The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL]-Chapter 931: The House in Seclusion

"We mistakenly thought we’d done enough research." Prince Elior shook his head once before continuing.

"But it turns out, we underestimated what House Kyros meant when they said they were in seclusion."

As a member of the elven royal family, even if he had been deposed, Elior, and by extension Rahil, were fully aware that such arrangements weren’t unusual. Noble houses did withdraw from public life from time to time. However, most families still maintained a certain degree of presence. Influence had to be protected. Visibility had to be preserved because more often than not, houses that vanished too completely eventually fell behind.

Elves valued bloodline deeply, even when they pretended not to. So for them, such seclusion wouldn’t necessarily be catastrophic. Their lineage alone carried weight.

But the Empire of Solaris was different.

It was merit-based, structured, and pragmatic. It wouldn’t tolerate stagnation or incompetence for long, no matter how illustrious a surname might be, losing said noble title would always be a possibility for the next generation.

That was where they miscalculated.

As young fugitives desperate for stability and answers, they’d assumed that a house rumored to be in decline would likely have enough job openings from people who would’ve jumped ship. If anything, like back at their palace, they’d be able to hear news about the Duke from a few loose mouths. Because there were always a few loose mouths, right?

Well.

They couldn’t have been more wrong.

Not only had they been optimistic, they hadn’t expected the entire estate to feel like a military installation disguised as a noble residence.

Prince Elior began describing what it looked like the first time they approached the manor in hopes of inquiring about employment. But midway through his explanation, he noticed something strange.

The golden-eyed cadet kept turning his head from side to side as if he’d just heard the most absurd claim in the universe.

Luca genuinely looked bewildered.

Because since when did their house look gloomy and sealed off?

If anything, Luca thought House Kyros was so bright one could probably see it from space.

He found the description so baffling that he immediately pulled up archived footage of the manor and turned the display toward the two elves. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Are you talking about this place?" he asked.

Silence followed.

"..."

"..."

Rahil stared.

Elior stared.

Then Elior cleared his throat.

"Well, there certainly weren’t statues with glowing eyes back then..."

"Oh!" Luca blinked. "Um, I think my father added those pretty late. But the rest of it?"

Rahil was honestly grateful those statues hadn’t existed when they’d arrived. Waking up to massive glowing eyes watching over the estate would’ve probably shaved years off his lifespan.

"Not even the rest," Elior said carefully. "When we got there, what we saw were gates upon gates. And more gates beyond that. It felt like a fortress. And those gates never really opened."

The room grew quieter.

"So as you can imagine, our job hunt failed rather quickly," he continued. "And with that went any hope of overhearing loose conversations. Even in the city, people didn’t speak much about the Duke or his family."

That, perhaps, surprised them more than anything.

Back in Lumira, it would’ve been impossible. Royal matters were always dissected, whispered about, speculated upon endlessly.

But here?

The citizens simply didn’t pry.

At first, the young elves assumed it was fear. That the Kyros name carried such overwhelming authority that no one dared speak.

But the longer they stayed, the clearer it became that it wasn’t fear.

It was simply respect.

Then again, as children who found livable shelter on planet Kyros unlike the other places they had been before, they could somehow understand.

Still.

Respect or not, what were the odds of hearing anything useful from the staff?

Nil.

If anything, the only thing they managed to obtain during that period was an explanation as to why they couldn’t even find a way to apply for work.

House Kyros, as it turned out, retained its people exceptionally well. They weren’t struggling with resignations or staffing shortages the way the young elves had initially assumed.

It had been an interesting realization.

Especially after learning that House Kyros would actively turn away young soldiers and redirect them to other houses if they believed those recruits would have better growth opportunities elsewhere.

There went that potential route.

"At one point, we considered approaching House Vantari," Elior admitted. "By then, we were living somewhat more comfortably. We didn’t have to rely on gambling or hard labor just to survive. But as much as it would have been easier to stay put, we needed to look for answers because my condition was still deteriorating."

And that likely would’ve been the direction they pursued.

If not for everything coming to a head.

The orphanage they were staying in was attacked roughly a year after they’d arrived on Planet Kyros.

"Now, this is only our assumption, but we later came to believe that syndicate groups were inevitably drawn to Planet Kyros because there would be much to gain from such a wealthy planet that just happens to have tempting vulnerabilities."

"Vulnerabilities?" the blonde cadet asked, feeling like this was news to him. Wealthy was true, but for his good brother’s planet to be vulnerable? How?

"We didn’t think much of it either," Elior replied. "But from an outsider’s perspective, House Kyros appeared largely inactive at the time. Aside from their mandatory frontline deployments, they showed very little or probably no public movement. With that kind of consistent quiet, certain daring groups likely assumed they could act without consequence."

He paused slightly.

"But what probably encouraged them the most were the space storms."

Back in Lumira, there had been territories prone to similar phenomena. But nothing comparable to what Planet Kyros endured.

The storms weren’t entirely unpredictable, but they weren’t fully controllable either. They could last hours, days, sometimes even weeks. And while it didn’t sound so bad when described like that, in reality they left glaring defensive holes that would’ve been anyone’s nightmare.

From a strategic standpoint, it was baffling.

Why would a powerful house choose to remain stationed on a planet so prone to instability and isolation?

But after spending time there, Elior realized something.

House Kyros likely stayed precisely because they were the most capable of managing such a strategic outpost.