I'm the Crazy One in the Family-Chapter 257: The Royal Conference (2)

Having transformed from a suspicious madman into a righteous informant, Keter peacefully ended his day in the infirmary.

Meanwhile, though the royal palace appeared calm and quiet, a serious debate was unfolding within.

“I can’t believe Duke Lerkin has declared his royal candidacy.”

“I didn’t even know there was truly a king consort. He didn’t look particularly special either.”

Having escaped from the island, Duke Lerkin attempted to head straight into the capital, but on the way, he encountered several patriarchs held up before Her Majesty’s Bridge. Most didn’t recognize Lerkin, but a few did. And once they knew who he was, they had to show their respect.

“Hello, Your Majesty the King Consort.”

Lerkin was, after all, Queen Lillian’s husband. Unless they were a duke of equal rank, failing to show proper respect was tantamount to violating the royal law.

The nobles, who had only heard rumors about the king consort, were surprised to see him in person, not only because of his sudden appearance, but because he seemed so ordinary. Yet beneath that mundane exterior was a man overflowing with confidence and ambition.

“It is no coincidence, but destiny, that I meet you upon setting out to become king! And destiny only brings misfortune to those who resist it. Will you not join me so that this nation may prosper and grow strong?”

None of the patriarchs present was impressed by his hollow rhetoric. They awkwardly declined, but to their surprise, Lerkin neither clung to them nor seemed disappointed.

“Accepting destiny is never easy. But remember: though destiny itself is inevitable, it is humans who shape it. And as human hearts shift with emotion, the longer you delay, the colder my own feelings may grow.”

His confidence was almost delusional, like someone convinced that he was. The nobles couldn’t fathom the source of this certainty and grew uneasy. Lerkin had appeared right before the royal conference and inserted himself into the princes’ struggle for power.

The nobles who had not been chosen by the princes or had been cautiously waiting to choose a side became genuinely interested in Lerkin’s candidacy. After all, in terms of legitimacy, the queen’s husband carried more weight than her sons.

And besides, Lerkin was the closest person to Lillian. They wondered if this was all orchestrated by Lillian herself. What if Lillian had been watching from the shadows all along? Such vague fear and speculation confused both the nobles and the patriarchs.

If those on the edges of power were shaken, the princes at its center were in even greater turmoil, especially Rukan, the first prince.

“Duke Lerkin, just when did he start preparing all this...”

Officially, Rukan was Lerkin’s son. Yet he never called him father, and his eyes were cold whenever he uttered the man’s name.

“And why can’t I meet with Rakan? What could be more important than this right now?” Rukan muttered.

Rakan, the second prince, should have been equally disturbed by Lerkin’s return. Yet, strangely, his faction remained silent. The fact that Rakan had quarrelled with his aide Riri and was knocked unconscious by a punch was a tightly guarded secret even Rukan couldn’t uncover.

“Damn it, this is trouble.”

When the summons for all the patriarchs went out, this influenced not just domestic affairs but also foreign affairs. When all the important nobles of the kingdom gathered at the palace, terrorist attempts also increased, so security was naturally tightened. However, stricter palace security inevitably weakened border defenses, allowing smugglers and spies to slip through.

This royal conference was being held despite all the risks. But this time, two major problems erupted at once.

“Not only did Duke Lerkin escape, but a dark wizard somehow infiltrated the sacred palace.”

As security was heightened across the capital and the palace, it was impossible for anyone—even a Prime—to infiltrate unnoticed. Rakan had a sharp mind, so he was able to narrow down the list of possible suspects.

“Fewer than ten people have entered the palace this month. The culprit must be among them.”

His brows furrowed. Of the ten, one person stood out as particularly suspicious.

“Eslow, the Lord of the West... He came to the palace for no reason at all.”

A lord’s visit to the palace wasn’t unusual, as the other four lords visited often, but Eslow was another matter.

“Eslow, you’ve never once visited privately before.”

And yet, Eslow had suddenly come to the palace for personal reasons, only to stay for a short while and leave without doing anything.

“What if what he did was smuggle a dark wizard into the palace?”

Rukan didn’t know why a lord would do that, but one thing was certain.

“He didn’t do it for this kingdom’s sake.”

Creak...

Rukan leaned forward in his wheeled chair, which began rolling forward on its own. He stopped in front of the window and gazed into the night sky.

“Even my mother abandoned this kingdom, so why am I still trying so hard to protect it?” he murmured softly.

Rukan had been ruling in Lillian’s stead, running himself to the limit long before Lerkin’s return and the dark wizard’s intrusion.

“And now that I think about it... what a coincidence.”

A name flashed in his mind: Keter.

“Didn’t all this start right after Keter arrived?”

Everything that happened in the palace reached Rukan, including the report that Keter had entered the palace and discovered the dark wizard.

“Strange... very strange. The day Keter came, Lerkin escaped, declared his candidacy, and the dark wizard was exposed.”

