In the corner of the Muivell Kingdom, the third prince was staring at the city from his balcony.
The city was filled with people, and there were a lot of smiles on the street. It looked peaceful, the atmosphere was good, and the situation seemed to be under control.
But while he was enjoying the little peace he had, the Third Prince suddenly opened his mouth while saying with a cold tone. "This is not the place where you belong."
A mysterious figure appeared in his room. He spoke, "Don't forget that both you and the royal family are within our grasp. You, royals, have been using us to control the kingdom. It's time for you to pay back."
"It seems the dogs are planning to bite its owner's hands." The Third Prince squinted his eyes and turned around, recognizing the person. "Laufey Ardagan. Don't forget that the reason why you can enter the Ardagan Family was thanks to my late father, the former king."
"Dogs?" Laufey narrowed his eyes as his energy started to leak out of his body. Laufey waved his hand, causing his energy to burst.
"!!!" The Third Prince was launched to the edge of the balcony. He would have fallen if not for the railing. "What are you doing?"
"I'm merely putting you in your place." Laufey snorted. He tossed a letter to the Third Prince and said, "This is your instruction. If you don't do it, then don't blame us for destroying your influence."
The Third Prince gritted his teeth, glaring at Laufey, who immediately disappeared after delivering the letter.
Just like the Third Prince, the current king also had a visit. But this visit came from none other than the strongest Devil Saint, Alexander.
Inside a hidden chamber, the king, accompanied by a man in his fifties, sat in front of Alexander.
Despite facing a Spirit Transcendence, the king didn't show any sign of fear because the man next to him was exuding an aura that was equal to Alexander's. Yes, he was the current Marshall of the Muivell Kingdom, the Spirit Transcendence that the royal family possessed.
Alexander smirked when he saw the Marshall standing in his way. He said, "To think the little boy back then has become a Spirit Transcendence and a Marshall…"
"You didn't come here just to talk about that, right, Alexander?" The king squinted his eyes.
"Oh, come on. It was I who helped you become the king." Alexander smirked.
"Do you think I'm not aware that you are also using my brother?" The king snorted. There was only one person who could be called 'brother' by the current king. He was none other than the Third Prince.
Looking at the situation, the organization seemed to have contacted the Third Prince as well.
"I don't have time for this. I have to handle a lot of other things."
Alexander paused for a moment before raising two fingers. "It's pretty simple. We want Noel Ardagan."
"Hmm?!" The king narrowed his eyes.
"Oh, my. Is the kingdom really lacking that they couldn't even find out that Noel Ardagan is still alive?" Alexander sounded it that way, but the only reason why Alexander knew Noel was because of Laufey. Other than a handful of people, Noel's identity hadn't been known at all.
Still, the king couldn't show that weakness. He kept his poker face and said, "I'm merely thinking about the possibility of you using Noel Ardagan. There is no reason why the organization wants Noel Ardagan after all. Don't forget that it was I who eliminated the Ardagan Family."
"What we're planning to do is not your business." Alexander pointed to the second finger. "The next demand is exiling Noel Ardagan."
"…" The king frowned. From the looks of it, Noel seemed to have gotten pretty big under another alias. And it was so big that exiling was an option.
Normally, there was no need to exile a commoner since the latter had no power to fight back. But it seemed that Noel's situation was bigger than he thought.
Of course, he had heard about the Rune Book as well, but because he was under the impression that Noel had died, he only tried to research the book.
Since the organization wanted him to exile Noel, it meant they wanted to capture or kill Noel Ardagan.
He had eliminated the Ardagan Family and his parents, so he thought there was no need to worry about Noel that much. But considering he had become another threat that might reach his father's level, he had to take another approach in this matter.
He said, "You should know that exiling is not a small matter because if the royal family exiles a mere commoner, we will be looked down upon."
"Of course. So, I'll tell you a piece of information. Noel Ardagan is going to become a noble soon."
"!!!" The king fully understood what Alexander meant. The exile could be done simply by giving Noel a new territory instead of his former territory. And that territory should be harsh. "I will consider it and give you the answer soon. I have to handle the matter of Arbiters first."
"Then, I will be looking forward to a good result." Alexander politely bowed his head before disappearing from the room.
