Now that there was no more to worry about here, Prince Cloud disappeared from the royal palace. So both mother and son were huddled under the Marquis of Coupe, but the pursuers didn't come that close. Well, even if they did come, they would only eradicate them or fly high at the "gate".
　The sudden disappearance of the second prince seems to have caused a stir in the palace. That scene is very clear to me now.

"Queen Elia has disappeared from Fort Gallia? You're saying that Prince Cloud has taken him away! 'What were the soldiers in the fort doing?
''Yes, yes, I heard from the courier pigeon that everyone was pinned down and couldn't do anything...''

　Vizier Waldak banged his fist on the desk in frustration at Denrei's words. It's not as if he had a billion dollars to spend on that, but he bowed and left the prime minister's room.

''That's why I told you, Zabun. You should have just erased that girl quickly!''
"The one in the cloud! Don't think you can defy your owner and get away with it for free!'

　Queen Dacia, whose voice was hysterical and hoarse as if she were impatient, and the foolish prince, who seemed not to be amused, clicked his tongue.
　A small observer peeps out from behind the window curtain to see the three of them in a hurry. It is the house mouse I have summoned.
　I'm currently synchronizing the sight and hearing of this house mouse with mine to see what they are up to.

I'm sure that if Prince Cloud joins forces with the Marquis de Coupe and embraces the nobles of the region, it could be troublesome. ........Let's hurry up here and ask His Majesty the King to hand over the throne to Prince Zabun. On top of that, we will capture Prince Cloud. Let's do whatever the charge is.''
"What will you do about the war with Paloof, Waldac?
'I'm sorry, but it can wait. I think we have to nip this rebellion in the bud first.
I was hoping to get the princess of Paloof. Well, I'll finally get to be the king.

　Prince Zaven left the room, looking buoyant from the joy of being king.
　Hmm, I wonder how this is going to work. Rather than taking the throne from the current king, I feel like it's less of a conscience to take it away after the idiot prince takes the throne. No, the longer the pause, the more victims there could be. This place is still.........

''........it's bad that Queen Elia was taken away from us. It might reach the king's ears at some point. But first, I'll have to give the throne to Zaven.

　Hmm? Waldak's tone has changed. He looks like he's bitten down on a bitter worm, and he's calling out the king and Prince Zaven. Has he revealed his true nature? But I'm with Queen Dacia. I wonder if he's going to show himself in front of Queen Dacia of Itoko.

'I should have just let her take over the throne. Fortunately, no one will know that they've lost the Queen of Elia yet. I must force them to admit it. I'm sure you'll be right if you threaten the Queen Elia with death if you don't.

　What's going on? Wasn't Queen Elia held hostage to contain Prince Cloud? The king was also at the mercy of the vizier, using Queen Elia as a shield....
　This could be the smoking gun! I'll get there. I'll use Gate to secretly send the phone to the house mouse. Okay, okay, make sure you get it on tape!

"We can't let Queen Elia and Clyde get to the King. We must completely seal off the royal palace, and in the meantime, we must threaten the king and force him to give up the throne to Zabun in front of the nobles of the royal capital.'
"What will the king do if you make Zaven give up the throne?
"You'll disappear. I don't mind if you die right now, but if you don't hand over the throne to Zabun, some troublesome bastards will come along and carry Claud away.

　Oh, I've got it! The proof of the king's assassination plot. I mean, this, Queen Dacia is just as guilty as me, right? Now, Prince Cloud might not have to suffer the stigma of being a traitor.

''Either way, I'm going to have Cloud die at all costs to cut off any hindsight. I can't leave a single member of the royal bloodline behind.

　? What is he talking about? After killing the king and Prince Cloud, you're still left with Zaven.............
　 You don't mean..............is that what happened? If that's the case, then I can see how Prince Cloud is being treated.

"Finally, my family will have this country. No one will stand in our way!
"Your son and I will soon be kings of the land.
Yeah. A new royal family is born.

　The two of them fished the edges of their mouths and gave a distorted smile as they said this.




''Finally, my clan will have this country. We won't let anyone stand in our way.''
"Your son and I will soon be kings of the land.
Yeah. A new royal family is born.

