Brighter Than Lies
"The most dangerous weapon is not the sword, but the truth wielded at the perfect moment."
The moment the Queen Dowager finished speaking, the Valdinian nobles swept from the hall in a unified exodus.
It was an unmistakable declaration—there would be no negotiation, no clemency.
Someone spat on the ground as they passed. Jason's face flushed crimson at the undisguised insult.
This cannot stand. Not only have I failed to earn the Valdinians' favor—I've earned their hatred. This is the worst possible outcome.
With even my own delegation turning their backs after Jared's defection, wasn't Valdina my last remaining hope?
"Brother Jason, return to Katzen immediately. I sincerely hope there will be no further dishonor."
"Angelique, do you truly not comprehend what you've done?"
Jason couldn't suppress the glare he directed at her. The Fourth Princess snorted derisively.
"Do you imagine I'm ignorant? That I don't know you deliberately tried to exploit my vulnerabilities?"
"..."
"Jason, just continue living as you always have—dreaming useless dreams. No, actually, it will be difficult from now on. I have no intention of allowing you easy rest."
The young Fourth Princess dripped venom.
On the other hand, sacrificing Jason as Medea suggested was brilliant strategy.
How utterly shameful—to be accused of attempting to murder the Princess of Valdina and then expelled. At least this disgrace will overshadow my loss of the relief supplies during that duel.
The Fourth Princess's gaze flickered toward Medea.
Their eyes met briefly, but Angelique quickly averted hers—perhaps wounded pride wouldn't allow prolonged contact.
"Your Highness, prepare yourself for departure."
The royal knights approached, making no attempt to disguise their hostility.
"Release me. I'll walk out on my own two feet."
Jason wrenched his arm free. His handsome features twisted into something harsh and ugly.
As evening descended and the sun bled across the horizon, the royal knights' horses halted at Valdina's border.
"We take our leave here. Farewell, Grand Duke Castullo. I sincerely hope we never cross paths again."
The words were polite in form but contemptuous in substance.
*Clip-clop. Clip-clop.*
The sound of hoofbeats retreating without backward glance carved deep wounds into Jason's pride.
His eyes reddened as he fought to contain volcanic rage. Already bloodshot, they now appeared positively feral with murderous intent.
"Damn them! Damn them all!"
Unable to restrain himself, he repeatedly hammered his fist against the carriage door.
This was far from his first humiliation.
When I yielded the throne to my uncle... when I played the fool to escape his suspicions... I bit the inside of my cheek until it bled, enduring shame that gnawed at my very soul.
But I never imagined I'd suffer such degradation even in this distant, insignificant kingdom of Valdina.
"Your Highness, please, restrain yourself—"
His knuckles split against the iron reinforcement, blood flowing freely, but he couldn't stop.
"I cannot leave like this."
He muttered through clenched teeth, eyes wild.
"I didn't journey all this way to return empty-handed."
Valdina should have been my brilliant new beginning—not another chapter in this endless litany of humiliation.
"Turn the carriage around. Send word to Count Raju immediately."
"Your Highness?!"
His attendant asked in shock, then fell silent upon meeting Jason's savage gaze.
"I've heard he's lodging at Duke Claudio's estate."
Count Raju had mentioned recently that the Duke's family appeared to be secretly orchestrating rebellion.
"I shall personally assist them in their uprising."
If this ungrateful nation rejects me so contemptuously, I have no reason whatsoever to hesitate.
In Valdina's hinterlands, atop a valley concealed by dense forest, several horsemen surveyed the landscape.
"That speck in the distance—that's Valdina's royal palace."
The middle-aged rider spoke with grim satisfaction.
This was Horrols, the rebellion's commander—a red-haired, ambitious man with fire in his eyes.
"When the palace guards spot us, they'll be so terrified they'll lose their minds entirely."
He chuckled darkly.
"Absolutely correct, Chief! Everything you've predicted has come to pass!"
His subordinates chorused their agreement with practiced flattery.
Horrols gazed down the mountainside, eyes distant with ambition.
Every dark speck dotting the plains below represented rebel forces.
Most were commoners—farmers and laborers—but mercenaries had been strategically embedded within each group to incite and manage them.
"More than enough troops to storm that castle and capture that parasitic Princess. The witch will experience firsthand exactly how terrifying the people's wrath can be."
The commander spoke with swelling pride.
"Isn't that right, Theo?"
Horrols addressed the brown-haired youth riding beside him.
