"Are you willing to give up this position?" Anfey asked suddenly.
Christian did not say anything. It could be hard talking to Anfey sometimes, but Christian understood what he meant. "Both of my brothers are more able than I," Christian said slowly. "I just want to be left alone in Swordbury."
"Are you serious?"
"Of course," Christian said. "You are my friend. I wouldn’t lie to my friends. Not now, not ever. I appreciate your friendship." Christian paused and then said, "Why did you ask? Is it important to you?"
"Very much so. Don’t forget. We are friends," Anfey said. "Your answer can decide the course of my life. If you want to fight for it, both Wester and Grandon are my enemies. If not, then there is no need for me to challenge anyone. We can just sit by and watch them fight."
Christian sighed but did not say anything.
"If you do not want to fight for the throne, why don’t you tell His Majesty that you will not do this? Otherwise your actions could be mistaken as a sign of aggression. You could very well become a target."
"No," Christian said, shaking his head. "Father has done too much for me. I want to take care of this myself."
Anfey nodded. "Good," he said with a smile. "But, if you ask me, this is too great a matter to hide. Maybe we are just overthinking. Maybe your father’s intention is simple. Maybe he just wants you to know what it’s like to kill."
"Are you serious? You mean…"
"We should stop talking and head to the palace now."
"Wait. I have the map here. We should study their defenses first," Christian said. He had been part of the plan to assassinate the Shansa princess and knew the procedure.
"He gave that to you?" Anfey asked, surprised. "And he showed you their defenses?" Anfey was confused. He did not know what Yolanthe wanted, though he knew that he would not put his son in harm’s way. Plus, Christian did not want the throne, anyway. If they kill the fake duke, Yolanthe would be responsible for taking care of the aftermath. If Christian did not want the throne, why would Yolanthe task Christian with this mission? Since this mission had no apparent direct consequence, Anfey decided that they could not disappoint Yolanthe, either. If Christian wanted to fight for the throne, Anfey would never make such a rushed decision.
The moon was peeking through the clouds when Christian, Anfey, and Suzanna arrived at the small palace of the fake duke. There were three small palaces around Sacred City, and each palace had a different view. Yolanthe did not want to leave Sacred City, but everyone needed a change of scenery once in awhile, even kings. The three palaces were his solution. Three sides of this palace were surrounded by ponds, and the fourth was next to the Sacred River.
"Now that I’m here, I feel bad for the guy," Christian said, shaking his head. "He lived his entire life as a lie."
Suzanna nodded in agreement. She was afraid. If anyone told her that the person she was protecting wasn’t who they said they were, and she was not a senior swordsmaster, she would not be able to handle the news.
"Maybe that is not how he sees it," Anfey said. "If he did not become your double, who knows where he would be now? Maybe he’s an orphan or a slave, or a servant to another. Exchanging a life of hardship for twenty years of luxury sounds like a pretty good deal to me."
"We are still cutting his life short."
"Who knows? Who knows what he was before he became you? Perhaps he was an orphan, and there are plenty of ways for orphans to go," Anfey said. "Without this, maybe he already would be dead. Haven’t we seen enough?" In this war-torn world, orphans were not an oddity. Not only in countries like Country of Mercenaries, but also in more advanced ones like Maho Empire. Especially in occupied cities like Violet City. Half of the children there were orphans. Even Yolanthe, who was hailed as a people’s king, could not fix this problem, let alone the other kings. Rodhart, the double, may not even be a good man. At least he had twenty years of luxury. A lot of children did not.
Christian fell quiet. He tried to distance himself from the wars and the suffering, but he was still a very compassionate person. Everything he had gone through made him even more so. In the past, he was confined to Sacred City and never realized how bad the poverty and injustice were in the rest of the country.
"Alright," Anfey said, walking out of the shadow. "Let’s get moving."
"Wait!" Christian called. "We still need to make a plan!"
"Plan?" Anfey asked, frowning. "Alright. We will plan." Christian was very brilliant, but his way of action was too constrained. Yolanthe had already given him the details of the palace’s defense and told him that the palace guards would not intervene to stop him. There was no need for planning. Anfey was certain that even if they did make a mistake, the palace guards would help them.
"Am I being too careful?" Christian asked, scratching his head. "I just want to make sure this goes smoothly."
Anfey blinked. He suddenly realized that the only person he was considering was Yolanthe and had been ignoring Christian and himself. Christian was right. If he was going to do something, he should make it as perfect as possible. He could not risk failure, or else Yolanthe would be disappointed in Christian. This was a testament to his own abilities as well. If he failed, he and Christian would become laughingstocks. "Christian," he said, "show me that document."
Anfey smiled as he flipped through the document. The fake Rodhart was a strange man. He was not practiced with swords, neither did he know how to use magic. However, he already had six children, all of them his biological children. All the children were living in the palace as well. Yolanthe only needed to say that he wanted to meet his grandchildren to meet with the fake Rodhart.
"This fake duke is certainly…"
"Father hired two teachers for him when he was young, though the two teachers never taught him anything useful. I think that might have been Father’s intention in the first place."
"Are we killing the children as well?"
"Father told me that everyone in there should die."
Anfey sighed. He looked through the document again and glanced at the map. "We don’t need planning. This is way too easy. I don’t think His Majesty is testing your abilities."
"What is he testing then?" Christian asked.
"Suzanna can take care of swordsmen. I will take care of the priest and the servants. The rest is up to you."
"Alright," Christian said with a nod. He was not stupid. He already knew what Anfey meant when he said Yolanthe wasn’t testing his ability and had asked about the kids.
"If there are no more questions, let’s go. We’re going in from the right."
Christian slowly crept out of the shadow of the woods and used a levitation spell. He flew towards the right side of the palace, afraid that his courage would disappear when he was not moving fast enough.
"Christian…" Suzanna called quietly. She sensed that there was something different about the young man.
Anfey shook his head. He could not give Christian any tips. He had never met Yolanthe and did not know anything about the man. Yolanthe was an intriguing man who made it his mission to conceal his emotions. Which was more important to Yolanthe, callousness or compassion? The only person who could dictate Christian’s decision was Christian. Anfey hoped he picked right.
Even though Yolanthe already gave the map to Christian and Anfey said there was no need for planning, there were still chances for things to go wrong. A team of palace guards walked out of the side door of the palace as the trio jumped over the wall. The moon was exceptionally bright, and the three had nowhere to hide.
The guards’s formation was jumbled but the soldiers soon fell into place. The leader of the team barked an order, and the palace guards passed where Christian, Suzanna, and Anfey were standing, as if they were invisible.
"It seems like everyone’s cooperating with us," Anfey said with a smile. "Let’s get to work. Don’t want to let their cooperation go to waste, eh?"