　I finish playing the recorded video. Looking around, everyone seemed to be unable to speak.

''Oh no...Prince Zaven is the son of Waldak and Queen Dacia! Then ... then this is a royal takeover, isn't it!

　The Marquis de Coupe rises from his chair and clenches his fists and shouts. It's not unreasonable. This is a royal takeover, as the Marquis says. There's no way he can keep his cool. Waldak had been cheating on Zaven's birth for more than thirty years, and had been politically manipulating the country by threatening the king for the past ten years before he was named vizier.
　Perhaps the ouster of Marquis Coupe as Prime Minister was also Waldak's scenario.

''That's a surprise.... But I'm kind of convinced.''
And now, that's right.... You are too much alike in your relationship with that foolish prince. If they're not only parents, but complete strangers, that's to be expected.

　What Else and Yae say is also valid. I'm not sure if it makes sense or not, but there's a part of me that's convinced. Although they are not physically similar, their cloudy eyes are the same.
　It has an animal habit called "mendacity. The cuckoo and other birds have the habit of laying their eggs in the nest of a completely different bird and then allowing the bird to raise its own young. The knowledge that this was the case occurred to me.
　I turn my attention to Prince Cloud, who is sitting in his chair, not moving slightly. The prince, who had put his elbows on his knees, crossed his fingers, and kept his gaze fixed on his feet, quietly opened his mouth.

''My brother ... no, Zaven and I had no connection to each other. There is no reason for me to hesitate anymore. I will fight for my country, for my father, for my mother, against the bandits who are trying to take over my country.
Well done, Prince Cloud! You are the rightful heir to the throne! We must not hand this country over to those people!

　The Marquis de Coupe is right, the cause is now on our side. We even rescued Queen Elia, who we've been using to blackmail the king. There is no more trump card on the other side. All we have to do now is to wave them over in one fell swoop, but before we do that, we have to investigate the matter thoroughly.
　I secretly used Invisible to borrow a hair from Waldak and Zabun and brought it to Flora in the Alchemy Building. Based on that, Flora analyzed it and concluded that they were definitely father and son. In other words, Zabun was not a descendant of the king. They are complete strangers.
　Well, it was just a matter of time before it happened. I was a bit relieved.

''Uh-huh. I'll look into it when the master's child is born.
What the hell does that mean?

　If you care about such things, the fathers of the world would have to raise their children under suspicion.
　This time I understand why the shogun of the Edo period made the inner sanctum of the house off-limits to boys.

"Master has many wives, so he has many children. That's what the doctor told me.
You mean Dr. Babylon? You knew about my kids, too?

　Did you see it with an artifact that looks into the future or something like that? Then I guess I saw the future beyond the present. Having a child means after I turn 18... I guess. If I don't give in to my desires.
　Another year and a half in the future, or maybe more than two years at the earliest, if you count the gestation period?

Nine wives, each one with a child. He's the king of children.

　Woohoo! You have 9 kids? That must be hard to deal with..........
　 .........yes? Nine wives, each of them?

Nine? What's that? I'm not listening to you!
I didn't say that.

　Huh? What's that, that means nine more wives! What kind of future is that?
　Wait, wait, wait, wait. It's Yumina, Else, Linse, Yae, and Lou at this stage, right? It's tentative, but even if Sue gets in, it's six. Does that mean three more people will be added? I don't know how it happened!

Have you told anyone else about this?
I'm not.
Don't do it to anyone. It could cause unnecessary harm.

　Especially me. But what in the world are you doing, future me.....

Does that mean you're going to include me as one of the remaining candidates for a bride?
Why would you do that? You said you couldn't have kids.
With the technology in the Alchemy Building and the Laboratory, it's possible to clone a master.
Don't do it!

　I don't want to be the son of a complete clone of myself, straight up. I returned to the Marquis de Coupe's mansion after nailing Flora to not run off on unnecessary things.
　I tell Else and the others about the results of the appraisal. Without a doubt, Zabun is not a royalty. Now I really don't have to shy away from the other side.

''Well then, let's go put the final touches on it.
Are you going away, sir?

　Yae asks me. Where do you want to go?

I'm going to the first victim to tell her the truth.

　As I said this, I opened the "gate" again.