I looked at the royal knight, wondering what I should say. Or if I should even say anything. What was he doing here? Why would they even put up a job if they were already going to do it?


    Or wait. The City Lord was supposed to put up jobs. And I didn’t see any of the fish we had come to kill. What if the royal knights had come because the City Lord had been too slow? I could see him doing that.


    And I could see it becoming problematic for us if it came down to it. How reasonable were the royal guards going to be exactly?


    “Sir Festeran!” Alice exclaimed. “I haven’t seen you in a while. How have you been?”


    I blinked. Alice knew this knight?


    “That Miss Emily’s cousin.” Connor whispered in my ear.


    “I can hear you, Connor.” the knight sighed. “I see that you are still as unsubtle as you were. A pity.”


    Connor just looked out into the water, ignoring the royal knight. I looked between them, wondering what the story was.


    “Now!” Alice interrupted, clapping her hands. The girl was nervous. More than a little nervous. I could see why.


    “Do you want to eat? There’s a bit of-”


    “I don’t like fish.” the knight interrupted. The knight addressed them, but his voice had a particular lack of care to it that told me he looked down on them. No, not look down on them. The knight simply did not consider them worth any thought.


    “I have food of my own.” he said. “Do not trouble yourselves.”


    Then his eyes turned to me, narrowing as they seemed to assess me. Or rather, my face. I had a feeling that the face was very important.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    [The Face] exerts its influence.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    I blinked. The royal knight bowed. Not a small bow. This looked like a bow a knight would give their lord. Or their king.


    “I greet his grace, Prince Aphra of the Blade.” the knight said. I would be lying if that did not surprise me.


    This was the bloodline’s doing. I was sure of it. The notification was telling. And it would have put me in a lot of trouble if I did not know how to respond.


    Thankfully, the Trashy Novel had plenty of royalty in it. I knew what to do.


    “I accept your greetings, and return them with the grace they were given.” I answered, my words feeling very strange.


    The knight raised his head. I could see Elena shaking beside me, but she controlled herself. The royal knights had been the ones to kidnap her and Rowan from their homes in the capital. I was sure this was a painful moment for her.


    “Will you join me for dinner, your grace?” the knights asked. I got the feeling it wasn’t a request. Even if I were an actual prince, it was just a title. The knight could have killed us, and it was unlikely anyone would know. There were plenty of beasts that could have done it. There probably wouldn’t even be anyone that checked.


    But Connor had said that he was Miss Emily’s cousin. So he should not kill me. At least, I hoped he wouldn’t.


    The knight took out a stone from his pocket and held it up. A strange type of mana came out of it. In minutes, the rest of the world seemed far away. The fish just a meter apart looked blurry. The sound of water had stopped. The knight still looked the same.


    “This should prevent us from most spies, your grace.” The knight said.


    “Why call me ‘your grace’?” I asked. “I am not a real prince.” That worried me. That was not a title that most princes got to use.


    This title was for the sons and daughters of the Emperor. Or the Dukes of the Empire.


    The knight raised an eyebrow. “I do not think that is true. I see before me the great-grandson of the Emperor, a prince who has awakened his bloodline. As such, he shall be the next on the throne.”


    I froze. “The knights have decided?”


    The knight shook his head. “A decision has not been made yet. The Knight Captains have yet to hold a meeting on the matter. But Lord Adrien has made his opinion known.”


    So it was just a matter of time. The Knight Captains would fall in line soon enough.


    “Will they come for me?” I asked hesitantly. I doubted the knight would even answer. After all, I was asking for something the knights may not want me to know.


    “I do not know.” the knight said. “And even if they do, it will not be soon. The Emperor has still not been approached on this matter. As far as I am aware, his majesty still does not know that your grace has awakened his bloodline. I imagine he shall have opinions on this matter.”


    “I thought the Emperor did not involve himself in the Empire anymore.” I stated.


    “That may change. After all, your grace is the Rose Princess’ only son.”


    That…actually could affect things. But again, I did not know. The Emperor had not actually appeared in the Trashy Novel. There had been mentions of him, and descriptions by other characters. But he himself had not appeared.


    I once again wondered how Aphra had managed to attend the Academy while I was getting so much attention just walking around under a lake. The Knight Captains, a bunch of Rank 7s were going to hold a meeting about me.


    And they would probably agree with the Rank 8 Lord Adrien. Then said Rank 8 would go talk to the Rank 9 Emperor. Just because I decided to show my face under a lake. And the old Aphra had spent two years at the Academy without attracting half as much attention.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Or maybe he had. Just because the Trashy Novel did not mention it did not mean that such meetings had not been held, and the Emperor had not been informed. Perhaps the Emperor wasn’t interested in meeting someone related to Duke Eldanveir. That was possible.


    “There is another you know.” I said after a few minutes.


    The knight looked up in surprise.


    “Leif Eldanvier is my twin. The elder twin.” I explained.


    “But he does not have the bloodline.” the knight stated.


