Chapter 233: Changing Sides
“Mom.”
Before going to bed, Grey Dove was in charge of checking the area around the house, which gave Rachel and Evelia a few minutes to talk alone.
“What is it?”
Evelia was the same as always. She hadn’t changed her clothes. Her previous outfit, which was torn up, had been handed over to Grey Dove. What she wore now was a spare set she kept stored with her alchemy markings.
Although most of her clothes were custom-made by Anna, Evelia still made sure to have several identical versions of the same outfit. Clothes were easy to copy, just follow the stitches. Back then, when the Second Prince saw that her budget request listed “multiple women’s dresses” (and that the number was huge thanks to Anna’s fast production), he raised his eyebrows a bit, but still approved it right away. He even had some “internal” tailors make the clothes, matching the original design perfectly.
Her reason was simple, she never knew when she’d run into something on the street.
Maybe she’d be out buying tomato sauce, and suddenly someone would show up and assign her a target to kill, or a surprise emergency would happen. If she didn’t have time to change, she’d have to act in whatever she was wearing.
If her clothes got bloodstained and drew attention, that would be bad. So Evelia made sure to have lots of duplicates to change into right away.
Like now, she had just used one. Her original outfit was so torn it was useless, so it wasn’t a problem to give it to Grey Dove. She simply put on a new set.
“Um... aren’t we going home?”
“Yes.”
Evelia answered firmly. It seemed she had already accepted that Armand’s estate was now ‘home.’
“Then... why not now?”
“Not yet.”
“Ugh...”
She was just as firm when it came to saying no.
“But Mom, don’t you miss Dad?”
“......”
Faced with Rachel’s question, Evelia fell silent.
She looked at Rachel’s innocent expression, then lightly nodded. But didn’t say anything out loud.
Rachel rolled her eyes slightly, sensing a chance to push further.
“I miss Dad too! He must be missing us right now!”
Rather than saying she missed Armand, it was more like she missed being alive.
Even though Armand and Evelia’s actions sometimes threw her into dangerous situations, it was still safer than staying here.
She’d rather eat a few more packs of tomato sauce than suddenly get shot with an arrow out of nowhere.
Of course, she wouldn’t say that to Evelia. She didn’t even like tomato sauce. It was just the least bad option among a bunch of things she didn’t want to do. After all, people tend to compromise.
“...Do you think Mr. Armand would really miss us?”
Evelia still seemed unsure. She glanced toward the window next to the door, where they could see Grey Dove still moving busily around.
“Of course!” Rachel, seeing that Evelia was being moved a little, quickly added, “If you went missing, Dad would totally go crazy looking for you!”
“......”
Evelia fell silent again.
‘Is that true? If I’m away like this... would Mr. Armand really worry about me?’
For some reason, Evelia felt a little happy.
She had no idea what state Armand was in now. She didn’t realize that the torn-up old outfit she gave to Grey Dove would be used to cause such chaos. She was just quietly, secretly pleased inside.
So someone out there actually cares about me.
She had always been a wanderer, someone with no roots. Other than the Second Prince who gave her missions, no one really paid attention to her.
But now... maybe things were different.
Could someone like me really...
“I’m back, Lord Red Crow!”
Just as Evelia was getting emotional from Rachel’s words, Grey Dove burst through the door.
Even though she still had some doubts about the changes in “Red Crow,” she was still her number one fan. No matter what happened, her idol was always right. If something seemed off, it had to be someone else’s fault.
Lord Red Crow was flawless, her personal goddess. If she had changed in any way, it must have been because someone else had “tainted” her. Maybe... that knight captain?
Grey Dove thought this to herself as she tried to recall what that knight captain looked like.
Because of their opposing positions, the Knight Order was considered the enemy of House of Nightingales, and as the leader of the Knight Order, Armand was seen by those in House of Nightingales as a kind of “local warlord” and the Second Prince’s top enemy. A dangerous man not to be messed with.
House of Nightingales operated in the shadows, while the Knight Order was out in the open. That meant it was hard for the Knight Order to gather information about House of Nightingales, but much easier for House of Nightingales to spy on the Knight Order. They had detailed files on many members of the Knight Order, from squad captains to Vice-Captain Carle, and especially Captain Armand.
The Second Prince’s ultimate goal was to take the throne. To do that, he had to defeat the Crown Prince.
