#77. 20. The Prince’s Strategy
“What does that mean?”
Lloyd looked puzzled.
“You’re saying that you weren’t after my body? Then Alford is also a victim?”
“I guess I said something that was a little misleading.”
Karnak continued, looking embarrassed.
“It’s true that I was after the prince’s body. I just didn’t covet it.”
This was Prince Alford’s plan, as discovered through Detsuras and others.
First, he uses the power of sorcery to switch the bodies of the two princes.
Only ‘temporarily’.
“I never intended to change it permanently in the first place.”
So, Lloyd, whose body had been changed, was kept in a nice cage.
“As time goes by, it will become its own body again, so of course we should take good care of it.”
I also figured out how to change bodies again.
“It’s possible even if you’re not a shaman.”
Karnak continued, taking out from his bosom a small brooch with a black gem set into it.
“It is a cursed jewel called the soul of the dead. It is used as a medium for soul changeling.”
The way to lift the curse was to place this gem under the moonlight during the full moon and pour Prince Alford’s freshly shed blood on it.
“Does it have to be this body? Can’t I get tired of my original body?”
“The beneficiary of the curse is Prince Lloyd. Therefore, the subject of the curse is also this body.”
“You’re saying that Alford can’t just release it on his own? That’s why you were trying so hard to catch me.”
Lloyd sighed in relief, convinced.
“It’s fortunate that it’s possible to lift a curse even if you’re not a necromancer.”
“That’s right.”
Baros asked secretly with a suspicious look on his face.
[… … Is it true?]
[I get why you’re suspicious, but this time it’s real.]
Anyway, on the night of the full moon, the two princes’ bodies can be restored to their original state.
“So Prince Alford made his plan based on the evening of the full moon.”
It was a plan to assassinate King Wiscot I.
“Are you after my father?”
“Yes. After requesting an audience with His Majesty the King, I stab him with the dagger hidden in my bosom when I have the chance.”
Lloyd shook his head as if in disbelief.
“There’s no way that’s possible?”
“That’s not necessarily true. Even if He is the King, He wouldn’t be on guard against His own son. He wouldn’t conduct a separate body search either. I think there’s plenty of opportunity to do so.”
“No, that’s not the sound… … .”
The prince clicked his tongue.
“Assassinating my father? With my body?”
King Wiscott I of the Kingdom of Yustil was a knight renowned for his martial arts in his youth. Even now that he is old, he is still very fit and often goes hunting to practice his martial arts.
Prince Lloyd takes a surprise attack on such a king?
“That Alford guy, doesn’t he know how weak my body is?”
Prince Alford was not unaware of that either.
“It doesn’t matter if the assassination fails.”
Karnak continued his explanation in a calm voice.
“If you just try, your plan will succeed.”
Succeed in assassinating the king?
Then Prince Lloyd will become a delinquent who has lost his mind and killed his father. Naturally, he will be captured by the guards and thrown in prison.
Failed to assassinate the king?
But he is still a traitor who tried to kill his father. And he is still caught by the guards.
“What would happen if you changed bodies again in that state?”
Only then did Lloyd’s face turn pale.
“oh my god…….”
No matter how many excuses he makes after returning to his original body, it won’t work.
If you are unlucky, you will be executed. If you are lucky, you will be treated as a lunatic and locked up for the rest of your life.
Whether the King lives or dies, Prince Alford, the second son, becomes the sole heir to the throne.
“I don’t think you’ll want to keep him alive anyway. Prince Lloyd, locked up in prison, will go mad and commit suicide soon.”
“I’m going to commit suicide?”
“yes.”
“Who cares?”
“The necromancer is naturally gifted at making others commit suicide, Your Majesty.”
“… … Hmm.”
Prince Lloyd groaned.
I knew my brother was ambitious, but I never thought he would go this far…
“Come to think of it, he’s a guy who has done more than enough.”
The good news is that we had figured out all the plans in advance, all thanks to Karnak.
“Truly, meeting you is the greatest blessing of my life.”
“Thank you for your kind words.”
“No. If it weren’t for a wise man like you, how could I have survived until now?”
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Baros and Serati’s expressions became strange.
‘The best blessing?’
‘The wise man?’
‘I can’t say that it’s wrong… … .’
