Arcane Era-Chapter 93: Hidden Mastermind (Part 2)

"In any case, there’s only a few months left until the duration ends, which means the First Prince is the guaranteed victor by default. Even if the Revolutionary Army is eliminated before that period, it’ll take some time for the Nation to stabilize which means it would be too late by the time the Royal Succession resumes."

"Looks like the Second Prince has some serious motives to kill the First Prince..."

"He’s also very competent and intelligent, not to mention wealthy. It’s possible that he orchestrated this..."

Theo was silent as he listened to Liyah and Arlet analyze Kamara’s words.

He waited for more, but no one else spoke.

All eyes fell on him, as if waiting for his opinion. Kamara even smiled after noticing his quietude and narrowed her gaze on him. "What do you think about this, Theo? Do you think it’s the Second Prince?"

"No." He responded almost immediately, sighing right after.

This response stunned everyone else but Kamara. Logically speaking, the Second Prince was the most viable suspect.

If it wasn’t him, then who would it be?

"I think this line of thinking is too obvious and predictable. The Mastermind we’re dealing with is clearly very intelligent and cautious, but how stupid would he have to be to be if he was the Second Prince? Wouldn’t he have known that he would be the first suspect? Why would he commit an assassination of the First Prince? Especially in public... it makes no sense."

When one thought about it deeply, this seemed like another layer of the scheme.

"Of all the times to attack, why do it when the First Prince was talking to us? Surely they know how formidable the Ak’ashi Guild is. Even if the enemy underestimated us, thinking we wouldn’t have affected the outcome, this person is cautious and it’s only sensible that they would attack with lesser risks. Yet, not only was the assassination done in public, it was done when the target was with us." Theo’s eyes widened the more he spoke as he made a realization. "What if that was the goal, to begin with? What if the mastermind wanted us to stop the assassin, while framing the Second Prince for the crime since he would be the most likely suspect."

"But who would want to do that?" Kamara asked with a knowing smile. Clearly, she had thought about all of this already.

"The First Prince!" Theo frowned. "He could have gotten anxious that the Civil War would end too soon, giving his more competent brother the chance to shine. By framing the Second Prince, and also targeting one of our own, he’s trying to get us involved."

"I see... that makes sense." Liyah gasped.

"Normally, we’d be too focused on our mission to care about the politics of the Royal Family, but by going after Liyah, he’s sure to garner our attention... using us to ’solve’ the problem and ensnare the Second Prince." Arlet smiled, staring at Theo with newfound respect.

"Precisely! If the Ak’ashi Guild resolves the Revolution matter, then wouldn’t that mean the biggest contender for the throne is the Second Prince?" Theo was glad that everyone was finally seeing things from his point of view. "Why would he need to kill the First Prince? Why would he target Liyah? This is a trap. The enemy wants to implicate the Second Prince, and he’s using us to do so."

And who would benefit the most from this?

It was clearly the First Prince! He was the biggest enemy of the Second Prince.

"I wonder... could it actually be the First Prince? What if the Second Prince wants us to think like this, which would in turn draw attention from him."

Everyone had their own theories, and they soon fell into deep thought again.

Without conclusive evidence, merely relying on speculation, the mastermind could be either one.

It could even be neither.

What if there was another person they weren’t considering, and he was simply using the two Princes as pawns to draw attention away from himself?

"In the end, it’s difficult to arrive at a conclusion, right?" Kamara broke the silence and gave each of them a warm smile. "Still, I’m glad to see everyone’s point of view on the matter. Well, everyone except you, Kaycee."

Everyone’s gazes slowly shifted to the only boy who had remained quiet from beginning to end.

He never joined in the speculation or gave his thoughts.

"I’d like to hear your thoughts next time, if that’s alright with you. This is a team, and it’s important to share thoughts within our circle. Remember, there are no wrong answers, so you shouldn’t fear saying the wrong things or being out of your depths. You also shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions. I mean... look at Liyah." Kamara chuckled a little. "She was lost for nearly half of the conversation."

"Miss Kamara!" Liyah cried out, clearly flustered from being called out.

"Kidding... just kidding." She quickly waved Liyah off, her jovial tone lightening the mood with incredible ease.

"So, do you understand, Kaycee?"

"Y-yeah, I do..." He mumbled, his cheeks flushed in mild embarrassment. "I’ll do my best to speak out more."

Liyah used her elbow to gently shove Kaycee, causing his body to jerk a little as he leaked out a hint of laughter. Theo also smiled, but he didn’t say more.

"Excellent! Glad to see everyone is on the same page." Kamara clapped energetically, jumping to her feet while having the most refreshed grin in the room.

"As for the matter involving the mastermind, let’s leave that aside for the moment. We should focus on the mission instead. The Royal Family can handle its own mess, and quite frankly... our hands are full just dealing with the Revolution, am I right?"

Everyone nodded, agreeing in their own respective ways.

Even if they wanted to explore the matter, there was very little to go on. At the moment, the case seemed unsolvable.

"You should all return to your rooms and rest. I’ll be taking this guy to the authorities and report what happened here tonight." She added. "You are dismissed."

Everyone marched out of the room, proceeding to their respective premises. Liyah retrieved her Armament before being the last to leave, hesitation present in her steps. As for Kamara, she wasted no time in dragging the unconscious assassin down the stairs so he could face the appropriate punishment for his crime.

Theo naturally returned to his room, letting out turbid air once he sat on his bed.

He fell into deep thought about the assassin, and what would have happened to Liyah if he hadn’t been so vigilant.

’Miss Kamara would have saved her, but why can’t I help but feel uneasy?’

Before he could explore even more of his thoughts, he heard a subtle knock on his door, followed by a gentle feminine voice.

"Theo... are you still up?" The whisper belonged to none other than Liyah.

Her tone was delicate, hesitation oozing from every word.

Theo used his [Transparency Mask] to confirm it was really Liyah, before rushing to open the door for her. As he stood in front of her, his eyes observed her pale skin—most of which was covered by her oversize nightwear.

She looked nervous, almost scared. "U-um, hope I didn’t wake you up or anything..."

"No. I hadn’t fallen asleep yet." Theo promptly answered. "What’s up?"

"This whole assassination thing has me shaken up, you know? And it’s sort of hard for me to sleep. I... well..." She was very hesitant to speak, but after mustering the strength, Liyah raised her head and looked Theo in the eye, her crimson irises reflecting on his pitch-black ones as her white hair danced behind her.

"I was wondering if I could spend the night in your room!"