The carriage continued its journey, the sound of the wheels grinding against the accumulated snow monotonous and long.
During the trip, Yuna asked Loran if he knew anything about the ruins at the bottom of the lake. Loran only shook his head blankly, saying he didn’t know, so she dropped the subject.
After they had traveled for about half an hour, a sudden burst of dense, rhythmic hoofbeats echoed from ahead, piercing the silence of the forest.
The sound approached from the distance, the iron shoes striking the frozen earth with a powerful, metallic clang. It was clearly a well-trained unit.
Ophelia’s gaze sharpened. She raised her hand to signal the driver to stop, and the carriage slowly ground to a halt in the middle of the road.
Dusk surged from the woods like a tide, leaving only a sliver of dark red lingering on the western horizon. Ahead on the road, a troop of about fifty cavalrymen was marching toward them in formation. They wore uniform deep-grey cloaks over chainmail, with standard-issue longswords and lances hanging by their saddles. A cold, murderous aura emanated from them as they moved, a stark contrast to the temperament of ordinary noble private guards or city watchmen.
Seeing the carriage stopped in the road, the cavalry unit immediately slowed down and split to both sides with practiced precision.
The lead knight stepped forward, dismounting nimbly. He removed his visored helmet, revealing a determined face around thirty years of age. Tucking the helmet under his arm, the knight strode to a point a few paces before the carriage and dropped to one knee, bowing his head in salutation.
“Her Highness Ophelia Blanche, Her Highness Chloe Luffinias, and… His Highness Loran Luffinias. I am Parris, Captain of the Third Squad of the Knights directly under the command of the Prince Regent, Archduke Augustus. I bring greetings to your Highnesses.”
Archduke Augustus? Prince Regent?
Hearing this, Loran was somewhat surprised inside the carriage.
Outside, Parris continued, “I was ordered to perform patrol duties. On my return, I heard from the Sheriff’s office that your Highness’s messenger reported an encounter with bandits on this stretch of road. Upon hearing the news, the Prince Regent was deeply concerned and specifically ordered me to lead a team to intercept you and ensure your safe return.”
Parris looked up and naturally saw the five men, including Prinval, tied in a row behind the carriage. A flash of cold severity crossed his eyes, and he signaled two knights behind him to step forward and take custody.
The carriage door opened. Ophelia wrapped her cloak tightly and was the first to step down, followed by Chloe, who was supported by Arya. Loran followed closely behind.
Seeing the group, Parris performed another respectful salute.
Prinval had been dragged behind the carriage the entire way and was almost numb with cold. However, Parris’s booming voice and the words “Prince Regent,” “Blanche,” and “Luffinias” pierced through his consciousness like ice picks.
The Blanche family… that blonde girl was the eldest daughter of the Blanche family? The Blanche family that was currently as influential as the sun in the capital?
Luffinias… that silver-haired girl was the current head of the Luffinias house? And that pretty boy… the rising star of the Holy Canon? Could he be the Loran Luffinias whose entry into the Radiant Class was personally announced by the Dean of Altras Academy?
Prinval felt as if his heart had stopped beating.
These people weren’t “fat sheep” to be fleeced; they were the absolute top tier of the capital’s power players. They were a group of people who could directly alarm the Prince Regent and have him dispatch his personal knights to escort them.
The gallows… no, even being sent to the gallows might be a luxury. With the power these people held, making them disappear painfully and silently in the depths of some dungeon would be as easy as flipping a hand.
Prinval’s face lost all color. His lips trembled so much he couldn’t even whimper; only total despair remained. Burton and the others were much the same, their faces the color of ash.
Ophelia took a step forward and nodded slightly, returning a standard noble salute to Parris.
“I appreciate your hard work, Captain Parris. Please also convey my gratitude to Archduke Augustus for his concern. Has the Archduke been in good health lately? With the heavy burden of state affairs, please urge him to take care of himself.”
Parris maintained a respectful posture as he replied, “Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. The Prince Regent is well, though he has been somewhat exhausted lately with matters involving the Holy Canon and the Holy See.”
The content of the conversation was quite ordinary, but in Loran’s ears, it held a different meaning.
King Roland II… can he no longer maintain even the facade of power?
In Loran’s memory, because King Roland II’s health was deteriorating and he was unable to handle court affairs, Archduke Augustus was named Prince Regent to handle major state matters at the recommendation of the ministers and nobles, and with the King’s own consent.
The title “Prince Regent” was used so naturally by Parris, and Ophelia accepted it without any sign of oddity. This clearly wasn’t a temporary title, but a fact already widely recognized within the capital’s power circles.
Furthermore… it wasn’t just Prinval’s group appearing at a convenient time; Parris’s appearance was equally convenient, wasn’t it?
The defense of the capital region had always been handled by the Garrison Troops. Even if Parris had received word from the Sheriff and immediately reported it to the Prince Regent, it shouldn’t have been possible for him to arrive this quickly, let alone by the Prince Regent’s personal decree.
Loran stood half a step behind Chloe, his brain working rapidly.
Parris’s knights nimbly untied Prinval and the other four from the back of the carriage, re-securing them with stronger ropes and shackles at the rear of the troop. Then, he bowed again. “Please board the carriage, your Highnesses. I shall escort you back to the city.”
