the era of calamities

Chapter 137: The Bastard and the Marquis

Love, couples, marriage.

Beautiful notions. Yet they did not exist within the kingdom of the Vermin.

To spread the royal bloodline, the King had the duty to mate with the daughters of the most powerful and influential noble families.

There was no greater honor than raising the future sovereign.

But that honor could also become a curse.

Zara had been born from the union between a minor Calamity and the King.

A union that, despite lasting only a single night, had drawn the contempt of the entire high nobility.

Those great ladies were incapable of accepting that a reckless woman had charmed the King and carried a seed she should never have been worthy of bearing.

Zara’s mother died shortly after giving birth, thus escaping the wrath of the nobility.

Nevertheless, the same could not be said for the young princess, condemned to live beneath the banner of bastardy.

Unlike the other heirs, who benefited from the support of a powerful maternal family, Zara had no ally but herself. Yet she understood very early on that she would need support if she wished to live rather than merely survive.

The only question was whose.

In the midst of her misfortune, Zara had inherited a favor from the King, a privilege granted to all those who had shared the royal bed and produced an heir.

Her mother had passed away before she could use it.

Many noble clans dreamed of welcoming a royal princess into their ranks... but none would have accepted a bastard.

The King’s favor allowed her to choose her guardian, whether that person agreed or not.

For a time, the idea of attaching herself to a powerful ducal clan had tempted Zara, but the cruel truth had quickly imposed itself upon her.

The royal decree could force someone to take her in, but it guaranteed nothing regarding how she would be treated there.

Hypocrisy, manipulation, cruelty.

Zara had already experienced each of those evils firsthand despite her young age.

More than an ally, she needed someone loyal.

Someone who would not see her as a royal bastard.

Someone capable of standing against her enemies.

Fortunately, Zara possessed a secret no one knew, a secret that would have led to her immediate execution had it ever been discovered.

Thanks to that secret, she had learned of the existence of a noble unlike any other.

The rumors surrounding him had intrigued her to the point that she did everything possible to meet him. Unfortunately, that man seemed to have little appreciation for social gatherings. She never truly managed to speak with him and only caught sight of him once.

And that encounter, as fleeting as the beat of a wing, had been enough to convince Zara.

She had found the right one.

---

Shortly after delivering the King’s order, the royal emissaries departed from Mephisto’s residence, leaving the princess under his care from that moment onward.

"Your Highness. I am Marquis Mephisto. From now on, I shall be your guardian."

("She seems rather withdrawn,"), Mephisto thought as he observed Zara curled into herself.

The situation he now found himself in had been entirely unforeseen.

He had always cultivated an image of neutrality in the battle for succession. Never had he expected to be entrusted with the custody of a princess.

He wondered what the King had in mind by assigning him such a responsibility. freёwebnovel.com

More importantly, Mephisto reflected as he recalled everything he knew about Zara, he had only ever heard of her through the rumors surrounding that infamous princess born from a minor Calamity.

And what troubled him most, he realized, was that he knew absolutely nothing else about her.

"Do not worry," Zara suddenly reassured him. "You will soon come to know me well enough."

Mephisto froze.

("Did I say that out loud?")

But before he could explore the possibility further, Zara’s voice echoed once more.

"No, you did not."

Mephisto fell silent.

"Leave," he first ordered his servants.

Once the room was finally empty, he looked at the princess with entirely new eyes.

("You can read my thoughts?")

"Yes."

That simple affirmation plunged Mephisto into deep thought until a sense of danger suddenly overwhelmed him.

He was a Marquis. No matter how he examined the situation, the princess before him was, for now, merely a Baron.

Whatever authority allowed her to read minds, it should never have been capable of affecting him. His rank, vastly superior to hers, should have rendered such a feat impossible.

("Then... how?")

Only one possibility came to mind.

This time, Mephisto slightly parted his lips.

"A Royal Authority..." he murmured in a deeply shocked voice.

Zara smiled.

"It did not take you long to understand. That is impressive."

But Mephisto paid little attention to the compliment.

Now aware of the truth, he first calmed his thoughts so as not to reveal too much, then asked the first of the many questions flooding his mind.

"Why?"

Zara appeared confused.

"Why keep it secret? Why reveal it to me? Why put on an act?"

Mephisto shook his head. He already had an idea of those answers.

"No. Why do you want the throne?"

"You surprise me, Marquis," Zara admitted.

("He understood what I expected from him. And now, he wants to see whether I am different from the other claimants,"), she thought.

"As you know, Marquis, being born a prince or princess does not automatically make one a claimant to the throne."

Mephisto nodded. Although the King had more than a hundred children, only seven of them could currently claim succession... eight, if he counted the princess seated before him.

"Royal Authority is the primary condition for claiming the throne."

She paused briefly before continuing.

"If the high nobility learned that a royal bastard had awakened a Royal Authority, the mere thought that I might one day rule would rob them of sleep. Those ancient bloodlines would silence me before I could even spread my wings."

Mephisto said nothing. He was fully aware such a scenario was possible.

And as her guardian, he now found himself trapped in that very same quagmire. ƒгeewebnovёl.com

"Isn’t it foolish?" the princess continued disdainfully. "They have long since settled comfortably into their privileges, spending their time weaving pointless political schemes."

"Is that your reason?" Mephisto asked, his voice betraying slight disappointment.

"No. I could not care less about those wretches who have forgotten the very reason for our existence."

The princess fell silent for a moment, carefully weighing her next words.

"To exterminate humanity."

"And how do you intend to accomplish that?" Mephisto asked, now fully intrigued by the young princess.

Zara hesitated briefly, as though her next words were taboo.

"You already know."

"Unification..."

The atmosphere in the room changed abruptly.

The air became heavier. More oppressive.

In an instant, Mephisto placed his hand upon Zara.

Ready to take her life, even at the cost of his own.

"How do you know that?" he asked in an icy voice.

At that exact moment, Zara stiffened. Her life was hanging by a thread. Her next answer would decide everything.

"When you came to the palace, you were far away from me. But you thought about it. For a second."

She paused briefly.

"’If the Calamities united, only then could we eradicate humanity.’ If I become Queen, I intend to unite all the kingdoms."

Silence settled over the room.

A moment.

Then an eternity.

Eventually, Mephisto released her, and the air gradually regained its lightness.

"You still have much to learn before you can truly claim the throne."

At that moment, neither of them realized it yet, but the countdown had already begun.

Far from the schemes of the kingdom of the Vermin, Sirius and the others continued their ordeal. The hellish training imposed by Gramm gave them no respite. None of them suspected that, in the meantime, invisible forces were already weaving the web of a war to come.