Meanwhile, the king's calm expression turned into anger.
The Marshall was sweating as he couldn't help but ask, "Are we going to follow the terrorist's demand?"
"Do you think they can control me? They are just the dogs of the kingdom. Do you think I don't know that four out of twelve Arbiters have switched to their sides?" The king became even more frustrated.
Unlike the Demon Banner Army, who had been strict in their selection ever since Laufey's incident, the Royal Family had a hard time managing the Arbiters.
"Are you planning…" The Marshall frowned.
"Yeah. I know that Former Count Heirden has cooperated with the organization. It's time to replace him."
The Marshall's face turned grim, fully aware of what the king was planning to do. There was only one person who could replace him. It was Anna.
…
Anna was meditating in her room, preparing for the battle that was going to happen two days later.
She had been in the capital for a week. It only took her one week after that trip to become a Spirit Grandmaster. And she finally challenged Count Heirden for revenge on what happened in the Creek Village.
As expected, the capital was filled with danger. Her instinct was telling her that there was an extremely powerful man just leaving the capital. That feeling was similar to what she felt during the mission in Creek Village.
"That Devil Saint, huh… As expected, the Royal Family is connected to them…"
It might be a secret from the public, but when one grew stronger and could see the entire kingdom with their strength, they were bound to realize… that the kingdom had actually created the organization to control the kingdom. In other words, it wouldn't be that hard to know that the royal family or the exiled member had made contact with the organization.
Even Noel could see through it completely. However, there was simply no proof to prove it.
Anna had come to this conclusion as well.
"Still… Why didn't my previous life realize this? Was it because of my ignorance? No, was it because I was created to be ignorant?" Anna could see how her teacher and the royal family made her blind, forcing her to follow orders. "More importantly…"
There was another question when she realized the relationship between the Royal Family and the Supreme Devil Organization.
"If someone like me can see their relationship, the previous life Noel should have seen through it too. In other words, he should have known about the connection of the Third Prince, the Royal Family, and the organization. Yet…"
Anna recalled the last moment they had together. She and Noel ended up falling into an ambush.
The Third Prince betrayed Noel when the latter should have been aware of the Third Prince's true nature.
"Wait a minute…" Anna suddenly remembered what happened after Noel sacrificed himself during the fight against the Superior Demon. At that time, Noel had a medicine that allowed him to recover from such a fatal wound. "Don't tell me… Noel used that precious medicine to make the Third Prince believe he is dead?"
"But didn't he get something from Old Ru and cause me to regress? Why did he do that? Why did he allow me to die if he actually wanted me to form a connection with him?"
"I still believe that having him regress would be a better choice than me. But why did he choose the option where both of us died that day? Why?"
Anna couldn't answer the doubt in her mind. At the same time, the current Noel wouldn't have the answer, considering they had taken a different path. This might be the puzzle the previous Noel had created.
If she managed to solve it, she might be able to know why Noel chose her instead of himself.
"Ha… You bastard…" Anna pinched her forehead and added, "Both the previous and the current Noel are a pain in the ass. None of them can just tell me straight. Why bother using riddles?"
"Whatever. I will repay the previous Noel by solving this riddle. As for the current one…" Anna fell into deep thought.
On the one hand, the memories she had with the current Noel were far different from the past. There was simply no hatred between them. In fact, they could trust each other with their life. On the other hand, she felt like their relationship wasn't that simple.
This thought reminded her of Noel's plan.
"I want to become a noble…"
She could remember Noel's voice vividly.
"A noble, huh? What would happen after that? Does he want to become a noble just to be killed? But this time, there is no second chance… In the previous life, it's gone bad because of me? And in this life, he wants us to tackle the problem together? Well, it's true that I feel like no one can rival us if we're together, but…" Anna scratched the back of her head. "If I propose this, won't that mean I've lost the purpose of my life?"
Anna had been controlled by everyone, including Noel, in her previous life. In this life, she obviously wanted to take her own path, free from others. But there was no denying that Noel had a big impact on her life. She just didn't know anymore.
"Argh. The more I think about it, the bigger the headache. Whatever, I'm just going with this until I see another variable." Anna clenched her fists. "Just you wait, Noel. Whatever you're planning, I'm going to surpass it."
