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Shadow Guard (5)

One of the letters contained the plans for assassinating the Third Prince. The other was murdering Hero Blaine's family. The first letter had already been sent out, but the second letter would only be sent out if Blaine rejected Prince Levi one more time. With the Crown Prince's seal on both of these confidential letters, it made it easier for him to plan everything out accordingly. He also pulled out various documents about his payment to the Association for Prince Cecil's assassinations. All of these were preparations to get Prince Cecil to become the new Crown Prince.

"Did you leave behind the replicas?"

"Of course. You know my skills in forgery are the best of the best."

This man was a master in forgery. His skills were so amazing, he was even able to mimic the Aura of the person just by seeing their handwriting. What a scary man!

Number 1 scoffed at the thought of Prince Levi. "I understand why he might want to kill Prince Cecil but to kill Prince Zachary as well? The man is too paranoid. Just like the previous Emperor."

"It may be more than that, Big Brother. What happens if Prince Levi isn't who we think he is?" Grey smirked as he put the letters into the System space to keep it safe.

"Would you like me to look into that as well?" Number 1 was willing to do anything for Number 18.

"It's okay. For now, we can leave it as is. The Emperor will probably order you to do it in the future though..." It was as though Grey knew the future. "There's something off about Prince Levi. He is too paranoid, more paranoid than the previous Emperor. It's like... if he doesn't get rid of everyone around him, someone will find out his secret. I intend to find out what it is, of course."

"This is the most I have seen you talk. You must really hate the Crown Prince."

"It's not that I hate him, but I do have big plans... I will tell you about them in the future, Big Brother. Anyway, thank you for helping me out. I have a bad feeling about Prince Levi so you should keep your guard up."

"You were always one who went with their gut." Number 1 patted his hair. "Don't do anything dangerous, and if you need help, I will always be there to help you."

Grey nodded. It was only dangerous if it resulted in death. If not, he was sure he was able to handle it on his own.

Well, that's what he thought.

After their battle in the Southern territory, half the army had come back home victorious. The Right General stayed in Fort Afio to guard against the Liyas Empire while Prince Cecil and some of his men went back to the capital. The Trio-Color Captains stayed behind as well.

On the day they had all come back to the capital, Hero Blaine had gotten into an argument with Crown Prince Levi. He refused to swear his loyalty to Prince Levi once again as he was already sworn to the current Emperor. He didn't choose sides even with his admiration for Knight Commander Cecil, but Prince Levi was furious. He was going to be the Emperor when his old man died. What was the harm in swearing loyalty a bit early?!

Though he didn't realize that his seat wasn't set in stone. If someone else had become Emperor? That Emperor would've murdered everyone who had been opposing him, leaving no one a way to escape. That's how it was for the Royal Family.

Lately, nothing has been going his way. First, Number 18 didn't choose him to be his Master, and then Hero Blaine didn't want to swear his loyalty no matter how much he asked. Even his twin little sister, Princess Serah wasn't able to win Blaine's heart. Though she was half-hearted about it because she wasn't interested in some commoner.