The current king of the Kingdom of Yustil, Wiscot I, has two sons.
The first prince, Lloyd Rudan Yustil, is 20 years old, and the second prince, Alford Rudan Yustil, is 19 years old.
The two were fiercely competing for the right to inherit the throne.
According to the principle of firstborn, it would be common sense for the first prince, Lloyd, to succeed to the throne, but there was a rather troublesome issue.
Originally, Wiscot I's first wife was Queen Mellea, a woman who became queen through an arranged marriage as the daughter of Duke Wheeler, a high-ranking noble family of the Yustil Kingdom.
The relationship between the king and queen wasn't particularly good nor particularly bad.
They had been educated from a young age to marry a partner chosen for the sake of their family. Neither of them were the type to throw everything away for love or to burn with passion.
For about ten years after their marriage, they continued their life as a royal couple in a rather ordinary and uneventful manner.
The problem was that they had no children.
The lack of an heir to the kingdom was a serious issue.
Naturally, not only the royal family but also the nobles urged Wiscot I to take a concubine to produce an heir.
Among the many candidates, Kalpia from the Talain Marquis family, a noble family with a long history, was chosen.
Queen Mellea didn't particularly oppose it. Although her pride as a woman was wounded, she considered it inevitable since she couldn't produce a prince herself.
There was also an underlying hope that if the concubine couldn't bear a child, her own flaw would be overlooked.
In such a case, someone from a closely related branch of the royal family, with the purest bloodline, would inherit the throne.
But what happened next was unexpected.
Calpia, who had become a concubine, became pregnant with the king's child.
Moreover, when they checked after about three months of her entering the palace, she was already three months pregnant. It meant she conceived on the very first night.
Time passed, and Calpia safely delivered a healthy baby boy—Prince Lloyd.
Wiscot I was overjoyed and formally declared Prince Lloyd as the rightful heir in the name of Alium, the Moon Goddess who governs the law.
Up to this point, it might seem like a typical royal story.
The problem arose afterward.
The king and queen's relationship did not deteriorate much after the king took a concubine.
No matter her inner feelings, Mellea maintained a calm and graceful demeanor. She did not display any particular jealousy or envy.
Even though she couldn't bear children, the queen was still the queen, and it was natural for a husband and wife to share a bed.
With Calpia pregnant, Wiscot I naturally returned to spending time with Queen Mellea. Now that the obligation to produce an heir was fulfilled, they were even more comfortable with each other than before.
Perhaps because of this, Queen Mellea, who had been married for ten years and was over thirty, finally conceived a child. Thus, the second prince, Alford, was born.
The royal family was thrown into turmoil. It seemed like a cruel twist of fate.
On one hand, there was the first prince, Lloyd, who was declared the rightful heir under the principle of firstborn and in the name of the goddess.
On the other hand, there was the second prince, Alford, who was born of the queen, with a superior bloodline.
Moreover, they were only half a year apart in age.
So, who truly deserves the throne?
***
"That's the situation, more or less."
After Karnak's explanation, Serati nodded.
"I've heard about it. It's quite a common topic of conversation among the people in the capital—the rivalry between the two princes."
Resting his elbows on the luxurious table, Baros clicked his tongue.
"It's more than just rivalry. They're practically at each other's throats."
Currently, they are staying at an inn called 'Echoes of the Dragon,' located on the outskirts of Drunta. They had paid in advance for a long-term stay at this high-end inn.
Originally, they had considered buying a house in the capital, but honestly, that would have been a waste of money.
The King's Order, due to the nature of their missions, often leaves their homes empty.
In fact, even though Karnak's group had been part of the King's Order for seven months, they had spent less than 30 days in the capital.
There was no need to spend a large amount of money on an empty house they rarely used.
Even though their family had become wealthy, Karnak decided that they would rather spend that money on good food.
Even now, they were casually munching on fresh fruit and sweet pastries laid out on the table.
"Anyway..."
After taking a bite of a sliced apple, Karnak continued.
"It seems the king's irresponsibility is the biggest reason things have escalated this far."
The first prince, armed with the principle of firstborn, and the second prince, with the legitimate bloodline of the queen—neither has a significant advantage over the other in terms of legitimacy.
Although the second prince has stronger backing, with the Duke Wheeler as his maternal grandfather, the first prince was declared the rightful heir in the name of the goddess.
From the king's perspective, choosing either side would inevitably cause a significant backlash.
So Wiscot I's decision was...
"He simply postponed the problem."
This isn't an issue that needs to be resolved immediately. Who knows what might happen as the princes grow? As in the king's own case, one might fail to produce an heir. Therefore, a definitive decision would be made only after the princes were married and matured!
Serati and Baros, who were listening, couldn't help but be incredulous.
"That's really a wishy-washy attitude."
"That's just asking for trouble down the line."
The king might have thought he was making a careful decision, but how would it sound to those hearing it?
Oh my! If something happens to that prince, then our prince becomes king?
Karnak chuckled.
"As a result, things have become pretty interesting."
It's been 20 years since the birth of the two princes.
Marquis Talain, serving the first prince, and Duke Wheeler, serving the second prince, constantly clashed.
