The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

-Swoosh

At the call to come out, Ressimus reached out and forcibly pulled Arin out of the tent.

She was momentarily flustered by the unexpected action, but that soon gave way to speechlessness at the scene unfolding before her eyes.

“What, what’s this?”

Knights who should have been swinging their swords at the demonic beasts on the front lines were suddenly attacking the inspection team.

The inspection team was caught off guard by the unexpected assault and struggled to defend themselves.

“W-Why are the knights attacking us all of a sudden?”

-Whoosh!

There was no time to just stand there wide-eyed in shock.

Arin, under the protection of Ressimus, quickly retreated. Two knights, wielding longswords, charged at her.

“Fall back, Princess Arin!”

Set, who had been standing by, sprang forward.

“Desert Blade!”

At his command, brown blades, seemingly crafted from sand, appeared in his hands.

Despite his large frame, Set moved with surprising speed, swinging the blades.

-Clang!

“……!”

The power was far greater than expected.

The knights barely managed to regain their balance and quickly retreated.

“God’s Strike!”

A magic knight who had been watching the situation from the boundary gate cast a spell towards the inspection team, not wanting to give them any respite.

A black cloud loomed over them, and thunder flashed.

“God’s Protection.”

Luna, who was with the inspection team, raised one hand and cast a spell.

-Sizzle!

The lightning from the God’s Strike was blocked by the protective barrier and dissipated in the air.

As the residual sparks faded, both sides entered a momentary standoff.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t those knights supposed to be on our side?”

Set, standing firmly with his arms crossed at the front, asked Luna.

“Rather than on the same side, it’s more accurate to say we were aligned.”

“But still, they’re not supposed to attack us, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Which is why I’m as baffled as you are.”

Set thought to himself.

If Luna, who knows almost everything, doesn’t understand the situation, it must be extremely serious and unprecedented.

-Swish

In the midst of the tense, explosive situation, Duke Vert finally emerged from the tent.

He offered no explanation or instructions to either the inspection team or the frontline knights.

He simply walked towards the boundary gate, showing his indifferent back to the inspection team.

“Stop right there, Duke Vert!”

Arin urgently stepped forward and shouted,

“Can’t you hear me, Duke Vert? Stop right now and explain what’s going on!”

The duke didn’t even glance back.

He crossed the boundary gate and completely moved to the front line.

The knights thoroughly blocked the inspection team from crossing over.

“As far as I know, such actions are considered treason.”

“That’s for the princess to judge.”

The attendants decided to silently observe Arin’s reaction for now.

Defying the emperor’s authority, represented by the princess, and even drawing their swords—this was outright treason and rebellion.

But for Arin,

“What on earth is he thinking?”

she couldn’t even begin to decide how to judge this situation, and her head felt like it was about to explode.

Did he seriously not know whether his actions were right or wrong?

How could he make such an irresponsible statement?

She even started to doubt if the man she had conversed with in the tent was really Duke Vert,

“The knights are advancing from behind!”

The situation was worsening.

There was no way those advancing knights could be the imperial army.

This meant they were even less likely to be allies of the inspection team.

“We’re surrounded.”

At Luna’s indifferent remark, cold sweat simultaneously trickled down the members of the inspection team.

* * *

I wasn’t shocked to the point of fainting.

I didn’t even frown.

I just stared at her with the same indifferent eyes as before.

Why?

Because it was beyond ridiculous.

She says she’s his real mother.

Not a foster mother who raised him with love, but his actual biological mother.

Can you believe that face?

I mean, sure, you can’t judge people by their appearances.

Just look at me, for instance.

But this?

A woman who looks not just similar to me, but even younger than I do, being that demon’s mother?

Her face, neck, chest, even her hands.

Is it even possible for a woman who has an adult son to have not a single wrinkle?

There’s a limit to what makeup can hide.

I even checked for any traces of magic that might have altered her appearance, but there were none.

In other words, that’s her true face.

“I thought you’d be with the inspection team, but I didn’t expect you to come to the mansion. It’s been ten years since your last visit, right? How does it feel to be back home?”

“Is that really something you should be asking?”

“Well, someone should ask. There’s probably no one else in this mansion, or rather, in Velias, who would welcome your visit.”

At that moment, I strongly felt that, whether or not she was his real mother, she was definitely connected to that guy.

Her behavior was exactly like his.

Disgustingly manipulative.

“I heard his real mother was dead?”

“They only believed that. After all, there was no one in this mansion who truly knew about me.”

Her statement is contradictory.

If no one knew her, how did she take over this mansion?

And with such an armed force.

[Look at this.]

With a voice filled with interest, a black mist rose up from within.

Kaeram was materializing.

And not just to me, but fully, so everyone could see.

“Who is that woman?”

“……”

Unlike the shocked Cranz mother and son, the woman showed neither surprise nor pleasure, just a vague reaction.

Kaeram looked at her with wide eyes.

[What a surprise! I didn’t expect to see any of you still around! It’s actually nice to see you again like this.]

Kaeram reacted as if she were seeing an old friend.

“Do you know her?”

[Of course I do! How could I not? We have so many memories together…….]

Kaeram smiled warmly and slowly approached her.

