A large instrument similar to a pipe organ began to play in the great cathedral of the royal capital.
“O our gods, by the river clearer than crystal...” a gospel choir sang.
All of us from House Sevensworth were currently attending the funeral service for the four presumably deceased members of the royal family. The search efforts for the king and the fourth prince had been called off after a week since neither of their bodies had been found. The search for the queen and the third prince—the former crown prince—had also turned out similarly, with nobody knowing for certain if they were dead or alive.
Since none of their bodies had been found, all the caskets were empty. Holding a royal funeral without a body was already unusual, but four empty caskets was unprecedented. It was all because the first prince had forcibly had the funeral accelerated.
On the date of the incident, the dowager queen had been traveling outside the country, and she simply never came back, so she wasn’t in attendance. Judging by how she’d essentially disappeared, she most likely wasn’t dead but in hiding for her own safety. After all, it would be harder to kill her if she were a guest staying in another country’s palace.
The only ones who could hide information about the people staying at their palace were the royal members of that country. Since we hadn’t found a body or heard any information about her whereabouts, she was most likely under their protection. She’d probably determined that it was far too dangerous to return here.
The funeral felt strangely rushed, given how the fourth prince had just been chosen for the throne and now was all but assured dead. But also, the only members of the royal family who were still okay were the king’s concubine, the first prince, and the first princess, meaning that the queen’s bloodline had died out, leaving only the two children of the king’s concubine to inherit the kingdom. It was obvious which faction was behind this. There was now no other candidate to inherit the throne but the first prince. Whoever had done this had gotten their wish; the first prince would be our new king.
“O our gods, grant our city eternal peace...” the gospel choir sang.
Amid the song, my mother-in-law was shedding tears. Seeing her like this seemed to bring a smirk to the face of the king’s concubine. She clearly wasn’t innocent in what had happened.
She’d been the very same person who’d changed the school into a meritocracy in order to show off how brilliant her first son was, which was further than most people would go. The authority of royalty and nobility came from the basis of their culture, which had them revere those of higher status than them, but if they started instilling values of meritocracy into the newer generations, the societal standard would eventually change. Her method of accomplishing her goal by any means necessary was just like the first prince.
However, I could understand why the king’s concubine hated my mother-in-law. For one, it must’ve been very unpleasant how much her husband doted on his sister, but also, she had more influence on noble society than even royalty did. She must’ve been quite the annoyance to her.
Ana was also crying, so I held her hand in her lap. Right now, this was all I could do for her.
After the funeral ended, the four empty caskets were placed in the royal mausoleum. Not just anyone was allowed inside: They had to be at least marquess status or higher, or have royal blood. In our family, Ana and her parents could enter, but not me, so I was waiting in the royal garden by myself. While alone, I couldn’t help but think about some things.
It wasn’t clear how many guards had been with the king and the others since that was classified information, but they should’ve had a considerable number of guards. Even so, the four of them were all assassinated at the same time. This must’ve been the work of a meticulously laid plan, made over a long period of time and involving a very large number of people.
I couldn’t help but wonder if this was what Hugo’s poem had been referring to. The sun was the king, the stars were the queen and her children. Then the sunset was the first prince. I’d told my mother-in-law about the poem as well, but that hadn’t been enough to prevent this terrible result. It was a plan that even she hadn’t been able to subvert.
I truly never thought that anyone would go this far. After all, even though assassination was always within the realm of possibility in royal politics, it was hard to believe that someone could so easily kill off members of their own family—a family that I was now technically a part of. It felt so unreal to think about through the lens of my former life. These kinds of things had only ever happened on the news, which felt like a completely different world to me entirely.
Though there were many advantages to having my past life’s memories, there were some disadvantages too, one of which being the peaceful mindset from my past world preventing me from being able to predict events like these. I really needed to correct this as soon as possible. A man who would have been sentenced to prison for his horrible crimes in my past world was becoming this country’s king.
The worst part was that he wasn’t a fool. Thinking back to our school’s history lessons, there weren’t many monarchs who’d killed their family for the throne who turned out to be idiots. Most likely, the ambition and mercilessness required to kill one’s flesh and blood, as well as the decisiveness to successfully carry out their plans, were all talents that made them competent as king. He’d be a much more formidable foe than the former king, who had at times been very indecisive.
I couldn’t help but think that Hugo hadn’t just known about this plot but had been a part of it. If so, then he would’ve only leaked this top secret information to me as a challenge. He’d essentially been telling me that he’d come up with this plan and dared me to stop it.
“Sir Gino,” Ana said in a sad voice.
The royal mausoleum was the location of the final part of the funeral ceremony, and that had ended a while ago. Those who’d gone in were now filing out to leave. Though Ana had come back, my mother- and father-in-law were still inside. According to Ana, though everyone was leaving, her mother continued to stand over the king’s casket and cry, and the duke stayed right by her side. We waited for them for a time, but it was getting late, so Ana decided to go check on them.
When she returned by herself, she had a melancholic expression, making me worry.
“What happened?”
“Father... He was doing a strange dance.”
“Huh?”
“Mother was still crying in front of the casket, and father was doing a silly dance to try and cheer her up. However, it only made her cry harder and collapse into his arms.”
Oh, that’s what happened? I was imagining something completely different.
“After living with them for all this time, I thought I knew everything about my parents, but seeing that made me realize there’s a whole world between the two of them that I’m not aware of. I was unable to interrupt once I realized that, so I left...”
I don’t blame her. I’m sure it’s normal for married couples to act differently when it’s just the two of them.
“Ana, how about we go home? We’ll have more time to ourselves and can spend lots of time together. Let’s talk the night away,” I said.
“Oh my, that’s a wonderful suggestion. I would like that!”
I offered my elbow to escort her, and she placed her hand on it while giggling. But still, silly dancing, huh? The duke was the type of person who’d practice very hard to make his wife, whom he was head over heels for, shine brightly on the dance floor at parties. Apparently, he’d been working at it from a young age, so he was very skilled. Knowing him, his dancing must’ve been so perfect that it was almost unnatural.
I could get through most normal dances well enough, but I didn’t have the talent to dance strangely on purpose...but maybe I should try. The duke danced like that for my mother-in-law’s sake, and seeing that made Ana realize that her parents had sides to them that even she didn’t know. If I danced like that for Ana, maybe it would help her understand what it felt like to be in that world. That’s right! Even if I can’t do it as well as the duke can, I should still try my best!
“Ana! I’ll try dancing strangely too!”
“Huh? Um... Perhaps another time.”
Hm. If that won’t cheer her up, then I guess this plan’s a bust. What should I do, then? As I escorted Ana to the carriage, Ana began giggling as if realizing something funny.
“Oh, I understand what you were thinking when you suggested dancing for me. I’d like to dance for your sake as well, Sir Gino.”
“Ana! How are you so cute?!”
“That’s close enough, Sir Ginorious!”
Before I knew it, I’d tried to hug Ana, and I was promptly stopped by Bridgette. Ana’s cuteness was so great that I felt like my heart was gonna burst. It made me lose all sense of reasoning once again.
“Sir Ginorious! Really?! On the day of the royal funeral?! Right here in the palace, one of the strictest places in the country?! How can you be so absolutely shameless?!”
Bridgette’s voice as she lectured me echoed across the night-filled royal garden.