Taking power could be either very simple or very difficult.
If it were simple, it would just be a military coup. As long as he had enough soldiers, he could seize the throne by force.
But if he didn’t want to be seen as a violent tyrant in the eyes of the people, then he would have to do it in a quieter, more strategic way, removing all traces afterward to prevent future problems.
The Second Prince, however, preferred to take both paths at the same time.
He would secretly try to infiltrate the Crown Prince’s forces to shift the balance, just like before, when he had the upper hand, but then lost control of the military after Armand was appointed captain of the Knight Order. Now, the Second Prince was planning to start again from that very point, the military power of the Knight Order.
If he could gain control of the Knight Order, then he could immediately launch a coup.
The Crown Prince hadn’t raised an army yet, mainly because he was the legitimate heir. If the King passed away, he would naturally become the next ruler. Some people might oppose it, but he was still the eldest son, and inheritance by the eldest son was the most logical and accepted tradition.
On top of that, the borders weren’t very stable right now. Many soldiers had been sent out to deal with threats from other countries or monsters, so things inside the capital were relatively peaceful.
The Second Prince hoped to take advantage of this situation.
In recent years, Armand had led the Knight Order to fight on the front lines, and thanks to him, the borders had become more stable. Soon, those threats from barbarians or beasts would be under control. Then, when the Crown Prince’s troops returned to the capital for a period of rest, with external threats gone and internal forces resting, the Second Prince believed that moment would be the perfect time to strike.
But right now, the biggest obstacle in his way was the Knight Order.
The Royal Knight Order was technically neutral and loyal to the royal family as a whole, but since Armand was clearly aligned with the Crown Prince, the Order naturally leaned toward the Crown Prince’s side. If the Second Prince could plant his own people into key positions within the Knight Order, everything would become much easier.
The two key figures blocking his path were Captain Armand and Vice-Captain Carle.
Although Armand and Carle were well-known close friends, the Second Prince believed Carle would be easier to handle.
As a wealthy and famous businessman, Carle’s background was easy to investigate, and more importantly, he had a wife and child, a weakness. Men with families had soft spots. That made Carle easier to deal with, whether by turning him against the Crown Prince or just silencing him. Either option would be much easier than trying to take down Armand.
Armand, on the other hand, made the Second Prince feel both annoyed and helpless.
No one knew where he came from. The last name “Systalia” was unfamiliar, probably from some tiny, unknown village, and there was no background to dig into. His personality was also difficult to read.
Armand always acted like he didn’t know anything, no matter what people asked him. He seemed like a fool, but somehow he kept managing to block all of the Second Prince’s tests and schemes. Clearly, he wasn’t as clueless as he looked.
To the Second Prince, it always seemed like Armand was doing weird, unimportant things. But somehow, those strange actions ended up solving problems. That’s why getting rid of Armand had become the most important task in the Second Prince’s plan to take power.
Even trying to assassinate him directly was extremely difficult.
First, Armand was very cautious. It was like he had a sixth sense for danger. His instincts for detecting killing intent were unbelievably sharp, and he never went anywhere dangerous alone. He kept himself very well protected.
Second, his position as Captain of the Knight Order wasn’t just a title, it was something he had fought for with his sword and fists. To kill him, the Second Prince would need to find the right opportunity and send in his most skilled people.
That’s where Evelia came in.
The Second Prince’s most trusted agent, Red Crow, was sent to gain Armand’s trust. If she couldn’t convince him to switch sides, her job was to kill him and help the Second Prince move forward with taking power, and eventually eliminating the Crown Prince too.
But now something unexpected had happened.
Evelia’s loyalty seemed to be wavering, and it looked like Armand was the reason.
To be honest though, she had succeeded in gaining Armand’s trust, or more accurately, she had developed some kind of emotional bond with him. The mission so far was going well. If she continued according to plan, gaining trust, gathering intel, using him, and then killing him, everything would go smoothly.
But… would it really?
The plan was already halfway done, but now something was clearly off track.
The Second Prince had noticed the change. In his previous conversation with Evelia, it was obvious he had started trying to pull her back to his side.
He told Evelia to remember who she really was, to remind her of what was truly the right thing to do.
But…
What is the right thing to do?
Evelia, clearly, didn’t know anymore.