“Little Seven, what on earth are you talking about? What is really going on?” Debbie asked hurriedly, her eyes wide open in a manner suggesting she wanted to hear some gossip.
“This matter goes back eighteen years. At that time, the barbarians invaded. To boost morale, Brother Four came personally to Windrock City to oversee the defence. He stayed here for four months. During that period, he had an illicit relationship with a maid assigned to care for him,” Prince Geller recounted.
Perhaps because he was narrating an imperial secret, his tone was extremely low. He even glanced around furtively to ensure no one else was eavesdropping. His demeanour only heightened everyone’s interest tenfold.
Prince Geller continued. “Brother Four thus left behind his bloodline. But at the time, he had no way to grant her any status. He could only arrange for a loyal guard to remain in Windrock City to look after the maid. He planned to make further arrangements when he had the chance later.”
“After he returned to the capital, he kept in touch with the guard during that time. He learned that the maid had successfully given birth to a male infant. Under the guard’s care, the boy grew up safely. Brother Four never forgot this bloodline of his. Unfortunately, the capital’s situation was chaotic then. One of the princes launched a rebellion. Though the revolt was swiftly suppressed, it left the capital’s atmosphere exceedingly tense. It was no time to bring this illegitimate prince back to the capital. And so six years passed.”
“Just when Brother Four believed the moment had ripened, and he had even prepared to announce the prince’s existence publicly, an accident occurred. Some people learned of the prince’s existence. Brother Four does not know exactly what happened then, but the guard never contacted him again after that.”
“Based on the situation at the time, it seems someone deliberately lured Brother Four to Windrock City and set up an assassination trap here to kill him. Brother Four judged it highly likely a scheme by the church. After much hesitation, he could only abandon his plan to come to Windrock City.”
“The church controls seven nations on the Castro Continent. The Star Empire is the only one attempting to resist church dominance. This stems from Brother Four’s long-standing opposition to the church. He has ruled for over forty years, constantly seeking to break the church’s grip on the empire. Thus, the church wants him to abdicate swiftly, installing a more controllable prince as the new emperor. In fact, nearly every one of the empire’s twelve princes is firmly under the church’s control.”
“The matter of the illegitimate son was thus shelved until recently. The Fourth Prince’s disappearance gave Brother Four a pretext to send troops to Windrock City. Under the guise of searching for the Fourth Prince, he quietly investigated the illegitimate son’s whereabouts. Though Brother Four is emperor, he has few he truly trusts. This arduous task fell to me.”
“I led the Black Armoured Guards to garrison Windrock City. Ostensibly to search for the Fourth Prince, but in truth to find the illegitimate son.”
“Through various clues, I finally confirmed the illegitimate son’s identity.”
At this point, Prince Geller paused. He lifted a cup of coffee and took a gentle sip to moisten his throat. Debbie, impatient, pressed him. “Little Seven, tell us quickly. Where on earth is that illegitimate son?”
Prince Geller scanned the expressions of everyone else in the room. A faint smile tugged at his lips. He continued. “Back then, the loyal guard stayed in Windrock City with the maid. To conceal their identities, he even married and started a family here. They lived quietly. The family settled in Windrock City’s slum district. These past months, while searching for the Fourth Prince, I focused on the slums, investigating all boys of the appropriate age. Only recently did I uncover some leads.”
Here, Prince Geller’s eyes suddenly turned to Jacob.
Noticing Prince Geller’s gaze, Ye Dui’s body stiffened in shock. He suddenly recalled certain things Jacob had mentioned: his mother had once been a maid in the Lord’s Mansion. It was because of that status that Jacob secured a job in the Lord’s kitchen.
Debbie, Green, and Lisa all showed astonished expressions, turning to look at Jacob. Gunny, with her innocent nature, did not grasp what was happening but followed suit and looked at Jacob too.
So that was it.
Prince Geller said he had only recently uncovered leads. Did that mean he confirmed the illegitimate son’s identity this very morning? Because Jacob had been imprisoned in the Lord’s dungeon all along, Prince Geller only learned of Jacob’s existence today. His friendly attitude toward Jacob was not because Jacob was Debbie’s friend, but for this reason.
Jacob was now seventeen or eighteen, matching the illegitimate son’s age.
Realising something, Jacob’s body straightened abruptly. Shock filled his face. Prince Geller was discussing the emperor’s illegitimate son, a secret that could shake the realm’s rule, yet he, an outsider, was included. He had felt surprised earlier, wondering what qualified him to hear such secrets. Now he understood.
Because he was the key to this secret himself.
He was the emperor’s illegitimate son, the empire’s thirteenth prince.
“I, I…” Jacob’s heart pounded wildly. He could scarcely utter a word.
Debbie could not help exclaiming in astonishment. “Little Seven, you mean Jacob is Little Fatty’s illegitimate son, the thirteenth prince!?”
“This, this cannot be possible,” Jacob said, trembling as he stepped to the table, his face full of horror.
He, a poor boy raised in the slums, of lowly status. Yet his true identity was an imperial prince? Even the bards’ legendary tales were not this legendary.
“Am I really a prince?” he asked Prince Geller, his voice quivering.
