Chapter 177
【 The Beginning of the Rebellion 】
Through Jason, we successfully entered the Imperial Palace.
Of course, the fact that we arrived in Layla’s room was sothing none of us had expected.
Still, in the end, it wasn’t necessarily a bad outco.
“Where’s my father right now? I think he’s in his office.”
“Who is he with?”
“When I saw earlier, Lord Kafka and Lord Andrew. The two of them went in together. Oh, and I also saw a few military personnel entering with them.”
I nodded at Layla’s reply.
Nazar had taken only the people he needed most at the mont.
He seed to be trying to find a solution by consulting with only those essential to the situation.
“Lady Layla, could you guide us there?”
“Of course. But before that… I think I need so explanation first.”
Layla first turned her gaze toward Jason.
“You suddenly disappeared a few days ago, and now that I see you again, what’s with this ss? Did you go camping or sothing?”
“Everyone keeps saying that. I really should take a bath soon.”
Jason gave a hollow laugh as he tried to straighten his ssy hair with his hand.
“Well, at least you’re not hurt. I was worried sothing might have happened since the palace was under attack.”
“I’m still fine. But outside… things aren’t looking good, are they? Father told to stay in my room, so I don’t really know what’s going on. What exactly is happening?”
At Layla’s question, Jason glanced my way.
I gave a nod in return.
“I’ll explain everything—the current situation, what happened, and the background behind it. But not here. I’ll do so in the presence of His Majesty the Emperor and everyone gathered.”
“Hmm… fine. So, you’re basically asking to take you to my father right away?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“All right, I’ll lead you. But before that, one last thing…”
The blonde-haired princess then turned toward Sara.
“I heard you bought a bunch of teleport scrolls yesterday, saying you were going ho to pack up?”
“…That’s right. But when I returned ho, I got caught up in sothing unintended.”
“So it seems. But, Sara, what I really want to ask is—are you still thinking the sa? You truly won’t pick up your sword ever again?”
“Your Highness, as I told you before I left for Muktaba… I am no longer in a state where I can wield a sword.”
Sara raised her bandaged right arm.
Layla gave her a faint, bittersweet smile at the sight.
“So, you’re saying you’ll cut ties with the Isrinbloom Family and walk a different path?”
“I thought that would be for the best. I might even renounce the Isrinbloom na altogether…”
“Then you won’t be able to keep the promise you made—to protect ?”
“…I’m sorry.”
Sara bowed her head, her voice trembling.
As she seed on the verge of tears, Layla gently pulled her into an embrace.
“Let’s find a way together. There must be a way to heal your arm. And… there will surely be things that only you can do.”
“…Thank you.”
“But first, we should deal with the urgent matter at hand.”
After giving Sara another small smile,
Layla looked back at .
“Follow . I’ll take you to the office. Everyone here is coming, right? Instructor Luke, Instructor Kara, and Roy as well.”
“Yes, we’ll all go together.”
“Jason?”
“It feels like it’s been ages, Father. Have you been well—ouch?!”
As we entered the office, what t our eyes were His Majesty the Emperor, Nazar, and Kafka and Andrew.
Just the three of them.
The military personnel Layla had ntioned earlier were nowhere to be seen.
As soon as we entered the room, the first to approach us was Andrew—to be precise, he imdiately rushed over to his son, whom he hadn’t seen in a while.
He ran straight up and smacked Jason hard on the head.
“Where have you been all this ti? And you pick now of all tis to return? Things are chaotic enough already, and your sudden appearance just makes it worse.”
“Didn’t raising already make you used to chaos?”
“…I thought I was, but apparently not.”
Andrew exchanged words with Jason, then turned his head toward .
“Gideon. Jason headed for Muktaba alone not long ago. How did you end up coming back with him? And right now, the Isrinbloom Ducal Family, the rulers of Muktaba, have brought their army into the capital. I was already suspicious of Dilug’s strange behavior and sudden disappearance, and of Eisen manipulating lava… I was about to move when—now I need you to tell everything you kno—”
“Lisaaa! You’re not hurt, right?! Do you have any idea how worried I was when you suddenly disappeared?! I couldn’t reach you since yesterday!”
Kafka abruptly dashed toward Lisa and pulled her into a tight hug.
Lisa looked clearly uncomfortable, but Kafka kept checking her all over for injuries.
“Are you hurt anywhere? It was shocking enough that you suddenly disappeared yesterday, but then at dawn, those Isrinbloom bastards suddenly entered the capital and started all that ss…! And in the middle of all this, I couldn’t even reach you! Do you know how worried I was?”
“M-Mother, I’m fine…”
“Yeah, you look fine. Then… my dear son-in-law! You didn’t contact since yesterday either—I was so worried!”
Kafka suddenly pulled into a hug and began checking all over, just as she had done with Lisa.
