196 Battle of Darkness (1/2)
A young girl turned her gaze towards the far away gate of the capital.
Her pink blond hair danced in the wind against the grey sky. That girl was the princess of Oriana Kingdom, Clara Oriana.
”The capital has been surrounded by our army. Other lords who plead their loyalty to you are on their way. Once the army has assembled, we will launch a full-scale attack.”
Said a man in his forties standing behind Clara.
”I express my gratitude for assembling the army, Marquis Grant..”
Said Clara as she was gazing at the gate from afar..
”That's all thanks to you your highness. They wouldn't unite like this if it was only me.”
”Because of me…”
Clara whispered.
”What are you worried about?”
”I'm a royal in name only. I didn't do anything and I know nothing…”
”Are you concerned about the mysterious organization that helped you escape from the Concentration Camp?”
”It's actually about my sister who can actually lead the Oriana Kingdom.”
”Rose-sama? It's better not to mention her.”
”Why? Since the day my sister killed father, things have changed. Although everyone speaks ill of my sister, father was acting really weird. My sister must have known some inside stories.”
”Rose-sama killed your father the majesty. Whatever reason she had, this fact cannot be changed.”
”If we don't know the reason behind all of this, then we can't understand all the other things. Why did my father become so strange, why did my sister kill him, how did the Doem Faction gain so much power, why was I rescued from Concentration Camp, why did the army assemble so easily, how was the capital surrounded so easily without any large battles happening? There are so many questions, but we don't have any answers, do we?”
”Well…”
”Marquis Grant, don't you think that this is some sort of grand scheme that someone has plotted against us ?”
Marquis Grant looked up at the gray sky with a serious look.
”… Back when I was determined to go into politics, my grandfather gave me a word of warning. There is hidden darkness lurking in this world that we must avoid at all costs.”
He said in a low voice.
”Darkness…”
”This darkness has been in existence for a long, long time. I don't know what this darkness is or what it represents, and I've never gone out of my way to explore it, because I listened to my grandfather's words. Though in the many years of working in politics, I've encountered this darkness several times, and the pressure it released was suffocating. Abnormal judgements, demotions, manipulations, missing family members, and eventually death by accidents, is the same fate for all of those who searched for the truth of the darkness.”