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"You ask why do I not talk much?"_______←«_____ ←«____ ←«___ ←«__ ←«
_____"...Because there is nothing to say."

Lord Zeon was accurate in his assessment that the coronation would be ready in a couple of days. It was mainly due to the hard work of the Host Club. With Nils, a member of the club, being a crew member, it made things much easier to get in contact and work things out. Amelia also had the ability, but Rath had her more focused on the workings of the Watch. Although, she probably had the tenacity to handle all her duties, another reason for her promotion.

Another good thing was that Captains Arashe and Valter had safely returned with the guild members who had accompanied them by then. However, Captain Needles also returned, but Captain Deborah was not with her. Upon hearing the report, flashes of the dream zipped through Rath's head. But he had to shake them away and trust she was merely delayed. After all, nobody knew for sure what had happened. There was still no report from Sires, but Rath had confidence of Ayra. It could have just been that there was a report and it had just gotten lost or had not yet been delivered. With that in mind, it wasn't far fetched that the guild members who had gone to Sires would arrive just in time for the coronation.

Rath stood in the grand courtyard and marveled at the decorations that had been prepared. Inside the castle, the ballroom had been readied as well, with many foods just waiting to be eaten. Guards lined the walls of both areas. The nobles were the first to arrive and were shown to their places. Naturally, they were in front in their own private section. All of Eyris had been invited, really, including all the members of the guild. The courtyard was called grand, but it was sure to be packed full. Some guild members began to show and Rath watched as they mingled.

As the moment approached for when the ceremony would begin, Rath made his way over to Rhys. "You did a good job, hostmaster." he said solemnly. He may have started the bishop, but didn't notice if he had or had not. "....Thank you, for doing this at such short notice. The nobles are very anxious... to have their new king."

{Amelia}

A child king.

Such was not unusual for the researcher. He'd had his share of stories that pertained to young rulers. While often a touchy business that could well inspire widespread conflict (or at least insurgency), a child king was not all that strange to him. What was strange was how suddenly the supposed successor had appeared, but as he was not of the council, Soren kept his suspicions to himself.

He stood quiet in the courtyard, set himself to the side where the shadows stood and folded his arms, his garnet eyes watchful over all which breathed. A tense wind picked at his purple robes as though doubtful of the situation, and all he could do was shake his head ever so slightly. He agreed that the circumstances were not so desirable, but they could not question the decisions of their highers.

"This is stupid," hissed a voice.

Soren didn't need to turn his head to know who was speaking. After all, he was standing there specifically to hide said person from view. Neros was stuffed in a shady corner, trying to observe the proceedings—to little success.

He said nothing in response. Instead, his eyes followed their captain's movement away from Rhys and Amelia.

{Amelia}

What the hell was all this crap about a heir showing up suddenly...in the middle of a war? And to make matters worse, instill a coronation for a kid with some birthmark that an old geezer picked up during said war? It all seemed too fishy for Roy. From what he heard, the nobles wanted this coronation to happen as soon as possible. Rath wasn't a bad captain, but...chances were the nobles didn't like him simply because of his birth, amongst other things. It doesn't matter who you were born to, be it to nobility or commoner...to kick a man out of his position and threaten the very organization he ran simply because he wasn't born a noble just wasn't fair. He felt bad for the former Captain. And what was with this hasty coronation? They. Were. At. War! There wasn't any time for festivities like this.

But he supposed, for one night, he wouldn't complain. After all, if the brat king decided to disband the guild, it would be the last time they would all be together like this. He could hear the murmurs of his fellow guildmembers about the coronation. It seemed like he wasn't the only one with his doubts. There were far too many loose ends.

It was possible that the boy was the legitimate heir to Leander, but at the same time, he could just as easily be a fraud. While Roy had never laid eyes on this so-called heir, he heard that he had a birthmark similar to Leander's. What were the odds of the birthmark being so similar, let alone even appearing despite the hundreds of years of age difference between the two people? It was very questionable.