He was an unusually handsome boy with sharp features, a build approaching manhood, and distinctly masculine lines already defining his face.
"Theo?"
"..."
Only then did the boy turn his head.
"What occupies your thoughts so deeply you can't hear me calling?"
"Ah... yes. Those wallowing in luxury and decadence will flee in absolute terror."
Horrols chuckled and clapped Theo's shoulder.
"Already imagining our triumphant arrival at the palace? Well, you mentioned you have connections there. It must feel momentous."
"..."
"Your sister will overflow with pride seeing her brother become a hero who saves the people from suffering! Hahaha!"
Horrols congratulated himself on discovering this particular asset.
In this massive operation financed by the Regent's gold, this boy represents the best value I've extracted.
He'd stumbled upon the youth dying in the street.
The son of a retired soldier, burning with rage toward the royal family. Horrols had recruited him easily with gentle promises of overthrowing the corrupt monarchy and liberating the oppressed.
Consumed by revolutionary passion, Theo had worked himself to exhaustion without demanding a single coin.
My core associates are actually expensive mercenaries hired at premium rates.
Unlike those mercenaries constantly demanding payment, Theo's like a self-winding automaton—just scratch his ideological itch and he moves independently.
"We camp here tonight! I'll drink myself senseless thinking about how gloriously this place will burn!"
Horrols's booming laughter echoed across the valley.
On the plain between valleys where morning mist clung like spiderwebs, Theo lit a candle.
He stood alone in the command tent.
Everyone else was thoroughly drunk. The commander—face flushed crimson—held court near the campfire, passionately denouncing the royal family's evils to his soldiers.
Amidst the commotion, Theo had slipped unnoticed into the commander's private quarters.
"Not only threatening my family—you're trying to deceive me entirely."
He ground his teeth at what he believed were the Valdinian royal family's cunning machinations.
*"You're being deceived. Open your eyes and see clearly. Otherwise, I'll cut off your nose before you can blink."*
Recently, a freckled young man wearing a straw hat had sought him out.
He'd possessed sharp, gleaming eyes and had tapped Theo's nose mockingly before departing.
When Theo regained his senses from brief disorientation, he'd been clutching an unfamiliar box.
Inside—the keepsake he shared with his sister, and a lock of her hair.
Saya... my sister truly became that witch's handmaiden.
Theo hadn't believed it initially, so he'd discreetly verified through contacts within the palace.
*"The Princess recently took in a girl she rescued from the slums as her personal maid. Her name is Saya, and she's become quite renowned—even favored by the Queen Dowager herself."*
I should have brought Saya with me when I left.
But belated regret served no purpose.
Theo crumpled the letter in his fist.
Not a letter—a threat. Delivered by the Princess of Valdina through that freckled messenger.
The Princess already knew his true identity as a rebel leader. She knew Saya was his only remaining family.
Sending that lock of hair constituted a threat—she held Saya's life in her hands.
*[...You are being deceived, Theo. The beliefs and justice you hold sacred never existed from the beginning.]*
The Princess claimed the commander was merely a mercenary receiving orders from the Regent. That this entire rebellion was an elaborate scheme to destabilize the kingdom for personal gain.
"That cannot be true."
The words hissed between clenched teeth.
I joined this cause driven by that passion—so simple, so pure. But secretly funded by the Regent all along?
"The Princess is sowing discord between us. She's using Saya to separate me from the commander."
Theo understood his own value to the movement.
In truth, we've grown to this scale entirely thanks to the commander's resources.
Most rebels were ordinary folk—farmers and laborers. Theo had persuaded them personally. They believed his words implicitly and followed him willingly.
He'd taught them kindly everything he'd learned from his retired-soldier father, developing their capabilities.
The minimal casualties during their march through multiple fortifications—that was entirely Theo's doing.
"Damn it all..."
He muttered under his breath.
I came here for one reason only—to confirm the truth and expose that wicked Princess's lies.
The quiet sounds of rummaging filled the tent as he searched through the commander's possessions.
"There's nothing here. The Princess fabricated it all to divide us..."
Then his movements stopped.
Theo slowly lifted his hand.
A small parchment bearing the seal of House Claudio.
The Regent's Orders*[When we confront the rebels at the castle walls, I shall send the Princess forth. You will lie in wait, capture the Princess, and display her before the people inside the fortress. I will punish the witch who fled and abandoned her kingdom.]*
The Regent's explicit commands.
And beside the parchment—a chest overflowing with gold.
*Thud.*
Theo sank to the ground, knees buckling.
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