82 Epilogue (1/2)

Devon Hyburn, the fourth Prince of Nidia, could hear the bells tolling before he even reached the capital. He had finally returned from the bandit subjugation; however, it didn't end as he expected. After tracking Denova for two days, he ran face first into the man. Rather, he ran face first into the man's head, now separated from his body. Denova's body was lying on the ground, his dick hanging out from the top of his drawers and a hole in his chest. Under the Denova's head attached to the spike was a small note.

For Devon.

Devon shivered at the memory. He had fought Denova himself, so he knew what a terrifying presence the man was. While he had defeated Denova in combat, that was simply luck of the draw between their special skills. Denova had still escaped, and he didn't know if he would have ever been able to catch the man. More than likely, Denova would have been in another country and Devon would have returned empty-handed, instead of carrying the head in a pouch on his saddle.

Whoever had murdered him was a terrifying presence indeed, and they knew Devon personally. However, maybe it was… no, he didn't want to think about the possibility. That woman was long gone, and he was done thinking about the woman who called herself Aria, even if she had been his first, presuming he didn't count a particular traumatizing event orchestrated by his eldest brothers when he was a young child. Either way, they were both dead, and so was the Bandit King, but the Treasury was nowhere to be found.

Devon shook his head and instead focused on the matter at hand. When he reached the outer gates to the city, the gatekeepers seemed clueless. The bells had only started just shortly before Devon returned. He gave a frown as he kicked his horse into a gallop and headed for the castle.

Of course, the bells only rang when there was a major death in the royal family. They would continue to ring one hour every morning for a week. It was a sort of eulogy to honor the fall of a noble. However, Julian and Gregory had died almost two weeks ago now. It was possible that since there were two deaths; the King had decided to carry out the ceremony for two weeks. However, if this was the case, the guards on the periphery seemed kept in the dark.

As Devon rode towards the castle, the entire capital city seemed to be in a stir. Messengers were racing down the streets at full sprint. There were dozens of whispers as the citizens seemed to gossip.

”… dead…”

”All of them?”

”Just this morning…”

Devon only caught snippets of the kind of talk going around, most of it seemed to be involved around death. However, every conversation seemed to be about a different person, alternating between discussions about men, women, a knight, or a young squire. Devon didn't wait to get names, forging forward. The palace would be the best place to get the answers he sought.

As soon as he reached the castle gateroom, his frown deepened. There were no guards at the gates, which was something completely unheard of in this city. The palace gates being unmanned was a complete abomination in etiquette. What exactly had happened here?

He galloped into the castle stables and ended up tying his horse up himself. Abandoning the animal, he finally came across a group of guards he recognized. They were entry-level guards given over to be trained by a Knight with a bad reputation. Few Knights wanted to train peasants to hold swords, so it was usually the more questionable Knights that got left with that duty. The Knight had done well as the men were in a proper form, but the Knight himself was mysteriously absent.

As soon as they saw Devon, their form broke, and they ran up to him, bowing in haste while still catching their breaths.

”Guards… what is going on here? Report!” Devon couldn't stop the frustration coming out of his voice, but the guards didn't seem to be in a place to notice the lapse in etiquette.

”My Lord, thank the gods you're here! It's the King, my lord. The King is dead!”

Devon stared at the man for a solid ten seconds before the message sunk in properly. For a moment, he felt like he was falling, followed by dizziness and an urge to throw up. However, he was a trained soldier, and he knew when to force his emotions down and accomplish what needed to be accomplished. He worked his brain, trying to come up with what needed to happen next.

”That is… then Richard. Richard is next in line to be King. What is he doing?”

The men looked at each other and then back. ”That is… he's… um… barricaded himself in his room.”

”What?”

”That's where we're going, sir. We were going to get a ram to break down the door.He won't speak to us.”

Devon frowned, but after a moment he nodded to them. ”Do as you were ordered, I'll be heading to my brother's room.”

The men gave rough bows and took off running, and Devon immediately started heading for the room of his brother. Devon supposed he couldn't blame Richard. Richard always had problems with his own self-confidence since he was a child. Two weeks ago, he was the third child of the King and had no responsibility or expectations. Then, his two brothers and his fiancée died, and he was propelled to the heir to the throne. No… I suppose his fiancée probably died a long time ago. The woman he thought was his fiancée, this Aria, was some kind of spy or the like. He didn't want to think about her right now, let alone the last night he had seen her.

Instead, he focused on the now. With the King dead, Richard was propelled to the King of this nation in less than a month. That was enough stress to wear on anyone. Devon needed to be at his most supportive at this moment. He had to be by his brother's side. Between the two of them, they could handle anything that came.

