No one knew whether the news was true or false, but once suspicion took root, everyone couldn't help searching for evidence to prove that it might be possible.
There had been far too many suspicious things about the royal family. Only such a drastic upheaval could explain them all.
Within just a few minutes, the waiting area outside the Star Palace had become extraordinarily noisy, with discussions breaking out everywhere.
None of the more than two hundred guests were nobodies. Half were locals, while the other half consisted of representatives from prominent Torilian factions, noble houses, clergy, adventurers, and others.
Quite a few looked worried. The Rock of Bral might not be large, but the interests of many different parties were tied to it, making the royal family's stance and stability critically important.
Anser and the others had originally been standing near the outskirts of the crowd. After hearing the rumors, they exchanged puzzled looks as well.
"That shouldn't be possible." Nefis looked thoroughly confused.
"The timing really is suspicious." Anser rubbed his chin.
His first suspect was the second prince, Emmanuel, but the man had already fled after his defeat.
Over the past three days, the Great Prince had purged all the family forces loyal to the second prince. Emmanuel had neither troops nor followers left, and the Church of Selûne was watching him closely. The chances of him returning were vanishingly small.
But aside from him, who would kill the soon-to-be king at a moment like this?
Mind flayers, the church, some unknown faction, or perhaps an ambitious prince?
Just then, Osborn slipped through the crowd like a fish and came to Anser's side. Lowering his voice, he said, "I've confirmed it. The Great Prince really is dead. The queen has already ordered the Star Palace sealed off."
"How did he die?" Anser immediately asked.
"No idea. Most likely an assassination." Osborn sighed.
Although he didn't like the Great Prince, who carried the stigma of having allegedly murdered his father, he hadn't wanted him dead either. The Rock of Bral had only just stabilized. It couldn't afford to descend into chaos again.
"We'll wait. We can't leave. If mind flayers are behind this, we're in trouble."
As soon as Anser said that, the expressions of everyone around him changed.
Time quietly passed, but the atmosphere only grew more tense.
The soldiers stationed along the central avenue had all withdrawn. The city guard and army had surrounded the entire Star Palace so tightly that no one was permitted to enter without authorization.
The guests displayed remarkable patience. Not a single person left.
Before long, some sharp-eyed observers noticed that the new king's banner above the Star Palace had been replaced.
Black field, white border. The royal crest remained in the center, but it had been embroidered in gray thread, leaving it dim and subdued.
It was a mourning banner with a black field and white border, signifying that "glory was temporarily veiled"!
Two mourning banners now stood side by side. One represented the old king, the other the would-be new king. It was certainly an exceedingly rare sight.
"They couldn't bring him back!" Nefis said with certainty.
"Yeah." Anser acknowledged it, though he wasn't particularly surprised.
In Faerûn, any high-level assassination would naturally account for the possibility that the target might be resurrected. Otherwise, the entire effort would be for nothing.
Someone who had only just died could be brought back with the 3rd-level spell Revivify. If that wasn't enough, there was the 5th-level Raise Dead, the 7th-level Resurrection, and the 9th-level True Resurrection.
For powerful and influential nobles, even an ordinary death could potentially be reversed.
The fact that they hadn't been able to bring him back already revealed quite a lot.
The crowd grew lively again. Anser listened closely, finding that most of the discussion revolved around the killer and the choice of the next king.
There was no telling who the killer was, but choosing a new king posed a serious problem.
The two most outstanding members of the Cozar royal family had been the two princes. One was dead, and the other had fled.
The other princes had either died young or were still children. On the surface, not one of them seemed fit to rule.
Moreover, the queen's family was extremely powerful, and the Great Prince's maternal uncle served as both Chief Advisor to the Crown and Governor-General. There was no way the queen would allow a child who wasn't hers to inherit the throne.
She was said to have played a crucial role in the previous palace coup.
The queen had two sons and one daughter: in order, the Great Prince, the Third Princess, and the Ninth Prince.
Even that order made it clear that the old king had been remarkably vigorous—and certainly hadn't neglected his queen.
The Ninth Prince was only seven years old and obviously incapable of handling affairs of state.
