"Are there still no results?" Avaro's seemingly tranquil voice echoed in the throne room.

Every day, at dawn, the King had asked the same question since ordering Rollyet to wake Nova by any means necessary and every day, at dawn, he received the exact same answer.

Rollyet tilted his head slightly downward. "Your Majesty, there has been no reaction from the young man."

The King heaved a heavy sigh. "Every day I lose another bit of hope that I'll figure out just who sent that man to attack my kingdom. Am I destined to never find out?" he muttered softly, though the First Knight heard every word.

Looking at Rollyet, Avaro asked, "How's Arix doing? Are there any problems with him?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, Arix has joined the Westoria's army, which will soon travel to Lotra, without any problems. It's a matter of weeks or a couple months at most," Rollyet said. The tension he felt over Nova lessened slightly with the thought of a task successfully completed.

Avaro nodded. "Good. Let that fool make problems for the two kingdoms, the more he does, the better for our future." He waved a hand. "Alright, since the old man isn't capable of waking him up, arrange for someone else to take over the matter of the young man. Report tomorrow at the same hour."

Hearing the new orders, Rollyet bowed deeply and turned, just in time to see the throne room door creak open without prior announcement from the outside.

Furrowing his brows, he was about to shout when the words caught in his throat at the sight of the person who entered.

Avaro looked at the man in anger, but, not recognizing the face, he felt no strong reaction. Turning toward Rollyet, he said, "Why are you not saying anything? A stranger just entered the throne room uninvited, and you're standing there without moving a muscle? Take him to the cells."

"B-But, Your Majesty, he's the—"

Before the First Knight could explain, Nova, who had just entered and heard Avaro's words, said with amusement, "You tried everything to wake me up, but now that I'm here, you don't even remember me? You're breaking my heart."

A jolt ran through the King but he quickly composed himself as a smile crept across his face. "I've been waiting for a month for you to finally wake up. This is perfect. I'll say this only once, tell me who ordered you to attack my kingdom and, if your information is valuable enough, you might even leave this place alive."

Nova's eyes flashed faintly. He raised an eyebrow. "You don't plan to kill me?"

"Where are your mann—"

"As long as you are useful, why would I kill you? What benefits can you give me as a dead man? Don't worry, nobody will touch a hair on your head if you prove yourself useful," Avaro interjected, calmly laying out the situation. Rollyet held his tongue, not entirely displeased to be interrupted.

'This king is smarter than Lotra's… or rather, more pragmatic. But his instincts aren't that sharp. Is he relying too much on that knight for protection?' Nova thought, his gaze shifting between the two. 'Since he thinks I'm part of some organization, and I know the Lotra Kingdom will likely enter a war soon, then…'

With a smile that wasn't quite a smile, he said, "I can tell you everything I know but how will you know if what I'm saying is true? What if I tell you something so outrageously impossible that you won't believe it… yet it's still the truth?"

Avaro's eyes narrowed into thin slits. "Boy, do you even know what it takes to be a king?"

Nova stared at him for several seconds, then shrugged and shook his head. But before Avaro could open his mouth to continue, Nova added with a faintly mocking smile, "I don't but the King of Lotra didn't seem like much, so the standard I have for kings is pretty low at this point."

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Even after hearing such a valuable information, Avaro didn't move an inch from his throne. His gaze stayed fixed on Nova, searching for any sign of deceit, but even after minutes passed, the young man's expression and posture did not falter in the slightest.

I truly find it hard to believe that a fool like Wulfric would deliberately send someone to attack my territory. Could it have been the court mage? There was that report some time ago about Granier's suspicious movements… Did he approach this man on Wulfric's behalf? If this man is telling the truth, then that's the only reasonable explanation I can see, Avaro thought, his fingers tapping against the throne's armrest.

