Arriving at the Imperial Capital

Who was trying to assassinate Duke Kemais? Although Lorist insisted aloud that Duke Kemais's womanizing had brought this disaster upon him, he was actually muttering doubts to himself and nervously pondering the matter. As for Duke Kemais's self-important intuition, Lorist had not taken it seriously. Everyone knew that Knight Vexus was merely the Second Prince's illegitimate son. Now that the Second Prince's newly married Queen had given birth to a legitimate heir of the Imperial Krison Royal Family, Knight Vexus's importance and chances of inheriting the throne had already fallen drastically.

Although Knight Vexus had now been ennobled as a territorial count and obtained the Second Prince's forgiveness, allowing him to remain in the Imperial Capital, he had been stripped of his position as Guard Commander of the palace. He was now nothing more than an idle noble, which was why he had opened a merchant guild to find something to do. In the end, he merely wanted to use his identity as the Second Prince's illegitimate son to scrape together some money. Lorist did not take him seriously. With his wealth, he could not possibly support a Great Swordsman, much less produce a huge sum to bribe one into assassinating a territorial duke.

Could the mastermind behind this be the Second Prince? After turning the matter over in his mind, Lorist found that the person under the greatest suspicion was still the Second Prince, who was about to ascend the throne. If the Second Prince had truly given the order, it was obvious that he still feared the Norton Family's power immensely. In particular, the Northern Four Families Alliance, headed by the Norton Family, had already become the empire's largest faction of territorial nobles. Even the Second Prince had to deliberate repeatedly over his policies to avoid harming the