It wasn't uncommon for them to draw swords when they encountered each other on the streets, and sometimes, lives were lost. There were also numerous attempts to assassinate each other in secret.
Baros laughed with interest.
"It's a mess. Then again, most royal affairs are a mess."
Only Serati seemed baffled.
"What's so interesting about that?"
The two men widened their eyes in surprise.
"Well, it's not our problem, is it?"
"Isn't it human nature to enjoy watching others fail?"
"There's no way that's true!"
Serati snapped back but then tilted her head in thought.
'Is it really human nature to enjoy watching others fail?'
But admitting that would mean she was just like 'those guys.'
She quickly changed the subject.
"So, which of the two princes is more deserving of the throne?"
Karnak snorted.
"Shouldn't we first define what it means to be 'deserving' of the throne?"
"Well, it could mean ability or character..."
"Both of them are just barely twenty. How could we possibly know if they're capable?"
They were still at an age where they were struggling to learn about the world. They hadn't even had the chance to prove their abilities.
And neither of them was a prodigy who stood out from an early age.
"Of course, if you're judging by character alone, the first prince seems more suited for the throne."
Prince Lloyd, the first prince, was calm and cautious. He was diligent and humble in all matters.
In contrast, the second prince, Alford, was hot-tempered, violent, and even arrogant.
Honestly, if the future of the kingdom were the only consideration, Prince Lloyd seemed much more suitable for the throne.
However, the reason Wiscot I couldn't fully support Lloyd was because of his extremely frail body.
Since childhood, he frequently fell ill with fevers and often collapsed.
Even as he grew older, his health did not improve. Despite diligently learning the best swordsmanship under the best masters, he could barely handle a single soldier.
Thanks to being a prince, he frequently received divine healing spells; otherwise, the common opinion was that he wouldn't have survived past the age of ten if he had been a commoner.
On the other hand, the second prince, Alford, was naturally strong and talented in martial arts. At the age of nearly twenty, he was already considered to be at the level of a first-class knight.
There was even talk that, if not for his arrogant nature and lack of dedication to training, he might have already awakened his battle aura.
"The first prince is so frail that it wouldn't be surprising if he died at any moment, so it's understandable that the second prince's side might want to take matters into their own hands."
In fact, assassination and poisoning were specialties of necromancers.
"I see..."
Nodding, Serati suddenly asked, "So, who became king in your previous life?"
Karnak replied nonchalantly, "The second prince. I know for sure because I met Alford after he became king."
It wasn't that Alford had used necromancy in his previous life. There was no one to lend him such power since the cult of the Dark God didn't exist back then.
"So, he was just waiting for something to happen to Prince Lloyd, but it seems things didn't go as he hoped."
Despite his frail health, the first prince somehow managed to survive and eventually succeeded to the throne.
"Immediately afterward, a civil war broke out."
The second prince's faction, unable to bear it any longer, initiated a rebellion.
After much bloodshed, Alford eventually succeeded in usurping the throne, but by then, the Kingdom of Yustil was already in ruins.
"In the end, he didn't get to truly rule as king and perished along with the kingdom."
"The Kingdom of Yustil was destroyed?"
Serati blinked in surprise.
She wasn't particularly patriotic, but hearing that her homeland had been destroyed left her feeling uneasy.
"Who destroyed it? Was it the Empire?"
If there was a longstanding enemy of the Kingdom of Yustil, it would be the Lacaenia Empire, which shared part of its border.
But that didn't seem to be the case.
Baros pointed straight at Karnak.
"It was him."
And Karnak, without hesitation, raised his hand.
"Yep, it was me."
It was an empire, but not Lacaenia—it was the Undead Empire.
"…Oh, dear."
Serati sighed deeply.
Surprisingly, she wasn't that shocked. Somehow, it felt like this was bound to happen.
Anyway, now she roughly understood the situation. Baros' eyes gleamed as he got up.
"Alright, so our mission this time is to investigate the second prince, right? Should I gather the battalion?"
Karnak stopped him.
"Calm down, Baros. We haven't been assigned the mission yet."
The King's Order isn't like an adventurers' guild where they can pick and choose their missions as they please.
However, given the magnitude of the situation, their superiors wouldn't force the mission on them either. If it were to be imposed and they failed, it would cause even bigger problems.
"So, I asked for some time to think it over."
"Huh? You turned it down? Why?"
Isn't this exactly the kind of 'big case involving powerful figures' that Karnak was always talking about?
"Wouldn't this be the kind of mission where you'd have to snatch it away from another battalion even if they wanted it?"
"That's precisely why I asked for more time."
If the second prince had indeed joined forces with the cult of the Dark God, there wouldn't be any problem.
As usual, they could simply look for traces of necromancy, then fabricate a report and make up an excuse.
"It's actually more troublesome if there's no connection."
In that case, they'd have to invent reasons to explain why the target is innocent and why they reached that conclusion.
Karnak wasn't sure how to handle that.
"Got it."
Baros also understood.
"We've framed innocent people before, but proving someone's innocence? Never even considered it."
So, first, Karnak and his group would need to investigate on their own.
"We need to confirm if there's any actual connection to the dark cult before deciding whether to take on the mission."
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