And the old geezer that was supposedly the boy's guardian and advisor. He was just as questionable. Word was that Rogvald was of House Sceptan. Sceptan...that was a former noble house in Learania, wasn't it? But they had disappeared about 200 years ago, right? Where were they after all this time? Roy just didn't trust this guy, and he had his reasons. During the war against Bern back in Elibe, he and his army had met a man who was an advisor to one of the nobles in Lycia. However, this man had betrayed his liege and killed him, and not only that, imprisoned Sue and even tried to kill him and his army. Thanks to some unexpected help, they managed to survive that day. But ever since that day, Roy lacked trust in advisor-types, especially ones with questionable backgrounds. Watch, this Rogvald guy and his ancestors were actually from Mordache, and this was some plot to take Learania from the inside.

Paranoia aside, there was nothing he could do. Sure...he was a noble. In Elibe. Which was not Learania. So he had no power here. Roy sighed, glanced around. He noticed Isadora by herself, and thus approached her. Perhaps he could get some answers from Rath's right hand man...err, woman. But most of all, it had been ages since he last spoken to her.

"Evening, Lady Isadora. How are you?" he greeted the Dame Knight. "What are your thoughts on this coronation? Suspicious, don't you think? It just reeks of conspiracy. It's happening too fast, and we don't have enough information on the crown prince or this Rogvald guy. This could all be just one big trap Mordache set up...and we're walking right into it."

Rath. Rath didn't know anything, anymore. Rath, the freaking Guild Captain since Nino had fallen ill, didn't know if he'd be alright? He's taking this hard, Rhys thought to himself. The only reason we don't see it on his face is because he is the man he is.

And then Tibarn came up, and the Bishop could finally feel his smile becoming more genuine, albeit in a bittersweet sort of way. Tibarn could never quite get it into his head that there were other ways of being king than simply being "The guy who most looks like he could rip your head off in an eyeblink". Not that Rhys approved of a child and what looked to him like a very seedy and conniving old man taking the throne, either (especially the old man--he seemed FAR too eager to have the child take the throne to suggest he was doing it simply out of a sense of duty). He just wondered sometimes--if you could become king simply by killing the last one, wouldn't everyone do it and thus nothing gets done? There were many ways to kill a king, after all, that did not involve one-on-one honorable combat: Poisoning, drowning, pushing off a cliff, assassination (both employed and do-it-yourself jobs), burning, abandoning in battle when the moment was right...

But Rhys added one more scowl to the group's current number, putting notions of the proper path to kingship aside.

"I don't like Rogvald either. From what I heard from Nils, when the nobles bowed before the soon-to-be king, he acted as though Christmas had come early." It vaguely reminded him of Oliver Tanas, the way the portly Bishop had all but trembled with lust at the thought of owning the Heron Royal, Reyson, all those years ago...

--------

For his part, Aisen attempted to contribute to the conversation. He'd seen all sorts of people in his short life on this world, but he was fairly certain he'd never seen wings before. Certainly not those as big as Tibarn's! He'd have tried to reach out to grab one and pull at it, but he was rather busy at the moment. His green eyes were screwed up as though in concentration, staring off into space.

A moment passed, and he seemed to relax again, although he was starting to shift around a bit, making noises of discomfort.

If Amelia checked, his diaper was going to feel lumpier than it normally should.

While the paladin watched the nobles enjoying themselves, she saw Roy approaching her. She could see the look on Roy's face that he had some concerns about the latest news. Well, the paladin knew that people would be asking the crew of the guild and nobles about the child's lineage and the concern of the guild's future. It wasn't like it was going to be kept a secret.

"Hello Roy," Isadora greeted back as she took another sip. The young lord asked her how she was doing. "If you meant physically, I'm fine. But if you mean my emotion and mental, concern and uncomfortable. I believe you know what made me feel this."

She didn't need to tell Roy what was bothering her. It was obvious what was bothering her when the news was spreading around town. Suddenly, the lord questioned her about the coronation party. What was her thoughts of the party? Hmm...

"To be honest Roy, it feels like this is more of celebrating the replacement of leadership than the coronation of the royal heir. The nobles feel that Rath is the cause of the obstruction to this country and his leadership doesn't match well with Nino. And with this child who claims as Leander's descandant, the nobles see it as an opportunity to get rid of Rath. I don't know what will become of our beloved guild once the child is being crowned. However, I hope that we won't be disbanded at this time of crisis."

