[The story up until now...]
Jake Hill was reborn in this world, full of magic and mysteries, while still retaining the memories of his past life. He had given up on his past life, finding nothing worthwhile to live for. Now in the second life, he vows to change that. He had a wonderful family of four in this new life.
His dad, Andrew, was an A-rank Adventurer. His mom, June, was a housewife, and Jake was the closest to her. Although they weren't on the best of terms, his older brother Clark still regarded each other as brothers.
But all changed when Jake awakened as a Silver potential. Silvers are rare. They are regarded as one in 10000 commoners. Silvers usually leap to great heights, but this was unacceptable to the nobles, who always wanted to keep the commoner like sheep under their control. A noble usually take in the commoner with potential inside their army or kills the kid while he is still young.
Such was the fate that was awaiting Jake. Even after such circumstances, he chose to stay positive and joined his Town's Lord, Baron Robert Belek's banner. He was ordered to attend the Royal Academy of Knights for his studies. But while Jake was trying to find some hope in this current condition, some plans of shady people said otherwise.
Outside everyone's reach, a plan was brewing to kidnap Jake and sell him on the black market. The project was ostracized by Barnes, a former knight captain who escaped his life sentence for insulting a noble's child by defeating him in a duel.
While Baron Robert did catch a suspicious movement in the underworld, but he just gave Jake's entourage tighter security, greatly underestimating the bandits. On the route to the capital city, Ethos, the bandits set up an ambush near the entrance of Scorch Mountain pass.
Jake and his assigned knights arrived at the subject place and noticed the bandits' ambush, their captain Anna deciding to take them head-on. However, the bandits' number and power far exceeded what the entourage was prepared for, and they got ready for a hard fight, which the knights lost. Jake was captured by Barnes' group and sold on the black market.
Something broke inside Jake. While he was always optimistic in his new life and tried his hardest to adjust according to his surroundings to be happy, his fate was playing games with him. He was offered great things, only to be taken away by someone. His family was taken away because he awakened better than others, and now his freedom was taken away because of his awakening.
This changed Jake. He froze up his emotions and resolved to create his own environment for him to be happy, not dance on others' palms. To complete his dream, he needed to be strong, really strong. Strong enough to subdue anyone who stood in his way.
A Count's elder sister named Lillian Romero, a sadistic pedophile, bought him. Lillian tortured and defiled Jake for four years. While other kids that Lillian had broke and became lifeless dolls after being subjected to daily torture, Jake held on. For four years, he held on by continuously getting hit, his fingers chopped, nails and teeth gouged out. His injury was healed due to his affinity toward the water, Ice and his high proficiency in using them.
After four years, a chance came for Jake to escape this unending torture; his chance was Bill Turner. Bill was a member of an underworld organization named Silent Rouges, and this time he was tasked to kill the Third Prince of Ethunesian Kingdom, Loid, who happened to be visiting Lillian's mansion.
In his mission, Bill spots Jake inside Lillian's mansion and takes a liking to the boy's potential. He rescues him from the mansion and takes Jake with him. Bill takes Jake as his disciple and invites him to join Silent Rouges.
-- -
[The story continues...]
The whole Kingdom was in an uproar. Another prince was murdered, and this assassination took place inside their capital. The killer killed Third Prince of the Kingdom under the noses of all the experts and security guards in the capital.
No one cached even a whiff of the apparent killer, the prince's body was only found after about 45 minutes of his death. After a maid saw Lillian unconscious inside the mansion, some knights sensed something suspicious and began searching the mansion, finding the dead prince.
Prince's body lay atop the bed, with the same sleeping expression, without even a hint of shock or anger one might have before dying. This concluded that the prince, even with his high magic core, didn't detect the killer until his life was sniffed out of him.
Prince's heart was pierced with a wind blade shaped like the letter 'X,' which stopped his heart and magic core, instantly killing him. Other than the assassins' magical element, no trace was found by the investigators.
Lillian was arrested, as the last person who saw Loid alive was her. Even after interrogating Lillian, they found no clues. She didn't even see what or who hit her. She was knocked unconscious before her brain could even register what had happened.
This gave some vague idea about the levels of these assassins. Some were still skeptical about Lillian's statement, saying that she just knows how to please men, not to fight, so her point of view should not be accounted for the killers' prowess, but some who knew Lillian's prowess said otherwise.
The Royal Family was thoroughly ashamed. The same happened fifteen years ago when an unknown assailant killed their most powerful prince. Although that incident was branded as a ploy by the neighboring empire to weaken us, these excuses won't work this time. The assassin came to the King's capital, his home, and killed his son.
As expected, the blame never went on Edward. He was maintaining his persona of a charming and helping brother. Although some nobles could see through his guise, he always covered his tracks to keep some blunders in check.
The King and his Second Wife, Grace, who was Loid's biological mother, were furious about the incident and her husband's incompetence, who couldn't even find and punish her son's killer, pestered the council to double down on the investigation.
Days became months, and months became years. Loid's killer's records were not found, as if the person never existed and vanished inside thin air. Tired of the failures and the public still laughing at the incompetency of the Royal Family, Lillian was blamed as the culprit.
Lillian, the last person seen with the prince by the public, was blamed for this incident. The rumors spread around the Kingdom of how Lillian killed the benevolent prince brutally murdered by Psycho Lillian just because he asked her hand in marriage. Lillian's crimes also came to light, about how she seduced people for her benefit and her fetish for youngbloods.
The nobles, however, knew these things were bullshit, and the crimes of Lillian, they didn't care about that. The royal family knew they couldn't punish Lillian, which would create distrust between nobles and the King. Giving them a fear that they can be sacrificed anytime may lead to discourse or, worse, a civil war.
Like always, the Romero family happily offered Lillian as they were paid hefty compensation, and Lillian was 'imprisoned' inside the castle, never allowed to show her face in public again.
But making fake excuses didn't solve the actual issue, that someone skilled inside the Kingdom could kill a Prince right under everyone's noses. The news was unsettling as no one was safe inside the Kingdom. If the prince was targeted in his own home, then no place was safe for anyone else.
While the Kingdom was in an uproar, the time of coronation was getting closer day by day, and the two of the oldest princes, the second prince Egbert Von Ethos and the first prince Edward Von Ethos, had the most chance of becoming the crown prince. While the King had two other sons, Leo and Nicolai, they were too young and effectively controlled by the first prince.
The two princes were birthed by the same mother, so naturally, they knew each other the best. Egbert also speculated that his two brothers were killed by Edward and an organization that he had no idea of was aiding Edward. If he wanted the throne, he had to face the face-to-face conflict.
No one had any idea what the decision of Egbert would lead to.