Information that “Viscount Zangou is planning treason” had been quietly given to only two people: my father the King, and myself, the Crown Prince.
The source of this information, Marquis Howard, had apparently already arrested and questioned Zangou. Not only had he gotten a full confession – including the name of the person meant to be sacrificed in a curse-killing ritual – but he now stood before us with the proof.
”The target.”
The name Marquis Howard revealed made both my father and me groan in disbelief.
”The target is Princess Aliya of the Shium Kingdom… His Highness Crown Prince Ethan’s fiancée.”
Marquis Howard spoke as if he were reading from a story.
Cursemasters – specialists in curses, as they were called – had originally used their skills in succession fights within their own families. Over time, curses came to be used as tools for getting rid of political enemies and taking revenge. Today, their use is banned by international law.
Of course, every nation secretly kept such cursmasters on their payroll. It was an open secret – a way to scare others, since no one dared make a move for fear of being cursed back.
Apparently, the Viscount Zangou family had long been a hidden source of such cursmasters. The curses they perfected in secret, careful not to attract attention, were passed down within the family as forbidden arts never to be shared outside.
The current Viscount Zangou had exceptional talent. As his skill as a cursemaster grew, and using curses became second nature to him, it made him reckless. He began using the family’s secret arts for money – but curses are a crime. Afraid of being caught at home, he kept up an innocent image within the kingdom while taking jobs from the neighboring Shium Kingdom. After handling several such jobs, he built a reputation as an underground cursemaster, and eventually a big job came his way: the curse-killing of Shium Kingdom’s First Princess Aliya.
Zangou, thrilled at this important assignment, threw himself into the work, using criminals as sacrifices to boost his power. And when Queen Shium found out about this somehow, she took the curse meant for her daughter upon herself – that was the truth of what happened three years ago.
However, the job had specified Princess Aliya as the target. The client had said: “If royalty keep dying one after another, it will raise suspicion. Take all the time you need. But make sure the job is done within a few years.”
Zangou, for his part, was eager to keep going – still refusing to accept that the failure had been because his sacrifices weren’t good enough.
The most effective sacrifice for a curse-killing ritual is a former Saint Candidate who has fallen to corruption. However, Saint Candidates appear very rarely, and once they enter the temple, they become hard to reach. While Zangou struggled to find a suitable vessel, word came that the Silver Baron’s daughter had awakened to holy magical power and would be attending the Royal Lemres Academy as a Saint Candidate.
One might think he’d simply kidnap her and be done with it – but that would be careless. Even if she was just a girl, he would need to keep her for several years until her awakening. The costs would add up, the risk of being caught would increase – a classic case of being in too much of a hurry.
A Saint Candidate’s holy magical power is fundamentally opposite to curses. To use one as a sacrifice, he’d have to wait until she awakened and fell to corruption – and even then, there was no guarantee she would fall at all.
So Zangou chose a different approach: wait for the right moment while creating the conditions to push the Saint Candidate into corruption.
First, once the Saint Candidate entered the academy, he used multiple middlemen to reach a merchant who supplied the school. This served both to build connections and to quietly encourage the Saint Candidate’s odd behavior during her studies.
And so a year passed. The Saint Candidate – the Silver Baron’s daughter – would turn sixteen this year. At the earliest, she would awaken in another year or two. By then, security would be tighter, so he planned to carry out the operation after the academy graduation ceremony – except that Marquis Howard had found out about the scheme, leading to the current arrest.
The plan was as follows:
First, kidnap Rebecca and torture her. Then, use a merchant who knew the Saint Candidate to lure her to a meeting with a broken, battered Rebecca. From there, imprison the Saint Candidate and put her through psychological torment, repeatedly telling her that it had been her wish all along – until she fell to corruption.
If a Saint Candidate went missing, it would normally cause a huge stir – but this was the Silver Baron’s daughter we were talking about. Her disappearance would be dismissed as just another of her usual oddities, delaying any search considerably. What’s more, they had even prepared a cover story: that she had died after running away from home.
By the way, upon hearing all this, I thanked God that Zangou wasn’t standing before me. Because if he had been, I might have killed him without a second thought.
As for Princess Aliya’s side, you already know the story.
Having learned of her mother’s tragic death and the danger to her own life, Princess Aliya bought herself time by signaling – through her engagement to me, the Crown Prince of Rendel – that she had no interest in the throne. Behind the scenes, she started an investigation to find her mother’s killer. For Princess Aliya, her engagement to me also served as a way to find true allies. I hear that while the search for proof of her mother’s murder was painfully slow, the process of choosing loyal followers was going smoothly.
There was no way we could publicly announce that a noble from our own kingdom had carried out the murder of a neighboring queen – and had tried to curse the next queen to death as well. The very fact that such cursmasters existed within our nation, and that we had failed to notice them, would destroy the Kingdom of Rendel’s authority.
My father and I shared the same headache.
Marquis Howard continued.
”Viscount Zangou is quite a coward. As a result, he is deeply suspicious, cautious, and very aware of his own safety. But his cowardice also led him to create detailed contracts when taking on jobs.”
The documents spread before us formed a contract for the curse-killing of Shium Kingdom’s First Princess Aliya. The payment was listed in detail: a title and land in Shium Kingdom, a guaranteed position at court, and more.
