Each year the Kingdom of Khearia throws a festival in remembrance of one of their most beloved kings who had tragically perished along with his wife and second son. His first son, Prince Fabian, was the only one to survive. Witnesses claimed his cro...
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"We've sent our corruption unit to investigate the Bullmar knights, following your insight." his father said. "As well, we've told our crime unit to deal with the bandit problem, we've since found the bodies that you dealt with, along with another scene that you must have driven past on your journey."
ㅤ"The other was my dealing as well, Your Grace." Alex said.
ㅤ"Very good." the duke nodded. "Was the trip to the saintess insightful at all?"
ㅤAlex hesitated. His father was framed by the large windows behind him, the light piercing through and darkening his father's face to an almost silhouette, making it uncomfortable to look him in the eye.
ㅤ"Ino has concerns." he hedged, uncomfortable.
ㅤ"She normally does." the duke chuckled, linking his fingers together on the table. "Nothing pleases that girl, like your mother. Even so, she's quite the sharp one. What did she say?"
ㅤAlex shuffled his weight on his feet. "You have her letter..."
ㅤ"Yes, but I want to hear it from your mouth."
ㅤAlex had no idea what Ino had written on that slip of parchment, it could have been anything ranging from nothing to everything. He got the feeling that Ino would only share so much, she was intelligent enough to not reveal all her cards so quickly, but he had no idea how far that went. He needed their stories to match otherwise either he or Ino would be in trouble for withholding information.
ㅤ"She believes that Eris is good for James." he answered, as vaguely as possible, trying to find a way to divert the conversation. "Also, he's more fluent in the royal language than I am, which is something to consider. He also seems to have a lot of knowledge about inner royal workings, especially regarding the Ankaid royal house and King Fabian."
ㅤHis father laughed, shaking his head. "My son, you're very thoughtful, but those kinds of things are unnecessary to tell me about. We know who he is, we just want to know what he's like; his mental state, his morals, his collaborative qualities. So, tell me about those."
ㅤAlex didn't let the relief reach his face, knowing he'd successfully avoided trampling on Ino's toes. "Well, he's very unpredictable without his relic, a lot more emotionally volatile and prone to emotional outburst. However, he is a lot calmer with her and he becomes a lot more logical and deliberate. As for his morals..." Alex winced at the thought, "Well, he is perfectly happy to kill people, but he draws the line at what he calls 'innocents'." Alex's fingers flicked on the imaginary apostrophes.
ㅤ"Innocents?" the duke seemed deep in thought over the word.
ㅤAlex nodded. "I've seen him kill people for the sake of civilians. His moral compass is as good as you can get in an assassin."
ㅤ"That's very promising, if true. We don't want to replace one problem with another."
ㅤ"Your Grace, if you'd allow me to ask... what do you mean by that?"
