were butting heads were the stubborn old man and the Crown Prince.”

“Hmm…”

Llewellyn groaned.

“Maybe that was the purpose? To make the Crown Prince and Duke Middleton suspicious of each other.”

“You actually used your head. That was one of the scenarios I had in mind.”

“What do you mean I actually used my head, you son of a bitch?”

Arendt continued, ignoring Llewellyn’s fierce curses.

“In fact, the two of them were suspicious of each other. That might have been the enemy’s strategy, but relying on luck like that is too risky. If the two of them confirm that they’re not enemies, everything will go down the drain. Just like it is now.”

Llewellyn, who had been glaring at him, reluctantly nodded.

“…That’s true. There are plenty of ways to drive a wedge between the two. It would be much easier to kill His Majesty and then report Duke Middleton to Victor.”

“That’s right. If they wanted to get rid of all three of them, they could have just started from the beginning by killing them all.”

No matter how tight the palace security was, the King was in a vulnerable state.

So there would have been plenty of room to deal with Victor and Duke Middleton.

“I still don’t understand why they chose such a troublesome method…”

Arendt, who had been lost in thought for a moment, changed the subject.

“First, I got some basic information about the royal family from Neumann’s informants. You take a quick look at it too.”

“Why bother? It would be quickest to ask Brother Victor.”

Llewellyn, who had asked the bold question, snapped his mouth shut at Arendt’s gaze that showed an expression of blatant disappointment.

“…That’s right. Right now, we can’t completely trust either him or Duke Middleton.”

“And just in case, they might not pass on the correct information if it seems to be detrimental to the kingdom. This is especially true for Duke Middleton.”

Only then did Arendt look away and hand Llewellyn a few documents.

“First of all, the current heirs to the throne are the eldest son, Crown Prince Victor, the second son, Prince Louis, and the youngest child, Princess Rieta. Including Duke Middleton, there are four in total.”

Arendt continued, confirming that Llewellyn had received the papers.

“And then there’s Her Highness the Queen, along with the mother of the second prince and the youngest princess, Consort Violetta. These are the suspects that can be counted on one hand… for now, let’s exclude His Highness the Crown Prince and Duke Middleton.”

“…Hey, wait a minute.”

Llewellyn, who had been looking at the documents, raised his head in surprise.

“Is Her Majesty the Queen one of the suspects? Why her? There’s nothing for her to gain from His Majesty’s death.”

“Well, it looks like that on the outside. It seems like the two of them didn’t get along very well.”

Arendt absentmindedly scratched the back of his neck a few times.

“Don’t you feel an incredible amount of malice in the way that he has slowly lost his judgment and has been left to rot away, unable to live or die?”

“…”

Llewellyn was left speechless.

As always, it was because of the chilling coldness in Arendt’s indifferent tone that sent a shiver down his spine.