Accepting her approach, she too did not back away but faced her.

[No wonder. It makes no sense for someone as tenacious as you to disappear so easily. Whose back have you been hiding behind all this time?]

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m not who you believe.”

[Oh really? Did I get it wrong? The aura was so similar I must have been mistaken. My apologies~]

“It’s alright. It’s understandable…….”

[How dare you hide your tail?]

Kaeram’s face, which had been smiling brightly, suddenly hardened.

She grabbed her by the back of her head, preventing her from escaping.

Her eyes were filled with a murderous intent, as if she would devour her alive at any moment.

[You’re a witch.]

“……!”

[Bewitching everything you see…….]

-Thud, thud, thud

Heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor, signaling the arrival of knights responding to the commotion.

They soon arrived in the room, swinging their swords at me.

-Clang!

I almost cut their throats but hesitated upon recognizing their familiar faces.

I couldn’t remember their names, but they were knights who had served in the old Knights of Light and had protected Velias for a long time.

The other knights who had come along were the same.

All of them were faces I had encountered at least once before.

“Ugh!”

Unlike the knights I had killed mercilessly earlier, these knights seemed to be struggling even to swing their swords, their expressions filled with extreme agony.

As if they were battling some internal torment.

“Plea…”

One of them barely managed to open his mouth and,

“Please help us.”

He unexpectedly asked for my help.

Instead of swinging my sword,

-Thwack

I punched them hard in the face.

Some of the knights, unable to withstand the shock, were flung against the wall, while the ones who managed to stay on their feet couldn’t get back up and just kept coughing.

No matter what, these knights shouldn’t be collapsing from just one punch.

It was clear to anyone that they were not in a normal state.

-Whoosh!

While my attention was briefly on the knights, a burst of mana flared behind me.

Recognizing it as spatial transference magic, I quickly turned around.

But she was already gone.

All that was left were the dissipating traces of mana and the trembling Cranz mother and son in the corner.

She had truly vanished at the speed of light.

[PR/N: NOTHING’S NEW NOTHING’S NEW NOTHING’S NEW NOTHING’S NEW]
* * *

“There’s nothing I can tell you. I was ambushed and knocked out, then locked in a storeroom for three days.”

“And you’re proud enough to announce that?”

“It’s not like I wanted to get caught…!”

Cranz, who had started to flare up, quickly calmed down.

“I, I couldn’t help it!”

The moment our eyes met, Cranz immediately backed down.

As soon as the woman named Haniel disappeared, the knights guarding the mansion simultaneously clutched their heads, groaning in pain for several minutes.

After they recovered, some of the knights came to explain that she had appeared at the mansion alone three days ago, claiming to be Aschel’s biological mother.

They lost their memory the moment they made eye contact with her.

In short, a single woman had toyed with a force equivalent to a company of soldiers.

There’s no better word for it than mockery.

“Why have you returned?”

The Duchess, sitting on the bed and resting, glared at me.

“That contemptuous look of yours is still the same! You dare step into this household again after desecrating our family and empire by setting foot in a place where no human should? Have you no shame?”

My temperament has really softened.

Hearing such words, I didn’t feel anger but rather pity.

In fact, it was Cranz who ended up calming her down.

There’s nothing to gain from staying with these pitiful people.

I immediately left the room.

“Hey, Cyan. Wait a moment!”

Cranz followed me right away.

“I just thought of something, and I think it’s better to tell you than the knights.”

“If it’s something useless, go shut your mother’s mouth instead.”

From the open door, the Duchess’s curses continued to reach me.

“Well, we’ll see about that! Actually, while I was being taken to the storeroom, I vaguely heard something. I think there’s someone else imprisoned in this mansion besides me.”

“Someone else?”

“Yes. That woman asked if there were any unused rooms in the mansion besides the storeroom. The knights told her there was one room that hadn’t been used for ten years.”

“Where is it?”

“Your room.”

I stared at Cranz silently for a moment.

“Why? It was the knights who said it! It’s true that it hasn’t been used for ten years! Anyway, she might have imprisoned someone there too!”

If it’s not the storeroom but a room, it means they locked up someone far more valuable than you.

I passed Cranz and headed straight to my room.

As I climbed the stairs and reached my room’s door,

“Ha!”

A sigh escaped me.

Even if I’m a delinquent who ran away, couldn’t they at least clean the room?

Dust had piled up from the door onward, making it worse than a storeroom.

Feeling slightly bitter, I grabbed the doorknob,

“……”

I sensed someone inside.

Without hesitation, I opened the door.

-Creak

I didn’t need to look around to find anything.

Right in front of me was someone in a far more severe state of restraint than Cranz.

They were bound with iron chains and a metal mask, not mere rags and ropes.

“Huuh…”

Noticing my presence, the person struggled to lift their bowed head.

They were barely breathing through a small hole in the mask.

I immediately released his restraints and removed the mask.

Oh.

I didn’t expect to see this man in my room.

Shouldn’t he be by my father’s side rather than in this mansion?

“C-Cyan, is it really you?”

He was Eulken Darius, a senior knight from the old Knights of Light, my father’s right-hand man, and the knight who had protected me when I was a child.