Medeia's words were true. Theo was devastated.
[Saya, this country is rotten. I'm going to avenge Father. Wait for me.]
With the single-minded desire to overthrow the royal family, he had devoted everything to this organization for the past three years.
He hadn't joined this cause, turning his back even on his sister who remained alone, just to see this result.
What exactly had he been living for all this time?
"Overthrow Baldina! Down with the Royal Family!"
Hollow shouts buzzed in his ears like hallucinations.
* * *
The flames of the Rebels, which began at Asipallo Castle, spread beyond control.
Within a few days, news that five of the eight cities surrounding the Royal Capital had fallen reached the castle, throwing the interior into an uproar.
"A rebellion! At a time like this, you say?!"
It was an emergency. A meeting was hastily convened.
"Did you hear? They say the Rebels are so vicious, they stab the bellies of anyone left alive!"
"Why? For what reason? Haven't things become a bit more livable now? Relief supplies have arrived, hunger has decreased, and the war is almost over."
"It's likely things that have been festering finally burst."
"Still, it's quite sudden..."
"This is no time to worry about that. They say the Rebels are gaining momentum fiercely, so we must prepare as well. What if they march all the way here?"
However, by the time such gruesome rumors about the Rebels spread within the Royal Capital, it was already too late.
They had long since closed in.
"We've finally arrived. Do you see it, comrades?! Inside there is the corrupt Baldina Royal Family that ruined this country!"
Horols pointed toward the distant Royal Capital from atop his horse.
He turned to look at his comrades.
"While we were starving and dying, they were surrounded by gold, laughing, drinking, and chatting! We shall stab the bellies of that greedy Royal Family and offer their blood to this land!"
He also made eye contact with his true 'underlings' whom he had embedded among the Rebels for incitement.
"Brothers! Cast off the yoke of bondage and reclaim our freedom!"
"Waaaaah! Die!"
"Overthrow Baldina! Down with the Royal Palace!"
The black army, with shadows at their backs, began to descend the mountain like a swarm of ants.
Until they reached the Royal Capital, no one stopped them.
The Castle Walls were even peaceful, as if the possibility of civil war hadn't been expected in the slightest.
Horols cheered inwardly.
'The Regent Duke pulled some strings! As expected, magnificent!'
To ensure that no news reached the capital from the time they first rose up in the central region until they arrived here, the Regent Duke had fundamentally cut off the communication lines leading into the Royal Capital.
"They'll come rushing out in a panic when they see us. If all goes well, we can capture it before tomorrow comes."
Unprepared, chaotic soldiers would merely be their prey. Horols licked his lips.
"You lot, break the gates! You, set up the ladders! Once you cross the Castle Walls, deal with the guards first. Theo, you stay by my side. I need an eye that can see the whole picture."
"Yes, Leader!"
Among the Rebels answering enthusiastically, only Theo remained silent.
"Theo?"
"Yes, Leader."
Only then did a delayed response trickle out.
Horols raised a flag. The orange flag, signifying the entry of the Rebels, waved grandly.
"Charge—!"
It was just as the Rebels were rushing toward the Castle Walls in perfect order.
*Pft, pft, pft—!*
Arrows fired by soldiers hidden atop the Castle Walls pierced through the Rebels running in the vanguard.
"W-What!"
"Fire—!"
Great confusion broke out among the Rebels.
Who said they were still asleep?
Apost the Castle Walls, the soldiers of the Royal Capital had been waiting for the Rebels' entry with full preparation from the start.
Arrows soaked in oil set fire to the wooden ladder trucks.
*Boom, bang!* From the ground surrounding the moat, sparks flew along with acrid smoke.
"Aaaagh! My body is on fire!"
"Ugh! It's gunpowder! There's gunpowder on me!"
*Splash, splash.* The sounds of people falling into the moat were heard everywhere.
They were flustered by the defense, which was more prepared and stronger than expected. Among them, the most shocked was Horols.