A dozen meters away, Nova was thinking, 'I wish I knew what's going on in your head. The fact that you've been thinking this long after just one sentence means you're either a fool pretending to be clever… or you actually have some brains. For your and my sake, I hope it's the latter. If you believe me, you'll live long enough to watch your kingdom crumble under your own rule. That, will be the perfect ending for you.'

The two stared at each other until Avaro broke the stalemate. "Why did they order you to attack my kingdom?"

'Fair enough, he believes me but not fully,' Nova thought. He answered immediately, his expression unchanging. "I was told to cause as much damage as possible before returning to report and receive another assignment but you caught me just as I was about to leave."

Even Letto, the man who had followed Nova from the city of Myra to the capital, Larmida, and then here to the Blackridge Kingdom, wouldn't have been able to tell if Nova's words were true. He hadn't been inside the royal palace in the Lotra Kingdom, and even if he had, he wasn't currently present in the throne room. Nova had left him outside the doors.

"You don't know why they sent you here, but you already know there's a second mission after this? Do you have any idea what it's about?" the King asked.

Nova put on a thoughtful expression, and when he seemed to have gathered his thoughts, he said, "I've heard something about the Westoria Kingdom, but I'm not sure what I was supposed to do there."

Inside, he was thinking, 'Although I did ask around, if not for the system's quest telling me to aid the Lotra Kingdom in conquering the other two kingdoms and the empire, I wouldn't have been able to come up with such a credible lie. Right now, I can't help but miss Shira and her intel.'

When Nova mentioned the Westoria Kingdom as the focus of his second mission, Avaro truly took the bait. To his knowledge, no one outside Lotra's upper echelons should be aware of the war that was about to break out. For Nova to mention it meant he was either one of them or acting under their direct orders.

I now have a pawn with some knowledge, a free pass into the Lotra Kingdom, and enough strength to cause trouble for any kingdom. Should I send him back to Wulfric to gather intel… or add fuel to the fire? Avaro thought. The decision was weighty enough that silence settled over the throne room for several minutes, making even Rollyet, who had been standing quietly to the side, fidget slightly.

At last, Avaro lifted his head and said firmly, "I'll give you a chance to live. Go to the Westoria Kingdom and lay waste to its cities in Wulfric's name or die here. What do you choose?"

'You've earned yourself a little more time,' Nova thought, inwardly sneering but outwardly, he gave a calm nod. "I obviously care about my life. I'll head to the Westoria Kingdom immediately and follow your orders."

Avaro studied him for a moment longer before saying sternly, "Go. Return only when the mission is complete."

Without waiting for a second command, Nova turned on his heel and left.

As the doors closed behind him, Rollyet asked with a trace of worry, "Is it wise to let him go like this? What if he doesn't keep his word and warns the Westoria King about us?"

Avaro scoffed lightly. "You're worrying too much. Who would believe the words of a young man with no ties to us? We could even denounce him publicly for destroying several of our towns and cities in the name of Wulfric. That would make even Tiberan think twice before trusting him."

"I hope I'm overthinking this," the First Knight muttered to himself.

////

As soon as Nova left the throne room, he summoned a few wind blades and slashed his clothes in several places right in front of the door guards. They looked at him with twitching lips, as if wondering whether he had lost his mind but Nova didn't care.

Turning to Letto, who was standing to the side, he said with a smile, "Make yourself memorable."

Before Letto could ask what that meant, Nova flicked his finger, and a wind blade sheared through the middle of Letto's hair, leaving only the sides intact resembling a medieval monk.

"That'll do. Now act tough and glare around like you own the place while we walk out. Got it?" Nova added, roughly scuffing up Letto's clothes until he looked even more disheveled. 'Who would be more memorable than a unkempt monk acting like a noble?' He thought.

Why me…? Letto thought, but he weakly nodded without complaint.

Under the curious gazes of maids and guards, the two of them strolled leisurely through the royal palace and out into the streets, taking their time. Even the passersby stared, wondering how these two had managed to get inside the palace and what kind of trouble they had caused to come out looking like that.

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