But Rukan shook his head. Keter had no reason to orchestrate such things—he had no motive to free Lerkin or expose the wizard.

“Even a lowly ant acts with reason. You may look insane, Keter, but you’re no different.”

Even madness had its motives. Blocking Her Majesty’s Bridge was probably to draw either his or Rakan’s attention, and it worked—Rakan had sent Riri to make contact.

“But he looks like a fool who doesn’t realize that kind of attention can turn poisonous.”

Rukan, fully briefed on Keter’s deeds since joining Sefira, remained cold.

“A clown, perhaps, but not loyal to Sefira.”

With that, Rukan’s interest in Keter vanished completely.

* * *

The next morning, the royal infirmary was in an uproar.

“Big Brother!”

Daat clung to Keter, who was now wearing a blindfold, and burst into tears.

“Oh, no! You were always so full of justice. I knew something like this would happen someday! You should’ve just ignored it! Why did you have to do that?!”

“Dork. I haven’t lost my sight. I’ve merely entrusted my eyes to the nation for a while.”

At Keter’s calm tone, even the physician watching the scene had tears in his eyes.

“Lord Keter is in perfect condition apart from his eyes. There will be no lingering side effects, so he may be discharged immediately.”

Treated with the finest medicinal herbs, both inside and out, Keter had slept deeply and woke up feeling completely refreshed—aside from the fact that he was now wearing a blindfold.

“We’ll escort you to the Sefira family’s private quarters.”

As the servant who had come with Daat stepped forward to lead them, Keter raised his hand.

“Before that, I’d like a few minutes alone with my little brother.”

“I don’t mind. My role here is done anyway.”

The doctor stepped aside, but the servant looked troubled.

“The laws of the royal palace state that outsiders cannot be left alone together within the royal grounds,” explained the servant.

Daat walked up to him and said smoothly, “Then it’s fine as long as you don’t report it, right?”

Clink.

A platinum coin slipped into the servant’s pocket. He frowned deeply.

“Are you trying to bribe me?” the servant asked.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t notice that either.”

When Daat added another coin, the servant extended his hand.

“Five minutes. No more.”

As soon as the servant left, the two sat facing each other.

“Big Brother, thanks to the mess you caused yesterday, I was able to find out a lot,” Daat said.

“You found out? In a single day?” Keter was surprised.

“I don’t know when I’ll get another chance like this, so I ran around as fast as I could.”

“So, what did you learn?”

Daat didn’t even mention Keter’s eyes. He didn’t believe Keter had truly gone blind, and even if he had, he was sure it wouldn’t matter to him anyway.

“I found out when the queen first vanished.”

“Dork, are you really going to drag this out right in front of me?”

“It’s just that it’s so shocking. The queen disappeared eighteen years ago.”

“Eighteen years? And the kingdom’s been running all this time? So everyone who claimed to have seen her was lying?”

“They must have mistaken Princess Iris for the queen. Anyway, that’s not the important part. Big Brother, doesn’t the number eighteen remind you of something?”

“Hmm, are you trying to insult me?”[1]

“What? No! You’re eighteen, too! As soon as I heard that, I knew it wasn’t a coincidence.”

“Oh... when you put it that way, I see your point.”

“In your past life, the queen was still active, and the evidence for that is the summons for the head of the family. This was moved up by nearly a year, and the princes are openly splitting into factions. This is completely different from the timeline you described. There’s no proof that your actions changed the future.”

“So let’s assume it’s not a coincidence but fate. Why did the queen disappear? Where did she go?”

“That much I don’t know. But one thing’s certain: your past life, Queen Lillian, and your birth mother, Akrah, are all connected somehow.”

It was undeniably important information, but Keter didn’t seem impressed.

“I’d already guessed as much. Don’t tell me that’s all, Dork.”

“What do you take me for? I also found out why the queen tried to destroy Sefira.”

“What? You learned that in a single day?”

Keter was so shocked that he even lowered his blindfold.

“Two dramatic pauses in one day—you’ve really grown up, Dork,” he said.

“I’ve served under you for ten years, Big Brother. I think I’ve earned it.”

“I’ll give you that. You’re a capable man, Dork. Now tell me: why the hell did that wretched queen target Sefira?”

“Well...”

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Knock, knock.

“Five minutes are up. You need to come out now,” said the servant.

“Well, there you go, Big Bother. I’ll have to tell you later,” Daat said with a teasing grin.

Keter, however, moved like lightning; he rushed to the door and flung it open.

“Ah!”

The servant, who had been leaning against the door, lost his balance and fell forward into Keter’s arms. In that instant, Keter jabbed a finger into the man’s neck, knocking him unconscious.

Turning back, Keter glared at Daat with a blazing stare.

“Now talk.”

Daat found this amusing, but he knew that delaying it any longer would earn him a flick to the forehead at the least.

He sighed and continued, “Misteltein—Lillian tried to bring down Sefira because of that.”

1. The word for “eighteen” in Korean (ship-pal) is similar to “fuck” in English (shibal) ☜