    “No, he doesn’t seem to.” I admitted.


    “The throne goes to the descendant with the strongest bloodline. That would be you.”


    “If I were acknowledged.” I countered. “That hasn’t happened yet. Heck, it might not -”


    “Lord Adrien could have it done.” the knight interrupted. “With what you showed me out there, it would only take a few hours. The Emperor would listen to him.”


    The knight really believed Lord Adrien could do it. I wasn’t sure he couldn’t. The man had that much influence in court because he was trusted by the Emperor. That and the fact that he was the third-strongest person in the Empire.


    “What do you want?” I asked. “I am sure you were not sent here just to tell me this.”


    “I wasn’t sent here.” The knight grinned. That was the first real expression I had seen from him.


    “What?”


    “In fact, the royal knights do not know I am meeting you. I am supposed to be inspecting a mine a bit further away from this one. But, well, the lake is big. I mistook one mine for the other.”


    I stared at him. That was not what I had expected.


    “Why would you do that?”


    “Miss Emily.” the knight simply stated.


    “What about her?”


    “I was quite surprised when she asked me about you. I did not think she would be interested.”


    I scoffed. “Do not take me wrongly, but your cousin involves herself in whatever she can manage. But she does do it with good intentions.”


    “Oh, I know.” The grin on his face grew wider. “But you see, she does not involve herself with matters of the Empire. That is a matter of record.”


    I raised an eyebrow at him. “A matter of record?”


    “Yes. A matter of record, dating back to before there even was an Empire.”


    The smile slipped from my face as the knight spoke.


    “What are you trying to say?” I asked.


    The knight looked at me, a serious expression on his face as he seemed to be trying to figure me out.


    “The word cousin can refer to a great many things,” he said. “Even ancestors, or so she tells me. I admit, I do not believe her. And I have not met a professor of language who would.”


    The words would not come out of my mouth. This was…surprising.


    “And she has lived so long as a Rank 1? Or does she hide her Rank?”


    “I do not know.” the knight said. “The Founding Duke of the House of Life seemed to believe she is really Rank 1. There are those among my family that believe she gave up her power. There are others that think she uses her power to keep herself alive. But if she has power greater than her Rank, she does not show it.”


    “And which is your family?” I asked.


    “I am a branch member of the House of Life.” he replied. “A member that has gained far too much attention from our great ancestor.”


    The knight seemed quite irritated about that.


    “Is that why you are telling me this?”


    “Yes.” he admitted. “I had expected to have to convince you. But I can see now that you have experienced her strangeness.”


    I gulped. “I may have seen a thing or two.”


    “There are more.” the knight admitted. “That woman did not take an interest even when the Founding Emperor conquered the planet. But she has taken an interest in you. I wish to know why.”


    I shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. Heck, she seemed rather troubled when I spoke to her about my situation. In fact, she seemed to be surprised by it.”


    The knight stopped moving. “Did you say surprised?”


    “Yes.”


    “The Witch in Green is not surprised, your grace.” the knight said, his mana cloak expanding. I called on my own to defend myself, but I knew it would be of little use if this man actually tried to harm me.


    “Well she was.” I told him.


    “That- there is no record of it. The woman knew the Founding Emperor took the throne before his own army. That woman knew the Rose princess would die before the Emperor heard of it. The woman even told us of the danger Eldanveir would come to pose. How is it that she would not see you coming?”


    I opened my mouth to answer and then closed. That was a question. An important one. I also had a feeling that I might know the answer, or at least something that could be blamed for it. After all, I could only think of one thing with this much power who would also be interested in interfering like this.


    The power that Miss Emily had referred to. The thing that kept getting in my way and putting me in strange situations just like this. The thing that had been far too silent lately.


    Story Magic.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Story magic would like you to know that it is laughing.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    sc


    In a world few other than Monarchs dares step into.


    “Are you sure about this?” the Fae Queen asked.


    A woman looked at her, purple eyes and green hair glowing in annoyance.


    “I mean come on, that really isn’t something you add to tea.” the Fae Queen continued.


    The other woman simply stared at her, and then added a bit of coffee to a pot of hot tea.


    “This is a crime!” the Fae Queen yelled.


    If there was a response from her companion, it did not appear on her face.


    A few moments passed.


    “Are you going to drink that?” the Fae Queen asked.


    Another few moments passed in silence.


    “Jeriverus?” the Fae Queen asked, her voice puzzled. “Hello? Earth to the Queen of Magic, Death, and Destruction?”


    “Are you going to reply to me?’


    “I am talking to you!”


    Of course, there was no response.


    “I swear, sometimes I think you’re just ignoring me.”


    Then the teacup disappeared.


    The Fae Queen’s face twisted in horror. “No you didn’t.”


    The Queen of Magic just stared at her.


    “Queen Jeriverus of the House of Manevorus, tell me you didn’t just do that!”


    There was no response. Just like she had for the last hundred million years, the Monarch of Destruction remained still.


    That is except for the time when she decided to live as a human.