“You’re not hurt anywhere, right? Seriously, you really are Lisa’s boyfriend—unexpectedly dependable in these situations…”
“Kafka, let’s talk about that later. We have more pressing matters right now.”
“Right. Andrew’s right. We should handle what’s urgent first.”
Nazar, who had been quietly observing us, slowly rose from his seat with a faint smile.
“Gideon and Lisa, Jason… and even Sara. Luke is here too… and Kara, you’re with them as well. But the student standing beside you…”
“I’m Roy Varbellos. It’s an honor to et Your Majesty.”
“Ah, a child of House Varbellos, I see. Very well… Let’s set aside formal greetings for now…”
Nazar turned to his daughter.
“Layla, how did you gather these people?”
“Well… I didn’t really gather them. Jason suddenly dropped down from my ceiling, along with the others. He said he wanted to et you, Father.”
“Wait a second. Your Highness, did my son just drop from your ceiling?”
“Yes. He suddenly appeared out of the crawl space above and ca down.”
“Hmm.”
Andrew looked at Jason, who smiled awkwardly.
“I think we’ll need to revise the map we keep at ho.”
“…Yeah. It’s been a while since I last checked it.”
“Hey, Andrew. What are you talking about? Did you make so secret passage in the palace that even I don’t know about?”
“I didn’t make it—it’s been there for ages. There are tons of hidden passages in this palace that even you royals don’t know of.”
Andrew replied casually, then quickly changed the topic.
“We can discuss that later… Gideon, could you finish what you were saying earlier? And that story you’ve been hiding all this ti—it’s connected to the current situation, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is. The reason I hadn’t told you before was because I wasn’t certain myself. But now I know everything, and the situation is clear. I’ll explain everything.”
With those words, I glanced out the window.
Outside the palace, countless troops were gathered.
They were facing off against the soldiers defending the Imperial Palace.
“But what I’m about to say might take so ti. Will that be all right? Considering what’s happening outside…”
“They’ll hold for at least two hours.”
Kafka answered for .
“But if possible, finish within one. After an hour, I’ll probably have to go out there myself.”
“Understood. Then I’ll make it as quick as possible. In that case… Jason, the docunts you retrieved from the vault earlier…”
After I told everyone everything I had discovered—
“…Nazar, I think I need a mont to organize my thoughts.”
“Sa here. Let’s take ten minutes?”
“Ohhh, so my son-in-law is… the descendant of the Fourth Duke erased from history—the only surviving heir. Isn’t that so cool? Gideon, you’re really… oof?!”
“Mother, please read the room. Save that for later.”
Well, it was understandable. Both dukes and the emperor looked quite shocked by the revelation.
And Luke, Kara, Roy, and Sara—who had all just heard about the Mainac Family for the first ti—were the sa.
They already knew about the Isrinbloom Family and Bedir, but not about mine.
“Gideon, so you’re saying you’re a descendant of the family that was once the Empire’s Fourth Ducal House?”
“According to the records, yes… but I’m still not certain. We haven’t confird the authenticity of those records yet.”
“But if that’s true, then you…”
“You don’t need to concern yourselves with being a duke’s descendant. Even if the truth is revealed, reclaiming a ducal title would be… quite impossible.”
At my words, Sara nodded.
As soone of a ducal family herself, she would understand.
Even if I carried the bloodline of a fallen ducal house, reviving it from nothing would be close to impossible.
“Gideon.”
“Yes, Instructor?”
“You never stop surprising . I always knew there was sothing extraordinary about you, but to think you had such a secret…”
“I only found out a few hours ago myself, so I’m just as confused.”
“Heh. You’re truly a student I’ll never forget.”
After that brief exchange with Luke, Kara quietly approached and whispered.
“I understand now that your family had such a secret. But there’s still sothing I’m curious about.”
“What is it?”
“Rember when we went to the Protected Zone for Other Races? I ntioned then that there was sothing about your body that resembled the elves.”
“Ah, yes. I rember.”
“Maybe the answer to that lies in your family’s history too. You might find sothing if you dig deeper.”
“I’ll look into that later. But Instructor…”
“Yes?”
Perhaps noticing the shift in my gaze, Kara looked at with slight unease.
“Since we’re on the topic of other races, I think it’s ti to put my plan into motion.”
“W-What plan?”
“Please, co with .”
I led Kara to stand before Nazar.
He still seed shaken, likely because of the Isrinbloom Family’s past rebellion against the Empire.
But as we approached, he gave a small smile and spoke.
“Gideon. Do you have sothing to say to ?”
“There’s sothing I wish to ask of you.”
“A request? What kind of request?”
“The treaty that the Empire signed centuries ago after defeating the other races in the war—do you rember it?”
“That treaty… yes, I know of it.”
“I’d like you to annul it.”
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