"Adrian?!"
Upon hearing that name, everyone thought they must have misheard. But after Mike's confirmation, they had to face reality.
"Maybe it's just a coincidence of the same name? I remember Adrian is from the same village as Brennan near the southern border. How could he suddenly become Parristol royalty?"
Unable to make sense of the complex connection, Yulanda could only optimistically guess.
"We can't say that..." Brennan shook his head, clarifying with a wry smile.
"Adrian and I aren't actually from the same village. More accurately, he and Vivianne are from my neighboring village. But Adrian's background seems quite unusual - his father was once a famous fallen noble in our area, supposedly migrating from somewhere decades ago. Only Vivianne was a true local!"
"Plus Adrian's family did have the Loren surname, but I never imagined it would relate to Parristol's royalty, even trying to restore the kingdom..."
"Damn, you're telling me Adrian's basically the Aegon Targaryen of our world!" Cyra couldn't help quipping, glancing my way.
"So that makes you..."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I felt annoyed, wanting to kick her but the swirling confusion made me hold back, letting her off for now!
"Aegon Targaryen? Who's that?" Mia asked in puzzlement, but didn't dwell on it, quickly pointing out a major discrepancy.
"Wait, though I've never actually met Adrian, think about it - Parristol only fell a few years ago, but Brennan said Adrian's family moved to the neighboring village decades earlier. That clearly doesn't add up! The Loren name is quite common in Astralrealm and the northern lands, so it could just be a coincidence of names."
Yeah! As she spoke, realization dawned - that was an irrefutable contradiction, maybe we really were mistaken.
"Not necessarily! Don't forget human royalty is quite unique - all sorts of ugliness can happen within those circles..."
But Cysper disagreed, having experienced Parristol's entire rise and fall, naturally insightful about the Loren dynasty's history.
"If I recall, Parristol's king from two generations ago had over ten children. After the old king died, they fought viciously for the throne. The only survivor was the fourth prince, that 'good-for-nothing' Morgan who couldn't even control the Divine Punishment! During that power struggle, his many brothers and sisters either went missing or were executed. It's quite possible Adrian's father was one who fled to Astralrealm amid the chaos..."
"Hehe, finally talking sense for once, Pope!" Judith chimed in predictably, needling him while voicing support for Adrian's rebel forces as righteous resistance against Astralrealm's tyranny, deserving solidarity.
But then Mike doused everyone's lively speculation with a cold hard fact, utterly deflating the mood.
"It's not that simple. According to reports from the kingdom's forces, during recent clashes with the rebels, they were attacked multiple times by monsters. Not just low-level ones, but high-level monsters capable of wiping out entire squads single-handedly. This clearly indicates the uprising is tied to the monsters, and not as simple as restoring the kingdom!"
...
Nobody spoke after that bombshell. No matter how just the cause, allying with monsters completely changed the situation. Adrian had practically become a public enemy, not to mention the unknown reprisals he might unleash after his victory.
I'd already heard these details about monster involvement from Elara, but it felt completely different with a familiar face like Adrian involved. Even Judith, his supposed "staunch supporter", fell silent except to ask Mike meekly:
"What about Crescent City's stance on this?"
"Still nothing! Not just Crescent City, the Ilandra Dominion also hasn't reacted at all, just like before. Their neutral stance seems rather strange, we suspect..."
"But that's not right!" Mia interrupted, reminding everyone:
"Don't forget, we investigated earlier - the Dominion has been amassing troops lately, probably because they got wind of Parristol's plans and aim to directly attack them!"
So the Dominion wanted a piece of the action too? With the monsters involved, attacking Parristol became justifiable. The situation grew increasingly messy - how could Adrian let things spiral like this?
Allying with monsters was unwise. Just what was he thinking?
As I racked my brain, Cysper raised another objection. He felt the Dominion's moves might not be as straightforward as they seemed. Ever since the new emperor seized power amid last year's unrest, rumors swirled about his shadowy monster connections, though lacking firm evidence.
Even setting that aside, the Ilandra Dominion had a powerful foe in the south - the Crestvale Republic.
This Crestvale Republic lay east of the Dominion and Crescent City, another vast human nation. Though distant from Parristol, the rebel forces likely had covert ties there too.
One point stood out - after the new emperor took over, border clashes with Crestvale had flared up repeatedly. So Cysper felt it was unclear if the troop buildup targeted Parristol or elsewhere.
"All this discussion is pointless busywork, it doesn't matter what we say!"
Cyra had seen through it all, drawing that unsatisfied conclusion.
"You're not wrong..." Cysper nodded wryly. Though he spoke impartially, his gaze remained fixed on me.
"With the continent's complex situation, Parristol at the crossroads of powers, it's hard to discern the full picture from our limited intel..."
"So let's not overthink it. We'll decide based on further developments!"
"...Why is everyone looking at me?"
After an awkward silence, I finally spoke up. Sure, Cyra was expected, but why were even Reed, Mia, Judith and Brennan glancing my way? Did I wear something wrong today?
"It's nothing...Cyra just told us about you and Adrian..." Brennan scratched his head sheepishly, until Yulanda blurted out the rest:
"So we naturally thought about your connection! You know angels and monsters have always been sworn enemies..."
Sworn enemies my foot! I wanted to charge over and rip that big mouth's lips off. This gossipmonger was a total menace, her forte was spreading malicious rumors!
Even the usually aloof bookworm Reed lifted her head in surprise, giving me a puzzled look before returning to her book, mercifully not prying further.
Alright, I was basically socially dead now! Thanks to Cyra, my former classmates all thought I was messing around with some guy. She was to blame for this mess!
"Hehe, what do you think about this Adrian situation? Why don't we just head to Parristol and ask him directly?" Judith was clearly undeterred, seeing me as her "capable" angelic assistant.
After our combat in the trial space, we've built up a level of trust. Compared to the newly-joined eight-winged Mia, Judith obviously found me more reliable.
"I don't think anything of it! You're all mistaken, Adrian and I have no connection! Besides, I think it's great if he achieved his goals by allying with monsters. Why be so narrow-minded?"
I snapped back irritably. Staying would only make things worse, so I turned to storm off towards the lake for a breather. But not before shooting Cyra a piercing glare - this instigator was the real menace!
The others were dumbstruck by my reaction, frozen in place uncertainly.
This sudden development left us camped at the lakeside all morning without moving.
Not just Brennan and Yulanda needing to return to Astralrealm, Parristol's situation had massive ramifications that everyone debated without conclusion. Mike had already been dispatched by Cysper to gather more information.
Time trickled by until noon arrived.
After contacting Elara back in Edenmere, we received a shocking update. Simultaneously, Mike also returned with nearly identical news.
"Parristol has declared war on the Astralrealm Kingdom!"