"W-What is this... they said the Royal Capital was an empty house! They said there were only nobodies!"
Facing a reality different from the Regent Duke's words, Horols's face crumpled like a piece of paper.
That seasoned method of engaging in siege warfare was by no means that of a novice.
"Aaaaaah!"
"Leader! Over there on the left!"
Someone pointed toward the direction of the sunrise.
A cavalry unit was charging to strike their flank.
The momentum of drawing swords in unison and the undisturbed formation—it wasn't difficult to recognize they were elite knights even without them emitting sharp killing intent.
A thunderous roar was heard!
"Fall back, you filthy cowards!"
"I-It is the flag of Marquis Giliphos!"
Someone shouted. Horols, turning around, flinched.
It was because he recognized the old man charging at the very front of the cavalry, swinging a mace.
* * *
"We have arrived, Your Grace."
The Regent Duke, having reached the Royal Palace gates, stepped out of his carriage wearing armor.
"They say Horols has reached the Royal Capital. If all goes well, capture will be possible within half a day."
"Good. You lot, follow the plan and continue inciting and setting fires throughout District 4. Make it look as if people inside the Royal Capital are responding to them. Do you understand?"
He intended to instill the fear that there were Rebels even within the Royal Capital.
"Samon, you go and wait at the Castle Walls first."
"..."
There was no answer from the haggard-looking Samon.
With bloodshot eyes and a sunken gaze, he even exuded an unpleasant gloominess.
"Do not think of touching Mother in the midst of the confusion. Nor the 4th Imperial Princess. We cannot handle the aftermath right now."
In addition to the Queen Dowager who had sentenced her grandson to flogging, the 4th Imperial Princess—who thought she had been deceived by Samon and Iason's scheme—had sent knights to beat him severely.
Because of that, the wounds that were barely healing had burst open again, and Samon had to have all the remaining holy water in the Duke's house poured over him.
"I will never forgive you if you disrupt this grand plan to take your revenge as you did with Etienne."
Knowing the deviousness of his son who never forgot a grudge, the Regent Duke warned him again.
The Queen Dowager had to remain alive for a while even after the rebellion was suppressed and his father became King.
The elderly grandmother and the 4th Imperial Princess of Kazen would be living evidence who would personally experience and attest to their legitimacy.
"..."
The Regent Duke patted the shoulder of his trembling son.
"The time to vent your resentment will come soon. If we wait just a little longer, the throne is ours. When that time comes, I will not stop you from doing whatever you wish."
"...I understand."
Samon nodded, hiding his cruelly shining eyes.
The curtain rose on the play prepared to shake the Royal Palace in time with the entry of the Rebels.
* * *
"Where is Medeia—where is Princess Her Highness?"
The Regent Duke, with a flushed expression, burst into the Princess Palace.
Sweat flowed down his handsome forehead, and tension showed on his face. He looked completely different from his usual sleek and relaxed self.
"T-The Princess is in the garden."
"A rebellion has broken out, so you lot must also flee. Every second counts."
"Pardon? A-A rebellion...!"
The Princess’s maids looked at each other in shock.
They had thought the restless atmosphere in the palace and the grey smoke rising for a while now were somehow ominous.
As if he had no time to comfort the terrified maids, the Regent Duke strode toward the garden with a knight in tow.
Soon, he found his niece sitting alone under a tree.
"Medeia!"
"Uncle? What brings you here so suddenly? No, why are you dressed like that?"
Medeia examined the Regent Duke with slightly surprised eyes.
"Disaster has struck. A rebellion has broken out!"
The Regent Duke grabbed her arm.
"The gates have been breached. They will storm the Royal Palace in an instant."
"The gates have been breached? That shouldn't be possible..."
Medeia asked back as if she couldn't believe it.
Intoxicated by the urgent atmosphere he had created, the Regent Duke failed to realize that his niece had not been surprised by the news that a rebellion had occurred.