‘It’s a bit hard to say that that’s true… … .’
Anyway, now that we’ve figured out the enemy’s plot, it’s time to find a solution.
“You said that the conditions for lifting the curse are the light of the full moon and the freshly shed blood of this body, right, Lord Karnak?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Is this blood really fresh? Are you saying that it would be useless to take the blood of Alford, that is, this body, and pour it in beforehand?”
“That’s for sure. So they’re causing all this trouble to secure Prince Lloyd?”
If the pre-selected fatigue curse could be lifted, then Lloyd could have just done it on the planned date without caring whether he ran away or not.
“That’s true.”
Lloyd stroked his chin, lost in thought.
“Then I have a choice… … .”
Since there is a full moon condition, the release date is fixed.
But now it is entirely up to Lloyd whether or not he will change bodies again.
“Now that it’s come to this, Alford won’t be able to proceed with his plans carelessly.”
That plan only makes sense if the two bodies can be swapped.
In the current situation, Prince Alford has also been pushed into the wrong hands.
If I cause an accident and can’t get my body back, I’ll just die as Lloyd.
“Should we assume that His Majesty is safe for now?”
Lloyd muttered, slightly relieved.
“Still, I need to figure out the situation… … . But if I go back to the palace without caution, I don’t know what might happen next… … .”
Originally, he couldn’t even trust his own subordinates, and it was dangerous to act like Prince Alford. Isn’t that why he didn’t dare to act rashly and stayed in hiding the whole time?
Then Karnak opened his mouth slightly.
“That will be all right, Your Highness.”
“Why?”
“I got some good information this time.”
Tetsuras was the leader of the cultists involved in this incident. Thanks to this, he knew secrets that neither Kale nor Alt knew.
“We have a list of who knows about this plan and who doesn’t.”
“Oh! Is that true?”
Lloyd beamed with delight.
“Then now I can pretend to be Alford!”
So far, no one has been able to figure out which of Alford’s confidants was involved in this plan, so everyone has been on guard and kept hidden the whole time.
But with that list, it’s now clear who to avoid.
If you avoid them and make contact with other Alford’s subordinates, you can act as the second prince without any problems.
“Of course it won’t last long, but it doesn’t have to last long either.”
All you had to do was be on guard until the night of the full moon.
In that way, he pretends to be Alford and returns to the castle to prepare for any eventuality, and when the time comes, he returns to his original body and neatly restores it to its original state.
“It’s a bit disappointing that the guy Alford caused this accident isn’t paying any price.”
A cold smile suddenly appeared on Lloyd’s face, which had seemed like a friendly person.
“No, this might be a good opportunity. Should I drink some slow-acting poison before returning to my original body? Or cut off a leg in advance.”
Karnak tried to dissuade him.
“That’s difficult.”
In order to reverse the soul changeling, both parties’ bodies must be left as undamaged as possible. This means that if you injure the flesh unnecessarily, the curse may not be lifted.
“If not, then there’s no need for Prince Alford to go after His Majesty the King. He can just harm himself and return to his body.”
Lloyd nodded regretfully.
“Oh, I see.”
Baros was secretly amazed at the sight.
‘He’s quite a person. He wasn’t such an innocent gentleman.’
First Prince Lloyd was generally considered to be a kind and compassionate person. In fact, his own impression of him was not much different.
However, even though he is my real brother, he naturally says that he will kill or cripple me.
‘Well, it makes sense since they’ve been unable to kill each other for over 10 years.’
Meanwhile, Karnak was concerned with another matter.
“I just want to confirm something. Prince Lloyd, your guess is based entirely on the assumption that Prince Alford is aware that the plan is a mess, right?”
“Why? Is there something wrong?”
“That’s right, maybe Prince Alford doesn’t know that Prince Lloyd has run away.”
Alford, who entered Prince Lloyd’s body, naturally had difficulty making contact with his original subordinates. They lived in different spaces and had little contact with each other.
However, we cannot proceed as planned without any contact at all.
Isn’t there such a thing as an emergency? If something goes wrong, you should naturally stop or modify the plan.
“So Prince Alford created a secret method to communicate with his confidants, including Sebastian, in advance.”
“I guess so. That’s basic.”
“The problem is the means of communication.”
