Outside the side gate of the royal palace, two halberds adorned with dark-red tassels suddenly crossed, firmly blocking the group’s path.
“Please present the Heartfilia family’s pass.”
The leading guard was quite young, with neat black hair and a posture as straight as a javelin piercing the night sky.
His gaze swept over the group like a falcon before finally settling on Byakuran, who was completely shrouded in a black robe.
“…Who is this?”
“This is the assistant who will help us open the Eclipse Gate, Lord Arcadios.”
Layla stepped forward half a pace.
Although her tone was gentle, it carried the unquestionable dignity of the head of the Heartfilia family.
“There has been a slight mishap with the ceremony, and I require his power. I will take full responsibility for him.”
“The area beneath the royal palace cannot be accessed simply because someone says, ‘I’ll take responsibility.'”
The young knight refused to budge.
“Forgive my rudeness, Madam Heartfilia, but this person doesn’t even dare to show his face, and his background is completely unknown.”
Byakuran mentally gave the young knight a thumbs-up.
If he were responsible for guarding the entrance, he wouldn’t let someone like himself inside either.
Unfortunately, today he was the person who needed to be allowed in.
“Then please report to His Majesty immediately.”
Layla slightly raised her chin.
“I will explain everything to His Majesty personally.”
After the report was made, Layla and her group successfully entered the royal palace and were soon brought before the King of Fiore.
However, King Toma E.
Fiore was much shorter than Byakuran had imagined.
He barely reached Jude’s waist and had a round, somewhat comical face.
The king had originally been jogging out from behind a long table to welcome them, but the moment he saw Byakuran, who radiated a dangerous aura, his footsteps abruptly stopped.
He even instinctively took half a step backward.
Perhaps realizing that this damaged the dignity of the kingdom, he gritted his teeth, puffed out his chest, and returned to his original position.
“Oh, oh… This is… is this the one assisting us in secret? What’s-his-name?”
The king coughed lightly, desperately trying to restore the dignity befitting a monarch.
“What is your name?”
“Yoru.”
Byakuran’s voice reverberated through the spacious hall with a deep, echoing tone, altered through magical vibrations.
“You may also call me the Outside Advisor.”
The moment the words “Outside Advisor” left his mouth, Byakuran wanted to slap himself.
He had been too impulsive.
Why couldn’t he restrain his inner chuunibyou for once?
But there was no turning back now.
Once he’d established this mysterious, cool persona, he couldn’t suddenly abandon it.
Surprisingly, the effect was quite good.
King Toma’s eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly, the corners of his mustache twitching.
“Outside Advisor! Hmm, good name. Very good name.”
“It sounds like… like the title of some mysterious master who lives in seclusion!”
“Your Majesty.”
A tense-looking middle-aged minister seated nearby couldn’t help speaking up.
He stared directly at Layla, his voice cold and stern.
“The mission passed down through generations of the royal family only states that the agreement made four hundred years ago is to be fulfilled by a Heartfilia, while the royal family is responsible for guarding the Eclipse Gate.”
“Yet nowhere does it mention the existence of a third party!”
“Allowing someone of unknown origin, who doesn’t even dare to reveal his true face, to participate in opening the gate is simply unreasonable—”
“Lord Danton.”
Layla turned slightly and bowed toward the minister.
Her attitude remained impeccable.
“Your concerns are completely reasonable.”
“Then Madam should understand—”
“However, we no longer have time.”
Layla raised her head.
Her gentle eyes were filled with desperate determination.
“The appointed moment of July 7th is rapidly approaching.”
“That day is our only opportunity, yet the keys to the Twelve Zodiac Gates have not all been gathered.”
“We have no choice but to take a gamble and choose to believe him.”
Danton’s expression became even more serious.
“Madam Heartfilia, the agreement made four hundred years ago is your family’s destiny, not the Kingdom of Fiore’s obligation!”
“The royal family’s responsibility is merely to guard the gate!”
He spoke slowly, pressing forward with each sentence.
“The safety of the kingdom cannot be built upon the goodwill of a stranger.”
“If an unknown variable appears and opening the gate causes an unimaginable disaster, who will bear the responsibility?”
“You?!”
“I will.”
King Toma’s voice wasn’t loud.
Yet in an instant, it silenced the entire hall.
The short man who had just been jogging out to welcome his guests—and who had even been frightened enough to step backward—now placed his hands behind his back.
His mustache curled slightly upward.
At that moment, his posture seemed to carry the weight of the entire kingdom.
He finally possessed the genuine majesty of a monarch.
“Your Majesty—”
“Danton, listen to me.”
The king waved his hand, interrupting the minister.
“My great-grandfather studied that gate.”
“My grandfather researched it.”
“And before my father passed away, he even had people carry him there on a stretcher so he could take one final look at the underground palace.”
“Generation after generation of our family has guarded it.”
“Yet we have never known exactly what we were guarding it for.”
“The ancestral instruction passed down through the royal family to this day contains only one sentence.”