As he turned into the hallway of his brother's room, there was a crowd of anxious people. A half dozen guards, an anxious Knight, the Duchess Melinda Fry of all people, and a few servants of the castle.

One man was banging on the door. ”Your sire, please, open up!”

”Stand aside!” Devon stated as he walked up.

As people turned and recognized them, they immediately gave out relieved expressions and dropped into curtsies and bows.

”Ah, Prince Hyburn. You arrived in the nick of time. I was about to pull the former prince out by his ear.” Melinda crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Devon gave the woman a respectful nod. To Devon, it seemed like over the last few months, Melinda had come to life. He didn't know her well, but he did know that after her husband died, she had become introverted. She stopped going to balls and started spending all of her time focusing on her garden. Although she always wore a straight back and had a wicked tongue, her fire seemed to be going out. That was, until about two months ago when the life was breathed back into her. The source of that was, of course, Aria. Back to her. Why does it all keep going back to her?

Devon stood in front of the door, but instead of knocking, he put all of his strength into his leg. A single kick and the door burst open with a snap. The door did give significant resistance, and if he wasn't a tier three, he likely wouldn't have been able to open it either. The nearby guards stared in amazement as the door burst open.

”I knew the fourth prince was strong, but…” That was the words coming from the only Knight Devon had seen since he entered the castle.

He walked into his brother's room to find it completely absent of light. It was eerily quiet and devoid of life. The balcony door was open, letting our cold bursts of morning air, which was becoming crisp in the fall months. Through the sheer canopy covering, the prince could see his brother lying face down on the bed. He gave a wry smile at how childish his brother was being. He would be King by the end of the week, so Devon knew he needed to do something to snap him out of it.

He approached his brother and touched his shoulder. Immediately, he was aware that something was wrong. His brother was cold to the touch, having none of the warmth of a living person. As he turned him over, he could already see the blue skin that lacked circulation. Richard's body was stiff as he tried to move him. He immediately understood his brother was dead, but he couldn't make sense of it.

”It was her…”

The voice caused Devon's gaze to shift to the corner of the room, hidden behind the bed. There was a huddled-up mass there, and with hair that looked like it had been partially torn out, destroyed makeup, and a wrinkled dress, it took Devon a moment to recognize who it was.

”Sylvia Marionette?”

”She did… all of this. To punish me.” Sylvia's voice was dry and hoarse like she had cried until the point that she couldn't cry any more.

”Who did this?”

”That… demon.” Sylvia's eyes narrowed, but in the end, the anger just couldn't be expressed, turning into dry tears instead.

”Demon?”

”Sir…” The knight behind Devon got to a knee as he spoke. ”There are… other deaths.”

”What do you mean?” Devon turned away from Sylvia for a moment.

”Um… Knight Gravon and Knight Childeen. Duke Tigen. Master Senia. Hastor Millian and his wife. Derek Senda and his daughter… the reports are still coming in.”

”My sources have already reported various entire families being wiped out. The Rhine family. The Stone Family. The Paiters.” Melinda had entered the room as well; she spoke up and then froze for a second when her eyes fell on Sylvia, giving the girl behind him a sympathetic look. ”Duke Marionette, as well.”

”All… loyal noble houses…” the words left Devon's lips.

”She did it,” Sylvia spoke up again. ”She-she killed them all. She said she would make me pay. She said she'd take everything from me. She did…”

”Speak girl, who?” Melinda was less sympathetic than Devon had been.

”It's all my fault…” a realization flashed in Sylvia's eyes. ”I did this. I… just… I just wanted her to pay. I wanted to wipe that condescending superiority off her face. I j-just… I just wanted Richard to notice me. And then she took my identity. She took… took… e-everything…”

Devon stared down at the girl as she broke into tears. Suddenly, Melinda's eyes flashed, and she turned to Devon.

”That girl, use analyze on her.”

”Ah? What? Okay… I guess…” Devon squinted at her, he had never been good at the analyze skill, but a moment later the name popped up. ”Eh?”

However, the name he had expected was not the name he had seen. Cornelia Bartrum, the first princess of Daphne. How was that possible? Aria… why did this all keep coming back to that woman?

”What did you see?” Melinda demanded in a voice that was unbecoming for a Duke talking to a prince.

”Cornelia… Bartrum… she appears as Cornelia Bartrum,” Devon shook his head. ”Aria… what did you do? How…”

Sylvia held up the ring. ”Sh-she poisoned me. With a cursed ring. Julian was going to come up with a way to take it off, but then she killed him! And she told me, she said she'd take the rest from me… and then my lovely Richard, oh gods…”

Devon didn't know if she had heard when Melinda mentioned her dead family. She seemed more shook up about Richard than them. It was possible she was suffering from shock. Either way, he didn't want to exacerbate the situation.