The carriage restarted, surrounded by the elite knights. The light from the torches danced on the knights’ armor, stretching the unit into a dragon of fire winding through the deep forest.
The sense of security was unquestionable, but what Loran felt more than anything was surveillance.
He leaned against the carriage wall, his gaze falling on the flickering torchlight outside the window as he sank into thought.
The first timeline.
Before and after the Holy Canon, the Kingdom of Roland still maintained a fragile sort of prosperity and decorum on the surface. Though King Roland II was bedridden, the throne had not yet changed hands, and the various factions maintained a delicate balance, at least publicly.
It was true that Archduke Augustus’s power was growing daily, but the title of “Prince Regent” wasn’t established until a year after the Holy Canon ended, when the King’s condition worsened drastically and he could no longer govern, leading the Council of Nobles to recommend it and the King to reluctantly nod his head.
Yet now, the Holy Canon had just concluded, and Parris and his knights could already refer to him as “The Prince Regent” so naturally, and Ophelia’s response was entirely normal.
What did this mean? It meant that Augustus’s hands had already infiltrated and seized control of the military and political core of the capital ahead of time. The so-called noble recommendation was likely already nothing more than a scripted formality.
Roland II, a king who had once been considered diligent, had likely become a hollow puppet earlier and more thoroughly than in Loran’s memories.
The timeline was accelerating, and in a deeply unsettling way.
Loran remembered the catastrophe that swept across the Eastern Continent in the middle of the first timeline… Archduke Augustus, under the influence and seduction of the demons, united the major families who held military power. They launched a violent coup under the pretext of “purging the court of corruption” and “reforging order.”
And one of the excuses they chose was Chloe, who possessed the Luffinias bloodline—a girl with extraordinary magical talent who was marginalized due to her family’s decline. They needed a legitimate reason, and Chloe fit every criteria perfectly.
An illustrious but powerless background, controversial magical power, and a “persecution” story tragic enough to incite the masses.
Once the coup was successfully launched, the chain reactions followed one after another.
First was the Holy See. They would never sit idly by while a regime potentially infiltrated by demons unified the Eastern Continent. Thus, they quickly installed Ophelia, who had fled to the Holy Kingdom, as the Saintess. Simultaneously, they announced the establishment of the Slein Church State to stand against Augustus.
And so, the Kingdom of Roland split. This struggle for faith, power, and resources rapidly escalated into a brutal war that engulfed the entire Eastern Continent.
The barbarian tribes in the north, who had long been suppressed in those cold, desolate lands, were like a pack of wolves smelling blood. Upon hearing the news, they immediately tore up the peace treaties and marched south.
The first to bear the brunt was the Luffinias fief located on the kingdom’s northern border: North Yankton County.
Everything from his memory flashed silently before Loran’s eyes—
The burning earth, the desperate cries and flight of the commoners, the hideous faces of the barbarians, and their blood-stained battle axes… Finally, the Luffinias family castle.
Under the pincer attack of an enemy force many times their size and the traitors who had fled into the castle, the walls collapsed, and the towers fell.
Slud and the knights fought a bloody battle until the very last moment, their blood soaking every stone slab beneath the castle.
The last foundations and dignity of the Luffinias family were completely destroyed, turned into scorched earth and ruins.
This became the final straw that broke Chloe, the fuse that caused her to slide completely into darkness and manifest as the Demon King.
Perhaps there had once been a sliver of attachment and lingering affection for the King, but after that slaughter and destruction, only cold hatred and an ultimate thirst for power remained.
Now, the point in time where Augustus became the Prince Regent had been moved significantly forward, meaning the preparation period for the coup might be shortened, and the speed at which the entire crisis erupted would accelerate.
And Chloe… would she be swept into the center of this storm even earlier?
Thinking of this, Loran felt a surge of intense irritation.
His original plan was built on a relatively stable external timeline. He needed time for Chloe to grow, time for himself to accumulate strength, and he needed to intervene precisely at the key nodes to guide the plot toward that Demon King route ending while securing a chance of survival for himself.
But now, the window of time remaining for him was shrinking rapidly.
The carriage jolted slightly, pulling his thoughts back to reality. Loran lifted his eyes and discovered that Chloe had opened her eyes at some point and was quietly watching him.
The unit traveled in silence until the outline of Valgard’s city walls appeared in the night. Up ahead, the torchlight of another group appeared.
It was the private knights of the Blanche family, along with some soldiers wearing the uniform of the Capital Garrison, clearly sent to intercept them after receiving Ophelia’s message.
Though the speed of their arrival… was truly nothing to compliment.
Parris reined in his horse and raised his hand to stop the troop. He then came to the carriage window and spoke. “Highnesses, the relief has arrived. I have my duties and must immediately escort the prisoners back to the city to report. Therefore, I shall take my leave. I wish your Highnesses a peaceful night.”
Without another word, Parris commanded his knights to lead the five prisoners—who were now little more than walking corpses—away from the main group. They accelerated toward the side gate of the capital and quickly vanished into the night.
The teams merged and headed toward the Luffinias estate in the noble district. The atmosphere seemed to relax a bit, but the tension in Loran’s heart did not loosen in the slightest.