Body swapping using necromancy is truly a taboo of taboos, and even if it is your own person, it is not something you can lightly reveal.
This means that you have to keep secret contact with not only your enemies but also your allies.
That is, a third means is needed that is unknown to both Lloyd and Alford.
Unrelated objections, unrelated methods.
“The cultists’ necromancy is just the thing. That’s why Prince Alford seems to have been using necromancy to communicate all along.”
But didn’t all those cultists just cross the road to the underworld with Karnak and his party?
In reality, it is not possible to cross and Karnak still holds the soul, but in terms of idiom, it is said that it is.
Lloyd, who had been listening to the explanation, asked back with a look of not understanding.
“Wait a minute, are those three the only cult members attached to Alford?”
“yes.”
“Does that make sense? The person who was given such an important mission would act on his own? Shouldn’t one person be left behind just in case?”
Karnak burst out laughing.
“That’s the mindset of someone who is used to being served.”
The bad mindset of superiors is to think that subordinates are nice and should listen to them.
Since the opponent is under me, will he voluntarily understand my circumstances and inner thoughts and actively do his best?
How much time and effort does it take to create one such trustworthy subordinate?
Even the cultists weren’t originally Alford’s subordinates? They just came to cooperate according to the order of the cult.
“It was a good opportunity to increase your command power, and you didn’t want to let someone else take it away. But why would you consider Prince Alford’s circumstances? What did the prince do for you?”
“Oh, that’s right.”
Lloyd scratched his head awkwardly and looked at Karnak with interest.
“You’re the type of person who says everything you want to say, aren’t you? You don’t usually say things so openly in front of the prince.”
“Is that so?”
Karnak felt a pang inside.
I’ve been living as an absolute being for so long that I must have unconsciously developed a habit even though I was careful.
“I’m sorry. I’m from the countryside and I’m not very good at manners… … .”
“Don’t worry about it. How could I be angry when you have done such a great thing for me? And isn’t that what you said to me out of consideration?”
Surprisingly, Lloyd didn’t care.
It seemed like he wasn’t angry, he was just genuinely interested.
“So, you’re saying that Alford’s contacts were those cultists, and that they were all dealt with?”
“Yes. That’s why it became ambiguous.”
Of course, Alford may have other means of communication besides social media.
No matter how much you interrogate the soul with necromancy, if the soul believes it to be true, it is difficult to determine the truth.
“Detsuras clearly knew that they were the only contact, but it cannot be ruled out that Prince Alford secretly prepared another means.”
In this case, things would go as Prince Lloyd had expected.
“But what if we really lost contact?”
Lloyd’s face darkened at Karnak’s question.
“How will Alford turn out… … .”
Should I postpone my plans since I haven’t heard from you?
Or should I just go ahead with the plan regardless of whether I get in touch or not?
“Common sense dictates that it’s normal to put it off, but… … .”
Is Prince Alford really a sensible person?
I was really unsure about this part.
If he had been a sensible person in the first place, he would not have committed the dangerous act of changing his body through necromancy.
“That’s difficult. So, should I tell my father in advance before the night of the full moon?”
Karnak shook his head.
“What are you trying to tell me? Isn’t it a bit difficult to explain all the facts?”
The fact that human souls have been swapped is unprecedented. It takes some pretty convincing evidence to make this seem understandable.
“Do you have any secrets to share that might convince His Majesty?”
Prince Lloyd smiled bitterly.
“Unfortunately, no. My brother and I didn’t have such a close relationship.”
From the beginning, he was a father who told his sons to fight among themselves and be the one who survives. He was not the type of father that his sons would like.
Lloyd’s voice suddenly became slightly raised, as if he was annoyed.
“As I talk, I even feel like I want to just leave my father alone, whether he dies or not. I can’t possibly do that, though.”
Apart from the duty of parenting, there are also realistic problems.
If Alford really carries out his plan, even if he returns to his original body, he will only become a traitor.
“It’s a problem if I can’t get my body back.”
Serati, who had been watching Lloyd seriously, opened her mouth slightly.
“Excuse me, Prince?”
“Why is that, Sir Serati?”
“I know this is unethical and immoral, but I say this… … .”
She asked carefully, choosing her words.
“… … Is it really necessary to regain your original body?”
