“……Archbishop, please come this way for a moment. The Duke has a request.”

Arta’s eyes narrowed as he heard the knight whispering in the archbishop’s ear.

Senior Priest Arta quietly stood up and followed the knight who was taking the archbishop away, watching his surroundings carefully.

When the knight led the archbishop to the back door of the chapel, the archbishop asked with confusion.

“Where is the Duke?”

“The Duke has gone to see His Majesty. He asked to evacuate the Archbishop first because it’s dangerous here.”

“No, what is this……! No, if it’s dangerous, everyone should evacuate.”

“We will escort those inside out in order. We’re taking you first to avoid sudden chaos that would hinder evacuation. Please understand.”

The knight lured the protesting archbishop outside with smooth talk.

And as soon as the archbishop went out, the back door locked with a click.

“……!”

Arta pulled on the back door where the knight and archbishop had disappeared and realized it was completely locked.

‘Something big is happening.’

He quickly returned to the chapel and quietly pushed on the entrance door.

As expected, it wouldn’t open.

Bang, kwang!

Just then, an explosion was heard nearby.

The chapel’s foundation shook with the sound.

People screamed in surprise.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Wh-what’s that sound!”

To hear explosions coming from none other than where the palace stood!

And today was the day of the auspicious royal wedding.

Several nobles who had been murmuring fell into panic and shouted.

“Landers must have failed to stop them!”

“What should we do! The mob seems to be coming!”

“We, we need to get out of here! Quickly!”

People who sympathized with their screams began to jump up from their seats one by one.

“Damn it! I felt ominous about today! Everyone move aside!”

“Where have all the palace knights gone? The Duke? His Majesty?”

“What’s this, the door is locked? What’s going on! Hey, guard! Open this door immediately! Hurry!”

Frantic nobles clung to the door and began shaking it.

But the tightly closed door showed no sign of opening.

People protested more loudly.

What silenced the noisy people was the scream of a guard from outside the door.

“Aaaagh!!!”

Startled people all shut their mouths and glared at the closed door.

Chang, chaeng—!

Aaack! Kuk!

The sound of metal objects colliding and bone-chilling screams that made hair stand on end alternated.

People who had rushed to the door hesitated and backed away.

The nobles stood huddled together, eyeing the closed door with wary eyes.

After a while, silence fell.

No more screams or metallic sounds could be heard from outside the door.

Click, the locked door slid open with a sound.

Soon, trembling voices of nobles who recognized the man who opened the door were heard.

A very unexpected figure had appeared.

“……Fu, Fuego the Administrator?”

Fuego took one step into the chapel and shouted in a booming voice.

“Everyone, the wedding has been canceled! Come out quickly! If you stay here, you might all die!”

His voice resonated throughout the high-ceilinged chapel.

‘We might die?!’

People clung even more tightly to each other in fear.

The murmuring of panic-stricken people instantly filled the place.

“Crazy! What the hell is happening outside?”

“Wh-what, is this real? A, a riot has broken out?”

“I’m scared, darling. What should we do now? Surely those crazy people aren’t coming to kill us all? Our child at the mansion, our child!”

“—Calm down, everyone! Leave this place immediately and return to your homes. If you lay low until this series of events settles down, no one will get hurt! The palace will do its best to handle the situation!”

Fuego spoke with force.

His words were full of belief and trust, but people didn’t move easily.

They couldn’t understand why such words were coming from the Chief Administrator rather than the Captain of the Royal Guard.

Moreover, he was the one who had harmed the guards outside the door with knights he had brought.

Nobles who still couldn’t grasp the situation could only hesitate.

Right then, Priest Arta rushed forward and shouted.

“Everyone, we don’t have time for this! Duke Schultz Tartien has taken the Archbishop away! And now he has locked us in here! Why do you think he took the Archbishop away? Isn’t it because he needs to save at least that person if something happens? Everyone! You must trust this man! Let’s go!”

“Wh-what? What does that mean?”

“Took the Archbishop away? Huh!”

“How could the Duke do such a thing!”

People stomped their feet in anger.

And following Arta’s words, they all began to move at once.

“Everyone, we don’t have time for this! Let’s get out!”

Unlike before when they were stiff, they now pushed and shoved each other in their rush to be the first ones out, creating chaos.

“Slowly! If we move calmly, everyone can get out! Stay calm, and let the children and ladies go first!”

Arta and Fuego controlled the people and created a path.

The effect of bringing knights seemed to work, as people listened relatively well despite their fear.

When about 1/3 had gone outside, an earth-shaking explosion was heard.

Bang—!

“……Kyaaaah!”

The mob had already reached nearby.

* * *

“—Your Majesty! Please hurry! Your Majesty!”

Schultz, who had rushed to Luperia Palace, hastily flung open the door to the king’s bedroom to find him, but the room was empty.

“What? Why is no one here?”

He frowned deeply and looked around.

He realized at that moment that the royal guard who should have been protecting this room was also absent.

Just as he hesitated and began to step back, feeling something strange, he noticed that one wall of the bedroom looked different from what he knew.

“……A door?”

Surely that spot had just been a wall, but now there was a half-open door.

Schultz entered through the door with an anxious face.

After passing through a very narrow, short secret passage, he saw another open door.

‘……So he had created a secret place here.’

He discovered another of the king’s secrets.

But far from feeling triumphant, he felt strangely ominous.

He pushed the open door and went inside.

The king lay on a large bed, and the king’s personal physician sat at the bedside, holding the king’s hand and praying.

“Huh? What are you doing, Brook Berels! Wake the king immediately! Are you mad! It’s his wedding day and you’re letting him lie down—!”

“How dare you disturb his eternal rest!”

Schultz, who had been approaching, stopped in his tracks, startled by the sharp rebuke.

Brook jumped up and blocked Schultz’s path, glaring at him with ghostly cold eyes.

“Stop. If you come any closer, I won’t remain still!”

“……How, how dare you, a mere palace physician.”

Momentarily embarrassed that he had been startled by the man’s force, Schultz’s face reddened, but suddenly he asked again with a pale face after processing the palace physician’s words.

“Eternal rest……? Did you just say eternal rest? Are you saying the king is dead!”

Surprised, Schultz grabbed Brook’s shoulders and asked vehemently.

However, the one who answered his question was not the man in front of him, but someone standing behind.

“The one who died is not the king but Sergeant Hans Berels who was the king’s double, Duke Tartien.”

Startled, Schultz slowly turned around.

There stood the king, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, as if he had been there from the beginning.

Unlike usual, his face was covered with a mask, but his posture, hair, voice, and the golden eyes inside the mask were unmistakably the king himself.

“Wh-what does this……. There were two kings?”

Karl chuckled and looked around as he spoke.

“This is a secret place my father told me about. I deliberately chose Luperia as my palace to have this secret room.”

“……Lies! You’re a fake! That’s right!”

Schultz denied his words in shock.

The person before him resembled the king but also differed.

The king always hunched his back.

Days when he stood straight like this were rare.

What about his voice?

It had always been hoarse as if phlegm-filled and gloomy.

But the person before him now looked so healthy and strong.

Someone who looked this solid couldn’t possibly be the king.

He shouldn’t be!

The king, who had been quietly looking at him, took one step closer to Schultz and said,

“On the day I became king, you told me. To become a king who doesn’t stand out. Since people were calling me the son of an arsonist who knew no honor or shame…… to quietly rest on the throne and then step down without causing greater discord.”

“……!”