Yet…
“Oh, perhaps my wording misled you. Jacob is not Brother Four’s illegitimate son,” Prince Geller said, shaking his head.
Everyone in the room: “…”
“…Do not look at me like that. It is you who misunderstood. As I just said, the guard married and had children here to hide his identity. The woman he married was also a maid from the Lord’s Mansion, perhaps to mislead prying eyes. Jacob is not Brother Four’s illegitimate son. He is the son of that guard,” Prince Geller continued.
Perhaps because successfully bewildering Ye Dui and the others gave him a sense of accomplishment, a faint smile appeared on his face.
“And what I said about ‘recently uncovering leads’ does not refer to this morning, but the past few days. From some old residents in the slums, I learned the truth. Twelve years ago, a group attacked the slums, when the illegitimate prince was six. The guard, then posing as a craftsman, realised he was exposed. So he took the maid Brother Four had favoured and the illegitimate son and left Windrock City, leaving his wife and son behind in the slums. The incident caused quite a stir in the slums, seen as the guard running off with a mistress and abandoning his family.”
Pausing, Prince Geller looked at Jacob. “But I only learned this morning that the guard’s son, Jacob, is still alive. Earlier, from some slum urchins, I heard Jacob had been dead for months. I did not expect him to survive nine months in the Lord’s dungeon. That was my oversight.”
As he spoke, his gaze toward Jacob grew warmer. His friendly attitude stemmed from this: the son of a loyal guard.
Jacob had grown up depending on his mother. After he matured, she used her past connections in the Lord’s Mansion to get him a kitchen job. She passed away not long after. He had always wondered who his father was. Now he knew: a loyal guard from the old emperor’s side.
“Then, what happened to my father afterwards?” Jacob asked, trembling.
“I have roughly traced your father’s subsequent journey. He faced several more attacks along the way but survived them all, though gravely wounded. In the end, he joined a merchant caravan. Unfortunately, that caravan was set upon by bandits. The guard and the maid died as a result. Fortunately, the six-year-old illegitimate son survived. He was rescued and taken to a remote border town, where he lived until adulthood.”
Hearing Prince Geller reach this point, Ye Dui and the others, who had felt somewhat deflated at guessing wrong about Jacob being the prince, were shocked anew.
A border town?
Could it be…
“Exactly, Stanetown,” Prince Geller said with a smile, looking at Ye Dui. “The exiled prince knew nothing of his identity. He fled to Stanetown and grew up there.”
Once more, everyone’s gazes converged on Ye Dui.
An orphan who fled to Stanetown at six, now seventeen. Ye Dui was actually sixteen, but due to the time distortion in the Sword Burial Grounds, where nine months passed outside, he could count as seventeen. No matter how one looked, Ye Dui matched the illegitimate son’s profile perfectly. After all the twists, the conclusion was still…
Ye Dui was that illegitimate son!?
What the, did it have to be this convoluted!?
Debbie suddenly realised something. Her small face froze in shock as she looked at Ye Dui. Ye Dui was actually the son of Little Fatty, whom she had flicked the ding-ding of from childhood?
This was what the.
Green and Lisa looked at Ye Dui with a mix of reverence. Their guild master was indeed a prince. Oh my, it seemed their Any Name Magic Guild was destined to become legendary.
Jacob felt a touch of silence. He was truly the most ordinary one after all. Fair enough. Only someone like Ye Dui could live up to the hidden setting of emperor’s illegitimate son and empire’s thirteenth prince. He accepted it wholeheartedly.
Prince Geller rose from his seat. He walked to Ye Dui, but his eyes suddenly flicked to Lisa. Only then did he continue. “Fortunately, I tracked down one of the bandits from that attack. Under severe interrogation, I extracted some information from him, including the name the illegitimate son used after fleeing. His name was…”
He paused here.
Ye Dui smiled faintly. “Wade, right?”
That was the name he, this body, remembered after fleeing to Stanetown. He had used it growing up thereafter.
Yet, reality once again left Ye Dui bewildered.
Prince Geller shook his head. “The illegitimate son’s name was Ricken.”
The entire room once more: “…”
Ricken!?
The Ricken who grew up with Wade and Lisa, around Wade’s age, whose spell caused Ye Dui to transmigrate and take over Wade’s body?
The Ricken who lost miserably in a duel to Ye Dui and was all but forgotten?
The Ricken whom the Oxhead Magic Guild used as cannon fodder in the Gods’ Ruins, only to be killed by a demon?
The Ricken whose corpse Ye Dui then used as a meat shield after death?
The Ricken who, even buried in the ground, was dug up so Dark Nun Rosia could extract his magus book?
Everyone’s faces bore massive bewilderment.
Lisa covered her mouth. “Brother Ricken is the true illegitimate son!?”
Debbie thought of that punchable stubborn boy and widened her eyes. “No way, that guy is actually Little Fatty’s son? Oh my, he should call me Auntie!?”
Green sighed. “That fellow who troubled the guild master time and again is actually an imperial prince!?”
Ye Dui’s heart now felt as if a million divine beasts had trampled it. “Can we still have fun with this…”