The Third Princess was the eldest princess and already over twenty. She had been intelligent since childhood, but women had very limited inheritance rights in the Cozar royal family, placing her behind every prince in the line of succession.
There had never been a queen regnant in the history of the Rock of Bral.
As Anser continued listening, he unexpectedly heard his own name.
He looked at Osborn in surprise. "How did I get dragged into this?"
"Uh, it's all nonsense made up by traveling bards..." Osborn explained with a strange grin.
The incident in which a Chosen of Bane had led a raid on the Church of Selûne had never become widely known, mainly because it would have damaged the church's prestige.
Among the common folk, Anser killing the Chosen was regarded as the turning point of the palace coup, making him the hero who had driven off the Chosen of an evil god. Weren't those two buildings and the trade license the Great Prince's way of thanking him?
Neither the Star Palace nor the Church of Selûne had ever come forward to deny or explain any of it.
Anser's fame had soared, and with it came plenty of completely fabricated romantic tales. After all, heroes belonged with beauties—how could a story possibly be complete without love?
The royal family's eldest princess was one of them!
In the story, Anser had disregarded both the constraints of his oath and his own safety for the sake of the eldest princess's future. He posted an enormous bounty and recruited countless helpers, ultimately slaying the evil god's Chosen despite being a mere mortal and restoring peace to the Star Palace and the Rock of Bral.
It actually sounded fairly convincing.
Those who knew the truth naturally laughed it off, but how many people actually knew the truth?
Many who had met Anser believed it. Someone whose every gesture, every frown and smile, was so full of personal charm couldn't possibly have made it through life without leaving a few romantic entanglements behind.
And just like that, the logic came full circle.
"This is ridiculous. I've never even met her." Anser suddenly found himself disliking bards a little.
The Harpers were supposedly experts at waging wars of public opinion. No wonder they were known as Faerûn's professional shit-stirrers.
Iris doubled over laughing, while Nefis couldn't suppress a smile either. She had actually heard this story before.
The group laughed and joked about it for a while without taking the rumor seriously.
As noon approached, the royal household steward finally emerged.
"Ladies and gentlemen, His Highness was assassinated and could not be brought back. The coronation ceremony has been canceled. Please return home."
With that, he bowed deeply to all the guests.
"Who killed the Great Prince?"
"Who will be the new king?"
Someone couldn't resist shouting out the questions.
"I'm afraid the details cannot be disclosed." The steward bowed again.
Then he walked straight over to Anser and said quietly, "Lord Anser, the queen requests that you enter the palace alone."
"Huh? Me?" Anser frowned. He had no dealings with the royal family.
The situation was sensitive. Entering the palace now was bound to drag him into trouble, but if he refused, he wouldn't be able to determine whether mind flayers were responsible.
If mind flayers had taken over the royal family from within, that would be extremely bad.
"Yes, Lord Anser. The queen has invited only you," the steward emphasized.
At that moment, all the guests who had been preparing to leave stopped in their tracks. One gaze after another fell upon Anser, their meaning difficult to read.
"He can't go!" someone shouted, striding quickly out of the crowd.
Anser turned toward him. It was a face he had never seen before. The man wore an eye-catching red robe, and his bald head was covered in tattoos.
A Red Wizard!
The die rotated slightly, and information about the target appeared:
[Tharchion of Thay, human, Level 19 Wizard (School of Enchantment)]
Tharchion wasn't a personal name but an office, roughly equivalent to governor. Each Tharchion ruled over a province or district of Thay and wielded tremendous power.
There were only a little over a dozen Tharchions in all of Thay.
Above the Tharchions stood the "Zulkirs," also known as "Masters." There were eight in total, each leading one school of magic, and rumor held that all of them were legendary.
Szass Tam was the Zulkir of Necromancy, an undead lich who had lived for centuries.
Thay was a genuine major power in Faerûn, with formidable strength. The Rock of Bral had built its prosperity on trade, so there was nothing unusual about the royal family inviting them.
Under normal circumstances, however, everyone preferred to cooperate with Thay behind closed doors. Few royal houses were willing to openly align themselves with the country.
By doing so, the Rock of Bral was bound to offend many Faerûnian nobles, including those of Neverwinter. Thay simply had far too many enemies.
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