He paused.
“Guard the gate and wait for the arrival of a Heartfilia Celestial Spirit Mage.”
The king turned his head and looked deeply at Layla.
“I have waited for it.”
“For four hundred years, this destiny has continued until my generation.”
“And now, at last, the true successor has arrived.”
The hall fell completely silent.
“If the gate fails to open this time, wouldn’t the Fiore royal family’s desperate efforts to protect it for the past four hundred years become nothing more than a complete joke?”
The king coughed lightly and rubbed his nose.
Then his stern expression disappeared.
“I won’t allow that.”
Byakuran clicked his tongue inwardly in admiration.
This short king looked carefree and even somewhat comical on the surface, but those few words had struck directly at the heart of the matter.
He wasn’t fooling around at all.
“Your Majesty, please allow me to finish.”
Danton took a deep breath and stepped back, seemingly willing to compromise.
“Even if he is allowed to participate, his movements must remain under our complete supervision.”
“Before the appointed day arrives, he must not act alone or approach the underground palace and the Eclipse Gate without permission.”
“I will be responsible for this.”
The young knight who had been waiting outside the door stepped forward.
The armor covering his body produced a crisp metallic clatter with every movement.
His entire body stood straight, like a javelin driven into the red carpet.
“Lord Arcadios?”
King Toma blinked.
“From now until the Eclipse Gate is successfully opened…”
Arcadios turned his head.
His blade-sharp gaze locked onto Byakuran.
“I will follow him every step of the way.”
“If he makes even the slightest suspicious move, I will capture him on the spot.”
“If I fail in my duty, I am willing to pay with my life!”
Byakuran couldn’t help giving the iron-blooded knight a sidelong glance.
This was the very same man who would, in the future, throw himself into magma for the princess.
Fine.
That phrase, “pay with my life,” certainly rolled off his tongue a little too easily.
But if Byakuran really had malicious intentions, Arcadios alone wouldn’t be enough to deal with him anyway.
“Very good! Very good!”
King Toma clapped his hands happily, his mustache twitching.
“Then let’s do that!” Find the original chapter at g.com.
“Mr. Yoru, please stay temporarily in the guest room in the west wing during this period.”
After a brief pause, the king suddenly leaned forward half a step like an excited child.
His eyes flashed with curiosity as he lowered his voice.
“By the way, since you’re a mage… can you show me your magic later?”
“Your Majesty!”
Danton’s voice nearly cracked.
Later That Night
The night grew deeper.
Byakuran therefore moved into the Fiore royal palace.
He had to admit that the royal guest room was ridiculously spacious.
The luxurious, soft bed was large enough for four Byakurans to lie side by side.
The ceiling was even painted with an enormous scene depicting winged creatures.
Outside the door, Arcadios stood motionless like a stone statue.
At the end of the corridor, two royal guards stood fully armed and ready for battle.
Even on the roof outside the window, a covert guard was hiding.
Although, from Byakuran’s perspective, that man’s attempt at concealment was full of flaws.
However, Byakuran’s first real challenge quietly arrived at dinner.
A young maid pushed an exquisite dining cart into the room.
It was loaded with beautifully arranged plates of steaming royal cuisine.
After respectfully placing everything down, she withdrew.
Byakuran sat at the dining table and looked at the delicious dishes.
Then he looked toward Arcadios, who stood at the doorway with his arms crossed, staring fixedly at him.
“Mr. Arcadios.”
“Yes?”
“I’m going to eat.”
“Please go ahead.”
“…I’m wearing a mask.”
“I can see that.”
The room fell into complete silence.
The two stared at each other for a full three seconds.
“My clan has an ancient and strict rule.”
Byakuran began speaking with a completely straight face.
“We must never reveal our true faces in front of outsiders.”
“Duty dictates that you remain within my line of sight at all times.”
Arcadios’s reply was completely expressionless.
Fortunately, Byakuran usually prepared numerous practical small-scale spells and stored them in cards for situations exactly like this.
Under Arcadios’s suspicious gaze, Byakuran calmly reached into his robe and pulled out a card.
The moment he activated it, a ball of black mist appeared out of thin air.
It accurately and flawlessly wrapped around his entire face.
Under the perfect concealment provided by the black mist, Byakuran calmly pulled down his mask and leisurely began eating his dinner.
Arcadios stared at the black mist throughout the entire process.
The veins on his temples twitched.
His expression darkened little by little.
“…Forgive my rudeness, but what magic was that?”
“Oh, nothing special.”
Byakuran casually continued eating.
“Just a simple illusion spell.”
“Illusion magic…”
Arcadios narrowed his eyes.
“Noted.”
The knight let out a cold snort.
Then, to Byakuran’s surprise, he pulled a small notebook from inside his armor.
He solemnly recorded the information with a pen.
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
Byakuran was speechless.
He suddenly felt that he might have been too hasty.
Perhaps he should have waited until the final day before showing off any magic.