”Stop playing the 'she' game, who are you talking about?” Melinda snapped, ignoring Richard's attempt at concern.

”Who do you think?” Sylvia snapped back, raising her finger. ”Cornelia! Or the demon who possessed Cornelia… or maybe Cornelia never existed in the first place. I offended Qetesh, and she was sent back to punish me! To get her revenge, the god of sex and vengeance!”

Melinda put on a disbelieving voice and spoke lightly. ”I'm sorry to tell you, girl, but Cornelia died…”

”Of course, she died!” Sylvia replied sharply. ”I'm the one who did it. We all did. All the nobles. We killed her together. Me, Julian, Richard, you, even Devon here! She'll be coming for you next! I don't know why she didn't already.”

Not the one.

Devon remembered the dream-like event when he had last seen the woman calling herself Aria. He had been frozen, and they had, done things… He would have thought perhaps that he had hallucinated the whole thing, except for the existence of the medallion. However, she had looked relieved from the moment he went inside her. She had said that what happened, had already happened, and she couldn't change the course of events. Given her supernaturally beautiful appearance, her sexual aptitude, and her incredible body… a sex goddess wouldn't be far from Devon's assessment of her from that night.

”Me? Girl, what are you talking about?”

”O-of course,” Sylvia stiffened. ”The Harvest Festival, not the earlier one. The underground party. I-I made her the sacrifice.”

Melinda frowned thoughtfully. ”Those nasty things Julian throws? I never go to those things.”

”What do you mean, sacrifice?” Devon glared at Sylvia.

”You know… you were there. You saw… w-what we did to her. What we shoved inside her. It was my first harvest… I d-didn't know they would go that far. B-but… it's her fault! She shouldn't have stood in my way.”

”What did you do?” Devon felt an extreme rise in anger and he nearly grabbed her by the throat had Melinda not put a hand out and stopped him.

”W-why are you angry at me?” Sylvia pleaded. ”Yo-you're just as guilty as me. You all go to those things. R-rape those women. I saw you r-raping her just like the rest of us.”

”By the gods…” Melinda took a step back, fear and disgust on her face before turning away and whispering. ”Cornelia…”

Devon lowered a glower on Sylvia. ”I don't go to those things. On the night of the harvest, I was guarding an underground tunnel beneath Reinhart's tower. All I found were nine strangely beguiled monsters. A letter I had received had warned me about the robbery, but the location was wrong.”

”N-no… I saw you there!” Sylvia insisted.

Devon waved his hand, and a second later a second Devon appeared out of nowhere, wearing a mask. Melinda took a step back and made a shout in surprise while Sylvia made a noise.

”When I was eighteen, I swore I'd never go to one of Julian's parties. I had gotten this skill and used it to send a fake me. Its orders were simple. Don't touch anyone unless they give you a coin. If it was forced to ****, the penis would lose all volume, effectively faking penetration. It was all I could do to fend off the first prince.”

”So… you never… then we never…” Sylvia turned her head away.

It appeared that Devon's illusion had once been bought by her as well. Devon shook his head sadly. He was still regretful of that. Aria had been right. In a lot of ways, he had just been a coward. He hid behind plausible deniability. He formed the illusion so that he never knew what happened at those meetings. He saw the coins increase, and he knew something bad had to be happening, but he had avoided it. As she had said, he stuck to his own convenient interpretations of things.

Of course, Devon had gone once, a month previously. Cornelia had forced him to break his oath. However, even then, he wasn't able to protect her from the damage he feared would happen. Even though Devon lived hiding from the reality of his family, he had hoped to keep one family member from falling under Julian's perversion.

”Sir?” A voice came from behind, and he came out of his thoughts and turned to see the Knight bowing with his head down.

”Yes?”

”What should we do sir? We need orders.”

Devon nodded. ”Find out everything you can about the Harvest Festival. Not just the events prior, but the underground parties we all know Julian holds. I want to know who was there and what happened.”

”Sir…” the Knight gave an unsure look. ”The nobles will never admit-”

”Not the nobles. The servants. Bribe the guards, the coachmen, the servants… anyone who admits to seeing anything. Also, go out and make a tally. I want a list of everyone who is dead. What were they doing before? Did they have any issues leading up to the event? Bad dreams? A cough? Anything.”

”Yes, my lord.”

”We'll also need to close off the city gates. We need to reassure the public we are doing something. Right now, it'll likely look like a plague. Let that rumor run, say that it's a plague that only targets magic users. That'll keep the public from panicking. Let the noble houses know that it is likely transmitted by physical contact. Suggest that it was brought in by a foreign dignitary. That should keep them from blaming us for the-”