And most importantly – there was the client’s signature and seal.
As my eyes fell upon the “proof” we had been searching for over the years, I read the client’s name aloud.
”Shium Kingdom’s Second Queen Kimberly… no, the current Queen Kimberly’s personal signature and seal!”
In the Shium Kingdom, succession follows birth order, regardless of gender. The late First Queen had given birth to First Princess Aliya and Third Prince Victor; the former Second Queen had given birth to Second Princess Lauren, Aliya’s younger sister. In other words, if Queen Kimberly wanted her own child on the throne, Princess Aliya had to be removed. This contract was solid proof that the assassination plot against Princess Aliya was Queen Kimberly’s doing.
”Yes. I wish to hand over to Your Majesty the captured Viscount Zangou and all related parties including middlemen, the seized documents, and the records of the Howard family’s questioning. This is a matter that could shake the very foundations of the kingdom. I ask that Your Majesty deal with it as you see fit.”
Then, as if remembering something, Marquis Howard added:
”Oh, however – the merchant who had direct dealings with the Saint Candidate… that one man, for some reason, we simply could not catch. Therefore, we have been unable to confirm whether the middlemen’s claim – that the Saint Candidate ‘planned the kidnapping of Marquis Howard’s daughter’ – is true or false.”
Whether truth or lie, Viscount Zangou’s crimes remain the same, so it hardly matters, yes? – Marquis Howard tilted his head with a smile. Was I overthinking, or did that smile have something calculated behind it?
In any case, we now had the “proof” Princess Aliya had been searching for.
That the late queen had lost her life to a curse had been established relatively early on – but it was no wonder that searching for Shium Kingdom’s cursmasters had repeatedly come up empty.
That we had failed to notice such schemes unfolding right under our noses, and that our own people were involved, was deeply regrettable – but that too was a matter for negotiation.
I let out a sigh. My father turned to Marquis Howard.
”What do you want, Marquis Howard?” the King asked. “Surely you don’t expect me to believe you’re so unselfish as to offer this as ‘proof of loyalty to the royal family.’”
Marquis Howard’s violet eyes – so like Rebecca’s – lit up with a warm, friendly light. Many are fooled by that smile, I’m sure. But my personal belief is that people only act without caring about their own gain when driven by love. To me, it looked deeply suspicious.
”I have sworn loyalty to the royal family, Your Majesty,” Marquis Howard replied. “However, there is something I would like in return. Forever, for all generations to come, that the royal family will not propose a political engagement or marriage to the Howard family – for any reason whatsoever. And as the first sign of that agreement, I ask that the engagement between my daughter Rebecca and Lord Garrett’s son be broken off. What do you say, Your Majesty?”
My father seemed deflated by Marquis Howard’s smile. Another heavy sigh escaped him.
”Still the same family-first way of thinking as always… Very well. I approve. You have done a great service today. Regarding Zangou’s punishment and our response to Shium Kingdom – I, as the King, shall decide the path the Kingdom of Rendel will take.”
After that, we finished the detailed arrangements: handing over physical proof, reports, and prisoners. Marquis Howard then asked to leave.
I called him back as he was walking out.
”You said you would not accept political proposals,” I said. “If your daughter herself wanted it, however – would you still oppose a tie with the royal family?”
Marquis Howard smiled gently. “Of course not. What parents don’t wish for their children’s happiness?”
That smile – unlike the suspicious one from earlier – was the real expression of a loving father.
===
Thank you for reading.
(Rebecca’s Dad)
I buried the information implicating the Saint Candidate because I promised my daughter. The merchant’s whereabouts? Hahaha, whatever could you mean?
Summary:
The King and Crown Prince receive intelligence on Viscount Zangou’s treason from Marquis Howard, who reveals that Aliya was the target of a curse-killing plot. The narrative unspools the full conspiracy – Zangou’s family history as cursmasters, the commission from Queen Kimberly, and the failed attempt that killed Aliya’s mother instead. While the evidence secures Zangou’s fate and exposes Kimberly, Marquis Howard’s reward request and the conveniently escaped merchant introduce an unresolved thread about just how deep the cover-up goes.
Trivia:
- Zangou’s failure was blamed on poor-quality sacrificial vessels, not his own incompetence, which drove him to continue the work.
- The Saint Candidate’s holy magical power is fundamentally incompatible with curses – she must fall to corruption before use.
- Zangou planned to wait until graduation ceremony to execute the operation, but Howard caught him first.
- The merchant who dealt with the Saint Candidate remains unapprehended – Howard hints he may have deliberately let him go.
- Queen Kimberly’s signature and seal on the contract are the hard evidence Aliya had been hunting for years.
- Aliya used her engagement to Ethan to signal disinterest in the throne while investigating her mother’s murder.
- Howard’s reward request effectively immunizes his family from any future political marriages – a long-term protective move.
- The late First Queen absorbed the curse meant for Aliya, dying in her daughter’s place.
- Shium Kingdom’s succession is birth-order based, not gender-based – making Aliya the primary obstacle to Kimberly’s ambitions.
- Howard delivered the full confession including the target’s name, which triggered the King and Ethan’s visceral shock.