She then turned to look at Roy. "Although this is more of the nobles' gloating, I have to agree with you about the coronation. It's moving too fast to crown the child. We are in the war with two countries at this moment. We should have postpone the coronation once the war is over. However, the adviser wishes for the child to be crowned immediately, claiming that Learania needed a new change. I don't know why the adviser doesn't wish to postpone the coronation, but I don't trust him. There is something about him that I don't trust. However, I can't place my finger on him based by my feelings."

When she listened to Roy's theory behind the coronation, Isadora raised her finger to the chin and thought. It would mean sense of why the coronation was moving so fast. They didn't know much about Rogvald's background and there was no telling what his house did after leaving Learania 200 years old. However, it was a theory. They had no solid evidence to support that theory.

"That is a good assumption that Adviser Rogvald is a mole. However, we don't have solid proof to support if he is or not. We can't jump to the conclusion based by our feelings and instincts. So the only thing we have to do is to keep an eye on him. I may not know what his goals are, but I can't let my guard down around him. So if you hear anything suspicious, inform me or the crew immediately. We need to be cautious around this fellow."

Isadora frowned when she listened to Roy commenting about the status of nobility. Maybe the boy misheard what she had said.

"It's true that the nobles feel that only royal and nobility status or who are capable to rule should rule the land. However, the nobles didn't want to get rid of Rath due to his birth. Besides, Nino isn't from a noble family too, but the nobles respect her. The nobles want to get rid of Rath because they believe that he is a curse to Learania. They see that disasters had come onto them ever since Rath took his role as ruler of Learania. Wars, the Razevi incident, the accusation from Aldraina from what happened in spring, the nobles feel that they would never have their peace as long as Rath's in charge. But now with this child, it likes an window-opened opportunity to get rid of Rath. These nobles believe if they can replace Rath, their fear of having Learania in turmoil would simply vanished. Ha!" Isadora let out a hallow laugh. "As if that would solve their problem about the future of Learania. What they did was just pointing their fingers at someone to take their problem and turned him into a scapegoat. As much as I like to prove how wrongful these nobles are, I can't do anything about it, now that the role for ruling Learania will be changed."

The paladin was surprised by Roy when he told her how Rogvald had found the boy. She knew well that both she and Rath didn't inform everyone about Rogvald finding the boy since it was a minor detail. Hmm, it could be from the nobles who told each other and the servants overheard them in order to spread the news. That would be the only reason how the young lord found out.

The Dame Knight listened as Roy made another theory, this time it was the child's birthmark. "I will agree that it's impossible that two people would have the same birthmark with many centuries gap between them. It is a good theory that the child is a fraud. However, one of the nobles had confirmed it since his house was served under Leander. Lord Eyris had the knowledge of what Leander's birthmark looks like and tested out to see if the mark was fake or not. I saw it with my own eyes. And although it was hard to me to accept this, I can't overrule it since I have nothing to support. However, there is another test we have yet to see."

She then turned to look at the throne, being set for the coronation for the child. "From what I have heard, there is a crown that Leander wore during his ruling. Although we don't know what was the crown made of, we know for sure that the crown has a powerful spell inside. It is said that whoever wears it will die instantly. Only those who is descending from Leander can wear the crown easily... That is if they can get used to the cold touch of the crown on their heads. If the child was about to pass the identity of Leander's descendant by appearance, let's see if he could pass the crowning ceremony. I don't think Rogvald knows what the crown looks like and there's no way he will be able to make a replica to replace the real one in time."

The Dame Knight gave a nod to Roy when he informed her they could investigate Rogvald. Looking through his living quarters would be a good idea. However, the paladin knew that there was nothing in his living quarter since the adviser came with little possessions along with the child. He could have made some plans in his living quarter while they were setting up the coronation party. Who knew what the adviser had right now?

When the paladin heard the young lord asked about Rath, she frowned sadly and looked down at her drink. "Rath is distraught by what had happened. However, he's trying to put on his brave face to everyone as best as he can. I wish there was something we can do to help him, but it seems that he wants to be alone for the moment. I hope he would be okay..."